Minelabs Service???

[Digger]

When you get the headphones back, and hopefully you do, maybe you can post them on the Classifieds. According to your post two weeks ago, you already got rid of your CTX.

May 16, 2013 09:37PM

As far as i'm concerned, they can keep their bad customer service and headphones and move on. I have gotten rid of my CTX and went elsewhere. I knew better than to purchase a Minelab unit after my Excal episode. But wanted to give them a second chance. Costly mistake on my part. Live and learn. But i'm glad to hear so many of you get great service from Minelab, I just didn't it seems like.

 

[Digger]

Hey Randy, My name is Mel and I live up in Montana and in my one other post I talked about how Bad Minelab Customer Service is, now in Montana we get about 4 months of detecting weather. It's going on 3 weeks since I had a detector to play with and I'm a 100 percent disabled Vietnam Vet. but I can still get out and metal detect a couple hours a day. The difference between you, a Field Tester for the CTX 30/30 for probably the last 3 years and the rest of us is you have phone numbers that when you call Minelab a person answers the phone. The numbers I have are, 877-767-6522 or 630-401-8159. Now, I don't want to get in a @#$%& contest with you, I would just like the next time your CTX 30/30 breakes down, and it will break down, try calling the numbers that the rest of us have and see what happens and tell them that it Mel S. calling. PS, How about you do me a favor and call your phone number and see what happen to my machine. You take care, Mel.

First off, thanks for your service Mel. As I said, I wasn't making the post to defend Minelab's Customer Service. I recognize there have been problems. My point is that there are also those who have had good results. And when those positive comments are posted, some try to make is seem as if they are not telling the truth.

As to your CTX 3030 being in for repairs, you have the same US phone numbers that I have. P: 630-401-8159 When I need to contact anyone at MinelabAmerica, I send them an email. Life is too short to sit around waiting for a return phone call.

Here are a few other numbers, as taken from Minelab's website, as well as their email addresses.
1-877-SOS-MLAB (1-877-767-6522) Toll Free: 1-888-949-6522 T: 1-630-401-8150 F: 1-630-401-8180
E: service@minelabamericas.com for Service E: info@minelabamericas.com for Consumer products


I'm anxious to find out what happened to your machine as 3 weeks is a long time.....I sent them an email just a few minutes ago. If one of us don't hear from them in the next couple days, I'll certainly be surprised. HH Randy

 

[Daniel A.]

Having used many different machines over the years and dealt with most service centers at one time or other, the reason I always have two or more machines is because like everything service can take time.

I think they could all do a better job when I'm the one waiting.

Dan

 

[Lake Hunter]

When you get the headphones back, and hopefully you do, maybe you can post them on the Classifieds. According to your post two weeks ago, you already got rid of your CTX.

May 16, 2013 09:37PM

As far as i'm concerned, they can keep their bad customer service and headphones and move on. I have gotten rid of my CTX and went elsewhere. I knew better than to purchase a Minelab unit after my Excal episode. But wanted to give them a second chance. Costly mistake on my part. Live and learn. But i'm glad to hear so many of you get great service from Minelab,

What's your point Digger ??? The headphones didn't work out of the bag. I've been going through this mess way longer than 2 weeks. If a company can't get something as simple as headphones correct.... Heck......the submersibles aren't even the same color as land phones . so how can you possibly make a mistake ? Only answer I can come up with is Minelab doesn't really care. The sad part is.......they make both and still can't get the correct ones back to me after sending out wrong headphones twice and still waiting.. LOL !!!!!

 

[Digger]

Two weeks ago, you said:

As far as i'm concerned, they can keep their bad customer service and headphones and move on. I have gotten rid of my CTX and went elsewhere.

yesterday you said:

All I want are my submersible headphones back so I can just move on.

Today you asked:

What's your point Digger ???

My point was, if you no longer have the CTX 3030, you have nothing to use the headphones with. My suggestion was, when you get them, list them on the Classifieds.

