Curious About Repairs

[SkiWhiz]

My call to the factory was intended to keep from wasting warranty time and workers costs to the company if it didn't have a problem. I don't believe in abusing any warranty just because I happen to have it.
I didn't expect to be told that I was, in so may words, too cheap to spend the $10 shipping to have it checked since it was free to me.
I did expect to be completely listened too and receive an answer. I did not expect a 45 minuet sermon, on my dime, to a simple question. I don't really care if he lived in Australia in the 70's and prospected for gold. What he did in the past has no bearing on the present. His job is to handle legitimate service problems.
I have never been treated that way at Garrett or Whites.
I have never treated any of my customers that way either.
I didn't make this story up. I wasn't even going to mention it.
But the man was rude and condescending on the phone. Had total disregard for my question and it's intention. If that offends some of you, you need to get a grip.
But that's quite all right. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

Hmm, been using Tesoro detectors for years, talked on the phone with the folks at the factory a few times and Rusty several times. And I was never told and never knew that Rusty has a twin brother, I mean he must have because Rusty wuld never treat anyone the way that you have described. Seems odd to me that you never got a receipt with your detector, that is an error on your dealers part not Tesoro. Some people get upset if they charge a fee to repair a detector because they have done it for free for so long. I am not for sure but believe that they are charging $50.00 for repairs and they pay the shipping back to the customer which is very inexpensive in todays day and age.

 

[lytle78]

I wasn't there I have no idea what happened I have no idea who said what. I do know however that the Internet is forever. If you read something that somebody posted here and it makes you wonder - one thing you can do is click on their name and click on show all posts and look at everything that they ever wrote here. I know this very well - it's bitten me on the you know what more than once.

I did that with Neil who wrote the original post and found that he is uniformly been a level headed helpful and eager contributor to the various forms. I don't doubt that he's a sincere and honest person. Again I wasn't there I have no idea what happened and I'm sure it was all some kind of misunderstanding.

My suggestion is we cut everybody a huge slice of slack and MoveOn. I think that we all agree that Tesoro is a company with a great background, history and reputation

 

[Scanman]

I find it reassuring to know that if I buy a used Tesoro metal detector on ebay that I can have it repaired for $50 bucks.

 

[dan b]

I find it reassuring to know that if I buy a used Tesoro metal detector on ebay that I can have it repaired for $50 bucks.

Ahh...no, not exactly. $50 minimum. If your machine needs extensive repairs it will cost more. They will contact you before beginning the work to make sure you agree to the additional expense.

Dan

 

[lytle78]

I agree 100%

I sent in my original Lblo, hoping that it could be checked out, the battery clips and holders replaced for free.

I got a call from Tesoro. We can make your Lobo work great, battery holders, clips replaced, coil tuned and shipped back to you. The nice man went on - are you the original owner?

Of course, since I am not, I said no. He then said - in that case we would charge you $50 for that service.

I said great, but the decal on the face of the detector has some dirt under it - can you send me a new one. The answer was - no, the side decals OK, but the face decals, we will omnly install ourselves - and since all the knobs need to come off, etc, it would cost $25 additional.

I said OK and got my detector back in top shape for $75.

P.S. Try that with an out of warranty Whites - it will be about the same - I have done it.

 

[reddirtfisher]

I have been reading the posts about the ONE person on here that complained about Rusty. I was not there either so I don't know what was said but I do know one thing. If you get Rusty on the phone you better have enough time on your hands for a pretty lengthy conversation. He is a very friendly and helpful guy which is rare in this old world of ours. He probably comes from a time when things didn't move so dang fast as they do now,..a time when people actually visited face to face and not on some artificial plastic website. So don't blame Rusty. It would really surprise me big time if I found out that the new repair policy was his idea. He has been VERY fair to me. The other guy I dealt with just caught me by surprise and I probably didn't react to him appropriately. Just one more thing,...I am no psychic but I predict a FLOOD of used Tesoro units will hit Ebay just as soon as word of this new policy saturates the hobby market. That is good and bad. This thread turned out to be longer than I expected but I appreciate all who have contributed (both positive & negative). Best wishes RDF

 

[Neil]

Good of you to be honest about not being the original owner and also thats a good price for the work done and lets not forget on each of these repair items Tesoro is paying the return shipping. Shipping alone isnt cheap anymore. In the past Ive dealt with Minelab/Tesoro/Whites and most recently Garrett and found them all to be fine to deal with. One thing I will add here is that be thankful Tesoro apparently still stocks most of their parts, some of the older minelabs cannot be repaired so they are truly disposables now. I think the last part I saw Tesoro didnt stock was awhile back they had problems with the waterproof connectors for the Tiger Shark and I think they went to hardwire on that.

