New Excalibur Service/Repair Update

[erikk]

Finally talked to the PR (Service Manager) man Bottom line after he got through trying to explain all their transition problems and how hard they were trying to get their act together I told him that my B.S. meter was as far into the red as it would go and all I wanted to hear is when someone was going to open the box and look at the detector that had been there for almost 2 months.He said they only had it from the 16th but I told him that I was told to send it to Vegas and they received it there on 7/2 and had proof -SO 2 weeks sitting in Vegas before it gets to ILL (they are really trying huh?) He could not give me an answer-they have 2 tech's fixing them. Said not many excals break-I told him I am not new kid on block and I know better. Also told him how Minelab was scamming the majority of hunters with their 1 year warranty with the long repair time. Unless you live in FL and can hunt year around if your machine breaks and you live up north by the time you send it in and get it back the season is over and you never get to hunt it till the end of the warranty period-if it isn’t fixed correctly YOU ARE SCREWED Just read the forums and u will C that there is not one good word about your service. I told him that I had 2 40K diesel trucks and if the dealer said I had to wait two months for service I would tell him to stick it, go somewhere else and NEVER Buy another truck from them. Also said that I had 5 minelabs and when they finally bite the dust I would NEVER buy another
Told him about problems with Infinium and how Garrett sent me 4 new machines with 2 week turnaround till they got it right
Said he would get back to me-RIGHT!

 

[JOE(USA)]

erikk,

Good post! we all need to stay on top of this problem with minelab. I wonder if we should all start emailing these forum threads to Minelab? Do you think they would read them? Joe

 

[Smudge]

Man, I am finding more posts by people fed up with Minelab!

Glad I've got at least one Tesoro, just in case.

 

[digum smacks]

i just put on a new coil and headphones on mine.hardwired the coil and had to splice the headphones due to service techs at minelab are idio-s. they ran a wire directly to the capacitor to my headphones i havent figured out why unless they broke something inside and direct wired it to bypass the break ,im thinking the +wire because it is epoxyed, they couldnt fix it properly without replacing or digging out all the epoxy so they so-to-say jerry-rigged it nice work there minelab.i paid alot of money for your jerry-rigging not only that there wasnt anything wrong with the headphones to begin with.

 

[goldfever]

This is the very reason I decided not to buy an x-cal.
Although I really wanted one, I ultimately decided that it was too risky given the disarray of Minelab.
So I bought an infinium...maybe I would have had more success with the x-cal but I have done pretty well with the infinium and am confident that if I have problems that Garrett will take care of me.

Minelab is losing potential customers daily. I think it's only a matter of time before they go under.

 

[erikk]

This is the very reason I decided not to buy an x-cal.
Although I really wanted one, I ultimately decided that it was too risky given the disarray of Minelab.
So I bought an infinium...maybe I would have had more success with the x-cal but I have done pretty well with the infinium and am confident that if I have problems that Garrett will take care of me.

Minelab is losing potential customers daily. I think it's only a matter of time before they go under.

first of all I don't think they really care

Read the bottom of my post GARRETT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU

 

[FloridaBill]

Minelab is losing potential customers daily

do they really care

My thoughts also

 

[goldfever]

The good old days of Minelab Austrailia are gone.

A local dealer told me that of the Minelabs that were shipped to his customers ( since Mylasya Co took over) none of them work right.

The dealer himself lost faith. He told me not to buy Minelab !

That. combined with poor customer service is a recipie for disaster for any company !

I mean, the friggen dealer doesnt even recommend them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sandman]

My older Excal is still working well, but I know when it needs repair I will not count on sending it in for them to "fix it." At least I have many backups in the Tiger Shark and CZ20 not counting the two 1280's I still have. The 1280's have done well for me in fresh water.

 

[gravediggermax-vabeachva]

Excalibur Repair Update - No One Has Mentioned HighPlainsDrifter

could be some are not aware of him..........some should remember him............worked for minelab in las vegas for sometime as service tech.

BILL BRANIN
he has repaired 3 local excals around here and did it in days, not weeks............here is what he said to us:

I HAVE PARTS FOR EXCALS I WILL INSTALL DISCONNECT ON
HEAD PHONE I CAN MAKE MOST OF MY PLASTIC PARTS I HAVE A PLASTIC
INJECTION MACHINE THAT I CAN DUPLICATE ANY PART I NEED AS LONG AS I
HAVE AN ORINGINAL TO MAKE MY MOLD OUT OF I HAVE A COMPLETE MACHINE
SHOP AND I HAVE SEVERAL CUSTOM PRODUCTS THAT I WILL SELLING SOON AND
CAN DO REPAIRS ON ALL OF MINELAB MACHINES AND OTHER MANUFACTORS
MACHINE ALSO ............THANKS BILL

you can reach out to him here:

highplainsdrifter.bill@gmail.com

NOT SURE HE CAN DO ANY WARRANITY WORK FOR THE GUYS THAT NEED THAT.
just passing along some info. - F Y I

 

[erikk]

Re: Excalibur Repair Update - No One Has Mentioned HighPlainsDrifter

could be some are not aware of him..........some should remember him............worked for minelab in las vegas for sometime as service tech.

