Minelab Customer service experience.

[HighVDI]

About 2 months ago my wireless headphones seemed to not want to power up. I called Minelab of PA and spoke to the woman there. I gave her the serial # and she said she would have someone call me back.....okay I thought.

Two days later I miss the call back. The guy then left a detailed message on my phone about how to power up and then pair the headphones like I had been doing for the past year and a half...

Okay no biggie since out of nowhere they started working just as before shortly after I called......buuuuutttt, I thought wow that was some weak CS right there.

Fast forward to now. Headphones again, will not power on and only give the red/blue pairing light if charging. I called Minelab today with a voice recording to leave a message? Maybe I expected too much to talk with a person with some tech knowledge upon calling with an issue. Or, even a follow up call from the first problem I was having. I love the Equinox and Minelab in general but MY experience with CS so far has not been as expressed by many on here.

Just figured I would post a thread while awaiting someone from the Minelab skeleton crew to return my call.

 

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[Bayoutalker]

When mine are charging all I get is a steady red light until it is charged and then it goes off.

 

[CoinHunterAZ]

My one and only experience with Minelab CS pretty much mirrors yours. I wasn't too impressed with them either, but as I understand it they are WAY understaffed and have a LOT on their plate. I finally did get my issue resolved, but not without a good deal of frustration. You will need to keep calling them until you get someone on the line.

 

[HighVDI]

My one and only experience with Minelab CS pretty much mirrors yours. I wasn't too impressed with them either, but as I understand it they are WAY understaffed and have a LOT on their plate. I finally did get my issue resolved, but not without a good deal of frustration. You will need to keep calling them until you get someone on the line.

That excuse (from them) can only be used so long until people don't want to hear it! Hire some people....Heck I'd bet there are plenty of retired people out there that would love to work for Minelab ect. I know they're making enough money to expand their payroll.

 

[smokeythecat]

Could be they are not making as much as folks think. The repairs we hear about don't come at no cost, let alone any others. I certainly don't know.

 

[RustyGold]

Customer Service may be indirectly proportional to the amount of leaking Equinoxes.
Joking of course.

 

[smokeythecat]

What folks don't take into consideration is any merchandise returned for repair, whether it's a phone, car, detector, anything, cuts into the bottom line of the company making it. A bad part on a car can cost the manufacturer millions of dollars, due to recalls. Due to the nature of an automobile, the government demands recalls. Not so with a metal detector. The car makers can get insurance for big problems. The detector manufacturer, not so much - unless your detector has an electrocution hazard.

 

[Bayoutalker]

Warranty repairs are just part of doing business. The cost must be factored in from product inception. An acceptable failure rate is part of a mass produced item. It is when that rate is exceeded that manufacturers start losing money. That's why it is in their best interest to resolve the issue asap.

 

[smokeythecat]

Bayoutalker, you are correct. Thing is none of us little people know if that line has been breached.

 

[Bayoutalker]

Bayoutalker, you are correct. Thing is none of us little people know if that line has been breached.

And that is true of most companies. That is privileged info. As long as our equipment is being repaired in a timely manner and under warranty we really don't need to know. Now if we are having repeat failures an explanation may be in order but that would be a one-on-one thing.

 

[Megalodon]

What folks don't take into consideration is any merchandise returned for repair, whether it's a phone, car, detector, anything, cuts into the bottom line of the company making it. A bad part on a car can cost the manufacturer millions of dollars, due to recalls. Due to the nature of an automobile, the government demands recalls. Not so with a metal detector. The car makers can get insurance for big problems. The detector manufacturer, not so much - unless your detector has an electrocution hazard.

The costs of complying with recalls and performing the repairs can also be a factor in the stock prices of public companies. Some very profitable auto companies have low stock prices (some temptingly low...) and one of the greatest risks is a large, expensive recall campaign.

To my knowledge, none of the metal detector brands are owned by a public company, so we'll never know how well they are doing until, poof (a'la Tesoro), they are gone...

 

[Rick K]

The PA repair facility is a contracted operation - not owned and operated by Minelab but fully authorized to operate as the only repair facility in the US.

Minelab is a brand, not a company as such. It is part of an Australian corporation called Codan. They are publicly traded and post their semiannual and annual results publicly.

 

[smokeythecat]

The costs of complying with recalls and performing the repairs can also be a factor in the stock prices of public companies. Some very profitable auto companies have low stock prices (some temptingly low...) and one of the greatest risks is a large, expensive recall campaign.

To my knowledge, none of the metal detector brands are owned by a public company, so we'll never know how well they are doing until, poof (a'la Tesoro), they are gone...

POOF!

 

[smokeythecat]

Stock is at $6.62 a share, Australian. I'll pass.

 

[Megalodon]

The PA repair facility is a contracted operation - not owned and operated by Minelab but fully authorized to operate as the only repair facility in the US.

Minelab is a brand, not a company as such. It is part of an Australian corporation called Codan. They are publicly traded and post their semiannual and annual results publicly.

Thank you - I learned something new this morning! Its an OTC stock and very lightly traded but has been profitable for the few who have bought it - up 750% the last 5 years and mostly a result of the value of re-invested dividends. The link is a good explanation of how CODAN's dividends contributed to its recent past performance:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/investors-bought-codan-asx-cda-233431633.html

 

[Bayoutalker]

Stock is at $6.62 a share, Australian. I'll pass.

Their stock has gone up quite a bit in the last year.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The costs of complying with recalls and performing the repairs can also be a factor in the stock prices of public companies. Some very profitable auto companies have low stock prices (some temptingly low...) and one of the greatest risks is a large, expensive recall campaign.

To my knowledge, none of the metal detector brands are owned by a public company, so we'll never know how well they are doing until, poof (a'la Tesoro), they are gone...

Minelab is owned by Codan, you can read their annual report and see how Minelab is doing and they are doing good, gross sales for Minelab physical year 2019 was $182.1 million and that is just Minelab division of Codan

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Stock is at $6.62 a share, Australian. I'll pass.

Codan is up 750% over last 5 years, it is a good investment..

 

[Bayoutalker]

Codan is up 750% over last 5 years, it is a good investment..

It would have been a REAL good investment 5 years ago. [emoji4]

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

It would have been a REAL good investment 5 years ago. [emoji4]

It still is if you look at the stock forecast by analysts.