I agree 100%

I sent in my original Lblo, hoping that it could be checked out, the battery clips and holders replaced for free.

I got a call from Tesoro. We can make your Lobo work great, battery holders, clips replaced, coil tuned and shipped back to you. The nice man went on - are you the original owner?

Of course, since I am not, I said no. He then said - in that case we would charge you $50 for that service.

I said great, but the decal on the face of the detector has some dirt under it - can you send me a new one. The answer was - no, the side decals OK, but the face decals, we will omnly install ourselves - and since all the knobs need to come off, etc, it would cost $25 additional.

I said OK and got my detector back in top shape for $75.

P.S. Try that with an out of warranty Whites - it will be about the same - I have done it.

 

[Hombre]

How many companies carry parts for 30 year old detectors? only Tesoro could fix machines that old. They fixed my old Inca and it came back better than new! This Inca is one deep machine, with an 8" inch concentric it will air test a dime at 9 inches in disc. mode. It will get coins and relics in the ground as good as the air test.

It is refreshing to have a company that takes care of it's customers and being able to repair the old models especially in this "throw away society". Hate to be a name dropper but a cetain metal detector manufaturer from down under does not sevice their detectors that are over 10 years old.

 

[BarryL]

I wasn't there I have no idea what happened I have no idea who said what. I do know however that the Internet is forever. If you read something that somebody posted here and it makes you wonder - one thing you can do is click on their name and click on show all posts and look at everything that they ever wrote here. I know this very well - it's bitten me on the you know what more than once.

I did that with Neil who wrote the original post and found that he is uniformly been a level headed helpful and eager contributor to the various forms. I don't doubt that he's a sincere and honest person. Again I wasn't there I have no idea what happened and I'm sure it was all some kind of misunderstanding.

My suggestion is we cut everybody a huge slice of slack and MoveOn. I think that we all agree that Tesoro is a company with a great background, history and reputation

 

[Scanman]

I agree close the Thread!

That should be the OP's RDF's call

 

[reddirtfisher]

Ok,...it's time to close this thread. We all found out what we needed to know. Unfortunately the word has not gotten out to everyone because people are still listing used Tesoros on Ebay while claiming "free repairs" just for the taking. ( see used Golden on Ebay). I sent my Compadre in on October 21st. It has almost been a month. They have not cashed my check. I have heard nothing from them. This doesn't mean that I will quit Tesoro. They are still the best metal detector company in my opinion. Many things are changing rapidly in this industry. Only time will tell so I will just patiently wait and see what happens next.

 

[Scanman]

I hope you get your Compadre back soon.

 

[reddirtfisher]

Thanks Scanman, ...I am going to call them soon if it doesn't show up. I have been thinking that they might have waited for my check to clear the bank before they did the repairs. I will pay by phone next time. I hope the "end of the line" theory is not true. HH RDF

 

[Scanman]

Thats what I was afraid of, but did not want to bring it up. I am sure folks would be interested in the outcome if you would like to share. Best of Luck!

 

[Roscue2]

I can see why Tesoro would chose to do this. People have been abusing the system long enough.

I can see where some older and cheaper units will not be worth repairing anymore if you are not the original owner though. For example, if you were to shop around for a used Compadre, and found one for say $80 used, but with a problem, then you would need to decide if you wanted to pay $130 for a used Compadre when you can buy one new for $170. This will probably increase new Tesoro Compadre sales, which isn't necessarily a bad thing of course.

 

[atomicscott]

You men, and ladies, can condemn me all you want for what I am going to say. I was not going to comment on this post nor was I going to tell the following story. But now I feel the time has come.
I think Tesoro is in a panic and running scared.
Let's look at some interesting Observations and facts.
First, Tesoro has a general sales meeting on an Internet forum asking their customers what is wrong with their product by asking how can they change the product to please you. This tells me, sales are way off and the company is in trouble. This meeting should have been held behind closed doors with the upper staff. And depending on the answers given to the question, some people would now be standing in the soup line.