BILL BRANIN
he has repaired 3 local excals around here and did it in days, not weeks............here is what he said to us:

I HAVE PARTS FOR EXCALS I WILL INSTALL DISCONNECT ON
HEAD PHONE I CAN MAKE MOST OF MY PLASTIC PARTS I HAVE A PLASTIC
INJECTION MACHINE THAT I CAN DUPLICATE ANY PART I NEED AS LONG AS I
HAVE AN ORINGINAL TO MAKE MY MOLD OUT OF I HAVE A COMPLETE MACHINE
SHOP AND I HAVE SEVERAL CUSTOM PRODUCTS THAT I WILL SELLING SOON AND
CAN DO REPAIRS ON ALL OF MINELAB MACHINES AND OTHER MANUFACTORS
MACHINE ALSO ............THANKS BILL

you can reach out to him here:

highplainsdrifter.bill@gmail.com

NOT SURE HE CAN DO ANY WARRANITY WORK FOR THE GUYS THAT NEED THAT.
just passing along some info. - F Y I

THANK'S JUST SENT HIM AN E MAIL

 

[Jason in TN]

erikk,

Good post! we all need to stay on top of this problem with minelab. I wonder if we should all start emailing these forum threads to Minelab? Do you think they would read them? Joe

I already have got no zip zero zilch response from them. I also told them if they did not get there act together when my excal goes I would not buy another Minelab detector.

Jason

 

[Sandman]

Max, thanks a bunch for that Link. I will keep it on record in case I need repairs.

 

[erikk]

I think it is quite obvious that the Minelab division could care less so maybe we should start bombarding the parent company with posts, complaints

 

[FloridaBill]

I think it is quite obvious that the Minelab division could care less so maybe we should start bombarding the parent company with posts, complaints

Maybe we could make up a form complaint letter where everyone could copy and paste it with the email posted to minelab , you have to make it easy now days most everyone seems lazy when it comes to things like this, you have to spoon feed them

 

[lowtones]

I have been lucky with my Excalibur. I have had it for 5 years now and i sent it in once for new headphones. Robert was one of the techs there and i heard he left. Ever since then and the newer version of the Excalibur came out it seems like the repair service went down hill. I have been searching for an unopened new original Excalibur and i found one this week in CA. I just opened it and it runs beautiful. I packed it back up and put it away. Hopefully i will be good for many years without worrying how long my repair will take. The only thing I will never do is hip mount it and i always tape the headphone wire where it comes out of the main unit i tape it directly to my straight shaft so the wire never moves around and does not get any stress on it.. I have a garret infinium but i think the original Excal is the best water machine around hands down. i do not think i would say that about the Excal 2 from what i have seen and read.
Lowtones83

 

[FLauthor]

I keep a Garrett AT-3 Beach Hunter for a backup. Twenty years old and still dependable. I sent an email to Charlie Garrett but he probably never got it. I'll have to send a Snail Mail and I know he'll get it then. But I asked him they should reconsider and produce the AT-3 again in a updated version as it was a Notch Water Machine and TH'ers loved them so much that they keep wanting to buy mine.

 

[SonnyFl]

Excal owners who think they got problems! Get aload of this. Isn't is company policy to notify you and let you know what's wrong and how much it'll cost? I got a call and was told they had good news. My machine was fixed and they can mail it out today, NOW GET THIS, after I pay the bill. My question was, Who authorized to fix it and or call me and explain the problem. LONNNNNG pause! OOOOPS! Now what? I'm waiting for the so call Operation manager to call. Any suggestions? SonnyFl

 

[bootybay]

I could just spit fire...3rd excal ..exact same problem as the last two... problems with the threshhold.. I HAVE JUST HAD IT.

 

[Indasurf]

I could just spit fire...3rd excal ..exact same problem as the last two... problems with the threshhold.. I HAVE JUST HAD IT.

Bootybay, that really stinks!!!

Was this one machine sent back 3 times for service or different detectors (newer excal 2) ?
Either way, that's completely unacceptable and keeps you from hunting!

I hope it all works out for you!