I suppose that I should be happy as my Harmon Kardon SUB-TS5 now works like a charm, but it is how we got there that rankles me.
The input jack for the "Sub In" from the receiver had somehow fallen apart and fell inside of the unit itself. When I took it apart, there were all manner of pieces-parts where the jack broke apart and came loose from the circuit board. Lacking a new Sub In Jack, and not knowing exactly where I would reattach it to the circuit board if I did have one, a brought the unit to Alex to look at it.
The first guy that I spoke to told me that he did not think that they could get Harmon Kardon parts. But he would have his subwoofer guy call me if he determined that he could get the part. Two days later, they called me and mentioned that they could get that part and all that they needed was the $70 diagnostic fee. Note that I knew EXACTLY what was wrong with it....the Sub In Jack needed replacement. End of discussion. Replace the Sub In Jack. Didn't need a diagnostic.
I then called them back and gave them my credit card to pay the $70 as I was told that the $70 goes towards the cost of repairs. FOUR MINUTES later, they called me back to say that the tech found that several of the capacitors on the power supply had blown and would require replacement to the tune of $130 more for a total of $200.00.
I was told "no chance for a refund" of the diagnostic fee, and I did not want to go all of the way to $200.00 for the repair, so I initially decided to just "let it go" and abandon the unit. After thinking about it, I called back and asked them if they could just complete the original repair and put a new Sub In Jack into the unit. I was, after all, into this for $70 at this point.
As I mentioned initially, I suppose that I should be happy because the repair that they did do on the jack did the trick and the unit works perfectly. But, the $70 "diagnostic fee" was a sham as I TOLD them exactly what I wanted done....I just needed to know if they had the part. The part, I am sure, is the EXACT same part that virtually every subwoofer on the planet uses and I am certain that they have HUNDREDS of them laying around the shop! I do not know what the cost for the part and the labor charge for making three tiny solder joints could be, but it turned out to be $70!
ADDITIONALLY, and this is the part that rankles me, is that the capacitors were NOT blown, and were NOT expanded, and DO work just perfectly. They tried to BS me into a repair that was NOT required and probably would not have been done anyway. I KNOW what a blown capacitor looks like and none of these were blown. I have now put everything back together and the unit works absolutely perfectly.
So, good work, Alex, on the Sub In Jack that I asked you to repair. $70 seems like a ridiculous charge for that, but I can live with that part. But, SHAME on you for trying to upsell some BS repair to rip off someone that you figured knew nothing about electronics. read more