 

[PokerShark]

Wow! Those are some serious comments and accusations, coming from someone who has ZERO personal experience with Minelab Customer Service.

Although I do happen to have Administrator privileges on this forum and served as Field Tester for the CTX 3030, I speak only for myself, not Findmall or Minelab. I am not here to defend Minelab's Customer Service Department.

But considering that you have admittedly never contacted Minelab for service, I have to question what would compel you to make these comments? Especially under the guise of truth, integrity and honesty.

Those who have had a problem with Minelab Customer Service have every opportunity to post their comments. Some have, and others have not. But for you to state that those who have expressed positive comments are somehow "whitewashing" the topic tells me that you have less experience managing people than you would like us to believe. Well, I shouldn't suggest you don't have experience. But I will add that experience is not synonymous with being well versed or accomplished.

As someone who spent their entire career directly interfacing with customers, both on the technical side and managerial side, I am confident that telling one of our customers (who had a great experience with our Customer Service Department) that they were "whitewashing the topic" would, in itself, have been poor customer service. Not to mention demeaning to the customer. Your statement that those who have posted positive comments toward Minelab's Customer Service are "drinking the corporate Kool-Aid and have their heads in the sand" is very disrespectful to those who have given their honest opinions. Who let you decide that negative opinions are the only ones that have substance? And your statement that it "appears to be part of their training or Corporate culture to call or infer a customer is a liar" is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever heard.

Making such a statement about a customer service organization that you've never personally dealt with doesn't bode well for your honesty or your integrity.

Randy, this is not my first rodeo, thus do I have the time and patience to compare resumes (to what end I have no clue) although I will admit my current role is a sidestep in my career arc. What I will say is your claim that you have "no dog in this fight" is false right from the start, as you make the statement and then spend the balance of your post refuting it! "I am not here to defend Minelab's Customer Service Department" yet you clearly are, not to mention your reaction says a great deal. I find that tactic absurd and your baiting me with a personal attack laughable. I don't really care what you think of me, or my experience. It is what it is, and so long as you are not part of my executive management team your opinion of me has no value or merit. But I do have one request, please be consistent and logical. I tried to make my post easy enough to follow for the average reader as well as the experienced. Most got it, others did not.

I find it strange you place little or no value in the customers that complain, but place a great deal of faith in those that share positive interactions. Dwell on that a bit, and you may have a better understanding of why I have used terms like "whitewash" and drinking the corporate Koolade. Where is the objectivity?

"ZERO personal experience" Where do I begin with that? I could talk about minefields or possibly jumping off a cliff, but I'll leave those alone. I think everyone reading this is clear that it is possible to learn outside of personal experience. Yet in your opinion JD Power, the BBB, Consumer Reports, et al should all close their doors because their feedback has no value in your less than humble opinion. Personal and first hand experience should rule the day and all other feedback is heresay. Sounds like the reasoning of a Law Professor or a Lawyer. Customer feedback in the form of surveys, interviews, reports, and polling are all worthless because they did not happen to you - thus they should be ignored. In response to your inquiry all I will say is I did my homework prior to purchasing me CTX (as I do with most purchases) and ML support was a show stopper in my case for nearly 6 months. I am happy to admit I am a technology early adopter and have been a tester for many of the IT products I am sure you have used going all the way back to DOS 6.22 and magnetic storage products. In those cases the equipment was free for testing and there was no support expectation since it was a test. As a consumer I do not have the same expectation and there is sufficient proof to be concerned, although Minelab (or any company for that matter) does not publicly release internal measurement data and reports when it comes to their support challenges. It is no secret within the dealer and distributor community that ML has challenges is this area. So my "opinion" has less to do with speculation, and more to do with fact.

As I have mentioned before, your personal experience is far from the norm because you are not a normal user. And if you think their call management and issue tracking system does not call that to the attention of the support analysts I have news for you, it does. I would be very surprised if it did not promote you in queue groups to a high priority status. If you are not aware of this your understanding is not as complete as you seem to think.

