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Devialet Customer Service is the BEST
#1
I know...the name of this thread reads familiar except for the last word... I just wanted to thank Devialet for what they've done for me and what better way than to post it here so everyone knows it's not all doom and gloom with Devialet support.

Some of you might remember that I bought my Od'A from a former member here at quite a reduced price. I wasn't looking to ever buy such a pricey amplifier but I jumped on it when Gentleman Jan offered it and I have no regrets.

By the time my Od'A arrived here in Australia, Devialet had already introduced the 1000 Pro and the CI board was announced. After a few weeks of Od'A owners bitching that they felt left out, Devialet decided to give all Od'A owners a free upgrade to 1000 Pro status as soon as the CI board was ready. It was a bit of a wait but late 2017 the CI board was finally announced. I ordered the upgrade and Devialet sent the boxes but then I read about all the dramas with the earlier firmware and I backed off. The boxes sat in my garage for almost a year.

Jump to mid August and I finally sent Devialet an email that I was ready to send my amps to Paris. Being holiday season in France, it took another month or so to organise postage but they finally arrived in Paris. 

I had a really big problem with my cases. Where it were sitting in my old living room it didn't catch enough light to see whether or not they were cleaned properly and when I took them out after nearly two years of use they looked like shit. There was nothing I could do to clean them and in a bit of a stupid moment I tried something that damaged the coating. I sent Devialet some photos and they said they would look into it.

After Devialet had said 'look', they told me the cases had 'environmental damage'. That to me read like a way to get out of fixing it by blaming the customer and in some way they were right. Although it must be said that the Od'A coating wasn't anywhere as good as the chrome version is. My D200 had sat in the same place two years prior and still looked like new.

Anyway, Devialet asked if I was ok with them using new cases and re-coating them with a better process. No mention of it being my own stupid fault they looked like they did. It took quite a while to get this new process tested and approved but they finally did it and sent them back. I received them Yesterday and of course installed them right away.

So essentially I have been given new cases AND new internals and therefore completely new amplifiers for free. Just because they introduced the 1000 Pro 6 months after the Od'A. I know of no company that's ever done those two things; come up with a better model only 6 months after introducing their top model but also upgrading that top model to improved top model status for free.

But wait, there's more! Tongue  The new and improved coating also looks a tad darker than the old one was. So it looks more like copper now than rose gold. That's a bonus to me because we have introduced copper fans and lights into our new living room so they fit right in.

The last thing to mention is the sound. I remember noticing a demise in sound quality when I packed up the Od'A and replaced it with the D200. It wasn't huge but it was definitely there. I thought to myself at the time how good the D200 is given the price difference. Well not anymore! The upgraded Od'A smokes the D200. 

After installation I put on some unfamiliar music that a mate had suggested so I couldn't really tell the difference. But then I went to clean the dishes and put on some St. Germain. I wasn't listening properly but just suddenly noticed how realistic the saxophone sounded. That's with amps that have been on for half an hour; pretty amazing. I haven't had a chance to sit in my listened seat and have a proper listen yet (I let my visiting brother in law have that pleasure) but it's clear from what I heard last night that my first proper session will be epic. 

So a bit thank you to Devialet. I never could have dreamed of owning an amplifier this good.

BTW, Devialet also upgraded an extra remote control I had bought for my D200. No extra cost, they just did it. No questions asked.
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#2
(29-Dec-2018, 03:54)Pim Wrote: I know...the name of this thread reads familiar except for the last word... I just wanted to thank Devialet for what they've done for me and what better way than to post it here so everyone knows it's not all doom and gloom with Devialet support.

Some of you might remember that I bought my Od'A from a former member here at quite a reduced price. I wasn't looking to ever buy such a pricey amplifier but I jumped on it when Gentleman Jan offered it and I have no regrets.

