beware of live bundles !!!

martian · Post by **martian** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:25 am

I bought LIVE 5 bundled with the mk 449

when it arrived it looked fine...

didn't get around to plugging it in straight away - wasn't crtitical and I was busy on another project.

Any how a few weeks later later I plugged it in -MIDI was screwy - notes on were random -

after more than a month of emails trying to get it sorted the buck bounced back at ableton - logical - they sold it me!!!

Sent the Unit back ( cost me US$50 from ZHong Kong to germany...)

Waited for the unit to get there..

They sent it for repair.... this took some time....

Now they are telling me I can't get my unit back... And will refund some cash!

This has taken nearly 6 months to sort out now!! ( still haven't got the cheque!)

Worse thing is I was actually eligible forcheap version of 5 as I had the digidesign edition but was cheaper to buy the bundle as I wanted a new keyboard controller

BEWARE!

DeadlyKungFu · Post by **DeadlyKungFu** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:57 am

somehow that doesn't make me beware of live bundles. Ableton didn't make the keyboard.

martian · Post by **martian** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:17 am

Well I think it alerts people to the difficulties they might encounter trying to return products that are faulty..

Whilst ableton didn't make the keyboard they sold it to me.

I was left in a situation where I had a non working keyboard

No one wanted to help initially.. A lot of effort was wasted tracking people down..

This is an experience I think people buying bundles from ableton should be aware of and consider

unsatisfactory service from them - still no keyboard nearly 6 months later.... If that happened to you perhaps might feel differently?

too much deadly kung fu done on your head I think

go and knock ya self out!!

telekom · Post by **telekom** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:28 pm

Purely for the purposes of balance... as an existing Live owner I ordered an Evolution uc33 from Ableton... M-Audio (as usual) were messing Ableton around about delivery dates... I got in touch with Ableton a few times and Sylvia and Claudia were both extremely helpful and apologetic. They made a very generous offer to make up for M-Audio's inefficiency... I was really impressed with their customer service. And when the uc33 arrived they also threw in a mousemat and an Ableton record bag.

It's a shame if others like martian are not getting the same result... but I have to say Ableton were absolutely excellent... I wish other companies took lessons in customer service from Ableton.

My 2p.

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:42 pm

I wish they'd kick maudio to the curb, but as long as they're bedfellows ableton needs to take some of the slack. If maudio suck badly, then surely ableton must be accountable for doing business with them...ableton is a business running for profit after all, and the customer who buys these bundles from ableton direct - are dealing with ableton not maudio.

I buy stuff from musicstore.com occassionaly , and I now accept that they will always always take a few weeks to get my product shipped to me, yet turnkey or dolphin music or even an ebay transaction from singapore arrives at more doorstep within 2 days!

and musicstore always blame the supplier, I ordered a seinnheiser mic and a laptop bag off them a month ago, the mic arrived after 3 weeks and I'm still waiting on the bag

.......

but I dont blame seinnheiser, I blame musicstore. I'm paying them, they are selling me a product and making profit on this and they should have their affairs in order. When it says a product is in stock, why does it take 3 weeks to get here ?

thats how the chain-of-blame works ..... I might have been inclined to agree that its all maudio's fault a year ago...but why are ableton still doing business with them then ? At some point no matter how much of a die-hard abletonian you are, the buck has to stop with them. right ? so if this poor shmuck in hong kong is getting a rough deal, I dont think you should blame maudio and exonorate ableton from blame completely.

hopefully he'll get a mousemat and a laptop bag like the other guy, he does deserve it.

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:11 pm

I am sorry to read your story, but your fault choosing M audio product- the bottom company and Evolution as their "low end" so kind of knocking from down under.
I am stupid too, wasted time and money buying Ozonic, lesson learnt, never again m audio.
Dont get mad at Ableton, their support is industry best, great people, pity they hooked up with M audio, which does not really stands for quality and good support, even worse Ableton has to deal with German M audio disorganised , unfriendly, unprofessional (UK support is much better)
So Abletonians surely had to go through same stupid shit dealing with them regarding your problem unit. I wasted 2 months, Ozonic was sent there and back 3 times for a silly problem ( faulty power supply) that could be solved in no time, if anyone dealt with it seriously and professionally - I found out that fault myself after listening to their "advices" getting PCMCIA cards, golden cables, reinstalling OS etc that had nothing to do with actual problem

charles-l · Post by **charles-l** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:26 pm

hey

i have to say I think that m-audio are the problem to, I've exprienced problems with them too.

sarcazm · Post by **sarcazm** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:23 pm

You in Hong Kong then? I got a MK225c, a UC33, and the MS20 midi controller for sale if you are interested.

Just give us a PM.

Ta

SARky

LOFA · Post by **LOFA** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 8:33 pm

This week my maudio device works and my tascam one is glitching. Nature of the beast.

martian · Post by **martian** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:58 am

for sure it's m-audio - but they are selling the device..So they should support it.

It seems others have suffered! which makes me feel better that I'm not the only "scmuck"

maybe others will rethink purchasing hardware on line - as it is definitely much easier to walk into a real shop and kick up a stink with the manager!

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:29 am

martian wrote:maybe others will rethink purchasing hardware on line - as it is definitely much easier to walk into a real shop and kick up a stink with the manager!

depends on where you live....I've bought tonnes of stuff online, both from retailers and from ebayers....I've also had breakages and defective products arrive to me, but no bad experiences....so far everyone I've dealt with in this respect has been most honorable, touch wood.

martian · Post by **martian** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:41 am

it's been a bad batch for me I'm afraid

I had bought tonnes of stuff too -

then I bought some mics from red audio - they accidentally got shipped by sea - tho I had paid for air.... took 3 months to get here

3 years ago I bought a fairlight from a guy in australia - fully working with 16 in and out

was missing some internal DSP cards.... he thought he was a lawyer - well the i/o does work .. only it needs the DSP cards for them to function..... so only 8 of the 16 were functional.....

Fortunately I was able to sell it on and not lose out- but now wary of ebay..

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:44 am

ya...i dont feel so good about buying second hand gear, especially audio, from ebay. I bought a nord micro modular for a bargain, boxed and in pristine condition, but thats such a small little dsp package I felt a little safer buying it. Really would feel risky buying a 303 for 1,300 from ebay....