Paint chipping off face plate please help!

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
1

hello everyone so far I have been enjoying to be a A4 user how ever not all good things last for ever, the paint has started to chipped of the face plate :S its starting to look horrible paying s much for a synth that is going to just look like that has me a bit bend out of shape and sad :frowning: Im not one to care for battle scars but this is ridiculous, I had not scratch it or bump it in to anything I was simply dusting it off using a soft cloth, no chemicals were being used Elektron WTF?? Im even afraid of touch the thing thinking the whole damn paint its going to come off , I ha
ve attached a link to a folder with a few pictures demonstrating the issue, woul elektron be responsible for something like this? could I get a replacement of the face plate? I have not had this for long not more than a year , also Im I the only one getting this on his beloved A4?

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this is a folder with the same pics

https://copy.com/hcAJE2hAZ7oV

3

I really wish they would just send out the faceplate instead of having to ship it back to them.

4

So they asked me to contact the US office and so far not even a hi from them :S I hope some one gets back at me I seriusly dont want to even touch it every session with it I find black paint left off of my fingers WTF ??

5

My first A4 had same problem, out of the box already had some paint offā€¦

When contacted Elektron they took forever to reply just to say that i need to send the unit back to them for replacing the faceplateā€¦ WHAT? must be kidding me.

In my case not just the panel but all the unit has chipping off paint. IĀ“m in Portugal so paying about 100ā‚¬ for shipping back to them using UPS (as recommended) just to take care of half the problem was simply not right.

So i decided to contact the store where i got it (Thomann) and they replaced my A4 for a brand new one, in less than a week :slight_smile: no shipping charges, nothing. Just needed to take 2 pics.

Thatā€™s what i call a good customer service. all after 1 year since purchased.

oh and yes, the new one have better powder coating finish.

6

Is there any tracking of serial numbers of A4ā€™s plagued by this? (like a range to a certain point to be aware of?)

7

Yea they all do that I had a older batch and it was bad. I have a newer one now and itā€™s not as bad but it chips soo easy. It was def a bad choice of paint, I have octatrack and rytm both donā€™t have the paint problem.

I think when the warranty runs out Iā€™ll get a custom paint job.

8

so basicly after a long awaited reply by the US office they just send me an email saying they are hoing to charge me 200 bucks to change the faceplate!! WTF!! I think this is the last Elektron product Ill br buying, horrible customer care, and simply im bother by the fact that they are not willing to fix something its well known and a manufacturers defect, The person I purchased this from cant locate the original recipt, and Elektron eu is saying elektron USA has the jurisdiction to dictate if I was going to get charge, Im I over reacting? I mean I paid over a 1000 bucks for a synth that sounds great but simply started to fall apart on its own, That to me is a lot of Bull Cā€¦ Im not sure if any of the main guys ever reads this boards but in case they do great way to keep your customers happyā€¦ srsly I was about to drop another grand on a rythm but forget itā€¦ jerksā€¦

9

I agree, that sounds pretty fucked up. Let us know if something changes.

10

F that. Donā€™t give up. Just read something about Elektron being obligated to provide a invoice in the AR Purchase Woes thread. FYI

11

those Jerks havnt even answered my emails , giving up at this point but hey new buyers watch out for this guysā€¦ sadly not what they seemed to be

12

Sounds like Elektron is making some seriously bad decisions lately.
The scenario you are telling is about is unacceptable.

As a manufacturer you always have a chance to make mistakes, it happens. If you fix them people will praise you for it, if you donā€™t people will hate you for it.

Iā€™m really surprised Elektron is choosing the negative route, there is nothing to gain with that choice. There is a lot to lose though!

This is exactly the reason why I bought my Analog Rytm at a store that provides a 3 year warranty and not directly at Elektron, their customer support is starting to suck big time :(.

I hope they will offer you a better solution after all!

13

I was pretty late to the Elektron party but even in the short time that Iā€™ve been interested in, and then buying, their gear I have noticed a bit of a slump on the old customer services front.

While this is no justification it is something Iā€™ve seen a lot of recently in the music scene. Companies increasing their rate of new product releases at the expense of customer service (both new and old) and quality control issues are on the increase. DSI are notorious for this.

Though I find it had to accept I do understand why, for example, development of the Octatrack has stalled, I do think cases such as this are completely unacceptable. Elektron gear aint cheap, itā€™s a shame that in a lot of cases quality doesnā€™t match the asking price.

Hopefully now with the AR out there that is it for a few years as far as physical releases go and the guys can get things back on track.

14

Gotta say, I had mine fixed by Elektron in L.A., US, a few months ago; I had no problems, and it was free.

They replaced the front panel and the side/bottom piece that makes up the rest of the enclosure. They explained that the process might take a little time, since it included generating a new custom serial number plate, in Sweden, since the old one is not removable from the enclosure, as most arenā€™t. They apologized that this sounded a little convoluted. Correspondence was a little slow, but the whole process was done in a few weeks. (And Iā€™m on the other side of the country.) The new enclosure and faceplate have not chipped whatsoever under heavy use.

Did the person you bought it from do it online? Or use a credit card? Or from Elektron? If not, the retailer would have a record. If the original owner paid cash, Iā€™ll guess they did, they should have registered it, but I gather they didnā€™t. Buying a used product that was originally paid for with cash and was never registered is an unlikely but unfortunate confluence.

