Support???? Think I'll leave Blackstar alone until it matures

[GaryM]

I've been a Marshall man through and through for years and there hasn’t been much that has managed to grab my attention until I tried my first HT-5. This led me to buy one for which I think is a fantastic little amp.
Naturally, I've been thinking of selling my JCM 900 and going for the HT100 which also sounds fantastic but from what I've seen thus far, the support for Blackstar from both Blackstar and forum needs lots of development time putting in.

I'm not knocking Blackstar products at all because the quality both sound and build are second to none but because of the lack of support and call centre knowledge, I won't be buying a HT100 just yet.

I understand costs need to be cut somewhere but after service care is vital to the reputation of any company.

Please sort your customer service department out Blackstar.

I'll be back in six months.

Regards

GaryM

[AscottAudio]

My guess is the Blackstar would be overwhelmed by the success they are having in the market place and the amount of product they are shifting.

So far I have sent 2 emails to them and received a reply both times within 24hours which is quite amazing I think.

Customer service seems to be an area that so many companies have problems with these days..I do hope that Blackstar can become one of the "better" ones!

Having the online forum is certainly a great way to help solve many issues.

Cheers

[LibertyA]

I have 2 Blackstar head now. An Artisan 100, and a S-1 200. Plus a few cabs. My Artisan has been to the shop twice within a 4 month time frame. But, both time the CS has been top notch. I know they don't have an 800#. But, I think that is a good thing to this point. It's still a small comp. I know the main US Business Development Manager well now because of the repairs, and he is a very cool guy. Always has my back. I can't say that for BIG, BIG amp company.

I still have a lot of VHT gear and they have changed names (Fryette), moved around Cali, got new phone #s, and so on. and I still love the amps. I good amp, is a good amp. Don't let anything get in the way of YOUR TONE!!!

[whitespiritrock]

You can only speak as you find and in my honest opinion I have had nothing but good response from them . Have been using an artisan 100
with cab now for quite a few years since they first came out I have called Blackstar a few times re biasing info etc. been put straight onto a tech.
and had it backed up with an email. personally I find that great support. I wanted advice on different valves etc. they had the time to chat and even
informed me they can supply the original valves. I do appreciate its probably easier calling them when your in uk but to be fair to them I cannot
fault the customer support side of their set up.

[joeobrien]

I've sent a couple of enquiries to Blackstar by email and also phoned them directly. In all cases I had a quick and satisfactory reply. As said above its all down to personal experience and as usual its very easy to draw a generalised conclusion. Having said that, the Forum activity is pretty thin but it is early days. As an aside, I opened my Artisan 15 to put in new Mullard valves and I have NEVER seen such a quality of finish inside an amp. I therefore feel that Blackstar are committed to their customers where it really counts - in the quality of their product. CRM will improve as they grow like most companies.

[blackdog]

I emailed BS 2 weeks ago and had a reply within 6 hours. They helped me find a Canadian supplier and my amp was ordered.

I know its not a tech question, but they were quick and made a sale because of it.

[Johnnysolo]

Sadly my footswitch that came with my Blackstar HT-60 came broken. Bought it through Guitar Center online in the USA. It's been 2 weeks since I called them to complain and nobody has called me back. I proactively called the UK office at Blackstar and they referred my to Korg USA for warranty issues. The Korg folks don't have the Blackstar parts yet... They suggested I just return the amp and get a new one. If I do return the amp it will be to return the amp and get something that can be fixed. How hard is it to send a replacement footswitch to the US? Hell, I'll even pay the air freight...

[RadosKopos]

Sadly my footswitch that came with my Blackstar HT-60 came broken. Bought it through Guitar Center online in the USA. It's been 2 weeks since I called them to complain and nobody has called me back. I proactively called the UK office at Blackstar and they referred my to Korg USA for warranty issues. The Korg folks don't have the Blackstar parts yet... They suggested I just return the amp and get a new one. If I do return the amp it will be to return the amp and get something that can be fixed. How hard is it to send a replacement footswitch to the US? Hell, I'll even pay the air freight...

Hey! I was more lucky,My Ht 60 came with no footswitch cable, so I called the shop I ordered from and they gave me replacement one. Feel sorry for that broken fstch as the amp is so great itself and I hate situations like this.
Greetings

[Johnnysolo]

Guitar Center suggested I return the entire amp and they will ship me a new one. Seems a little absurd but hey - they're paying the freight!

I just hope this one doesn't come in damaged as well.

Cheers, John

[eleloy]

I am very disappointed with the blackstar support.
My ht-100 begun to make some loud noises and I sent my amp. to the Blackstar technical support.
When it returned I noticed that it had lost gain and it sounded worse than before, however the noises were gone. I saw that the valves were placed in a bad way, the ECC82 was in the V2 position.
when I put the the tubes correctly, it has begun to fail in the same way that before taking it to repair. Pops and loud noises.
Conclusion: the fix of Blackstar was to change the order of valves, putting ECC82 in V2 position with the consequent loss of gain.
I am very disappointed and do not want to be again 2 months without my amp!!!!
I hope that when I replace the tubes by tung-sol (ecc83) and electro-harmonix(ecc82) this can be fixed.