What a palaver!
Having followed the 52 and Pots 8 thread my interest was piqued and so I contacted Naim Central to enquire as to whether or not my 52 Pre Amp had indeed got the Pots 8 upgrade.
Next day back came the reply that they were not sure but that it was due a service since they last saw it in 2012!
I decided that I would get it and the SuperCap serviced and have the 52 upgraded if it needed it. That evening out came the boxes from the Attic and equipment securely installed and the boxes thoroughly sealed ready to take to my local Naim dealer in Epsom. Back in March I had sent my Nat 02 back to Salisbury for a service and the process had been so simple and straightforward.
On the Friday I phoned Rob at Sevenoaks Hi Fi to ask if it would be okay to drop my kit off so that it could be serviced.
āNoā! came back the prompt reply. Naim had come up with a different system for returning equipment back to Salisbury for servicingā¦ā¦.
Rob informed me that he would notify Naim about what I wanted. Later that day Rob emailed to say that Naim would accept my equipment.
Please see attached docs.
Each item has a shipping label and a sheet to fill in and include.
Please add your Pots8 request there.
The service is Ā£399 each which you can pay by calling us in the shop now.
We will then let them know to expect the two units.
01372 720720
01372 940031
They have advised of a turnaround for service of around four weeks.
Please then attach / include as above and box them up securely.
Royal Mail offer a good collect from home service. Please insure to an appropriate value per unit.
Once complete, they will be returned to the shop for collection in Epsom.
I recently got a new iMac which no longer interfaces with my Epsom Printer although my old iMac which I kept because it runs Photoshop 6 does because I refuse to pay a monthly subscription to use it on my new iMac.
Unfortunately I could not get my Mail account on my old computer to accept Robās email which was sent to my new Mail account on the new iMac no matter how hard I tried or what I did. No problem. I rushed round to my next door neighbours who kindly agreed to print the labels off for me. Quick sprint back to the house and forwarded Robās email to my next door neighbours. Sprint back to the neighbours and collect the labels and then sprint back home with the documentation.
Unpackaged my two boxes to complete the forms and insert into the boxes. Resealed the boxes. Back onto the phone to Rob to ask how I was to go about getting the two parcels to Salisbury. Easy apparently. Weigh them and find the value for each item. How do I find that out I enquire. Easy just go on Ebay and find a similar item and the asking price. I took a stab at it and came up with Ā£2500 for the 52 Pre and Ā£2000 for the SuperCap. Brilliant! I was ready to go. Back to Rob, how do I arrange collection. Set up an account with the Post Office and they will collect it from your house what could be simpler or easier than that you might ask.
Despite numerous attempts and setting up Passwords and the like I was not able to arrange for them to be collected when I would be in. Looking online I found that there were three Post Offices near me that could processes them and send them on their way to Salisbury. Brilliant!
Bundle the boxes into the car and off down the road, approximately 2 miles. Unloaded the boxes from the car and crossed the dual carriageway to the Post Office only to find that the person who normally did the processing was not available. It was now 16:30 and I had been involved in this simple matter since 09:00 that morning and I had quite frankly had enough by then.
Back home and removed the boxes from the car and placed them in the hallway ready for first thing on Saturday morning when I could try all over again to get my boxes off to Salisbury. Armed with all the confidence of the ignorant I got a friend to drive me to the next branch of the Post Office and to park on the yellow lines whilst I unloaded the two boxes and got them into the Post Office. The Parking Wardens are quite officious round here and I was loath to leave the two packages unattended whilst I moved the car. Service is glacially slow on occasions. Did I tell you about my inquinal hernia? I see the consultant next week.
However I was in luck, there was no queue! Got to the cashier to be told that their system was down and that they did not know when it would be up and running again.
Load the boxes back into the car and drive to the third of the three designated Post Office Branches which is situated in a Shopping Centre approximately four and half miles away. Parking on the third floor of the car park I was lucky to find a shopping trolley and by some fluke of chance I just happened to have a pound coin in my pocket to un-attach it from its companions.
Shortly after 11:20 I parted company with my two boxes.
It had taken nearly a day and a half to carry out such a simple task. And here is the rub. Salisbury will be sending the equipment back to my Dealer in Epsom where I will ruck up in my car, park on the yellow lines in front of the shop, nip in and say āHi Robā and promptly load the boxes into my car and be off.
I am sure that when I spin a disc or two after I have reassembled my system all the hassle I have gone through will be soon forgotten and I will only have pleasant thoughts to think aboutā¦ā¦ā¦