I also bought mine used for about $1000. I worked with Elektron.se online, and the original owner, to get registered as the new owner. I assume they want to charge you because they canā€™t confirm that you are a legitimate owner. This might not be a bad thing; If some bastard stole my A4, Iā€™d hope theyā€™d get hassled by Elektron.

BTW, the three year warranty does state that repairs are free, and transfers to a new owner in the case of a used sale:

ā€œBeing able to prove the date of the original purchase with an invoice or a receipt is necessary if you require warranty service. If the machine should need a repair during the warranty period no charges will be applied for parts or labor. This warranty is transferable to other owners should the Elektron machine be resold during the warranty period.ā€

(It goes on to say that T-Shirts arenā€™t covered. Damn.)

As has been mentioned here many times before, thatā€™s a generous policy.

I found the customer service in SE and US excellent. I was kept happy. I didnā€™t encounter any jerks. (Even Cenk himself handled some of it, and he was on tour.)

Iā€™ll gladly buy more Elektron in the future.

Just my own personal experienceā€¦

15

I donā€™t think proving date of original purchase or anything else for that matter (theft excluded) should matter. If it has defective paint, the manufacturer should pay for all costs including shipping both ways. This is what is keeping me from buying this product. I hope someone forwards this thread to Elektron to show them that they are losing customers by being idiots. It already happened to Dave Smith Instruments. Letā€™s see where this goes. Customers deserve better. Once a company has a bad reputation, it is VERY difficult to get that back.

16

If itā€™s important to you, and is preventing your purchase, then read the warranty. Repairs of defects are free, just provide proof of sale. (Shipping was $15 for me, across 3000 miles. No big deal.). You have 3 years. Even if you bought it used. Thatā€™s a generous policy. Check out some other manufacturersā€™ warranties.

The OP has a problem with the apparent $200 charge. He simply hasnā€™t met the warrantyā€™s criteria for free service.

There is also an implication that the correspondence is slow. Sure, but I had my A4 pumping again in a few weeks. Is this really a PR disaster thatā€™s preventing people from buying? The DSI comparison doesnā€™t seem fair. Especially since Elektronā€™s A4 updates have been over the top. Polyphony, upcoming audio interface., etc. Nobodyā€™s being abandoned as some DSI owners complain.

And how would they exclude theft, if thatā€™s a legitimate reason to charge, other than confirming sale?

On the other hand, even if they really were going to charge $200, believe me, that is a steal for a multicolored steel enclosure anyway. Theyā€™re not making any profit there.

17

I bought an Apple MacBook some time ago the battery was defective went in to the store and bettery was replaced no need to show proof of purchase , my point is be accountable for your own products defects and be willing to not look like the bad guy in any case Iā€™m just relief by the fact that the unit works fine how ever selling this is going to be hard I retracted myself from purchasing the Rythm and I will not longer be purchasing any elektron stuff ever like I said before so far I started my anti elektron campaign amongs fellow artist, funny enough I donā€™t seem to be the only cry baby out thereā€¦ Sadlyā€¦ On the bright side I received a PM from a forum member that is making my situation a bit better canā€™t say much but thank you!! You know how you are :wink:

Again stay away from purchasing eBay preowned elektron stuff without the original recipt, even if you register the device under your name it doesnā€™t mean jack!!

18

Yeah man,

Sorry thatā€™s awful. I was actually lucky, the guy who sold my my MNM through EU told me he was sending the sales receipt, and to hold on to it as it had 1 3/4 years left on the warranty, and since then I have all my receipts for the OT,A4, and AR in a folder in my paperwork drawer.

Sorry this has turned you off from Elektron. Although they donā€™t have the quickest response time, they have always responded, (and usually itā€™s personally from people high up the food chain) and try to make things right.

19

posted the link to their FB page and some one directed the photo to tho owner CEO Or at least it says he was on his profile, also I just realized the lunch date of the A4 was August 2012 is not like it has been around for 10 years, Im not trying to take advantage of the policy simply Im acting as a consumer and like any other consumer out there I would like for them to be responsable for their own mistakes

20

Ja - guys - you must see one point - and this is the production process. So a couple of faceplates are produced at once - where I think that this black color is a powder which hardens in a ovenā€¦ but it looks like that temperature wasnā€™t correct.

I think itā€™s better not painting the devices in general - but will make them more expensive inatead of the useof brushed aluminium.

So Elektron has to fight with the manufacturer of the faceplates ā€¦ and 200$ for a faceplate is far away from customers interest and real value in my opinion.

This is a manufacturing error - pretty shure - a quality issue - and if this happens - the company must do all the best to avoid it.

21

The problem is that the OT, which came out in 2011, has a much better finish than the A4, (I would say the perfect finish!) so itā€™s a total mystery why they switched (aside from the usual reason, which is to save money).

So yeah. Elektron, QUALITY above everything else is a lesson learned over the ages which is always forgotten when some scrub at a boardroom meeting utters the words: ā€œbā€¦bā€¦bā€¦but we can save XXXYYYY Kronnor if we go with this Chinese paint company instead of the one we used for the OT!!!ā€.