By the time my Od'A arrived here in Australia, Devialet had already introduced the 1000 Pro and the CI board was announced. After a few weeks of Od'A owners bitching that they felt left out, Devialet decided to give all Od'A owners a free upgrade to 1000 Pro status as soon as the CI board was ready. It was a bit of a wait but late 2017 the CI board was finally announced. I ordered the upgrade and Devialet sent the boxes but then I read about all the dramas with the earlier firmware and I backed off. The boxes sat in my garage for almost a year.

Jump to mid August and I finally sent Devialet an email that I was ready to send my amps to Paris. Being holiday season in France, it took another month or so to organise postage but they finally arrived in Paris. 

I had a really big problem with my cases. Where it were sitting in my old living room it didn't catch enough light to see whether or not they were cleaned properly and when I took them out after nearly two years of use they looked like shit. There was nothing I could do to clean them and in a bit of a stupid moment I tried something that damaged the coating. I sent Devialet some photos and they said they would look into it.

After Devialet had said 'look', they told me the cases had 'environmental damage'. That to me read like a way to get out of fixing it by blaming the customer and in some way they were right. Although it must be said that the Od'A coating wasn't anywhere as good as the chrome version is. My D200 had sat in the same place two years prior and still looked like new.

Anyway, Devialet asked if I was ok with them using new cases and re-coating them with a better process. No mention of it being my own stupid fault they looked like they did. It took quite a while to get this new process tested and approved but they finally did it and sent them back. I received them Yesterday and of course installed them right away.

So essentially I have been given new cases AND new internals and therefore completely new amplifiers for free. Just because they introduced the 1000 Pro 6 months after the Od'A. I know of no company that's ever done those two things; come up with a better model only 6 months after introducing their top model but also upgrading that top model to improved top model status for free.

But wait, there's more! Tongue  The new and improved coating also looks a tad darker than the old one was. So it looks more like copper now than rose gold. That's a bonus to me because we have introduced copper fans and lights into our new living room so they fit right in.

The last thing to mention is the sound. I remember noticing a demise in sound quality when I packed up the Od'A and replaced it with the D200. It wasn't huge but it was definitely there. I thought to myself at the time how good the D200 is given the price difference. Well not anymore! The upgraded Od'A smokes the D200. 

After installation I put on some unfamiliar music that a mate had suggested so I couldn't really tell the difference. But then I went to clean the dishes and put on some St. Germain. I wasn't listening properly but just suddenly noticed how realistic the saxophone sounded. That's with amps that have been on for half an hour; pretty amazing. I haven't had a chance to sit in my listened seat and have a proper listen yet (I let my visiting brother in law have that pleasure) but it's clear from what I heard last night that my first proper session will be epic. 

So a bit thank you to Devialet. I never could have dreamed of owning an amplifier this good.

BTW, Devialet also upgraded an extra remote control I had bought for my D200. No extra cost, they just did it. No questions asked.

+1

With all the bitching and moaning on this site it is easy to forget how exceptional this company has been, offering retro-fitable upgrades through their product line, carrying an older purchase up to the latest iteration.  Apologies to Hifi_Swlon. Aka: Mr. Grumpy
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#3
(29-Dec-2018, 06:04)Wdw Wrote:  Apologies to Hifi_Swlon. Aka: Mr. Grumpy

Maybe if you hadn't mentioned him specifically you wouldn't have to apologise.  Tongue
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#4
Pim,

I can understand why people say that Devialet's service is the worst. When I first booked my 130 for the CI upgrade I got a response from one of their service people who told me that my records showed an incorrect serial number. I checked the number and it was right and replied to that effect. I got a response from the same person which said I was right about the serial number (no apology for his error) but that something else was wrong. It wasn't and I replied to that effect also, got another response with no apology and another blunder on his part. I replied to that message and specifically asked for someone else to handle things because of the errors made by that person. I did get a reply from someone else and all of a sudden things started moving smoothly, my details were passed to Olivier in Hong Kong who was coming to Australia to do the upgrades, and everything from there proceeded just the way you would hope that they would proceed. Olivier couldn't have been more helpful, then upgrade went like a dream, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

So, in the space of one dealing with Devialet I got to see the best they can offer with service and also the worst. The best won out but the 2 to 3 initial weeks with the first service person and 4 to 5 day delays in his response to each of my emails resulted in an extremely aggravating initial 3 weeks to getting the upgrade up and running. I can understand anyone who got that sort of response to their service interaction and who didn't get a satisfactory answer or result at the end being extremely upset and quite justified in claiming that Devialet service is the worst.

