ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
My experience
I had in last months several technical questions regarding my B&O products.
The process was in ALL cases the same. (1) I send a question via web template (2) I get a non-sense answer, demonstrating that the customer support people have no clue at all of the B&O product. (3) I have to react on this non-sense answer that it is totally wrong or does not help at all. (4) The support gives me the feedback that they can not help me and they will forward my question to headquarters (5) Several days later I get feedback from headquarters via B&O Customer support that is helpful and in most cases trivial. So I asked myself, why did I not get this answer in the first eMail?
I do not understand the roll of the B&O customer service? Frustrating customer? Maximizing the number of eMails between support desk and customer?
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
Mikipedia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia
Mikipedi4 on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mikipedi4
Mikipedia on Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikipedi4/
Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
Beolab 28s Beolab 9s Beolab 12-3s Beolab 1s Beolab 6000s 2 pairs Beolab 4000s Beovision 7-55 Beovision 10-40 Beoplay V1 32 inch Beovision Avant 32 inch Beosound 1 (CD player) Beosound 3000 Beosound 5 Core Essence MKII Beoplay M5
No issues with the costumer support.
However, they ofter do not know the answer.
But they are very concerned about passing the questions on to someone more knowledgable.....which may take some time.
Always getting back to me.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
.
Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.
Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.
My experience is that they are very apologetic, then ask you to tell them what you already told them. Then the say they will get back to you which they don't. So then you contact them again and they say they will send it to a more technical team. You may have to ask once or twice more before being told a lousy work-around or given an apology than it doesn't work and maybe the software will get fixed in the future.
Below is a specific example: I have pasted the email I sent just last week and their first response I received a day later:
LaserAlex
Sep 22, 2020, 20:58 GMT+2
Background to my question:I am interested in adding a couple of Beosound Stages to my Multiroom system, but I have an unresolved issue with my favorite radio station on my existing systems (2x Beosound Moment, 4x Beosound Essence Mk II, 4x Beoplay M5, 1x Beoplay A6.)
I listen to the radio station KNKX (Seattle-Tacoma, Washington, USA) using TuneIn on my Windows Desktop and my iPhone, but the system stopped working on my B&O equipment about 14 months ago.
My question for support:If I purchase Beosound Stages, can you confirm that the specific TuneIn radio station "KNKX" will work on them?
SupportPerson (Bang & Olufsen)
Sep 23, 2020, 11:34 GMT+2
Sources: 2x Beosound Moment • 4x Beosound Essence Mk II Speakers: 3x Beolab 8000 • 2x Beolab 6000 • 2x Beolab 3 • 3x Beolab 2 Integrated: 1x Beosound 2 • 1x Beosound Level • 4x BeoPlay M5 • 1x BeoPlay A6 Control: 16x* Essence Remote • 1x Beoremote Halo
* Yes, really! 🤦♂️
Millemissen: No issues with the costumer support. However, they ofter do not know the answer. But they are very concerned about passing the questions on to someone more knowledgable.....which may take some time. Always getting back to me. MM
That was VERY nice and kind from Bang & Olufsen!!
To TWG:
Wow!
Congratulations!
That's been the right way to increase reputation by B&O customer service.
I interact very often with the support team.
At the beginning I was frustrated by the surprising initial answers, or questions, such what is the S/N or the software version of your product when these informations had been automatically added by the B&O app when used to open a case, but at the end of the day, they are doing their job by filtering the requests, asking basic questions or requesting to perform simple and obvious actions that often help the requester to self-identify the solution. This is a mandatory step to hope to go to the next level, and I now gently answer to what I'm asked. The support people are the messengers, so should not be "killed".
What worries me more is the second level, of what the support people call the "headquarters". I have complex issues for which I have spent quite significant time to collect evidences with various tech tools and for which the only answer I have, when I chase, is "the headquarters are looking seriously at your issue" "or a fix may be produced in future versions" .... What I expect is issue acknowledgment, feedback from their side without having to chase, and progress status up to the point the case is closed .... and transparency.
Here is a typical answer to a case that will never have any follow up, but for which you may see a fix months after:
"We appreciate your interest in our brand and would like to thank you for your suggestion on how to make the app more accessible and user-friendly.We are glad to inform you that we have forwarded these errors to our app development team, in the hopes that it may be considered for future updates. "
I have several cases pending resolution, some since many months and for which there is no answer or no clear answer from B&O, e.g. BS Moment MoodWheel. Is it so difficult to say "we are sorry, we no longer support this feature that you pay for, here is our proposal ..."
