WRONG: Repaired Unit after Bottlehead Customer Service is still broken

[Bungler]

I built a Crack unit which had issues, and sent it off to Queenie and JB for repairs.
$125 later, NOT including S&H both ways on my dime, it's still not right. The left channel is noisy.

[johnsonad]

This is the wrong place to complain. It happens to be the right place to get help though. I would recommend relaxing some and awaiting some help from people who have your amp. The Crack is a well designed piece of kit and your problem can and will be addresed. Best not burn your bridges too soon.

And, once it does meet your expectations, welcome to a great and helping community.

[fullheadofnothing]

First of all, what is your real name? This is the first rule of the forum (http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,3.0.html) and is the only way we can link who you are in reality to who you are online.

Second, did you send your tubes in with your kit? Some people will not send in their tubes, so tube issues cannot be diagnosed.

Third, have you done any basic diagnostics, including, but not limited to, swapping interconnects (left to right, and using different cables overall), used a different source, moved your amp to another location, used different headphones, et cetera?

Paul generally runs in amps for several days to confirm that problems are resolved. But, as I was getting to in the last paragraph, issues involving your system and the environment it sits in can be the source of noises which will not be evident in our lab. He will be able to answer specifics about your repair but 1) it's Saturday night and 2) he's on vacation. As in all aspects of this hobby, patience will pay massive dividends.

[Natural Sound]

I've had my share of noisy tubes. As Josh suggested, maybe when you sent in your amp you didn't send your tubes? Do you have any spares?

[Paul Birkeland]

You are more than welcome to return the amp if the issue persists. 

We should, however, run through some basic diagnostics to ensure that nothing on your end is responsible for the noise.

-PB

[JamieMcC]

I had one channel go funky on my Crack once but it turned out I hadn't pushed one of my rca connectors in fully doahhh... Might be worth checking on both your dac and amp its something that's quick and easy to rule out.

[Doc B.]

It's been a week since this post was made. We are still happy to help resolve this if you would like to contact us here or by phone.

[Bungler]

Folks,
I'll take my lumps and move on.
It's not been a great experience for me, and I resent having to justify myself when all I've done is ask questions on the forums and spend money on customer service.
Done - if this is how Bottlehead deals with issues, yep, done.
I'll go pre-built from here on in.

[Natural Sound]

Folks,
I'll take my lumps and move on.
It's not been a great experience for me, and I resent having to justify myself when all I've done is ask questions on the forums and spend money on customer service.
Done - if this is how Bottlehead deals with issues, yep, done.
I'll go pre-built from here on in.

Sorry you feel this way. But it's not fair for you to say that the folks at Bottlehead haven't tried to help you. You posted exactly 5 posts. Two in this thread. That's a pretty lackluster attempt on your end to get things resolved if you ask me. You never replied to my questions either. And to be perfectly honest you haven't had the best attitude.

PM me if you want to sell it. I might know someone who can give it a good home.

[Paul Birkeland]

Folks,
I'll take my lumps and move on.
It's not been a great experience for me, and I resent having to justify myself when all I've done is ask questions on the forums and spend money on customer service.
Done - if this is how Bottlehead deals with issues, yep, done.
I'll go pre-built from here on in.

I'm certainly open to any ideas you might have on how we could better serve you.  All you need to do is repack the amp, and we will get it shipped back to us to remedy any issues that weren't addressed in the repair.

It is certainly your choice to forfeit your warranty on the repair (it will not transfer to the new buyer) and sell the amp, but that would be an unusual decision. 

[Doc B.]

We have said we want to help resolve the issue for you. That's pretty straightforward. When you weren't responsive I simply tried to contact you one more time to see if we could be of help. If you don't want to send it back in so we can make it right, well, that's your decision. If we can't get the amp back on the bench to find out what is wrong there is not much we can do to help, even if we want to help.