Does this repair quote sound realistic, or profiteering?

I have a Classé CDP .5 which I can't fault sound quality wise and which also ticks every other box it needs to. Anyway, I'm having to have it repaired as, apparently, the mechanism needs replacing completely.

I know the mechanism used in the CDP .5 is the Philips CDM 12.4 with a L1210 Loader.

The quote I have for the parts and labour is £454... but I've located a brand new CDM 12.4 for £33. I'm sure it'll take the guy a few hours to replace but it would still seem the quote is on the high side?

 

...usually they will set a labour time for each individual job, so it would depend up what the rate is, set by the repair guy.

I must admit, although never having a mechanism replaced in any CD drive I have owned, the repair cost did make me fall off my chair! I think I too would question what's involved.

Is it an authorised Classe repair centre? If your unit is out of warranty you may want to consider taking it to another specialist whose rates are cheaper, as long as they are competant with your particular model.

 

Sounds like a rip of to me,the transport are old,and not exspensive as you've found out,I don't think i've ever paid more than £40 for a repair here,it's £20 per hour,so I guess he may be a slow worker.

 

What I would do is get the part yourself and then find a local independent electronic shop that fixes stuff and get them to do it.

 

Sh*t, looks like im in the wrong line of business. NO way should it cost that much. Is it a Classe dealer/repairer?

 

question the quotation, ask him to break it down.

 

Yep over the odds.....

say £50 an hour 2 hours work.... the parts at £33 plus vat/taxes plus profit margin.

A fair price in my opinion would be £220 ish

The high quote really means they can't be bothered with you ...but if you take them up they want to make a killing.

 

Parden my french but tell them to get ****ed, CDM12.4 from Cricklewood Electronics London costs £29.00.

Ask them to justify the futher £425.

 

I may be totaly missing somthing but replacing the transport always seems like a simplish job to me, on most the CD players I have seen the ribbon cable has been plug and play, so no soldering required, it may be a bit tricky to actually physicaly fit the transport but it can't be that hard can it? I am totoaly missing somthing here?

There are also a suprising amount of HIFI repair centres about, many of them have been around for years.

 

Hi,

Like others have said, get the repairer to break down the cost. Also take it to another repairer for an estimate. In a number of cases it's a straight forward repair. It shouldn't take too long to fix.

SCIDB

 

I tend to agree with you.

Whilst I am fully aware how these things work, £450 to replace a £30 part seems excessive.

I might actually have a bash at fixing it myself, can't see what I've got to lose really.