It is good you hear that people are free to post their experiences here - good or bad. I will keep that in mind the next time I get a PM from someone warning me "not to go there." It seems their personal experience is out of sync with your own. But that is just my observation and I know you place no weight on that in any case. Those that claim things are wonderful when they know they are not should be moved by my criticism. Those that had positive impressions with no other influence should not feel anything, because those terms do not apply to them. You have to have done something to be "called out" or feel guilty over a comment. So how you arrive at your conclusions as to my inference is puzzling at best and troubling at worst.

As far as the rest of that garbage is concerned, well I'll let those cheap shots stand on their own merit. I will say, you might want to reflect on what was stated because you do not have the standing or background to make the evaluations that you think you have.

 

[Lake Hunter]

Two weeks ago, you said:

As far as i'm concerned, they can keep their bad customer service and headphones and move on. I have gotten rid of my CTX and went elsewhere.

yesterday you said:

All I want are my submersible headphones back so I can just move on.

Today you asked:

What's your point Digger ???

My point was, if you no longer have the CTX 3030, you have nothing to use the headphones with. My suggestion was, when you get them, list them on the Classifieds.

The key phrase here is "WHEN YOU GET THEM" ............sounds easy enough doesn't it ????

I think i've received faster and more accurate responses from you than the customer service dept..........WOW

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

At first, I wasn't going to post anything in this thread because, I don't have any first hand experience with their service but; I noticed that such a small thing did not stop others to post their opinions so I thought: "why not?"
I thin that their service is excellent! Why? Because so far I did not need it! Am I a lucky one? My screen is flat. Despite having some hours on the detector, my shaft does not wobble. Firmware update went without a problem. Detector is as noisy or quiet as I set it to be. My stock land and waterproof headphones work fine. The bloody thing works exactly as advertised. Service? I'll deal with it when and if the time comes. IF I don't get service I accept, I will rise hell with whoever it will take to get the acceptable response. If right of the bat I get service I accept, (more than likely) I will not even mention it.
So, what am I trying to say? Nothing more than: Finally I'm swinging a detector that I like because it gives me feedback I want. For me, it was well worth the 3K I dunked into it. I don't care how fast and how good a service I can get on a detector I don't like. I care about what I hear and see on the screen of the detector that I do like and I do like the CTX.

 

[C&RHunter]

ANDREW...... ..................HH

 

[PokerShark]

At first, I wasn't going to post anything in this thread because, I don't have any first hand experience with their service but; I noticed that such a small thing did not stop others to post their opinions so I thought: "why not?"
I thin that their service is excellent! Why? Because so far I did not need it! Am I a lucky one? My screen is flat. Despite having some hours on the detector, my shaft does not wobble. Firmware update went without a problem. Detector is as noisy or quiet as I set it to be. My stock land and waterproof headphones work fine. The bloody thing works exactly as advertised. Service? I'll deal with it when and if the time comes. IF I don't get service I accept, I will rise hell with whoever it will take to get the acceptable response. If right of the bat I get service I accept, (more than likely) I will not even mention it.
So, what am I trying to say? Nothing more than: Finally I'm swinging a detector that I like because it gives me feedback I want. For me, it was well worth the 3K I dunked into it. I don't care how fast and how good a service I can get on a detector I don't like. I care about what I hear and see on the screen of the detector that I do like and I do like the CTX.

Andrew, buddy! I hear you and I don't completely disagree with you. But I hope for your sake you don't shop for insurance, a brain surgeon, or a wife the same way or you may find yourself is some serious trouble going forward.

