Impact telltales on the boxes would help with diagnosis too.
A friend of mine lives in PG Woodhouseâs former house, where he wrote some of his most well known books - thatâs the author, not my friend. Emsworth to Barnham is quite a way for @anon95106626, Iâm impressed.
I think that, yes its not great, but every business will have problems from time to time, and its the way these problems are resolved that matters, for me it was done ASAP, it didnât cost me anything, and the only inconvenience was the extra time it was away ( about 2 weeks ), so really canât complain.
Plus seeing how things get treated these days, between manufacturers and users, I can see how things get damaged, yes could blame Naim, but really its not easy to fix, as people just have no respect for things these days, and its worse if they thing, whats inside is valuable.
As I said in my thread about my small problem, I was very happy how Naim handled it all, and couldnât really see how it could have been better apart from Naim coming to my house to fix.
So I will be the first to say, Thanks, plus my 552 has never sounded this good
Cheers
I actually live about 10 mins from the Naim factory. I recently ordered a Fraim via a dealer who Iâve used before up north. Understandably, the Fraim look longer than expected to process. When it eventually emerged a week late I asked my dealer to ask Naim if I could pop down the road to pick it up, rather than wait an additional three days for it to go up to Rochdale then back down to me. They said no.
I suppose the point Iâm making is that Naim, like any other business, have processes and protocols to follow. I think there is a tendency to feel we should be âspecialâ because weâve spent X or have been loyal customers, but the reality is they can only do their best given that, ultimately, mistakes happen. Really, in terms of treatment or aftercare, it shouldnât matter if itâs ÂŁ2k or ÂŁ20k that has been spent.
@anon4489532, as youâre aware the A27 is the stuff of nightmares. Cycling is only a bit longer, is good for me and the planet, man.
Well, that proves itâs a 1 in 20 ratio of problems per component bought.
Not a problem for me JimâŚNaim is a great brand, makes wonderful components, and cares about customers.
However the only coin for me is the relatively important number of issues and return, not a fact, just an impression, since maybe one year.
I wish I could find the picture of a 500 head unit (IIRC) which was turned in to a V-shape by a courierco. several years ago - one can only imagine that a fork-lift prong or somesuch penetrated the box. I know there are many Forumites who have been appalled at how courierco.'s have handled their prize (much loved) kit.
As @robert_h says, you can bet Naim will be all over this matter like a rash, as the last thing an SME scale manufacturing business needs is returns issues, with the feed-on in to market reputation.
It would be interesting to understand what the issue is, as there are so many things within the end to end map it could be. We already know Naim experienced a dicky batch of relays and being a relatively small user/consumer within the wider marketplace, one suspects the supplier shrugged their shoulders and didnât offer any relief, not overlooking within this that Naim rely on the QC & QA of others.
Someone should start a hifi/electronics courier co for the industry.
Not just hi-fi. I was in a blinds & awnings shop a while back a courier walked in and said âplease sign hereâ. The long thin box they were carrying was battered, split and bent out of shape, The recipient said something like âyouâre kiddingâ. The courier pointed out it had to be delivered and only after this could a claim be made - so it was signed-for with great reluctance.
Bang on Martin
Can they sound different from unit to unit?
I had a problem with my 552 after a month where the buttons stopped working and I could not change channel. Dealer sent it back straight away to HQ, and my dealer kindly offered me their demo unit while mine was being fixed. It came back sorted and been singing fine ever since. As many have said, troubles occur and that is part of modern life, but how the company handles it that makes the difference and I for one could not be happier with the service I received.
To the OP it must be really tough having this happen not once but twice and being in another part of the globe compounds the problem sadly. If my experience is anything to go by you will get a spot on 552 and this initial headache phase will fall into distant memory and you will be enjoying the music.
What car was it? Thats very unfortunate!
