Thanks for nothing MSD

Posted By: RedRam

Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 10:51 PM

Little disappointed needing to vent.
Sent my digital 6 back to msd because of an intermitant spark problem.
Unit would work fine and then shut off like it had been turned off, problem became more frequent.
Got an RMA # from them and off it went, cost to fix would be $26-$96 (IIRC).
Few days later(7-16-09) got an email saying it was on it's way back

I am a happy camper, it will be back in time 4 SomerNites Cruise in Somerset, KY this Saturday.
Got it today with a letter saying
"your unit is economically unrepairable and cannot be repaired due to the severity of damage, or the availability of certain components"....

interesting, can't be too severe because it works most of the time and they knew what type it was from the RMA request form I had to fill out.
They were kind enough to include a "limited repair waranty" form to use if their repair didn't work and I need to send it back.

Would have been nice for them to include in the email a message that said the unit was not repairable etc... instead of making me think my fixed unit was on it's way back.
Coupon towards a new unit would of been sweet, guess I am really dreaming now.
oh well, thanks for listening.

Posted By: Quicktree

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 10:56 PM

doesn't sound like they did anything wrong to me

Posted By: SomeCarGuy

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:06 PM

Posted By: Anonymous

Post deleted by Defbob - 07/22/09 11:17 PM

Posted By: mopar dave

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:22 PM

sounds about right. msd is not high on my list anymore either. i sold my digital 6 and bought a summit box. i hear thier made by mallory. i'm not too hip on mallory either, but this box works great.

Posted By: Adobedude

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:25 PM

The email from MSD should have said it's not repairable...I'd be pissed too.

Did they do anything wrong? No. But that's why I hate doing biz by email.

Posted By: moparacer

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:31 PM

Dang, I have a old 7AL2 box that has a high rpm miss and I was going to send it back but now you have me thinking.....

Its boxed up and ready to go too....

Posted By: RedRam

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:40 PM

Quote:

Quote:

doesn't sound like they did anything wrong to me

X2

no they didn't do anything wrong, but 4 or 5 more words added to this "Your RMA R09191xxx has been shipped and due to arrive in a few days."
letting me know it wasn't repairable would have been nice.
I guess that is asking a little too much, eh.

oh well, a new one is on it's way. Guess they got what they wanted and didn't have to kiss me either.

Posted By: fourgearsavoy

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:40 PM

I have dealt with MSD before and it was always cheaper than I thought and done per my my request

Gus

Posted By: Anonymous

Post deleted by Defbob - 07/22/09 11:43 PM

Posted By: MoparJoe

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/22/09 11:53 PM

Quote:

sent three 7's back never got a charge even when they installed new wires

Sent a 6al back 3 times, got charged $40 each time and have never bought a box from them again. It had a problem if you hit the limiter it would fry the box

Posted By: Quicksilver440

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 12:13 AM

I thought digital boxes were not repairable because they encapsulate the circuit boards with goo....??

Posted By: bonefish

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 12:31 AM

Quote:

The email from MSD should have said it's not repairable...I'd be pissed too.

Did they do anything wrong? No. But that's why I hate doing biz by email.

i have delt with MSD and been quit satified, but id be a little pissed over this.if they would of said its no good instead of leading him to beleive everything is hunky dory he could have called summitt and had a new one on the way.

Posted By: 440challenger

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 12:37 AM

Sent a 6al box out a few years ago that quit. 50 bucks and it was like new. all new wires,connectors etc.

Sent one out a month ago it was over $100 and they left the cut short wires and gave no connectors,grommets etc. I would of just bought a summit box...They are getting cheap and expensive.

Posted By: BDS871Cuda

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 01:11 AM

All my MSD stuff works great. Maybe they see how
INDY treats it's customers and they think they
can do the same thing.

Posted By: rickstershemi

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 01:22 AM

Quote:

I have dealt with MSD before and it was always cheaper than I thought and done per my my request
Gus

I've always gotten great service from MSD, just recently a buddy sent his dig/7 in for repair and they said two weeks, well he wanted it by the weekend for a race, but never said anything to them, so I called with his RMA#, explained the situation and it was back in the car a day early

I do agree it would have been nice to mention the state of repair in the email....

