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Disappointed In Rigol Service
Posted by
JLM
on 10 May, 2018 22:14
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I own a Rigol bench multimeter DM3068 (and a thousands of dollars of other Rigol equipment). It won't power up. I called tech support and they said to send it in for repair. But they said the warranty period is three years, and that since my unit is a few months out of warranty, the flat repair rate is $360. My experience with good companies is that they will stand behind their products and not seek to extract exorbitant repair fees if the product is not very long out of warranty. I was thus surprised that Rigol refused to provide a warranty repair. Needless to say, I will not be buying Rigol any more.
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#1 Reply
Posted by
wraper
on 10 May, 2018 22:18
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Check if there are power voltages. Also look on the bottom of PCB for burned TVS diodes. They are connected in parallel to transformer secondary windings and have barely any clamping voltage margin. So may fail short. It might easy fix.
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#2 Reply
Posted by
jancumps
on 10 May, 2018 22:34
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the warranty period is an agreement that you know when buying it. the period is over. get over it.
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#3 Reply
Posted by
JLM
on 10 May, 2018 22:38
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Yes, and good companies don't strictly enforce the agreement. They stand behind their product. Just as it is Rigol's right not to provide service, it is my right not to buy their products.
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#4 Reply
Posted by
jancumps
on 10 May, 2018 22:42
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Yes, and good companies don't strictly enforce the agreement. They stand behind their product.
what would be a fair period in your view?
Just as it is Rigol's right not to provide service, it is my right not to buy their products.
that is very true. If you’re not happy, you can always speak with your wallet.
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#5 Reply
Posted by
MadTux
on 10 May, 2018 22:51
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That's the consequence of buying new stuff without service/calibration info and with lots of devices with integrated memory (microcontrollers, CPLDs...) inside.
Once you're out of warranty and it breaks, your're much more helpless and dependent on the manufacturer than if you have 20-40year old stuff where you can repair most things yourself, dump EPROMs and where you can usually find plenty of parts on ebay for cheap.
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Round up all your Rigol gear and the receipts
take a photo of the lot to prove you're a loyal customer (and free advertiser)
and demand a better deal than $360 for a box opening
LOL, has Rigol opened ' Genius Bars' too ?
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#7 Reply
Posted by
nctnico
on 10 May, 2018 23:13
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That's the consequence of buying new stuff without service/calibration info and with lots of devices with integrated memory (microcontrollers, CPLDs...) inside.
That is nonsense. I've repaired tons of stuff and microcontrollers and other digital circuitry almost never fail. It is always the components which get hot or have a limited lifetime like electrolytic capacitors. And with some generic fault finding methods you can repair a lot without needing a diagram.
To the OP: once the warranty is over you have to pay for the repair. Any other equipment manufacturer will tell you the same although some will repair outside warranty if it is a manufacturing defect.
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#8 Reply
Posted by
ogden
on 10 May, 2018 23:13
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that is very true. If you’re not happy, you can always speak with your wallet.
Exactly. You shall not expect service culture of Mercedes for Jiangling Motors car.
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#9 Reply
Posted by
sokoloff
on 10 May, 2018 23:25
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I'd definitely have a go at it myself before sending it in for a $360 wallet extraction on an $850 meter.
Possibly even to the extent of chasing down another one from a friend / forum member and making some measurements of the good vs bad unit.
I think Rigol is fine to charge for post-warranty service; no issue there.
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#10 Reply
Posted by
eyiz
on 11 May, 2018 00:02
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Yes, and good companies don't strictly enforce the agreement. They stand behind their product. Just as it is Rigol's right not to provide service, it is my right not to buy their products.
This is really dependent on the co. and the product. Tech gear tend to break right after the warranty period. The manufacturer sets that period knowing the lifetime of the components. So, if it breaks before the warranty period, it's usually because of manufacturing defect. It's designed to last that period. Technical industries rely on short lifetimes, to keep themselves in business. They often introduce some weak link that breaks, called designed obsolescence, so that the customer comes back to buy the latest gear. They typically don't want their products to last forever.
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#11 Reply
Posted by
DaJMasta
on 11 May, 2018 00:13
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My experience with good companies is that they will stand behind their products and not seek to extract exorbitant repair fees if the product is not very long out of warranty. I was thus surprised that Rigol refused to provide a warranty repair.
My expectations generally go with what's stated, if the warranty period is past, it's out of warranty and repairs are charged. Test equipment repair is almost always expensive and charging only 1/3 the price of a new one is actually pretty cheap for most of the manufacturer repair quotes I've heard on out-of-warranty gear. I certainly would appreciate reduced price repairs out of warranty within some reasonable period, but that hasn't been my experience, it hasn't been an experience I've seen common among other posts here, and it is not one that is to be expected given the terms of their warranty/guarantee.
