FMR Audio Costumer Service.

bronsonmestizo · Post by **bronsonmestizo** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:17 pm

Mark and Beth McQuilken, Owners of FMR Audio just blew my mind...

I bought a used "Really Nice Compressor" on Ebay from an individual. It arrived with the wrong adaptor and wouldn't light up. I was unable to contact the seller and decided to call FMR. On the second ring, Beth McQuilken answered the phone and cheerfully explained that the adaptor was the problem. I wrote the seller, clued him in, and he said he would have a new one shipped from the factory.

When I called to ensure that the order had been placed, Mark McQuilken answered. He informed me that the adaptor had been shipped. He then added, in so many words, that if anything was wrong with the compressor after I tested it, they would get it back up to spec free of charge.

After spending hours in an automated maze pressing digits and listening to complex menus, only to find out that "Costumer Service Charges Apply," that "My call is very important," that I payed $2,000.00 for a piece of gear 3 months ago and I have to "Replace the DC Power Harness..." I was pleasantly surprised to reach a human being. What's more, I was speaking to the owners of the company.

It's one thing to have knowledgeable and courteous costumer service... But quite another to handle the calls yourself. It's one thing to fix a product that arrived from the factory DOA. It's even better to repair a product that malfunctioned under normal use... But to offer free repairs on a unit bought used ... That's believing in your product and standing behind your work.

After we finished the business at hand, Mark and I talked about music for a while. We talked about an assortment of audio gear, What we dig and what gets the job done. The bottom line: These folks are honest, passionate and down to earth. They care about music, their products and the people who use them.

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:23 pm

And they dress you up.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:56 pm

Thats the impression I got from them as well. Very nice folks at FMR.

Another great place with awesome customer service is Summit Audio. I bought a 2ba-221 off ebay and it came racked without a top plate. So if i took if off the rack it's be all naked. Plus I wanted to pick up a TLA-50 and the mounting bracket for the bottom of the unit. I sent them and email and they got back right away. Then they called me up to finish the transaction. They sold me a b-stock TLA-50 for several hundred under the retail and sent the top plate and connector with it for free. You hardly ever get such great service. Awesome!

Brian Brock · Post by **Brian Brock** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:30 pm

FMR are very cool about AC adaptors. They sent me a new one just for the hell of it once. I also enjoyed talking to them on the phone.

I also really dig the RNP's sound and features.

snatchman · Post by **snatchman** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:56 pm

Yeah, there's a few great owners still out there. I've had similar experience with Pete and Lisa from Pete's Place/A Designs , Matt@ BLA, to name a couple... Just great people to deal with..!..

ballpein · Post by **ballpein** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:55 pm

I've had similar experience with Mark via e-mail - really nice guy, stellar service.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 7:56 am

It's such an awesome feeling to have your calls answered by the very people that design and build the gear. There are some great small companies out there, with amazing customer service.

Jon at Shinybox, Mike at Charter Oak, Oliver at AMI TAB/Funkenwerk, Dave Pearlman, Scott Hampton(e).... All great people, that really care about the people using their gear.

I have so much more confidence in a product, when I can put a voice or face to the designer/builder, and feel like I've been treated well.

bronsonmestizo · Post by **bronsonmestizo** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:19 am

I can feel the love in this room... I've also heard good things about UA, and I love... LOVE my 2-610.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:50 am

bronsonmestizo wrote:I can feel the love in this room... I've also heard good things about UA, and I love... LOVE my 2-610.

Me too. I heard they fix anything UA for a bench fee and parts. The things all these companies have in common is they are US designed and built, small enough to answer phones, and mostly run by people that love audio. Good combination.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:45 pm

Ditto for Summit. Also for Mesa Boogie (though I hear this varies with the tech you get)
I work customer support for a software as service company, I have done customer support for other kinds of companies as well (its a great musician job, they usually have no problem letting you take off for chunks of time to tour).
One thing I have noticed is that some places will go to great lengths to make sure they satisfy every customer. They value word of mouth over print ads. They actually care about brand loyalty. Other places could give a flying fuck about customers. They just want those 16 digits, expiration date and the 3 digit code on the back thank you very much.
I of course have always preferred to work for the former.
Nothing sucks worse than doing customer support for a poorly implemented product, knowing that any promises or assurances you give are just smoke and mirrors.
But workin for a company that provides quality product and inherently wants to satisfy each and every customer is awesome.
And remember, all you sound guys and girls, producers engineers etc , you are in the customer service business all the time. Smile, it doesnt cost you anything.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:04 pm

I'll add a shout out for the people at Klark/Midas - I called a few weeks ago about a weird problem with a Midas Venice, and the tech (actually the guy who answered the phone) pinned it right down to a very specific spot on the power supply. Then when I needed to order about $5 in parts to fix it, he said "oh, there's a $50 minimum. Give me your UPS number (so they wouldn't have to pay for shipping) and we'll just send them free."

And Summit is great - replacement meter bulbs were free for the asking.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:05 pm

Since we are throwing out the love, i have to say the people at Sage are absolutely the nicest people you could ever talk to.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:09 am

I wish that I could say the same thing about the company that I am currently dealing with. They have almost $600 of my cash and I haven't been able to get a response for three weeks. Sucks. I'm trying not to freak out, because, as it turns out, they have a history of this, and people get what they paid for after a wait. I have a UPS tracking number, but it hasn't shipped yet. I just want someone to answer my email/phone calls/voice mail and let me know where in the process they are.

Once I have closure (one way or the other) I'm going to post a warning here at TOMB making sure that buyer beware. In my 14 years or purchasing stuff online I have never dealt with such a total lack of customer service, ever. And what really gets my goat is that I used to work for Music123.com, and it was my job to provide sales/cs support, so I know how a little goes a long way. 30 seconds to answer my question about when to expect my shit, make sure everything is ok, etc.

Jeff

bronsonmestizo · Post by **bronsonmestizo** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:00 pm

Jeff, that is unfortunate. If I had a dime for every wasted hour with bad tech/costumer support... Very nice music by the way!

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:38 pm

Yeah, big thumbs up to the Black Lion Audio folks, Oktava Mod, and everyone at Front End Audio.. great customer service.

Message Board

FMR Audio Costumer Service.

FMR Audio Costumer Service.

Who is online