Korg Forums

Hi folks,

My Kronos 88 died on April 27 - I dropped it off for repairs at a nearby authorized service center on May 1. It is under 2 years factory warranty that will expire in December 2014. Latest info from the service center is that by now all 5 electronics boards have been exchanged and it is still not working.

I complained to Korg USA customer service many times : they keep saying it may take a little longer and it will work. They say there is no limit how long the repair may take or what to do if the repair is not successful and they refused to provide any technical information regarding a diagnosis. Now the only thing they did not exchange yet is the power supply unit.
If that works (there is no estimate when it could happen) all well. But if not then there does not seem to be a plan to fall back to or a procedure to follow.

I wonder if there is anything I could do more to get my keyboard back working.

Did anyone have any comparable service experience or failure situation? Did someone take a unit before a repair under warranty was complete and take it to another service center? Does this void the warranty? Can we as customers expect to have given a diagnosis if the keyboard fails?

I am concerned ever since the service center revealed that the Korg support technician was not able to help localize the failure but advised them to change all 5 circuit boards.

I am not a musician whose work and income may depend on this workstation but many members in this forum are and I wonder if they knew that Korg could let a unit under warranty for 2 months unpaired

Or maybe my case is not so unique and "caveat emptor" why did not i research Korg Warranty better before shelling out the cash.

Any advice welcome,
cheers
Z

It is ashamed it has taken so long, but I would not do a thing now... except wait for it to be fixed. Moving it will do no good. You really don't need to know the diagnosis or anything, you just need your working board back.

If all that is left is the power, that makes little sense...it would have been the first thing I looked at if there was no power to anything.

If you are under warranty you may end up with a new board since this one isn't getting better.

Patience is definitely key and will work in your favor.

Why is the retailer not involved ?

I would check warranty conditions, they usually state they need to provide a fix within a reasonable time frame. If so, perhaps find a lawyer type who could write them a slightly more aggressive letter. Other than that, it sucks, but you need them to fix your problem
Good luck and I hope it gets fixed soon!

Zodder: What country are you based in? Where (country) did you buy your Kronos?

SanderXpander wrote:I would check warranty conditions, they usually state they need to provide a fix within a reasonable time frame. If so, perhaps find a lawyer type who could write them a slightly more aggressive letter. Other than that, it sucks, but you need them to fix your problem
Good luck and I hope it gets fixed soon!

A ' lawyer type " in the US would easily require $2000 to $5000 to open a case.

There are some canned legal services but a letter from them will look like its out of the can.

Zodder obviously got a lemon. Maybe he can explain how he purchased it. If from a retailer, they should share in the pain and offer some help.

Thanks for the comments so far.
Here's some more info:

I reside in the U.S., let's say in state XX and bought the Kronos state YY. I'd rather not disclose the precise locations before understanding that how the general opinion turns: if you guys advise that the situation is already beyond hmm, repair then no problem disclosing but if the opinion is that do not worry Korg does this all the time then you now, I throw mud on an innocent (?) service center.

The Kronos 88 was new in sealed factory packaging. I got it at a goodprice probably because it was a stocked for long, it has a low 3,000 serial number (so it is under 3,600 but what did I know about key bed issues, luckily I did not have any key bed problems so far).

It worked nearly perfectly until the day it died. The exact failure symptom: it turns on, then after a few seconds it displays the error message "System Startup Failure". I did research the forums and there was a post about this symptom and a recommended 9 step process to realign the memory and SSD modules. I printed that off and gave it to the service center. They stated a few days later that it did not work and they got on with the Korg Technical Support technician who, after many iteration recommended to change all 5 active circuit boards. Then they reported that Korg does not have all circuit boards in stock, 2 is on back order no confirmed availability date. Then a week later they informed me that Korg decided to instruct some stores to remove the 2 unavailable units from Kroneses on display. This is of course what the service center said I have no way of verification.

OK, in many ways I do see the intent on Korg's part to enable "speedy" resolution with concurrent multiple board exchanges instead of changing the boards one at a time. However even this method has failed and there is still no diagnosis.

The laughable outcome could be that they change the power supply unit (yeah, in theory there could be a component loose and affect the DC output in a way - i.e. inadequate filtering or unstable DC voltage that could affect different boards differently) - and still fail to repair. Since at least the BIOS works (there is after all an error message on the display) an all-out power supply failure is fairly unlikely, no wonder they kept it as a last resort.

My worry is that what if the last resort fails?

Legal avenue may be an option but shall be may very last option as businesses are fairly well protected in the U.S. while consumer protection is relatively weak. Public opinion on the other hand is very powerful here maybe I should post a video on YT showing the failed unit, if I ever get it back and the documentation... Maybe it goes viral... if only I had an attractive daughter to show off with it...