Honestly, while the price is a little high (I still think it's not much by comparison, though), I don't know why your expectation is to get reduced price or free service after a three year warranty period. That simply isn't something I expect, and I think that sort of policy is one more likely to be interpreted literally given the stated terms, so i'm not sure why one would expect it.
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#12 Reply
Posted by
floobydust
on 11 May, 2018 00:40
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A fixed time-period warranty can be unfair.
Was the equipment running all the time, or used occasionally or used once? I wonder if the multimeter shows its mileage- the run time hours? Car makers consider both time and mileage, so it's not a "hard" deadline.
Sometimes you can get a deal on a new model instead of the repair.
Gear with hot running parts, you have to think the manufacturer wanted it to just last past the warranty period.
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Check if there are power voltages. Also look on the bottom of PCB for burned TVS diodes. They are connected in parallel to transformer secondary windings and have barely any clamping voltage margin. So may fail short. It might easy fix.
It might even be a blown mains fuse. OP hasn't ruled that out, AFAIK.
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I have epson product failed, 1 month past warranty. They asked me to pay in full for replacement. you know epson? its from japan, not china. i have to pay the money to get more money. what do you expect? Buy lecroy or rohde swatzh.
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#15 Reply
Posted by
Berni
on 11 May, 2018 05:42
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They are just doing business.
This is one of the reasons why Keysight, Keithley, R&S... etc gear costs more. Its not just the build quality but also the support they offer for there costumers. Just because they offer such a generous service does not mean that all test equipment manufacturers do.
This is the same sort of support you might get for a Sony TV.
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#16 Reply
Posted by
Gibson486
on 11 May, 2018 12:39
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Yes, and good companies don't strictly enforce the agreement. They stand behind their product. Just as it is Rigol's right not to provide service, it is my right not to buy their products.
I have had reputable companies do the same. I do not take it personal at all. There is a reason why Rigol cost so much less.
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#17 Reply
Posted by
Paul Price
on 11 May, 2018 13:38
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I have a Rigol DS4024 scope that developed a bad time/div rotary encoder in a few months less than 3-yrs. By the time the control was driving me crazy I had only two weeks left on my warranty and contacted Rigol and they wanted me to ship it back to them for repair and it would take at least two weeks or more before I would have an oscilloscope to use again. That is unsatisfactory, I can't do anything without a 4-chan scope working at all. I had a job to finish and even a scope with a goofy time/div was still a scope and better than none.
A few days beforr my warranty expired I call them up and asked what the repair cost would be. They told me if I waited until the warranty expired, the price would be almost 50% of the original purchase price, and in any case I would have to go out and find and buy packaging and pay the shipping and insurance cost to get it to them. Paying this much for an out of warranty repair was out of the question.
So I called back and asked them to send me a new rotary encoder and I would willingly void the warranty and fix it myself.
They said that is not their policy.
So I called back and asked to to sell me a new rotary encoder.
They said they were in the business of selling equipment, not spare repair parts.
So I decided to fix it myself. After a few hours of searching around on the net I found an equivalent rotary encoder for a few dollars. I ordered two and got them in two days to my door.
Next I attempt to dissemble the device and find that their service information fails to show the location of a screw in the back that needs to be removed. However, searching on the web, I found help in a getting the information that I needed to remove the decal in the back.
However then I discover how poorly designed this device was. It is necessary to peel off the whole front adhesive decal(this is the whole face of the oscilloscope that labels all the controls, etc.) to access the 3 screws that are hidden beneath. Somehow later, after repair, providing I didn't damage the adhesive that glues this, I would have to stick it back on again. I decided, that this oscilloscope was just a piece of junk if I had to go through all that to service it.
So I decided I would not be interested in selling this instrument later, it would be ok with me if I could just repair and use it. I just had to deal with this and carefully located the hidden screws underneath the decal and cut a small circle with an Xacto knife and removed the screws. I carefully stored the circuiar cut outs to makeshift glue them back on after the repair, but I knew I would easily see the repair work on the decal when I finished.
Once I could access the wiring underneath the front panel I saw the extremely cheap delicate printed paper-thin flat cables that needed to be so carefully removed from their socket to replace the rot enc. Despite being careful, moving things around during the repair, I managed to damage one small flat printed cable and spent over five hours fabricating a replacement
After I put the who thing back together again it worked fine. But, whew! what trouble to repair.
I somehow want to compare this scope with my old Tek 575b that works perfectly after almost 50-years..but I can't! In terms of easy of repair and fabrication, it fails to meet the standards I seen in and old DVD player or a VCR, which are remarkably much easier to service.