Not to mention poor customer and product service takes companies OUT! Atari back in the day was an innovator and miles ahead of their competition. They built excellent hardware, but forgot all about product support in the form of software, did not listen to their customers, and they died a horrible death. Sure they have been back in various forms over the years but not the giant they were in the 80's (Think Sony or Sansung, they were in their day) Packard Bell went from a nobody, tot he top of the personal computing world to out of business in the span of about 10 years due to horrible customer service. All lessons to be learned and something Minelabs should learn from and not repeat. Their gear is solid, this is just the 20% that could prove fatal if they don't improve it. That's all I'm saying.

The Shark

 

[GateKeeper]

@Pokershark...........................Are you done? Your posts here is adding no value to this thread. As a matter of fact, you are now sounding ignorant by the continuing attacks of a company that you have NO personal experience with. Sure, I and any other individual can go to a website, read a bad review, like you did. But every single company will have bad reviews. I wonder what your reviews like...........hmmm.


Here is where I draw the line. The comment you made to Andrew Kalinowski about a picking a wife is a personal attack. You are now treading on thin ice. If you would like to stay a member here, I would suggest to you to clam down and think before you type.

 

[wildman-1374]

Edited by the Administrator, for the reasons explained above....


Another person claimed he had been without his detector for 17 days and counting. Minelab records indicate that they "received, repaired and shipped back" his detector in 5 days, including the Memorial Day weekend.
He also said he never got a call back from his conversation the day before...... records again indicate that a call was made to him that previous day, and an "update" message left on his voice mail. I was assured that returning customer's phone calls is one of their top priorities.

 

[C&RHunter]

Mel, I noticed that you mention calling Gene Knight at KellyCo in two of your posts. Are you dealing with the authorized service center at KellyCo in Florida, or the actual Minelab service center in the Chicago area? I can't comment on KellyCo's service center's performance, as I have never used it. I have always called the Minelab service center with very good results....:

Minelab Americas Inc
Sales, Support & Service
1938 University Lane, Ste. A
Lisle, IL 60532, USA

Customer Care:
1-877-SOS-MLAB (1-877-767-6522)
Toll Free: 1-888-949-6522
T: 1-630-401-8150
F: 1-630-401-8180
E: service@minelabamericas.com for Service
E: info@minelabamericas.com for Consumer products

 

[boxtopp]

If you experienced the same thing i did you would not be happy with tesero as well.
Absultly redculous! Still, I think i was just just one of those extremly rare unlucky ones.
When i had my issue with my brand new tiger tesoro was having problems with staff.
I still back USA made products.

 

[wildman-1374]

Edited by Administrator

person claimed he had been without his detector for 17 days and counting. Minelab records indicate that they "received, repaired and shipped back" his detector in 5 days, including the Memorial Day weekend.
He also said he never got a call back from his conversation the day before...... records again indicate that a call was made to him that previous day, and an "update" message left on his voice mail. I was assured that returning customer's phone calls is one of their top priorities.

 

[MHirschmann]

Wow, this thread has REALLY gone in a ridiculous direction. Randy is one of the most honest and helpful guys on this forum and you guys are going to give him a hard time for giving his opinion?!?! Hilarious really.

I guess all of you are right, I must not have received the excellent customer service that I could have sworn that I have received so far by Minelab. They must have always sent me the wrong items back in the mail and I just wasn't smart enough to notice. I also must not have noticed that it took way longer than I thought it took to get my stuff back, due to the fact that I was busy drinking their corporate coolaide in my basement.

Now that you have all opened my eyes to how terrible they really must be, and shown me exactly what an evil person Randy really is, I guess I better go buy another brand of detector asap.

Anyway, I have to go back out to the field now to go harvest some more troll food...

 

[mickfin]

Thanks Minelab 4R getting my water Headphones straight N taking care of me,
And sending me a Wallaby Hat N a First Aid Kit Extra,

 

[Daniel A.]

Wow! Those are some serious comments and accusations, coming from someone who has ZERO personal experience with Minelab Customer Service.

Although I do happen to have Administrator privileges on this forum and served as Field Tester for the CTX 3030, I speak only for myself, not Findmall or Minelab. I am not here to defend Minelab's Customer Service Department.

