In appreciation of Line 6 Customer care and support

[voxman55]

When I bought my Pod Go almost 2 years ago, a big consideration for me was the knowledge that Line 6 customer support was very well regarded and arguably second to none.  The real test of a good company is how it looks after its customers, particularly when things go wrong.   The following is my post on 'The Fretboard':

 

"If anyone is thinking of buying a Boss GX100 or other Boss MFX unit, you might want to be aware of the following situation that is being discussed on the Facebook GX-100 User Group page:  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/327789275972520/posts/392049729546474/?comment_id=392580119493435&notif_id=1655155489532725&notif_t=group_comment_reply
 

Putting aside for the moment opinions on tone, and feature comparisons on different gear, I'd just like to comment if I may on something which at least for me, is fundamentally important. What happens if you buy a new MFX and something goes wrong - will you get the right support? An important issue especially if you are a gigging musician, is reliability and customer service. Boss has a deserved reputation for solid build reliability, but I think most everyone will agree here that Line 6 Customer service is second to none.
 

I've just been contributing to the current thread on this FB page  that is both surprising and worrying...by all means read this yourself. A guy in the US has just bought a brand new GX100, and went to update it before he used it, to the latest firmware.  Unfortunately he accidentally disconnected it during the update and his GX100 is now bricked. Now, that can happen and modern units should be resilient enough to reset and recover.  However, Boss has told him that the main circuit board will need to be replaced, and because this was 'his fault' it isn't covered under warranty. Now, I and others have challenged this and told him to go back to Boss because this simply sounds ridiculous.

First, we are talking a firmware upgrade that has gone wrong, and none of us can understand how this could impact the physical circuitry.  Second, regardless of whether he accidentally disconnected, the whole point of customer support is to provide support. If an MFX seriously can't recover from something like this and if Boss sticks to its guns, this is going to be of real concern. I think everyone here will concur that this would never happen with Line 6. First, they will nearly always be able to unbrick the unit, and second they would always deal with it under warranty.

We'll need to see how this ends up, but no customer should be put under undue worry or stress and have to fight for support on something like this. So, regardless of opinions on different units, for me one of the key things I considered when buying my Pod Go 2 yrs ago was the very strong Line 6 customer support, it's global support infrastructure, and the commitment it has to its customers.

Boss has launched a great new unit at a great price point. But if it doesn't support its customers something like this can seriously damage customer confidence. Having just looked on its website, there isn't even a telephone number (I wanted to speak with Boss UK about this). Regardless of how good the GX100 might be, or any product, if the customer support is not there, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole! 

in the meantime, I've flagged this situation to Boss UK to see if they might have any influence with Boss US to help this poor guy. "

 

Having just paid $600 for the GX100 that he's not even played yet, Boss have quoted him for repair $235-$240 ($172 for board and the rest is labour). 4-6 week wait on the parts.

 

Now whilst Line 6 can have its 'moments' on certain issues, it's customer service is not one of the areas where you'll see too many complaints.  So before thinking of buying any MFX or other piece of gear, by all means compare features and consider tone, processing power, single v dual routing, merits of touch screen, UI, ease of use etc etc.   But before parting with your hard earned cash, I'd strongly recommend you also carefully consider the manufacturer's track record on customer service how you'll be looked after if something goes wrong!  No company is perfect, but I'd like to think line 6 would never treat a brand new customer like this.  

 

UPDATE: To be confirmed, but I believe that Boss have now reached out to him with a view to covering this under warranty.  If so, I'm genuinely pleased for the guy, and delighted that Boss has seen sense - but what an ordeal to go through with a brand new piece of gear! 

 

 

[olerabbit]

Yes, same with me.

 

Of course, tone, features and handling are very important.

But if problems arise I depend on a helpful customer care and support.

And there is no software without bugs, so frequent updates are very important for a software based product.

 

AFAIK Line 6 is the only company offering this complete package.

And if the price/performance-ratio is right nothing can top this offer.

 

This was decisive for me to buy a Pod Go.

[grdGo33]

On 6/14/2022 at 5:29 PM, voxman55 said:

UPDATE: To be confirmed, but I believe that Boss have now reached out to him with a view to covering this under warranty.  If so, I'm genuinely pleased for the guy, and delighted that Boss has seen sense - but what an ordeal to go through with a brand new piece of gear!

 

The power of public shaming.  A shame it has to go that far to get decent support...  And a shame that it's not standard, it may have solved his issue, but unless Boss has revisited its warranty policies, it's just a public stunt to save face.

 

It makes you wonder also how reliable those multi FX units really are.  I mean, firmware is one thing, but even overall...  Electronics these days are disposable, you're not expected to keep a cellphone or a computer for more than a few years.  There's always something that breaks anyhow, and the more complex, the less realistic is a repair, and the more likely for something to break.  And the price of repair vs brand new units, often makes very little financial sense to try to repair anything as repairs are expensive and as tech moves so fast, what's just a couple of years old is already obsolete and new units are just faster & cheaper.

 

So yeah, imho firmware 'bug' should have been covered by warranty, otherwise, I wouldn't expect anything like the Go to last anywhere near what 'normal' pedals go; if mine lasts 10 years I'll be super happy.  Last time I check, my Digitech RP6 and Zoom2020 were still going strong though  lol

[voxman55]

Confirmed - Boss is fixing it under warranty. They say that they were always going to cover it and this was down to an unfortunate miscommunication from the two separate Boss employees.