I sent my Tejon in for service, here is how that is going.

[MarkCZ]

Sent it via UPS and Tesoro received it Mon-21st
They called me on Tuesday -22nd. During this call they were very friendly and stated that they couldn't find any warranty information for me and the Tejon, I told that that I wasn't the original owner. She said in these cases there is a fixed charged of $50.00 to get the unit in and checked out, this covers the diagnostics and basic tuning and return shipping.
She arranged payment over the phone of the $50.00 and said if there was any other repairs that needed to be done they would contact me and let me know what all it would be.

Jump to today Thursday 24th.

They called back and informed me that the finger toggle switch needed to be replaced and other than tuning and calibrating that was all, the extra cost would be $17.00 She arranged payment over the phone and told me that the detector would be sent out either this evening or in the morning.
I thought that the whole deal went very well and the cost was really fair.
They are going to fix the detector and ship it back to me for a total of $67.00

Mark

 

[D&P-OR]

You don't get any more fair repair costs & faster repair than that these days.------Glad you got it fixed up.

 

[Gso125]

That's great info for anyone buying a used tesoro and not to bad on cost for repairing it.

 

[tabman]

The tune-up might be worth the trip and cost if it happened to be a little out of tune.

tabman

 

[kaolinwasher]

you can't beat that , keep in mind it took a full 6 months for me to get my bliss tool fixed. in comparison tesoro is NO 1

 

[MarkCZ]

I knew about the toggle problem or about it sometimes sticking in the forward position (I had lubed it sometime back and its was working good when I sent it in, I had told them about this in a note I placed in with the detector)
I had also included in the note that both discrimination controls would give off an audible response as you rotated them through the foil range.
I ask about the disc controls while on the phone with them today, she said that other than the toggle switch all the other stuff was only tuning and calibration. I didn't feel that both controls were bad or they wasn't likely to be in the exact some spot! and the exact same audio response.

Now, when I get it back I can compare it with my other Tejon! I told her that I had two Tejon's and when I got the second one, it freed up the one to be sent in for repairs.

Mark

 

[D&P-OR]

SIX MONTHS on Bliss repair??? I would have sold that thing just as soon as I got it back!

you can't beat that , keep in mind it took a full 6 months for me to get my bliss tool fixed. in comparison tesoro is NO 1

 

[Pap]

Well to me that sounds like a fair cost for the service.
Pap

 

[MarkCZ]

I thought the price was fair to really good and the turn around was excellent!

Mark

Well to me that sounds like a fair cost for the service.
Pap

 

[jld66]

you can't beat that , keep in mind it took a full 6 months for me to get my bliss tool fixed. in comparison tesoro is NO 1

6 months? should have sold that one to pay your bill and kept the vaquero.

 

[WV62]

So now you will have that warm and fuzzy factory fresh feeling.

I think that your money was well spent.

Brother Ron in WV

 

[Monte]

She said in these cases there is a fixed charged of $50.00 to get the unit in and checked out, this covers the diagnostics and basic tuning and return shipping.

It's 'fair' to charge a nominal fee to cover checking the detector out and return shipping. Diagnostics is just checking the detector out, but "basic tuning?" I am curious what "basic tuning" they do to the detectors that have a manual GB?

If there's a problem like a bad coil that needs repair, that would be a charge. Parts that need to be replaced? A charge.

Just curious what the "basic tuning" is and when the returned unit arrives, check the tag and let me know ... if you don't mind.

Thanks, and I'm pleased Tesoro is getting on repairs quickly and fairly.

Monte

 

[Mega]

Glad its all being sorted out and the problem is a small one,they do seem to be pretty well on the ball when it comes too servicing.

But i must admit the lifetime warrenty that they always promote heavily is not worth anything at all apart from the original owner,and as we are all aware folks do change detectors,so going by your experiance if someone ws to buy a new detector and then its sold say a year down the road and only been used a few times,if anything 'major' was too go wrong and these things do happen,then the new owner could end up paying a fair amount out to rectify the problem.

These days when i buy anything detector related i try and find out if the warrenty is transferable,1st prior to buying anything.

Glad its sorted out for you.

 

[SkiWhiz]

 

[MarkCZ]

She said in these cases there is a fixed charged of $50.00 to get the unit in and checked out, this covers the diagnostics and basic tuning and return shipping.

It's 'fair' to charge a nominal fee to cover checking the detector out and return shipping. Diagnostics is just checking the detector out, but "basic tuning?" I am curious what "basic tuning" they do to the detectors that have a manual GB?

If there's a problem like a bad coil that needs repair, that would be a charge. Parts that need to be replaced? A charge.

Just curious what the "basic tuning" is and when the returned unit arrives, check the tag and let me know ... if you don't mind.

Thanks, and I'm pleased Tesoro is getting on repairs quickly and fairly.

Monte

Hi Monte,
Well the person I talked to I don't believe was a technician, the terms she used could have been a 'General' response' of "Tuning and or Calibration" I took that to mean if the technician is checking it out and nothing is really broken but if something is just out of specification and can be tuned or calibrated then the up front $50.00 would include that.