But considering that you have admittedly never contacted Minelab for service, I have to question what would compel you to make these comments? Especially under the guise of truth, integrity and honesty.

Those who have had a problem with Minelab Customer Service have every opportunity to post their comments. Some have, and others have not. But for you to state that those who have expressed positive comments are somehow "whitewashing" the topic tells me that you have less experience managing people than you would like us to believe. Well, I shouldn't suggest you don't have experience. But I will add that experience is not synonymous with being well versed or accomplished.

As someone who spent their entire career directly interfacing with customers, both on the technical side and managerial side, I am confident that telling one of our customers (who had a great experience with our Customer Service Department) that they were "whitewashing the topic" would, in itself, have been poor customer service. Not to mention demeaning to the customer. Your statement that those who have posted positive comments toward Minelab's Customer Service are "drinking the corporate Kool-Aid and have their heads in the sand" is very disrespectful to those who have given their honest opinions. Who let you decide that negative opinions are the only ones that have substance? And your statement that it "appears to be part of their training or Corporate culture to call or infer a customer is a liar" is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever heard.

Making such a statement about a customer service organization that you've never personally dealt with doesn't bode well for your honesty or your integrity.

Randy, this is not my first rodeo, thus do I have the time and patience to compare resumes (to what end I have no clue) although I will admit my current role is a sidestep in my career arc. What I will say is your claim that you have "no dog in this fight" is false right from the start, as you make the statement and then spend the balance of your post refuting it! "I am not here to defend Minelab's Customer Service Department" yet you clearly are, not to mention your reaction says a great deal. I find that tactic absurd and your baiting me with a personal attack laughable. I don't really care what you think of me, or my experience. It is what it is, and so long as you are not part of my executive management team your opinion of me has no value or merit. But I do have one request, please be consistent and logical. I tried to make my post easy enough to follow for the average reader as well as the experienced. Most got it, others did not.

I find it strange you place little or no value in the customers that complain, but place a great deal of faith in those that share positive interactions. Dwell on that a bit, and you may have a better understanding of why I have used terms like "whitewash" and drinking the corporate Koolade. Where is the objectivity?

"ZERO personal experience" Where do I begin with that? I could talk about minefields or possibly jumping off a cliff, but I'll leave those alone. I think everyone reading this is clear that it is possible to learn outside of personal experience. Yet in your opinion JD Power, the BBB, Consumer Reports, et al should all close their doors because their feedback has no value in your less than humble opinion. Personal and first hand experience should rule the day and all other feedback is heresay. Sounds like the reasoning of a Law Professor or a Lawyer. Customer feedback in the form of surveys, interviews, reports, and polling are all worthless because they did not happen to you - thus they should be ignored. In response to your inquiry all I will say is I did my homework prior to purchasing me CTX (as I do with most purchases) and ML support was a show stopper in my case for nearly 6 months. I am happy to admit I am a technology early adopter and have been a tester for many of the IT products I am sure you have used going all the way back to DOS 6.22 and magnetic storage products. In those cases the equipment was free for testing and there was no support expectation since it was a test. As a consumer I do not have the same expectation and there is sufficient proof to be concerned, although Minelab (or any company for that matter) does not publicly release internal measurement data and reports when it comes to their support challenges. It is no secret within the dealer and distributor community that ML has challenges is this area. So my "opinion" has less to do with speculation, and more to do with fact.

As I have mentioned before, your personal experience is far from the norm because you are not a normal user. And if you think their call management and issue tracking system does not call that to the attention of the support analysts I have news for you, it does. I would be very surprised if it did not promote you in queue groups to a high priority status. If you are not aware of this your understanding is not as complete as you seem to think.

