about an unusual type of WARRANTY

[sohho]

I bought, some two and a half years ago, an UpTone LPS-1.2 directly from UpTone Audio LLC.
A few months ago, the unit failed to work at all .
As the UpTone website declares “The UltraCap™ LPS-1.2 is backed by a 3-year warranty.” (doesn’t say anything else on the matter), I contacted Mr. Crespi from UpTone Audio and after many mails back and forth on testing the unit, I got this mail, on March 22nd, 2023:

“Hi Eduardo:

I am traveling so I must be brief.
I am sorry, but repair of your LPS-1.2—by even its engineer—is quite impossible. The reasons are complex. I could go into the long technical explanations as to why, but the conclusion would be the same.

With regrets,

Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC”

Later on, on April 22nd 2023, when I intended to exercise the warranty, and even offered (as I understood the tough situation they are in parts supply department) to consider the price of the defective unit as part payment of other UpTone product, Mr Crespi told me:

[…] “For UltraCap LPS-1.2 units still under warranty we offer pro-rated refunds. Purchase price divided by 36 months times number of months remaining on warranty. I see that your unit (delivered to Rene on August 26, 2020) has 5 months left on the warranty. You paid $435, divided by 36 months, times 5 months remaining on warranty so we would refund $60.” […].

And as for considering the money paid as part payment of another UpTone Product:

[…] “Alternatively, I can offer you a 10% discount on our acclaimed—and highly reliable--JS-2 choke-filtered, dual-output, 5~7.4 amp linear power supply. Or if you save this message, we can offer you a 10% discount on the forthcoming EtherREGEN Gen2.”

So, “pro-rated refunds”? 10% discount when not able to comply? I simply don´t get it. I have on my back more the half a century with audio, and through the years I have bought many products from different places in the world, but I have never heard or known of the sort of warranty that Mr. Crespi declares his standard for his products.

Surprised as I am by all this, I understand I live in another country (Argentina) and, even though I bought the unit from its manufacturer in the US and paid it in US dollars, I am not fully aware of US regulations, especially regarding warranty policies.

Because all this, I would be more than thankful for any comment on the matter, from whoever reads this lines, that helps me clarifies my understanding of this situation.
Thank you very much.

Eduardo Cabral
Publisher
audioperformance mag/AR
www.audioperformance.com.ar

 

[ecwl]

This is really unfortunate but in a way not surprising. I’m not even sure how I feel about all of this. Let me explain.

I bought two LPS-1 from Uptone Audio in 2017. In hindsight, through my stupidity, I must have accidentally powered it with too much voltage and blew both units. Uptone was willing to replace the units for me at cost so I paid them to get two replacement units. I was happily using both units until 2021 when I think both units were probably running a little low on voltage/amperage so had problems consistently powering my UltraRendu.

I contacted Uptone and they no longer manufacture LPS-1 so they suggested that I can upgrade to LPS-1.2 at a discount so I bought an LPS-1.2 around that time. Interestingly, about a month ago my LPS-1.2 was also acting inconsistently with the UltraRendu, likely because it’s running a little low on voltage/amperage. Unfortunately, I have no easy way to measure this to verify the problem.

I’ve noticed from Uptone’s website that they’ve been struggling to keep their products in stock or to manufacture new ones. So I didn’t even bother to contact Uptone for a replacement unit. Nor did I realize that there was a 3-year warranty on the product until now.

On one hand, I totally understand that a 3-year warranty is a 3-year warranty. So I do think a replacement unit should have been available. On the other hand, with the pandemic and parts shortages, if they can’t manufacture more units, and they have no idea what the unit failure rates are, and they’ve sold the last LPS-1.2 unit and sent off the last replacement unit, there truly is nothing they can do.

For a big company, obviously, the honorable thing to do is to pay you back the full cost of the product because that’s what a warranty means. Or buy you a used functioning LPS-1.2 as a replacement. But for a small company like Uptone, if they can’t even manufacture new products, that probably means they’re not making any income so it’ll be difficult for them to provide a full refund.

I acknowledge that I’m sufficiently privileged that I can tell myself I’ve really enjoyed using these products and I got the value I paid for them from 2017 to 2023. Hence, I wouldn’t chase them for replacement or refund. In fact, I like them enough that I would still buy again from Uptone knowing that perhaps they are too small a company to honour their warranty If they run into manufacturing problems again.

