KVR Audio

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:54 pm

Anyone else have a bad experience with Native Instruments? I bought a Kontrol S8 from zZounds four weeks ago and the thing wouldn't power up. NI has a no return policy with zZounds if the packaging was opened which requires the customer to then deal with NI directly. So here I paid $800 for a fancy new defective controller from NI that I can not use because it won't power up. I contact their customer service and they pretty much told me that it would possibly save THEM money if they just send me a new power adapter to see if that is the problem. Well it wasn't the problem SO then they have me send the thing back. They were not apologetic and showed no apathy at all. Instead of sending me out a new replacement (which is what they should have done from the get go) they send me the same unit AND this time they forget to pack the power adapter along with other important pieces of original packaging like the big instructional fold out insert. It also looks like they just ripped the packaging right out of the box as if no care was taken when checking in the item. I packed the thing up really well when I sent it back. Put all the original packaging in there along with the additional power adapter. I would expect to get it back in the same condition if they weren't going to send me a new replacement. So now 4 weeks later I still have something I paid $800 for and can not use. There is no way to know if they fixed it because they didn't pack the power supply. Thankfully I have a Serato system as back up. At this point I don't even want the S8 anymore it just aggravates me when I look at it. Now I have to wait another week to find out what they are going to do next. It will be Halloween by the time I get to actually turn this thing on. I'm tempted to file a dispute with my credit card company but if I do zZounds said they will ban me from making future purchases. WOW what a crazy world we live in these days. We always have to fight with companies that take our hard earned money. Ok rant over.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:56 pm

djpuzzle wrote:Anyone else have a bad experience

It can take a day or three for them to respond, but every service issue I have had with Nat Int has been followed up and fixed in my favour

Goseba · Post by **Goseba** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:01 pm

When I have had issues, a quick phone call got things moving.

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:06 pm

Goseba wrote:When I have had issues, a quick phone call got things moving.

When I press 0 for operator it says they are not available to pick up.

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:11 pm

I contacted them via phone a year ago. Very friendly and helpful. Maybe their office is only closed as you called? Could be?

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:19 pm

Numanoid wrote:
djpuzzle wrote:Anyone else have a bad experience
It can take a day or three for them to respond, but every service issue I have had with Nat Int has been followed up and fixed in my favour

Same here. Needed some download links for freebies which expired, took a few days, but when they sent them, they also included instructions on how to install and activate the plugins, so it all was crystal clear.

Also had good experiences with license transfer, which worked nicely.

Deep Purple · Post by **Deep Purple** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:36 pm

They're slow but no problems with their dedication to finding solutions to problems.

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:01 pm

chk071 wrote:
Numanoid wrote:
djpuzzle wrote:Anyone else have a bad experience
It can take a day or three for them to respond, but every service issue I have had with Nat Int has been followed up and fixed in my favour
Same here. Needed some download links for freebies which expired, took a few days, but when they sent them, they also included instructions on how to install and activate the plugins, so it all was crystal clear. Also had good experiences with license transfer, which worked nicely.

I'm salty because they sent me the same broken item back and forgot to pack the power adapter in the box. This is after 4 weeks of back and forth too. Now I'll have to wait another week I'm sure just to get things sorted.

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:02 pm

Deep Purple wrote:They're slow but no problems with their dedication to finding solutions to problems.

There is no excuse for sending the same broken unit back to me and on top of that not packing the power adapter and other important pieces of original packaging. It's as if no care was taken.

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:10 pm

I know it doesn't really help you here. But in the future if you use a credit card for purchasing generally the credit card company can help you out with refund disputes. I've had to use this before with a spark controller that Arturia/guitar center refused to refund or replace. Visa cornholed them into accepting it back.

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:14 pm

masterhiggins wrote:I know it doesn't really help you here. But in the future if you use a credit card for purchasing generally the credit card company can help you out with refund disputes. I've had to use this before with a spark controller that Arturia/guitar center refused to refund or replace. Visa cornholed them into accepting it back.

Well see that is the thing. I bought it from zZounds and they have a no return policy with NI because the hardware comes with a software license so I called zZounds and told them I would dispute the charge and zZounds basically told me they would ban me from future purchases from their site!

djpuzzle · Post by **djpuzzle** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:14 pm

masterhiggins wrote:I know it doesn't really help you here. But in the future if you use a credit card for purchasing generally the credit card company can help you out with refund disputes. I've had to use this before with a spark controller that Arturia/guitar center refused to refund or replace. Visa cornholed them into accepting it back.

Well see that is the thing. I bought it from zZounds and they have a no return policy with NI because the hardware comes with a software license so I called zZounds and told them I would dispute the charge and zZounds basically told me they would ban me from future purchases from their site!

I tell ya the whole thing is a hot mess.

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:21 pm

Yeah they can do that I guess. But if a company treats you like that I wouldn't want to do business with them either. Guitar center and Arturia never banned me.

Interestingly enough, I'm banned from musicians friend for using too many coupons. Lol.

Daags · Post by **Daags** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:48 pm

I don't know how things work in the USA... but where I'm from the issue would be for the retailer to resolve, and they in turn can hassle NI if they need to.

in the same situation as you, I'd be pissed with zZsounds... especially for trying to pass the buck or giving me some shit about the included software license as I'm not trying to return the license, just have the fault hardware repaired/replaced ... if that's awkward that's their tough shit.

but then I don't know how it works in USA.

on the topic of NI though, in..what... 13 yrs or so of dealing with them, they've always been great. They're a victim of their own success in some respects (as in they're not super quick to respond to support requests), but they've never let me down whenever I've needed support. I own NI soft & hardware. imo. ymmv. bbqsauce.

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:50 pm

Native Instruments customer service is only second to Waves in my experience.
That is to say superb!

Native Instruments Bad Customer Service