It is good you hear that people are free to post their experiences here - good or bad. I will keep that in mind the next time I get a PM from someone warning me "not to go there." It seems their personal experience is out of sync with your own. But that is just my observation and I know you place no weight on that in any case. Those that claim things are wonderful when they know they are not should be moved by my criticism. Those that had positive impressions with no other influence should not feel anything, because those terms do not apply to them. You have to have done something to be "called out" or feel guilty over a comment. So how you arrive at your conclusions as to my inference is puzzling at best and troubling at worst.

As far as the rest of that garbage is concerned, well I'll let those cheap shots stand on their own merit. I will say, you might want to reflect on what was stated because you do not have the standing or background to make the evaluations that you think you have.

PokerShark

I own run a forum in Canada.

Randy ( AKA digger) is a solid member on this forum this I can say without reservation.
I do know Minelab is working hard investing money back to the community ie hobby in this case working to promote the positive.
They work with the folks that understand the issues.

It is better for Minelab to work with a small group so no I won't give out personal contact information that I have.

To the best of my knowledge Minelab does consider the input it receives from those with many years on forums but does not wish to be involved at a personal level given the politics.
This much Minelab does understand and it would make more sense to work with the smaller group.

A couple of years back Minelab decided to move everything from Nevada and change the service time for machines.

Everyone wondered is this the right move !!!

Today I say yes it was !!!

I honestly can't think of a brand of machine being the owner of a forum that gets me something more than you get.
Sure I can phone someone and explain why I'm not happy but that is not the point of their support.
The bigger picture is far more important to them.

Can they do better I don't know and I do have many brands in my stable.
My machines are not coming back any sooner that yours if I have problems, what it gives forums is the contacts to say you need to make changes they do listen to experience.

It is well understood yes there are people that will complain but when they hear from the people who have invested many hours in the hobby that can help everyone!!!!!!

As someone that has been in the hobby off and on for 40 years the last ten solidly I see the other side.
If my forum can work with Minelab to promote the hobby as a community this is good.

I tell you honestly as a forum owner the only thing in this for me is the love of the hobby I don't get paid.
My forum users are what makes the forum this Minelab understands.
I spend more out of pocket than comes in my wife reminds me of this from time too time.


Daniel A. http://www.canadianmetaldetecting.com/phpBB3/index.php?sid=318f32a1119ea33e497819b631e31769

 

[GKMan]

Can we close this post now? I think everyone has had their say and its not really adding anything more useful to the forum.

 

[pasttom]

Yes parts of this have been run over several times alright. Hopefully this is a touch of contrast that will bring a bit of light. I have owned a dozen plus different machines and only needed to call for service a couple times and none were to Minelab my comments are general to system and therefore, to some extent, unbiased. I have however worked service call center at two jobs and personally taken over 10k calls. I want to tell you there is a world of difference which end of the call you are on! No disrespect to a caller/customer is or should be acceptable. Internal monitoring is standard, but nothing can prevent violations of training from ever happening and I cannot say how hard Minelab works on this. I just know that when the number of customers grows the number of problems grow too. Corporate profitability seems to be a vilified concept these days, but there has to be people who must look at bottom lines and decide what you can do and how much you can do it before service costs consume resources to the point where everyone goes home unemployed and no products are made new or otherwise. My father had such a position and I listen to him vent for 30 years. If you ever had the urge to show your finds to a stranger and ask if they see the wedding ring they lost, you should have a bit of sympathy for why call techs ask for support to the claims of customers. You know you are not one of those people, but they never met you before and you know how qualified you are to diagnose your problem and prescribe the fix- they don't. Almost everyone claims expertise and trust me on this... many are exaggerating.
Seriously, I am NOT thinking of any one who has posted, but can you not imagine what irritating idiots some callers are? If one of them has just used the last bit of a techs sanity and you are the next caller, you have won the overload lottery and you only purchased one ticket! Again, this is never justified, but people are only human and some more than others.
There are usually about a thousand (no way to know for sure) very satisfied customers for every one who complains in any form or forum. While every persons experience is significant, it is not definitive. You can have a bad experience with the BEST company and a great one from the WORST (it does indicate trending and most likely outcome).