My Roku Radio is Dead - Support ignores request

[DeepCrimson]

I sent request to support 19 January and received a confirmation that my request was received and I would get answer in 24-48 hours.
But 4 days later there is no answer. Ticket #: HD155818

So I put my request here. Will support answer now?

I purchased Roku SoundBridge Radio R1000 by B&H Photo Video August 13, 2008. Serial number R1000UI6D000453. Now it doesn't turn on at all. How can I replace it?

[RokuLyndon]

Deep,

sorry about the delay. I'll forward your return directions.

[RokuLyndon]

I sent you a reply. Just need your address info.

[DeepCrimson]

I live in Russia.

I sent details to your email.


P.S. I like Roku very much and I agreed to pay for delivery half of
Roku's cost. So I was very upset when it died.

[DeepCrimson]

On Friday I sent a message with details but still there is no answer from you.

Today I sent a message again and wrote to PM RokuLyndon.

I'm waiting for the answer.

[goattee]

I also am waiting for response after 24 hours. As much as I appreciate RokuLyndon's excellent customer service, I get the feeling that Roku is understaffed and that they lose interest in products.

Even though the last replacement was supposed to have fixed a known power supply problem, here I am with sudden death again-- is this a serious design flaw?

I am starting to research the alternatives to the Soundbridge Radio. The responsiveness of the company and its history in supporting/retaining products is important to me. By contrast, I have posted some questions about the Squeezebox Boom. In the past 24 hours I have exchanged multiple messages with both support personnel and customers at that competitor's site. Meanwhile I am still waiting for signs of life from Roku.

I have enjoyed my Roku products a great deal, but the reliability of the radio and the support response delays severely harm the company's reputation for me. I have done multiple home installations using Roku Soundbridge products but I think I will have to reconsider in the future.

[alanmc]

It is a great pity that the superb SoundBridge M1001 should get itself "tainted" due to the crappy lack of reliability caused by poor design and shoddy construction methods used in the Roku R1000 radio. For even today IMHO the M1001 is still the best 'Streaming Box' available in the marketplace -

The many recent postings within these forums regarding problems in contacting Customer Service/Support are a disgrace, and if potential customs are lost due to the well-known issues associated with the R1000, Roku only have themselves to blame. The sooner the R1000 is EOL and Roku write-off remaining stock the better !!!

[goattee]

I have tried to keep a civil tone.

When a company is well aware that a product has a design flaw they ought to devote extra attention when purchasers of that product contact the company. Errors happen and I do not expect perfection. But on the other hand a company that cares about its future acts as if they care about frustrated customers. In the past I defended Roku when irate customers posted angry messages or demanded unreasonable remedies.

This situation has all the hallmarks of a company that is in a tailspin. It's likely that this company will face the verdict of the marketplace.

This reminds me of what they taught me in a Consumer Behavior course: a negative experience is conveyed by an unhappy customer to an average of 30 other people. A positive experience might only be retold to 2 or 3 people. The negative experience transfers to every decision a consumer will make about all products that the nonresponsive manufacturer sells.[/list]

[alanmc]

@ goattee

I have no idea where you reside, however IMHO if the R1000 fiasco had occurred to UK customers in the same manner (and numbers) that it has in the USA, then 'Officialdom' would have stepped-in long ago and the media would have (by now) named and shamed Roku for their failure to handle this appropriately.

Additionally, any decent self-respecting company would pay 2-way shipping costs in respect of warranty returns for known/proven product failures, and in many cases would actually have arranged for the courier-collection of the faulty product as part of their ongoing customer care service.

[goattee]

... any decent self respecting company would ...

Most of us would be satisfied with a timely acknowledgement of communications and rapid remedies.

Fortunately there is a company with a fine track record competing with the Soundbridge product line. They sell remote controls and mice and keyboards and many other items in most of our homes and offices. For the most part they design products right the first time. And they treat customers right.

If Roku does something right I will gladly report it to all of you. But sad to say they have not been inspiring confidence.

[goattee]

I just wanted to report that I did hear back from Roku a couple days after I reported the death of my second successive R1000. It is covered by warranty. But it means I have to carry it in my luggage during my next trip to the US months from now.

I kind of expected the expiration so I kept the styrofoam from the last R1000 I returned. So I will have the most important part of the packing material.