BS Moment, BS Core, BG 4002, BC 4500, BS1, BL18, BL19, BL8000 + RCV1, A6, M5, M3, A1, P6 (tks Botty), H5, TR1
Sorry to take this thread off topic, but I can't get KNKX on my BS2, but can on my phone. Very odd. I like the Chicago area public jazz station WDCB, but have never listened to KNKX so I don't know how they compare.
On topic, my experience with B&O support has been mixed, but usually includes at least one pointless back-and-forth (either we need more details (which were included in the an earlier email), or they respond with a nonsensical answer (problem with the Eclipse? try these new AppleTV setting - which I don't own and never mentioned).
Stan,
Thanks for checking on KNKX for me. I'll check out WDCB, maybe it will do the trick for me.
I've also been in touch with the person at KNKX who is responsible for running their streaming servers. I'm going to try to send him an M5 so he can tweak their stream settings until it works. But really this seems like something B&O should be fixing the KNKX stream seems to be readable to everything other than B&O products.
I agree more or less with everything mentioned above. Personally I use the customer support as a last resort of help simply because I have never had a single issue solved. I have asked many times for help about my Beosound Moment, none of them were answered. Some were forwarded to other departments but none was answered. I have asked them if it was possible to make a PUC code for an stb I am using and I was very pleased when the department responsible for the PUC codes contacted me asking for the model of the stb. I sent them all information available, even picture of the sticker at the back with all the S/N etc etc only to receive an email informing me that I can use one of the codes already available in the PUC list. My reply was that I have already try it and it doesn't work....I am still waiting for their reply!
As far as dealers are concerned I can't say much. In Greece we have only one who is distributing in Athens and Thessaloniki, and as far as I remember there was never more than one dealer. I totally understand that the dealer is an entrepreneur and his driving force is profit. The situation here in Greece has been super tough for luxury goods the last decade and I feel for him but the fact that they ask a full payment of whatever you buy doesn't make business sense for me. Back in the 00 they used to do up to 10 interest free installments, it was much easier to buy a 9000 euro TV paying 900 per month than pay straight 9000 and receive your TV after 2-3 months (although the sales person was kind enough to offer installation of the display product till the new would arrive).
I was studying in Bath (long time ago) and if I recall correctly you could get your product fixed in the dealer's store as long as it was something easy (battery change, software update of small in size products, a telephone keyboard changed, etc). This was super convenient as you could drop it before going to work and pick it up in the afternoon on your way home.
To be fair I have to stress that there were many times that the B&O engineer here in Greece has come and picked my Beosound Moment from my house which is super convenient for me as it is around an hour drive for me to get to his office (Thanks Mr Nick)
All in all I strongly believe that there is much room for improvement especially with the customer support since they are at the front line. As far as dealers' are concerned I believe they should focus on making the access to their products easier. Making a 10%-20% discount if you spend double the money is not the right way for me. On the other hand making B&O products available in big stores like Dixons is on the right path, but financing the purchase of new products should be reviewed. Nowadays it is so easy to buy something abroad and ship it home (even if it is a 30kg TV) which is money lost for the dealer.
Sad times, but I'll have to say I agree with this, too.
I've bought a lot of B&O kit over summer. I bought the H95's, had them one day, returned them via UPS after registering a return.
Heard nothing since. No confirmation of receipt, no return info or refund.
Tried calling B&O's support which they boast is open 24/7. Constantly in a queue. You can request a callback. No-one called back. Incredible.
I've emailed both emails they give for returns and customer services, they claim a 1 business day reply. No reply.
This is shocking for a luxury brand. As a comparison, send anything back to Mr Porter and it's instantly refunded. I had to send something back to Harrods recently and it was acknowledged and refunded the same day. B&O, 2 weeks after returning, nothing. Nada.
"I've bought a lot of B&O kit over summer. I bought the H95's, had them one day, returned them via UPS after registering a return.
Heard nothing since. No confirmation of receipt, no return info or refund."
But you were smart enough to send it back through a competent 3rd party so you have recourse via UPS, avoiding the possible "empty box" response.
