TL;DR: Case closed. I have a brand new SHD, despite miniDSP’s best attempts to deny me one.
Details below, but first, I just want to say
thank you to this forum. Especially to everyone who spoke up to voice support and tell miniDSP they were in the wrong, but also to those of you who watched the thread and let it continue without protest. I know it was disruptive to our normal conversation. This public light is the
only reason miniDSP did the right thing. I really do appreciate it.
Backstory since August 6:
In case someone stumbles on this,
here is background on my SHD reliability issues. After this,
@devteam — Tony, the owner of miniDSP — arrived and engaged me. His communication was frankly a mess of deflected responsibly and shifting stories. All I asked for privately, and then publicly once he appeared, was for a simple warranty swap after my SHD failed very early, then it took a month to get fixed, and then the “repaired” unit came back with a new problem. That’s it.
As you saw, after the blowup with miniDSP here it looked like they were finally going to take care of me. Instead, Deer Creek Audio arrived in my email with Offer #1 that I could send my unit back on my own dime (est. $35) and then they would then inspect it and decide on a “remedy.” This was a joke of an offer, and showed miniDSP and Deer Creek didn’t take this seriously. Offer rejected, I said miniDSP needed to cover a prepaid label and send me a new unit before I send back my old one.
Offer #2: Deer Creek came back with a prepaid label, but still wanted me to send back my broken unit first for them to inspect and then provide details about the exchange. So the same major, deal-breaking accountability problems but without getting nickel and dimed on shipping. Offer rejected, I wanted a new unit in hand, like every other warranty swap I’ve ever gone through.
Offer #3: Deer Creek said that if I wanted a new unit in-hand before sending back the old one, I must pay full price plus shipping on their website. Upon its arrival I would send back the old one on the prepaid label, and when they have verified its physical condition they would issue a refund on the new purchase
minus 3% to cover their transaction fees. On the $1288.95 shipped price we’d be talking $38 out of pocket for me. Offer rejected, I wasn’t paying that bank free and told miniDSP to reimburse Deer Creek for the dumb, surprise fee.
Offer #4: I would still pay for the new unit, but I would get every cent of my $1288.95 back when the old unit returned on the prepaid label. Obviously this was a leap of faith that Deer Creek wouldn’t screw me over, and to their credit, they didn’t.
That’s how it went down. I now have a new SHD in my system, it does not have the high pitched noise coming through my tweeters at shutdown, proving once and for all that I was right that they screwed up the repair, and I have the full refund in my bank account so I’m free to speak.
I can’t even begin to quantify how much time and effort I put into this problem that started in May and has been a thorn in my side ever since. Just on this forum you can see how much I had to write to get miniDSP to get the picture, and how much nonsense they returned with at every step. Now multiply that by 40 private emails back and forth.
I think it’s fair to say Tony @ miniDSP thoroughly embarrassed himself and his company here. What a flawed viewpoint and policies to build a company around. It’s really a shame to see, but he did it to himself.
Let this be a lesson to you. You may happily own something from miniDSP. But if something big goes wrong you will pay. You will pay in time and effort and endless headaches all built around saving them a buck. And believe me no one could possibly put more into politely, patiently, and privately advocating for themselves than I did before this went public.
Someone earlier said miniDSP was acting like cheapskates, so I’m not the first, and couldn’t agree more. Depending on the day they treated me like an idiot, an inconvenience, or like a criminal who was trying to take their last dollar. I can’t say much better for Deer Creek Audio, though I’ve held back criticism for them in this process because the buck stops with miniDSP. Deer Creek were willing to give up absolutely nothing to show loyalty to their customer versus the manufacturer, not even a 3% bank fee on the refund of my $1300 collateral payment. Both companies will treat you like they are barely solvent or straight-up unprofitable.
If you want to further criticize miniDSP and/or Deer Creek Audio then go for it, but I’m not leading a mob here. I just want people to know how they operate before anyone makes a big mistake. The simple reason this is all so scathing is because of basic facts about the way they do business.
Thank you again.