But I totally understand that if somebody spent their hard-earned money for a 3-year warranty, they expect the product to last 3 years. And if it doesn’t, usually we expect a replacement unit that may not last another 3 years but should at least last till the end of the original 3-year warranty period. And of course at the end of the 3-year period, we can recoup some money if we want to by selling the product used online.

To me, the pro-rated refund seems like a reasonable compromise. If the user got 31 out of 36 months of use out of the product, for Uptone to repay the 5 out of 36 months of loss of use sounds like they’re trying to do the most honorable thing that they can given their manufacturing and financial circumstances.

But I know from an owner’s perspective, some might feel that the product should have been worth more given the advertised 3-year warranty.

 

[jadedavid]

While there may be extenuating circumstances that are not stated, notwithstanding, they should either repair the unit or refund you the purchase price. (and or full credit towards the purchase of any other of their products).
Their proposed options are not acceptable.
They should be ashamed of themselves.
It seems like you have three options. 1) accept their terms 2) file a lawsuit (not really worth it) or 3) bad mouth them in as many forums (etc) as possible.
If Uptone wishes to publicly respond to this situation and justify their policy, please do so.

 

[sohho]

This is really unfortunate but in a way not surprising. I’m not even sure how I feel about all of this. Let me explain.

I bought two LPS-1 from Uptone Audio in 2017. In hindsight, through my stupidity, I must have accidentally powered it with too much voltage and blew both units. Uptone was willing to replace the units for me at cost so I paid them to get two replacement units. I was happily using both units until 2021 when I think both units were probably running a little low on voltage/amperage so had problems consistently powering my UltraRendu.

I contacted Uptone and they no longer manufacture LPS-1 so they suggested that I can upgrade to LPS-1.2 at a discount so I bought an LPS-1.2 around that time. Interestingly, about a month ago my LPS-1.2 was also acting inconsistently with the UltraRendu, likely because it’s running a little low on voltage/amperage. Unfortunately, I have no easy way to measure this to verify the problem.

I’ve noticed from Uptone’s website that they’ve been struggling to keep their products in stock or to manufacture new ones. So I didn’t even bother to contact Uptone for a replacement unit. Nor did I realize that there was a 3-year warranty on the product until now.

On one hand, I totally understand that a 3-year warranty is a 3-year warranty. So I do think a replacement unit should have been available. On the other hand, with the pandemic and parts shortages, if they can’t manufacture more units, and they have no idea what the unit failure rates are, and they’ve sold the last LPS-1.2 unit and sent off the last replacement unit, there truly is nothing they can do.

For a big company, obviously, the honorable thing to do is to pay you back the full cost of the product because that’s what a warranty means. Or buy you a used functioning LPS-1.2 as a replacement. But for a small company like Uptone, if they can’t even manufacture new products, that probably means they’re not making any income so it’ll be difficult for them to provide a full refund.

I acknowledge that I’m sufficiently privileged that I can tell myself I’ve really enjoyed using these products and I got the value I paid for them from 2017 to 2023. Hence, I wouldn’t chase them for replacement or refund. In fact, I like them enough that I would still buy again from Uptone knowing that perhaps they are too small a company to honour their warranty If they run into manufacturing problems again.

But I totally understand that if somebody spent their hard-earned money for a 3-year warranty, they expect the product to last 3 years. And if it doesn’t, usually we expect a replacement unit that may not last another 3 years but should at least last till the end of the original 3-year warranty period. And of course at the end of the 3-year period, we can recoup some money if we want to by selling the product used online.

To me, the pro-rated refund seems like a reasonable compromise. If the user got 31 out of 36 months of use out of the product, for Uptone to repay the 5 out of 36 months of loss of use sounds like they’re trying to do the most honorable thing that they can given their manufacturing and financial circumstances.

But I know from an owner’s perspective, some might feel that the product should have been worth more given the advertised 3-year warranty.

I think the honorable attitude would be to accept my clear proposal to full credit towards the purchase of other of their products...

 

[Manxman]

Shocking behaviour by the manufacturer. A three-year guarantee does not mean that the product has an expected lifespan of three years; it means that if it fails in the first three years you get a replacement, all your money back or a 100% credit towards something else in their range. Do not take this lying down.