If I had to buy another scope it wouldn't he a Rigol.
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#18 Reply
Posted by
BravoV
on 11 May, 2018 14:19
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.... since my unit is a few months out of warranty, the flat repair rate is $360.
I with you, I demand not only few months, Rigol "MUST" support their product for rest of the customer's life.
Yeah ... right.
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#19 Reply
Posted by
BravoV
on 11 May, 2018 14:24
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So I called back and asked them to send me a new rotary encoder and I would willingly void the warranty and fix it myself.
They said that is not their policy.
So I called back and asked to to sell me a new rotary encoder.
They said they were in the business of selling equipment, not spare repair parts.
No single sane manufacturer will send you the component for you to fix it your self, period.
Are you expecting they trust your soldering skill just because you say so ?
Yeah, me too, friends all admire my soldering skill as they claim I'm one of the best in the world, as I'm a nice and generous guy around. So generous that I also apply that to my soldering work that generously put solder at everything I worked on like this .... nice eh ?
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#20 Reply
Posted by
Paul Price
on 11 May, 2018 14:37
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BravoV, you miss the point, by the time I replaced the control, the warranty would have expired anyway.
I don't expect a supplier of equipment to issue a lifetime warranty, but I would expect courteous service and support and maybe sometimes going the extra mile(or just even a few inches) to help a customer.
The point is that this instrument failed within it's warranty period of three years, that in itself was unexpected with an expensive piece of "quality" lab equipment, in my experience.
The point is that this instrument is very difficult to service and their service docs were not even showing where the screws are hidden.
The point is that this instrument is not constructed in no way other than a Chinese Puzzle when it comes to repair.
I willfully chose to void the the few hours left on the warranty if I could get a replacement free or even purchase the part needed for repair. I could not get any help from them.
Are you somehow some shill working for Rigol?
Besides that, I can solder like a champ.
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#21 Reply
Posted by
BravoV
on 11 May, 2018 14:45
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BravoV, you miss the point, by the time I replaced the control, the warranty would have expired anyway.
Reality sucks, and you just can't win everytime, live with that.
I don't expect a supplier of equipment to issue a lifetime warranty, but I would expect courteous service and support and maybe sometimes going the extra mile(or just even a few inches) to help a customer.
The point is that this instrument failed within it's warranty period of three years, that in itself was unexpected with an expensive piece of "quality" lab equipment, in my experience.
I willfully chose to void the the few hours left on the warranty if I could get a replacement free or even purchase the part needed for repair. I could not get any help from them.
No need to continue, you still don't have any idea what I'm saying.
Are you somehow some shill working for Rigol?
"If" I do, whats wrong with my argument ?
Besides that, I can solder like a champ.
Yep, I know and wholeheartedly trust you, cause you said so, yeah ... right again.
Really, you better buy Keysight, R&S or LeCroy product next time, as these suit you really well.
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#22 Reply
Posted by
nctnico
on 11 May, 2018 15:42
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I have a Rigol DS4024 scope that developed a bad time/div rotary encoder in a few months less than 3-yrs. By the time the control was driving me crazy I had only two weeks left on my warranty and contacted Rigol and they wanted me to ship it back to them for repair and it would take at least two weeks or more before I would have an oscilloscope to use again. That is unsatisfactory, I can't do anything without a 4-chan scope working at all. I had a job to finish and even a scope with a goofy time/div was still a scope and better than none.
But that is your problem! Warranty is not guaranteed availability.
If your income depends on having a scope then make sure you have a spare one.
So I called back and asked them to send me a new rotary encoder and I would willingly void the warranty and fix it myself.
They said that is not their policy.
So I called back and asked to to sell me a new rotary encoder.
They said they were in the business of selling equipment, not spare repair parts.
If I had to buy another scope it wouldn't he a Rigol.
Keysight does seem to sell some spare parts like encoders but most spare parts are complete boards.
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#23 Reply
Posted by
ogden
on 11 May, 2018 16:48
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Exactly. You shall not expect service culture of Mercedes for Jiangling Motors car.
I'll bet they love you as a customer.
I chose particular company for a reason
I am curious - they love me before or after
I am dead in their car?
[edit] The point is - you get what you pay for. I would love to get R&S or Keysight top of the line scope having top of the line support, but cannot afford it. I just live with that, don't whine
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#24 Reply
Posted by
Paul Price
on 11 May, 2018 21:47
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The point is that I expected better quality service and an instrument that was possible to repair. The model I bought is not the cheapest model, cost 5x the cheapest models offered at the time.
I understood the warranty, but not the craftsmanship.
The point is that hiding screws beneath the front panel adhesive decal and not providing service information or location of screws is unforgivable at any price.