Well, any advice or opinion is welcome.
Z

Perhaps a relative or friend knows enough lawyer speak to write a good letter. The only point to it is to make them feel like you're serious and turning up the heat.

There should be no question of the "last resort" failing. If they can't fix it, Korg owes you a new unit. I know Dan isn't in customer service but if you're really stuck and don't know how to move on perhaps he'd know who you could call/contact next.

Yesterday I got the Kronos back, working just fine.

The conclusion was that, afterall both the main board and power supply unit failed.

Oh, the time through resolution was exactly two months 5/1-7/1.

Thanks for all who gave advice,

Z

Possibly the mobo failed because of the faulty power supply. Happened to me once with a computer, very expensive piece of bad luck.

Glad you got it back finally!

If I took that kind of time to repair our equipment I would be fire and we would lose valuable business. 2.5 months for a motherboard and power supply is seriously laughable.

Zodder wrote:Oh, the time through resolution was exactly two months 5/1-7/1.

That seems a little extreme. You should indicate which service center.

And also don't forget to post a pic of your kronos...



http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... &start=555

I'd like to see an official response from Korg on this issue (not talking about the likes of Dan, I appreciate he comes on here in his own time etc), but I know I wont. Which is why the Kronos is the last Korg product I will ever buy (unless things at Korg radically change)

Far far far far too many times, regardless of the country, regardless of whether it's an actual Korg service centre (in the case of the UK) or whether it's an authorised repair centre, the small number of people that get faults with their Kronos are more often than not without it for weeks at a time, often months and in many cases have got it back still with a fault and have had to return it (often more than once)

An off the shelf motherboard, I presume Korg has stocked up on these before they become unavailable.

Power supply, really Korg cant get them shipped to a service centre within a couple of days?

Or are the service centres at fault, in which case, why does Korg let them be authorised service centres?

It simply isn't good enough.

If my MB or power supply dies, I expect Korg to hold spares for current models. I don't believe there's been a run on power supplies and MB (if there is, that's a completely separate worrying development)

Fine, me ordering parts a year ago for my Triton Extreme, it took a few weeks to get the parts shipped from Japan, I expect that on a products that's not been made for many years but a current product, their flagship product, it simply shouldn't happen.

Mind you, I bet in the next few posts someone comes along and sticks up for Korg.

As Bertotti says, that sort of service would be totally unacceptable in any other properly run business and would get the people concerned fired if they treated the customers like that.

Thankfully the EU has strong consumer laws, Englands sale of goods act states (this is with the retailer selling it, not with Korg)

Under the Sale of Goods Act, when you sell something to a customer you have an agreement or contract with them.

A customer has legal rights if the goods they purchased do not conform to contract (are faulty).

The Act says that to conform to contract goods should

• match their description
by law everything that is said about the product must not be misleading – whether this is said by a sales assistant, or written on the packaging, in-store, on advertising materials or in a catalogue

• be of satisfactory quality
quality of goods includes
– appearance and finish
– freedom from minor defects (such as marks or holes)
– safe to use
– in good working order
– durability

Your responsibilities for the goods you sell
You are responsible for the goods you sell and if a customer returns an item they purchased from you that is faulty (it does not conform to contract) because it
• does not match the description
• is not of satisfactory quality
• is not fit for purpose,
you (not the manufacturer or supplier) are legally obliged to resolve the matter with the customer at any time for up to six years from the date of purchase, or in Scotland for up to five years from the discovery of the problem.

Any refund, repair or replacement you arrange with your customer relating to faulty goods must not cause them too much inconvenience and you will have to pay for other costs, for example, collection or delivery.

Possibly the problem is that Korg is too small to really have its own service centers. Over here in Holland for instance, Korg repairs are handled simply by the distributor, which is a separate company doing like 20 brands of which Korg is one. They basically have one or two guys handling actual Korg repairs and house/store visits, and I'm sure they have other duties too.

Compared to for instance Roland which has its own office in Belgium, handling everything Roland for Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg.

I expect it's really not that different (except in in scale, perhaps) in other countries.

Ojustaboo wrote:I'd like to see an official response from Korg on this issue

[/quote]

not realistic

1) this is a message board. Not an official Korg site

2) the owner declined to mention the retailer or make any statement about their involvement. In the US, it can happen that the retailer participates in a solution since the same retailer enjoyed a profit from the sale. Retailers can choose to offer various resources to help satisfy a customer in the interim.

3) the independently owned service center did not carry supply stock in the circuit boards.

4) the diagnosis was not 100% clear until the end(?), when on or about July 1, the main board and power supply unit failed.