Maybe the reason that Naim products have increased in faults and needed to be returned to Customer service more frequently in the past year is because components have become more complex so more can go wrong. In the car business the Range Rover is found quite often at the very bottom of the yearly reliability scale (from new) because there is so much in the car that can go wrong. Its not only Range Rover but some models of BMW and AUDI come on the low part of the list. For me they all have that common denominator of being complex and sophisticated cars, maybe the quality of production of such cars cannot keep up with the test pass rate examinationâŚ
It was a Porsche 911 (991.2) GT3, extremely frustrating! Thankfully I had purchased an extended warranty which covered the third failure.
In the country where I live, a GT3 is worth close to twenty 552s !
Perhaps after the kids are done with college ⌠if Iâm still employed
I was pulling a few more faces that that
Thats imho,utter nonsense.german cars were never as reliable as Japanese,and Lexus showed them up as the overpriced junk they were,Mercedes tried to keep up with Lexus which have enormous levels of kit on them,but donât go wrong,by putting loads off stuff on their cars and their reliabilty tanked because they didnât make sure it would be reliable.and that is backed up by reliabillity surveys for very many years and personal experience of Lexus.the myth of German reliabity and good build has even proven by the same surveys.also land and range rovers have always been at the bottom of surveys,and always have been
A number of years ago, probably at least 20, the respected UK motoring publication, Autocar, explained the difference in German & Japanese car reliability in the following way.
The luxury German brands have to be cutting edge technology to maintain their reputations as the âbest money can buyâ. Hence the cars must have all the latest gizmos as soon as possible, leaving less time for long term testing. That is what their customers expect & demand.
The Japanese will not put the latest technology in their cars until they have watched what happens to it in the European cars for a couple of years & that they are sure the technology either works pretty much fault free or they can fix any issues that occur in their rivals vehicles.
That is why Japanese cars feature at the top of reliability surveys & German cars usually donât. That is also why most prestige German cars are good to drive with noticeable characteristics , making even the most mundane journey feel special, whilst most Japanese cars do a great job of getting you from A to B but are void of any character at all, meaning the journey is quickly forgotten.
Nothing wrong with no character, many people (probably the majority) simply want to go from A to B & donât care how they get there as long as they do, time after time. However some of us regard our cars like our Naim Hi Fi, & just want something that stands out from the crowd &, in our opinion, provides a little extra than other makes do.
One other point to think about. I have driven 3 series BMWs since 1992 & have experienced no breakdowns at all & just a couple of minor, easy & cheap to rectify faults. I owned one of the cars for 13 years. My cars have always been serviced by my local main dealer as per the service schedules.
I have got to know, & trust, my dealer well over the years. A while back they told me that over 50% of the faults they had to repair were on cars that the owners had not had serviced according to the manufacturers schedule because âthis car cost a lot of money, was running fine until it broke down so didnât need servicing &, being a BMW, I didnât expect it to break downâ.
As the dealer said, the prestige brands are usually quite technically sophisticated so do require servicing to the manufacturers specifications in order for them to keep running reliably.
The average Japanese car therefore probably has fewer systems to cause problems, those systems are tested for longer before being sold to a less demanding customer that the German car owner &, because their car didnât cost ÂŁ50,000 it probably isnât of the same quality as itâs German equivalent & therefore will need servicing when the manufacturer says it will!
BTW Autocar also said that British manufacturers want their vehicle to have all the latest kit as soon as it becomes available but lag badly behind the Germans & Japanese in the quality control department & are not particularly bothered, whatever they say publicly.
I think I can sum up by saying the German & Japanese car customers are, more often than not, looking for very different qualities in their vehicles, which are provided by the various manufacturers. The German cars are usually better to drive & the Japanese cars more reliable but usually less exiting. Whilst there are exceptions, German models will usually beat Japanese models in group tests which, by their nature, can only really be about the driving experience & are totally unable to offer any insight to each vehicles future reliability.
I am not claiming my BMW is better than your Lexus. Just, hopefully, pointing out that there are many things to consider when saying Japanese cars are more reliable than German ones with perhaps the intention of proving that they must therefore be better.
I think there are many parallels with the Hi Fi industry here but I feel that I have already gone on long enoughâŚ
Hoping you read this in the constructive spirit it is intended to be in.