A year ago I bought some H6s for my daughters, and one is now acting up and influencing the iPad it is connected to. It could be the cable (with the controls in it gone bad) but I am not sure These headphones have 2 year warranty so I used the online option to report the problem (with serial number etc) in which some automated fault elimination happens. It ended with leaving my details and the promise I would be contacted by e-mail. with details for shipping. This was a week ago and I have not seen any e-mail. Could have made a typo in the e-mail address (unlikely).
I did order a (no controls) replacement cable from Steve in the meantime. If that all works fine I might order a new EUR 35 cable with controls.
I must also say that the BeoPlay A1 that bought went faulty and was swiftly replaced. So mixed feelings here for now.
poodleboy: But you were smart enough to send it back through a competent 3rd party so you have recourse via UPS, avoiding the possible "empty box" response.
That's B&O's choice. They send a UPS shipping label. They do that for everyone. B&O simply use a third-party logistics company to handle returns. It's not via B&O. And if the receiver claims it's received without the contents, nothing you can do whether you use UPS or otherwise.
UPS won't simply make a payout if a sender says 'it included the headphones' and the receiver says 'no it didn't'.
moxxey: poodleboy: But you were smart enough to send it back through a competent 3rd party so you have recourse via UPS, avoiding the possible "empty box" response. That's B&O's choice. They send a UPS shipping label. They do that for everyone. B&O simply use a third-party logistics company to handle returns. It's not via B&O. And if the receiver claims it's received without the contents, nothing you can do whether you use UPS or otherwise. UPS won't simply make a payout if a sender says 'it included the headphones' and the receiver says 'no it didn't'.
Fair point. At least with UPS you can know it arrived.
poodleboy: Fair point. At least with UPS you can know it arrived.
Just had notification this morning B&O's logistics team received the return - 15 days after it was returned
They really could do with improving their service though.
moxxey: poodleboy: Fair point. At least with UPS you can know it arrived. Just had notification this morning B&O's logistics team received the return - 15 days after it was returned They really could do with improving their service though.
Amazing "coincidence".
My disappointing experience with the B&O service:
I had a simpel (?) question, how to activate ChromeCast built-in at my new Beovision Harmony.
It took me 11 eMails over three weeks until I got my problem solved. Every time having somebody else replied to my eMail getting contradicting answers once I should look at the iOS B&O app the other eMail told me to look at the webOS B&O app. Many eMails told me to look at pages not relevant or to use links not available in neither app. I had contact with Jo.., El.., Ga.., Gv.., Em.., Ga.., El.., Sa.., Em.., Ma.., Mi.. I assume that everybody working at B&O support was allowed to give me a helpless answer. They always answered very fast, but I had not the feeling that anybody took the time to read my eMail and to look at the screenshots I provided.
In the end the solution was (after 11 eMails !), that I have to access my Harmony over the related IP address directly with a internet browser. The solution is not difficult, but what service quality is it when you need 11 eMails to get this trivial (?) problem solved?
And it would be interesting, if somebody in this chaos process identified and reported to HQ the error behind, a missing link / menu item (Product settings -> Configure) in the iOS B&O app for the Beovision Harmony.
My summary is, I am willing to pay a luxury price for a B&O product. But for this price I expect a high quality service and software. Unfortunately Bang&Olufsen is not able or willing to deliver it at all. I personally can not recommend B&O to anybody who wants a product that just runs and do not want to hassle around to get something work, I feel like a Beta Tester. But to be a Beta Tester, in the B&O products are much too expensive in my eyes.
Alsfeld: I had contact with Jo.., El.., Ga.., Gv.., Em.., Ga.., El.., Sa.., Em.., Ma.., Mi.. I assume that everybody working at B&O support was allowed to give me a helpless answer. They always answered very fast, but I had not the feeling that anybody took the time to read my eMail and to look at the screenshots I provided.
I had contact with Jo.., El.., Ga.., Gv.., Em.., Ga.., El.., Sa.., Em.., Ma.., Mi.. I assume that everybody working at B&O support was allowed to give me a helpless answer. They always answered very fast, but I had not the feeling that anybody took the time to read my eMail and to look at the screenshots I provided.
B&O will be using hired external call centre which handles support and primarily role is to send email replies as quickly as possible and escalate, where required. The same call centre will handle support for other brands, too.
...even if what other brands costs …500 EUR max, while what B&O sells could cost 5.000 EUR+
Perhaps an idea could be to use this "generic" call center support for bluetooth speakers and headphones, and the other "real" one for people buying Beolabs and Beovisions?
