I can't believe I missed this thread...
Cobra_Jet's experience has mirrored mine, with a few differences. I have made 5 calls since the start of December that I was promised a return call and received none. And none of mine were with a call center, all of them were Minelab's office. No matter how much the long wait has ticked me off, the lack of respect is just as bad if not worse.
My Etrac stopped functioning towards the end of November. I turned it on for a minute at a friends house, turned it off, put it in his trunk and drove five miles, wouldn't turn on. Nothing but a low hum. And this was only a little over two months after I had got it.
So I made two calls in December, both of which resulted in the broken promise of a return call. All I really wanted was to talk to a tech to see if there was something I could do to fix it, and if not, what I needed to do to have them fix it. Since it was December in NW Ohio, I really wasn't too concerned, figured I had all winter to get it in and fixed. I had followed Gibsondans story of getting his Etrac fixed, so I thought it would be only a few weeks, maybe a month total. Ha.
After the first of the year, I made another call, still not returned. Finally, the 3rd week of January, I called and talked to someone in service.
I was told where to send it, what to include, etc. Ok, here we go.
Sent it in the first of February, UPS said it would be there on the 11th, so I called on the 11th just to give them a heads up, find out about how long it would be, etc. And got another non-callback. So I called the next day, talked to someone in service who told me they thought they knew what would be wrong with the machine by my description and that currently their turnaround time was 20 days. Sorry, let me correct that. 20 Working Days. There was a little confusion over that, because I work 7 days a week sometimes, so I naturally assumed 20 days meant, well, 20 days. Archaic term is archaic?
So, this last week after 20 "working days" were over, I called back. And was told that they were now out 30 days. Well, good thing I sent mine in when it was 20 days then right? What? No, it's going to be at least 2 more weeks? So, the thing you just told me 10 seconds ago about it being 30 days, has just suddenly became 35 or 40?
Yeah, it's getting nice here and not being able to go detect is making me a bit grumpy, but this is totally uncalled for. Someone returning my call or, heaven forbid, calling me and updating me on where it stands, would have done wonders. Even a "Hey we are swamped here, it's going to be a month, we will try to get it out as soon as possible" would have been great. But no. We get Big Timed by them.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my Etrac. I was a White's man for 12 years. And while I hear White's customer service is awesome, I never found out, because my XLT never broke down in 12 years. Maybe we can get White's to do a hostile takeover of Minelab CS? Do you hear me Sweet Home?
i refuse to talk to a robot with a foreign accent !! , and you will never complain about Minelab,s again . Hell or High water iam getting that Excal II in April 
I hope my Sov. GT dont have to be serviced anytime soon .