So I can't quite agree with you that their service is the best, after all I did have that extremely frustrating initial 3 week to and fro with the first of their service people who responded, but on the basis of what happened after that I couldn't fault their standard of service. Overall I give them a high mark but I can't quite come to say "best" at the moment. They're definitely capable of that level of service but I think they have one or two people responding to service requests who are letting the team down and if you get one of those people dealing with you, then you will most certainly know it.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.

Brisbane, Qld, Australia
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#5
(29-Dec-2018, 09:02)David A Wrote: Pim,

I can understand why people say that Devialet's service is the worst. When I first booked my 130 for the CI upgrade I got a response from one of their service people who told me that my records showed an incorrect serial number. I checked the number and it was right and replied to that effect. I got a response from the same person which said I was right about the serial number (no apology for his error) but that something else was wrong. It wasn't and I replied to that effect also, got another response with no apology and another blunder on his part. I replied to that message and specifically asked for someone else to handle things because of the errors made by that person.  I did get a reply from someone else and all of a sudden things started moving smoothly, my details were passed to Olivier in Hong Kong who was coming to Australia to do the upgrades, and everything from there proceeded just the way you would hope that they would proceed. Olivier couldn't have been more helpful, then upgrade went like a dream, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

So, in the space of one dealing with Devialet I got to see the best they can offer with service and also the worst. The best won out but the 2 to 3 initial weeks with the first service person and 4 to 5 day delays in his response to each of my emails resulted in an extremely aggravating initial 3 weeks to getting the upgrade up and running. I can understand anyone who got that sort of response to their service interaction and who didn't get a satisfactory answer or result at the end being extremely upset and quite justified in claiming that Devialet service is the worst.

So I can't quite agree with you that their service is the best, after all I did have that extremely frustrating initial 3 week to and fro with the first of their service people who responded, but on the basis of what happened after that I couldn't fault their standard of service. Overall I give them a high mark but I can't quite come to say "best" at the moment. They're definitely capable of that level of service but I think they have one or two people responding to service requests who are letting the team down and if you get one of those people dealing with you, then you will most certainly know it.

Hi David,

I kind of named this thread as a nudge nudge wink wink to the other thread named almost the same.
I could easily fault Devialet's correspondence. It took them about a month to reply to my first email so that's quite a delay. But that's only one part of the company and there are people who are bad at their job or snowed under everywhere.

What stands out though is what Devialet ended up doing for me. Brand new amps with special attention paid to the new case and its coating. Not a word of a complaint about my treatment of the amps. This all just to keep me a happy customer. Not to sell me more. Not because of warranty. Just because they promised to upgrade my amps after I bought them. This would have cost Devialet quite a bit of money too.

From my point of view, this kind of service can't be faulted. Even though it took 3 months.
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#6
Pim,

I feel the same. The good has to be acknowledged, and their good service is very good.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.

Brisbane, Qld, Australia
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#7
Personally I have had no problems with service at Devialet other than the very slow email response.

The first time I had to deal with Devialet service was for the Pro upgrade,  it went without a flaw  Smile

The second time, the card reader stopped working. I did a lot of trouble shooting before I contacted Devialet
in the Email I sent them, I listed the things that I had tried.
Over the course of 4 weeks, the service rep by Email asked me to try this, try that. Everything he asked me to do
I had done before I contacted Devialet and I had stated it in my first Email.  Confused 

So after 4 weeks of Email hell I sent my amp back to Paris, it was returned to me in just over 8 days, not bad from Canada to France.  Big Grin

Brian
Vinnie Rossi L2iSE integrated amp, VPI Classic TurnTable c/w Transfiguration Phoenix Cart, 
Auralic Aries G2, Audience Front Row USB cable, B&W 803D3 (black) Audience Front Row Bi wire speaker cables, 
6 x OREA Bronze Footers.
                                                                 Ottawa, Canada.                                                                                      

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#8
Hi there - I started the other thread and I find it interesting that even in this thread you still acknowledge what is by definition bad customer service.

