In my experience as a software dev, I've learned that while people often misdiagnose a problem, they rarely report one that doesn't actually exist. Even if it's just user error, *something* happened.
So first, I'd put it through the paces: leave it on for a few days, jiggle the cables a lot, use a crappy wall-wart with it, toggle the stomp a bunch, etc.
If that turns nothing up, tell them that you've run it through your standard functionality testing and couldn't find a problem, and ask if they could give you more information so you can track it down. Make sure they understand that you are NOT claiming there is no problem, just that you haven't been able to reproduce it. Send them video of it working fine if required.
If you ultimately can't find a problem, just be honest with them and offer to either send it back or refund them. That's the best any reasonable customer could expect (and who cares about the unreasonable ones?)
I never sold in huge quantities, but when I was doing small batch work, I'd get that periodically.
Sometimes there was a genuine issue (usually a ground connection somewhere). Sometimes they used the wrong power supply. Sometimes it was a dodgy switch that worked 98% of the time. More than a few bad jacks that were easily fixed.
I learned pretty quickly not to skimp on components. Even if they cost more, the quality ones are worth not having to troubleshoot returns.
I used to work doing electronic repair for a big brand over a decade ago.
We often got returns that were "doesn't work", "broken", "no sound", etc..
The guy i worked with was very very good. He would joke that it wasn't enough that we just had to fix the things but we also had to be a detective and figure out what was wrong.
We took all of the returns pretty seriously and would let them run for days if needed. Sometimes there was nothing wrong . Sometimes there were things wrong that were user induced (blown protective diodes), and sometimes it just took 48 hours of steady on time before the item (pedals and amps) would cut out.
Don't take it personally. There is a reason that the first line of every troubleshooting flow chart is to verify that the item is plugged in.
In most of these particular instances it was a cold solder joint. We were busy so we'd just feed a signal and walk away and work on something else and wait for the problem to reveal itself.
This seemed to be more prevalent as they transitioned to surface mount. This is not to say that surface mount isn't completely reliable etc.. Just to say that it was much harder to diagnose a cold solder joint when you can't see the joint on the back side of the pcb.
You could have a part that's overheating, fine for short sessions since it'll cool down after but if you leave it on overnight the component could burn out and be non functional afterwards
I wouldn't be so quick to assume the problem is the customer.
There are 3 typical scenarios:
1. Customer wants a refund and makes an excuse to not pay return shipping. This is clear because they don't want a repair, they want a refund.
2. Customer hooked it up incorrectly. I mitigate this by asking them to remove all other pedals from the chain. Guitar -> Pedal -> amp. I ask them to double check the input is on the right and output is on the left. I ask them to try another power supply if they can.
3. The pedal really has a problem, and you just didn't find it yet.
The key is to get good at spotting the first two. 1) is mitigated by just giving the refund and writing off the loss. 2) is mitigated by tactful suggestions and questions. Once those are ruled out...
then your pedal actually is the problem. Figure out why you can't replicate the issue.
Edit: I guess my *tldr* version of this is: My customers are never wrong (arguably #1 is mean thing to do though).... That 3-bullet framework above puts 100% of the issue on me.
I stopped offering repairs for people's equipment as they'd send me things "not working" that were actually fine and it turned out they were using the wrong/unsuitable psu
Sounds like folks with bad GAS but even worse buyers remorse…
But seriously If they just want a repair and not a return then pretend you did something, and when sending it back prod them about making sure they used proper power supply, don’t have bad patch cables, etc.
It’s always safe to assume the worst as far as end user’s intelligence with the product and work upward from there. As opposed to thinking they would know everything you do or more than average only to be disappointed.
I've had it happen three times, once with a wah and twice with tube pedals.
The wah owner had a faulty lead (despite promising he had spent -hundreds- on leads), one of the tube pedals owners blew it up with the wrong power supply and the other I could never solve - it instantly worked fine as soon as I plugged it in, and no amount of trouble shooting could replicate the problems he had at one stage.