Rickster

Posted By: 493_DART

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:03 AM

time for a Chrome/Gold box !

Posted By: 572B1

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:17 AM

Quote:

time for a Chrome/Gold box !

Posted By: Chris2581

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:25 AM

Quote:

Quote:

time for a Chrome/Gold box !

Posted By: DakFink

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:49 AM

customer service with many companies has gone to crap in the last 10years.

If anything they should have called you and told you that they no-longer support that Box and gave you the option to buy a newer unit directly from them.

That's what you get when you pay someone Minimal-Wages to answer a phone and route e-mails & mail on an Hourly wage.

Everyplace I have called and gotten the Best Customer Service has been where the person answering the phone also does other work around the facility, or works off a Bonus Based commission.

Posted By: Ari440

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 04:04 AM

MSD7AL !

Posted By: SomeCarGuy

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 04:52 AM

That is nothing.

I took a socket back to Sears for replacement. I was told 10-14 days. OK

Month went by. No socket.

Stopped in. Was told it was superceeded by a new part number. Well OK, why didn't you send the new one out?

I got no call, no letter, nothing. Again, instead of handing me one off the damn shelf, they ordered it. It took 3 weeks but I finally got the socket yesterday.

Posted By: RodStRace

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:31 PM

Yes, the OP issue is the apparent disconnect at the company and the lack of communication.

A lesson for all companies here, the customer thinks of your business as a single entity, not as a bunch of people with compartmentalized tasks that are too busy to do anything but their own tasks and have no understanding of the entire process. That is what causes the shipping area to send out an email saying the unit is coming back, and the repair department to send out another (later) email explaining the results. Sure we all know that the company isn't one person, but we also know that a good company doesn't run like the government.

Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 03:34 PM

I have always had my stuff repaired at the MSD trailer at the track while I stand there and watched. Lot's of times there was no bill. There alright in my book. They also shared lot's of tech info to keep the problem from reacurring.

Posted By: Voluster

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 04:38 PM

I have a dig 6 box i just sent back to MSD

Could not get it to work in my car without breaking up

Put my 6al back in runs fine

Called tech it's not to hard to hook these boxes up.
guy talked to me like I just stepped here from bedrock

Sent it back they found no problem with it.

So I have a dig 6 box that just came back from MSD if you are interested

Posted By: BradH

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 04:47 PM

Two comments:
1. Yes, it would have been helpful if their e-mail would have informed you the unit was not repairable. I, too, would have been irked at the same situation.

2. IIRC there have been a number of postings over the years w/ people having problems w/ MSD's Digital 6 boxes. Sounds like they took a step backwards in some way going from the old 6A series to the digital version. Not sure if the Digital 7 units have had similar problems, though.

Posted By: MegaDart

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/23/09 04:48 PM

I'd be pissed too redram, they should have notified you it was unrepairable... of course as a racer always having a spare is necessity!

Quote:

Called tech it's not to hard to hook these boxes up.
guy talked to me like I just stepped here from bedrock

same thing here. Installed programmable digital 7 and my pc would not interface with it. The guy on the tech line was not only rude but knew less then me. He said "my 4 year old pc was too new!!" as MSD is still using outdated 9pin serial port for hookup...

Fortunately we can call on racers in times like those!!

I will say Kudos to their contingency dept.! IHRA dropped the ball on my TS win and MSD stepped up and paid the $300 claim 3 months later!

