Whilst I sympathise with anyone who's experienced problems with any product, I think there has to be a sense of perspective.
1. Vox has sold thousands of products worldwide, and the vast majority of customers are very happy with their purchases
2. Vox products come with a 12 month warranty and within that period Vox honours the warranty and deals with problems through its Vox authorised repairers. Customers know that they are only offered 1 yrs warranty at the time of purchase. There are some manufacturers that offer longer warranties. For example, in the USA, Fender offers a 5-year warranty on its US made equipment and 1/2 years on equipment made in China (eg the Mustang amps). In the UK, Fender customers receive 2yrs warranty. The different global approaches are because Fender recognises that consumer law and protection is different in each country.
3. Because consumer law is different in each country, customers may be unaware that they have stronger consumer rights than they might realise. For example, in the UK, under the
Sale of Goods and Services Act, a product must be of satisfactory quality and be fit for purpose and
the seller has a responsibility for up to 6 years. See here:
faulty-gear-consumer-rights-uk-only-t3067.html4. Vox, like all mass market manufacturers, have a very difficult balancing act to perform. On the one hand, customers (typically) in this market sector want ever cheaper products with more & more features and this 'cycle' is fuelled by consumers. Vox has to make difficult decisions on every feature & every component to try and offer amps that satisfy the majority of customers at a price that customers will pay, and be able to make a profit. That is nowhere near as easy as you might think. Every manufacturer knows that compromises have to be made and that you can't please all your customers all the time.
5. The Fender Mustang amps are a perfect example of a competitors amp offering tremendous bang for buck, with some excellent features including USB upgradeable firmware & free editing & recording software. The Mustang III is a 100w 1x12" combo with a Celestion speaker, that sells for only £217! But Fender have their own problems - check on the Fender forum and you'll find coming up to 70 pages of complaints relating to the Mustang III,IV & V amps 'fizzing'!
6. Vox has brought out a Valvetronix amp made to higher 'pro' specs to meet the more demanding player - the VTX150 Pro Neodymium. I've been trying out one of these amps for the last month or so and it has performed faultlessly with none of the foibles reported by some on the VT+ series. The problem is its a 1x12" combo that cost £599 (although this has reduced now to £499 with some dealers). At this price, its appealing (generally) to a different market - most potential Vox Valvetronix customers will accept the compromise of any possible foibles of the VT+ range (and as I said, the vast majority of customers are very happy with their amps) because a VT120+ 2x12" combo is only £285 (eg from Sounds Live) - or a VT80+ 1x12" combo is only £245 (eg Nevada Music).
7. Some stores are offering excellent warranties above the manufacturers warranty - DV247 in the UK offers a free 4yr warranty on top of a 30 day no quibble return/exchange policy. So, although you might find cheaper (although they will match any main competitor) you'll struggle to get better peace of mind. The point here is that consumers can buy Vox or Fender or any other mainstream product and get better than the manufacturers basic warranty, if they look around.
8. Having said all this, I agree that Vox should be giving a better warranty on its products and I've been pushing for this over the last 2 years. The last update I had was on 1/11/2011 when I was told:
There is no plan to change the Vox warranty policy at the moment , but we are trialing a 3 year warranty for selected Korg products with a view to change this across both Korg and Vox. But there are no time scales to advise.9. Ultimately, consumers can vote with their feet so to speak - if they don't like a manufacturers warranty or service offering, they can buy something else from another manufacturer. But the truth is that at this end of the market, all current products are giving some customers problems - Vox, Fender, Peavey, Behringer etc - go on the forums and you'll see that all products are now made in China/Vietnam etc, with cheaper components, and each product has their share of issues reported on the forums. The same is true now of Marshall, Orange etc where production has moved. Line 6 started this trend when they moved production of the US made Flextone III to China. The big reduction in customer cost (£675 down to £489 at the time for a Flex III Plus) forced the market to do the same thing in order to compete.
We don't live in a perfect world I'm afraid. There are certain realities and one of those is that we live evermore in a 'disposable' culture where goods are no longer over-engineered to last a lifetime - just look at how VCR/DVD/Blueray/TV's have changed. It's actually cheaper to buy a new player (probably with better spec) than it is to get repaired!
And the problem isn't just modeling amps. All-valve amps have their fair share of complaints too re valves/component quality, noise, fuse-blowing etc.
So, if you've bought any product that you're not happy with and the warranty has expired, first thing to check is your local consumer rights. Go back to the store, and/or write to the manufacturer. In short, kick up a fuss and make a pain of yourself to get the problem resolved. If you can't get anywhere, check out other options - eg in the UK you have the small claims court process which is simple, inexpensive, and less formal than a traditional court but with exactly the same powers and clout. In the UK you've also got the Which? consumer association - they can be very helpful. Most manufacturers won't want to spend time & cost in attending a small claims court or risking poor publicity if it gets in the local/natinal press - so they will often fix or replace the product regardless of warranty simply because its a sensible & more economical business solution.
Unfortunately, regardless of what you like to believe, complaining on forums doesn't help in getting manufacturers and retailers to do the right thing - a big reason is they are TERRIFIED of product recall issues (esp. in USA) if its proved that there's a design fault etc (70 pages re Fender Mustang Fizz proves the point - Fender just aren't interested) - you sometimes have to fight for your rights.
And before you start shouting 'design fault' just because you're frustrated with your amp, you'll need to evidence it if you want a manufacturer to sit up & take notice. Only way to do that is to have a product (preferably several) independently examined, assessed and reported in writing by a properly qualified, reputable expert who's prepared to say so. If you have that evidence, then you can get trading standards involved too!
Rich
"I started out with nothing ...and I've still got most of it left!" (Seasick Steve)
