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Minelab's Service Policy - this may answer a few questions

A

Andy Sabisch

Active member
Minelab has established a new service policy and it contains stated positions on repairing / servicing old units, modifying detectors and adding non-Minelab accessories to Minelab detectors. Here is a copy of the policy so if you have one of the listed detectors, you will be aware that the unit will no longer be serviced or supported via the service department. Also, if you had thought of sending in a detector such as an Excalibur to have Gray Ghost headphones or a headphone plug installed as many have done in the past, that is also no longer an option . . . . .

At least with this information there should be no surprises.

Andy
 
Seems reasonable, It appears the 10 year limit is on hold for now. I had already heard parts were hard to get for the original sovereigns.
 
It's designed obsolescence and it sucks. It's also corporate arrogance. Haven't seen much of that lately in the US have we? I have two top end ML machines. Garrett and White's, although not as electrically progressive, are fast becoming a better choice. Wish Garrett or White's would reverse engineer the FBS and modify it just enough to not infringe on the patent. I need a top end water machine. Luckily I only work fresh water so the Tesoro Tigershark is also being considered. If this has stepped on Minelab's toes it has served its purpose.Unfortunately. the toes are often disconnected to the brain or heart.
I might start a thread that asks if you didn't want a Minelab machine, IYHO, what is the next best land machine and water machine? Jim
 
Andy,

Thanks for the info.

Coincidentally, I spoke with Bill in the Minelab Service Dept. last week about a 'tune-up' on my Sov. XS-2 Pro.
I shipped it to them via UPS on June 25th, and right now the package is somewhere between Illinois & Nevada.

It appears that in the info from the published document that the XS-2 can still be serviced.
I certainly hope that that's the case.

Anyway, it seems a little one-sided on Minlab's part.
Service parts should be available on their equipment, even if Minelab does not want to be responsible for the work.

Regards,
 
Sounds very reasonable to me. I figure if you want something to last an entire "lifetime", you might ought to buy a brick. It just might start crumbling though. It is expensive to keep inventories of 10, 15, even 20 year old equipment parts. It has been happening for ages to have a disconnect point to where you have to buy the new equipment or just switch to an inferior product to keep the older already outdated stuff you have. Good move by ML in my opinion to stay on the cutting edge while leaving good but outdated equipment behind. I'm sure that something can be built that would be serviceable for generations, we very likely would not want to pay the asking price, it would be bottom of the line anyway in a number of years as technology soars away from it. JMO
 
Hey Andy
after my little session with them on the relic hawk this comes out. They said that they do not sevice any detectors over 10 years old. Sent them three other emails to see if they would know where I could find a gel battery or who made them for them I got no answer from them at all. I have brought a Etrac Explorer pro, and a Excal in the past i do like there detectors but will look at other detectors in the future insted of Minelab. To say the least I was a little POed how i was treated by them.

Jason
 
Lifetime warranties are hard to come by with metal detectors.

If you find one, you've found "treasure" :rofl:
 
n/t
 
Overall they like other manufacturers are looking at the return on investment and investing in service and parts inventory versus declaring a product "end of life" is the way all of these folks go.

All that needs to happen now is for a small company to open up and offer to service their detectors.

A company might require a minimum service fee for examination and parts repair on top of that. Odds are that it would be difficult to make a go in that business as the volume isn't there.

My own thoughts are this. I keep in mind the primary cost of an item and determine when obsolescence is reached. We all see electronics at the curb all the time. TV repair shops are few and far between as it doesn't pay to repair items.

So a marketing point for their competition is the warranty period and the repair period.

Keep it in mind when next your are MD shopping..
 
marcomo said:
Lifetime warranties are hard to come by with metal detectors.

If you find one, you've found "treasure" :rofl:
Click to expand...


Yes ... and the Spanish word for treasure is what ???? ...:tesoro: ...
 
Thank you Mr. Sabisch
 
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