Posted By: mike67net

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/24/09 05:02 PM

Quote:

Little disappointed needing to vent.
Sent my digital 6 back to msd because of an intermitant spark problem.
Unit would work fine and then shut off like it had been turned off, problem became more frequent.
Got an RMA # from them and off it went, cost to fix would be $26-$96 (IIRC).
Few days later(7-16-09) got an email saying it was on it's way back
I am a happy camper, it will be back in time 4 SomerNites Cruise in Somerset, KY this Saturday.
Got it today with a letter saying
"your unit is economically unrepairable and cannot be repaired due to the severity of damage, or the availability of certain components"....
interesting, can't be too severe because it works most of the time and they knew what type it was from the RMA request form I had to fill out.
They were kind enough to include a "limited repair waranty" form to use if their repair didn't work and I need to send it back.
Would have been nice for them to include in the email a message that said the unit was not repairable etc... instead of making me think my fixed unit was on it's way back.
Coupon towards a new unit would of been sweet, guess I am really dreaming now.
oh well, thanks for listening.

Oh crap, I sent mine in on 7/14, went through the same steps as you, and I got an email yesterday that it is on the way back.

Posted By: RedRam

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/24/09 05:51 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Little disappointed needing to vent.
Sent my digital 6 back to msd because of an intermitant spark problem.
Unit would work fine and then shut off like it had been turned off, problem became more frequent.
Got an RMA # from them and off it went, cost to fix would be $26-$96 (IIRC).
Few days later(7-16-09) got an email saying it was on it's way back
I am a happy camper, it will be back in time 4 SomerNites Cruise in Somerset, KY this Saturday.
Got it today with a letter saying
"your unit is economically unrepairable and cannot be repaired due to the severity of damage, or the availability of certain components"....
interesting, can't be too severe because it works most of the time and they knew what type it was from the RMA request form I had to fill out.
They were kind enough to include a "limited repair waranty" form to use if their repair didn't work and I need to send it back.
Would have been nice for them to include in the email a message that said the unit was not repairable etc... instead of making me think my fixed unit was on it's way back.
Coupon towards a new unit would of been sweet, guess I am really dreaming now.
oh well, thanks for listening.

Oh crap, I sent mine in on 7/14, went through the same steps as you, and I got an email yesterday that it is on the way back.

All may not be lost, I did some digging on their tech site and here is what I found.
http://www.msdignition.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9032&highlight=potted&page=3
In the early production years for the MSD Digital 6(like mine), they potted(filled with urethane) the box to keep the competition from copying their circuitry etc... while waiting for the design to be patented. IMO that is BS, mine is potted and has a patent sticker on it

.
After they received their patent, they stopped potting the boxes.
So, if your your box is fairly new they can probably repair it.
Good luck! My new box came today and it is not potted.

Posted By: HotRodDave

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/24/09 07:14 PM

Mabey the sticker on your old one says "Patent pending", that would back up what they told you.

As for there response it is probably a computer generated response and generic in nature. Not saying it is right or not but that is probably why that happened. If that is the case they need to update there computer responses.

Posted By: RedRam

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/26/09 12:29 AM

Got the new box in and it is working fine, now it is time to get back to working on the jetting with the LM1.
Decided to pop the cover off the old box just to see what I could see, yep it is potted and has a patent sticker on it

.
For inquiring minds, here is a pic of it.

Quote:

Mabey the sticker on your old one says "Patent pending", that would back up what they told you.

As for there response it is probably a computer generated response and generic in nature. Not saying it is right or not but that is probably why that happened. If that is the case they need to update there computer responses.

I would say you are correct about the comp generated reply, and I agree that they need more that one reply.

Attached picture 5375460-PtdMSD1.jpg

Posted By: mopar65

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/26/09 12:43 AM

Quote:

I have a dig 6 box i just sent back to MSD

Could not get it to work in my car without breaking up

Put my 6al back in runs fine

Called tech it's not to hard to hook these boxes up.
guy talked to me like I just stepped here from bedrock

Sent it back they found no problem with it.

So I have a dig 6 box that just came back from MSD if you are interested

How much you asking for the msd? pm me please. thanks Mopar65

Posted By: Leigh

Re: Thanks for nothing MSD - 07/26/09 03:01 PM

They suffer from not having direct customer contact. Too insulated from reality. Why any company that sells race related items, wouldn't automatically turn repaired items around with NDA or 2DA service is beyond me. We get acused of being lower than whale poop at the bottom of the sea, when a radio knob costs more than a nickle, and takes 2 days.