I'm not here to troll or anything else, but for any brand the goal of the customer experience should always be frictionless, with the least amount of pain points. This doesn't ever seem to be the case when it comes to any Devialet experience - their first fail is communication. And that fail seems to continue - I'm glad they made the situation right on your $40K purchase, but if they couldn't do that I would imagine you'd be quite angry about the situation.

I'd love to go to my dealer but I no longer live in that country.

Let's all have a real honest look at this - they cannot seem to figure out how to communicate at the first touch as evidenced by so many stories here (and in other threads). Making things right in the end is not customer service, its last ditch customer retention.
D200, Sonus Faber Olympica I, Linn LP12
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#9
(02-Jan-2019, 05:00)msl Wrote: Hi there - I started the other thread and I find it interesting that even in this thread you still acknowledge what is by definition bad customer service.

I'm not here to troll or anything else, but for any brand the goal of the customer experience should always be frictionless, with the least amount of pain points. This doesn't ever seem to be the case when it comes to any Devialet experience - their first fail is communication. And that fail seems to continue - I'm glad they made the situation right on your $40K purchase, but if they couldn't do that I would imagine you'd be quite angry about the situation.

I'd love to go to my dealer but I no longer live in that country.

Let's all have a real honest look at this - they cannot seem to figure out how to communicate at the first touch as evidenced by so many stories here (and in other threads). Making things right in the end is not customer service, its last ditch customer retention.

Hi @msl,

I started this thread not as a counter to your thread (even though the title suggests that) but because I am genuinely happy with what Devialet have done for me. 

Customer support isn't always easy. I used to work in consumer electronics and my old employer used to say:" A good customer complains. A bad customer takes their business elsewhere". By that measure you are a good customer, I'm just a happy one. Or call it lucky. 

I don't know what to make of your situation. It seems Devialet is turning into quite a large company. That means the service will mostly have to be provided by dealers and importers first. Devialet do a bit of everything (dealer, importer and themselves) and that can make things confusing. Both for the consumer and Devialet staff themselves. This is somewhat a sign of the time we live in. There used to be much clearer rules before the internet. Nowadays anyone can flick off an email directly to the manufacturer. Overseas phone calls cost nothing more that a few cents. What is a staff member to do with a question about a remote control? The least they should do is give you the contact info of your country's importer. If they fail that, then that's definitely a bad thing. I agree their communication lacks speed and accuracy but once they get the ball rolling I can't fault them.

At the end of the day, everyone will have a different experience. In my old job I've had people buying me white chocolate bars because they knew I liked them and I've had people tell me they never wanted me to step a foot in their place again. Same company, same person. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.

I hope you get your problem sorted msl. There's too much fun to be had with the D200 to waste your time chasing up repairs.

Happy new year,

Pim
                                                    Lifetime Roon, Mac mini, int. SSD, ext. HDD, tv as monitor, key board and track pad on bean bag as remote,Devialet 200, Od'A #097, Blue jeans speaker cable,                                     
                                                                                                                                                                            Dynaudio C1 MkII.
                                                                                                                                                                              Jim Smith's GBS.
                                                                                                                                                                        Northern NSW Australia.
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#10
I'll second Pim's comments. Their standard of service can be improved but it's far from the worst service experience I've had. My experience also ended with a great result and that counts for a lot. Companies that really do provide the worst customer service don't deliver great results, they deliver bad results at the end with a lot of bad communication along the way as well.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.

Brisbane, Qld, Australia
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