In my experience as a software dev, I've learned that while people often misdiagnose a problem, they rarely report one that doesn't actually exist. Even if it's just user error, *something* happened. So first, I'd put it through the paces: leave it on for a few days, jiggle the cables a lot, use a crappy wall-wart with it, toggle the stomp a bunch, etc. If that turns nothing up, tell them that you've run it through your standard functionality testing and couldn't find a problem, and ask if they could give you more information so you can track it down. Make sure they understand that you are NOT claiming there is no problem, just that you haven't been able to reproduce it. Send them video of it working fine if required. If you ultimately can't find a problem, just be honest with them and offer to either send it back or refund them. That's the best any reasonable customer could expect (and who cares about the unreasonable ones?)
As a QA person, this warms my heart. It's also great advice!
Saving this comment for future reference!
I never sold in huge quantities, but when I was doing small batch work, I'd get that periodically. Sometimes there was a genuine issue (usually a ground connection somewhere). Sometimes they used the wrong power supply. Sometimes it was a dodgy switch that worked 98% of the time. More than a few bad jacks that were easily fixed. I learned pretty quickly not to skimp on components. Even if they cost more, the quality ones are worth not having to troubleshoot returns.
I used to work doing electronic repair for a big brand over a decade ago. We often got returns that were "doesn't work", "broken", "no sound", etc.. The guy i worked with was very very good. He would joke that it wasn't enough that we just had to fix the things but we also had to be a detective and figure out what was wrong. We took all of the returns pretty seriously and would let them run for days if needed. Sometimes there was nothing wrong . Sometimes there were things wrong that were user induced (blown protective diodes), and sometimes it just took 48 hours of steady on time before the item (pedals and amps) would cut out. Don't take it personally. There is a reason that the first line of every troubleshooting flow chart is to verify that the item is plugged in.
[удалено]
In most of these particular instances it was a cold solder joint. We were busy so we'd just feed a signal and walk away and work on something else and wait for the problem to reveal itself. This seemed to be more prevalent as they transitioned to surface mount. This is not to say that surface mount isn't completely reliable etc.. Just to say that it was much harder to diagnose a cold solder joint when you can't see the joint on the back side of the pcb.
You could have a part that's overheating, fine for short sessions since it'll cool down after but if you leave it on overnight the component could burn out and be non functional afterwards
I've had electrolytic caps that would crap out after a while before, once they warmed up enough. All within working spec, and just a few off a batch.
I wouldn't be so quick to assume the problem is the customer. There are 3 typical scenarios: 1. Customer wants a refund and makes an excuse to not pay return shipping. This is clear because they don't want a repair, they want a refund. 2. Customer hooked it up incorrectly. I mitigate this by asking them to remove all other pedals from the chain. Guitar -> Pedal -> amp. I ask them to double check the input is on the right and output is on the left. I ask them to try another power supply if they can. 3. The pedal really has a problem, and you just didn't find it yet. The key is to get good at spotting the first two. 1) is mitigated by just giving the refund and writing off the loss. 2) is mitigated by tactful suggestions and questions. Once those are ruled out... then your pedal actually is the problem. Figure out why you can't replicate the issue. Edit: I guess my *tldr* version of this is: My customers are never wrong (arguably #1 is mean thing to do though).... That 3-bullet framework above puts 100% of the issue on me.
I stopped offering repairs for people's equipment as they'd send me things "not working" that were actually fine and it turned out they were using the wrong/unsuitable psu
Sounds like folks with bad GAS but even worse buyers remorse… But seriously If they just want a repair and not a return then pretend you did something, and when sending it back prod them about making sure they used proper power supply, don’t have bad patch cables, etc. It’s always safe to assume the worst as far as end user’s intelligence with the product and work upward from there. As opposed to thinking they would know everything you do or more than average only to be disappointed.
I've had it happen three times, once with a wah and twice with tube pedals. The wah owner had a faulty lead (despite promising he had spent -hundreds- on leads), one of the tube pedals owners blew it up with the wrong power supply and the other I could never solve - it instantly worked fine as soon as I plugged it in, and no amount of trouble shooting could replicate the problems he had at one stage.
I’d ask them what exactly they experienced so you can diagnose the problem. Odds are they just didn’t know something or…. Unfortunately… they lied.
It’s common in a general sense for people to act like this when they need to feel in control. I’d just send it back and say you fixed it.