Let me share my recent experience with B&O Customer.
I contacted the support about a PUC after the update of one of my decoders. I have done this in the past and they always provided the PUC and/or put it online for the more recent TVs. Now this time they (quickly) replied by saying that such a request should be addressed to my dealer.
Well, the 4 dealers here in Paris where I purchased B&O stuff over the last 20 years all closed. OK, no problem, I contacted the Saint-Germain store: as an historical customer it's always disappointing/frustrating to be considered as newbie ("do you already own a B&O TV....?"). Well to make a long story short: they could not help me with my PUC question.
Thank you very much B&O for your fantastic support
ngnear:First port of call should always be the dealer who sold the product I would assume.
You're casually assuming those dealers are in business! Two of the dealers I bought products from here in the UK have gone out of business.
Griebel:Let me share my recent experience with B&O Customer. I contacted the support about a PUC after the update of one of my decoders. I have done this in the past and they always provided the PUC and/or put it online for the more recent TVs. Now this time they (quickly) replied by saying that such a request should be addressed to my dealer. Well, the 4 dealers here in Paris where I purchased B&O stuff over the last 20 years all closed. OK, no problem, I contacted the Saint-Germain store: as an historical customer it's always disappointing/frustrating to be considered as newbie ("do you already own a B&O TV....?"). Well to make a long story short: they could not help me with my PUC question. Thank you very much B&O for your fantastic support
You see Japanese reporters and technologists amazed in that picture. But what is the (realistic) case today?
They are both are made in China.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
We can summarise it this way:
To summarize the discussion, the only positiv at the Bang&Olufsen customer service is the fast reply. But what does the speed help, when the answer is not helpful? Most of the time I have the feeling that the first non-sense answer is only to get ride off an annoying customer.Considering that the dealer network getting thinner and thinner. A very well trained customer service could be the answer / solution. But in my eyes the current B&O customer service quality is adding nothing positiv to the brand image at all.
Comparing the B&O customer service to other technology orientated services with similar complexity in my eyes (e.g. Netatmo, Nuki, HP Printer, AVM) I experienced, the B&O service has with far distance the lowest quality. And I thought that B&O places itself as luxury brand and the others listed are in my eyes medium priced brands.
Why are the other customer service departments are able to know their products and give helpful answers?
And B&O customer service seems to be very low educated in the B&O product range and problems? Only sending back useless / wrong answers or forwarding eMails to Headquarter.
Considering the price B&O asking for their products it should be the opposite. B&O should offer the best service (not the worst) to support their brand image.
Alsfeld: And B&O customer service seems to be very low educated in the B&O product range and problems? Only sending back useless / wrong answers or forwarding eMails to Headquarter.
It's a hired call center. It's not B&O answering the emails, hence the lack of knowledge. Like a lot of companies, B&O simply hires a call center, which will also handle other brands, to be their first customer contact.
However, B&O charges an exponential price on their products compared to "other companies". Hence the expectation... and it's not completely unfair, right?
AnalogPlanet: However, B&O charges an exponential price on their products compared to "other companies". Hence the expectation... and it's not completely unfair, right?
My point was, don't expect this to change. B&O isn't going to start to hire it's own support staff in the middle of a pandemic. It's not ideal, it's not great, but B&O is here at least.
I can't really complain. They took a while to sort my issue, but I ended up with a full refund. It takes a while, but they get there eventually.
moxxey:It's a hired call center. It's not B&O answering the emails, hence the lack of knowledge. Like a lot of companies, B&O simply hires a call center, which will also handle other brands, to be their first customer contact.
Why? If you have an inhouse or an outsourced call center should make no difference in quality. It is a matter of knowledge and training. In theory B&O should be able to train their own people or the people of an outsourcing partner.
But instead B&O is focusing on high sales price, low quality and no service.
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
Hiort:I have lately reported a few issues to the customer support and I find them very quick in responding. At first you get a number of questions to diagnose the problem. I find them relevant to the issues and not “default” from some handbook. They appear to have access to the developer team, and relay questions and information.
At first you get a number of questions to diagnose the problem. I find them relevant to the issues and not “default” from some handbook.
They appear to have access to the developer team, and relay questions and information.
+
additional info and help is asked,
issues are resolved quickly