Now in my case I knew my Tejon had had trouble with the finger toggle mode switch sticking sometime back, I had lubed it last fall and it freed it up and I included that in my problem report that I packed with the detector.
So, the first call I got from them was nothing more than, they had received it and to get it into service and checked out was an up front fee of $50.00

Now, the second call I got was the same lady, she says that my detector other than the toggle switch checked out okay except for needing calibrated and the coil tuned (I still don't know what that is??) I ask about the problem with the audio response with both of the discrimination controls as they pass through the foil range and she said that "tuning and calibration took care of everything else."

I should get the detector back today or Monday and I'll check the repair order and post back what it says.

Now my thoughts on the matter at this point is it may be possible that something tiny like a .22 cent resistor or a diode that the service department may just replace it and not even write it up, the lady on the phone when she quoted me the price on the toggle did say "Mark, that toggle switch is kind of expensive and the charge for it was $17.00" She sounded like (acted like) I might fire back something about that much of a cost, all I said was "Well if that's the total cost then that also included labor" and it did.

Other little comments she made gave me the impression that some people when they're called still have the idea that Tesoro fixes their detector's for free! She was real cautious at the beginning of the first call when she stated "Mark, we can't find any warranty information on file here for your Tejon?" then at another point during our talk she stated something to the effect of "I do pretty good with the difficult calls if its not the first one of the day." I felt a little bit sorry for her thinking how mean some people can get when they have the idea that their 15 year old detector that they're the third or forth owner of is going to cost Something!! to get it fixed. I used to deal with the public when I did auto repair and boy! a lot of times quoting someone a price for a repair could be a nightmare, even a small price!

Waiting for the detector and thinking about the conversation and any doubts about it, I don't see the discrimination controls being fixed without something else being replaced! But for now I'm on hold until it arrives and I can check it out and look over the repair ticket.

I also want to say that the lady I talked with at Tesoro was very friendly and handled our communications very WELL! and was never out of line, she had no way of knowing that I had sold some detecting stuff and set aside $150.00 for the repair and hoping to NOT need that much, so the $67.00 was a pleasant response that was easy on the ear.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

Glad its all being sorted out and the problem is a small one,they do seem to be pretty well on the ball when it comes too servicing.

But i must admit the lifetime warrenty that they always promote heavily is not worth anything at all apart from the original owner,and as we are all aware folks do change detectors,so going by your experiance if someone ws to buy a new detector and then its sold say a year down the road and only been used a few times,if anything 'major' was too go wrong and these things do happen,then the new owner could end up paying a fair amount out to rectify the problem.

These days when i buy anything detector related i try and find out if the warrenty is transferable,1st prior to buying anything.

Glad its sorted out for you.

Fisher, Teknetics, Bounty Hunter, and others only have a three year or five year warranty that's not transferable. Yes, they are a few others that have a transferable warranty, but I don't think any have a transferable lifetime warranty.

Mark

 

[WV62]

So I wonder what they would have to charge for a Tejon if they offered it with a forever warranty no matter how meny times it had been sold or traded? I am thinking about 3k and the used price would be about $2200.

I can picture a ad for a used one going something like this. FS well used Tejon non working only has half a coil, $1700 shipped.

For the guys that buy a machine new and keep it you can't beat the deal. But for those who trade and sale it cost a little to get some work done, still a good deal.

Ron in WV

 

[Monte]

Yes, it can be surprising what some people expect to happen with a unit that they didn't buy new and get the warranty for. I know Tesoro used to do more repairs for people on some used units w/o a charge, but that was in their earlier days. Today, there are more older Tesoro's out there and I am sure they have encountered a few more service needs with some models. It's only practical for them to hold the line on their "Lifetime Warranty" as they are in business, and business can be tough.

Especially now since they don't have the number of dealers or detector sales they once enjoyed, I can see them checking their files more. I can imagine what their phone conversations must be like with some who think everything ought to be 'free.' I do wonder what they would do, however, if anyone walked in their doors with a detector, even if they bought it used, 3rd-hand, etc.? I know I have enjoyed the benefit of living most of my life here in Oregon, and while White's only have a 2-year warranty, I have walked in with a number of different models I owned for myself or took on trade, or took in for friends of mine in Utah, Oregon, Idaho and elsewhere.

I'd have a unit to check out for them, found a problem, walked it into White's, and there was never a charge. That's their policy for almost any detector they have made that is brought in through their front door, and most of the time the repair is finished by lunchtime, if you go in shortly after they open. I was there once when a fellow brought in something that was just very old, back to the latter '60s, and the repair needed parts or service not easily available and they would have to do a little revision work to make the old worn model serviceable. I think his charge was about forty dollars and it would maybe take all day. It was close to 11 AM at the time they spoke with him.

I would hope that if someone walked a detector through Tesoro's front doors they might get similar service. Then, while waiting for the work to be completed, maybe they could check out some current models and walk out the door with an extra detector to accompany their fixed model?

Monte

 

[MarkCZ]

-- moved topic --

 

[tabman]

Wow Monte! Are you saying that if someone buys a Whites detector from you that they'll get a lifetime warranty even though Whites only offers a 2 year warranty, because you can walk the defective detector in the front door of the factory and get it fixed for free? Why don't Whites just charge shipping cost for the repair and save you the legwork?

I'm going to call Whites and check this out first hand, because this sounds like a great deal.

tabman