I own a compadre I bought new from a, in home dealer. I liked the detector so much I bought a vaquero from the same dealer which I have bought several other detectors from. Not only that I have personally sold 4 other compadre's for this dealer. Granted it is not a high ticket item, but it represents 6 tesoro sales in less then a year. All new.
The two tesoro's I purchased and got no sales receipt. I did fill out the warranty card and sent it in leaving a stub with no way to identify that I was the original purchaser.
Two weeks ago I was hunting with the compadre and it started Falsing at the ends of each sweep. Now I have close to 1500 HOURS on this detector (with 35 years of detecting experience). I am very familiar with it's quirks. I live in an area where there is very little EMI and when it does occur the detector rattles like crazy. But it does not false.
Thinking I had a coil going south, I took the advice of many of you that have said several times, call Rusty. So I did. All I wanted to know is if this was some kind of quirk caused by outside interference or should I send it in.
Without letting me finish with my question, I got the tongue lashing of my life on the phone. First I was told it was emi and that they would set the sensitivity back and I could lose depth. Then I was asked why I called him and if I had bought it from him personally.
Then I was drilled on weather or not I was the original owner and if I had been inside the control box and or did any kind of mod to it. Then I was told that the company was losing money on those detectors on a warranty claim and I had already used up more time on the phone then they made on the sale.
He told me I was talking to him at a dealer level and that I should have contacted my selling dealer. I told him I had what I thought was a warranty problem and that's why I called. He said I should have gone thru the service department and not him. I explained that is what I thought I was doing and asked to talk to the service manager. He told me he was the service manager.
Then he ranted and raved about other service problems he was having, all the warranty work he wasn't going to be able to get to because he was talking to me at $20 an hour or some figure, tada tada tada.............................

HEY, That was enough. I have been in retail sales for 45 years. I ran an auto dealership for 10. I don't need his gas.
I am a paying customer.
Needless to say, since the phone conversation, I have not used my compadre and probably will get rid of it.
Rest assured, It will be a cold day in hell before I buy or refer a customer to a tesoro product.

Now we have a shift in warranty policy that was their choice. It clearly states in the manual, too original purchaser only. What they did up till now has been a courtesy they extended. I don't blame them on that point. But they need a better way of identifying original owners.
I will not put up with that kind of great service from them or anyone else.
And I repeat, this is why I believe Tesoro is in trouble.

Sounds to me that the stress of these recent problems at Tesoro are finally getting to Rusty. He was nice as can be when I talked with him (about 7 months ago). It's not very surprising that they would be losing a lot of money buy offering a lifetime warranty. I don't know why they couldn't see this coming. They should have NEVER fixed anyones 2nd or 3rd hand detectors without charging for service. Offering a 10 year warranty would still be the best in the biz, and prevent people sending in their old Diablo, etc.. that is barely worth the cost of Tesoro fixing and return shipping. If they don't come out with a ground breaking new design, I think they may really be in trouble soon. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BillF]

RDF,
Don't wait, call them. Sometimes things fall through the cracks. You don't want to sit there for another week or two just to find out it is sitting on a back bench. I have never had one take more than 2 weeks.
This isn't detector related, but it shows what can happen sometimes. I went to the doctor one day, sat down and over heard this lady talking to her husband. Seems she had been there for an hour and a half or so and wondered why she hasn't been called in. 5 minutes later I get called in. I told the nurse that as much as I wanted to get in and out quickly I was concerned about how long the lady had waited. I went back to the waiting room, and in just a couple of minutes they came and got the lady. When she came back out she look right at me and mouthed "I love you".
Apparently the staff had set her folder on top of a file cabinet and forgot it.
So, you really should call and ask about it.

 

[atomicscott]

RDF,
Don't wait, call them. Sometimes things fall through the cracks. You don't want to sit there for another week or two just to find out it is sitting on a back bench. I have never had one take more than 2 weeks.
This isn't detector related, but it shows what can happen sometimes. I went to the doctor one day, sat down and over heard this lady talking to her husband. Seems she had been there for an hour and a half or so and wondered why she hasn't been called in. 5 minutes later I get called in. I told the nurse that as much as I wanted to get in and out quickly I was concerned about how long the lady had waited. I went back to the waiting room, and in just a couple of minutes they came and got the lady. When she came back out she look right at me and mouthed "I love you".
Apparently the staff had set her folder on top of a file cabinet and forgot it.
So, you really should call and ask about it.

I've said it before Bill you are a scholar and a gentleman! Thanks for sharing that.

 

[mojotrout]

RDF,
Don't wait, call them. Sometimes things fall through the cracks. You don't want to sit there for another week or two just to find out it is sitting on a back bench. I have never had one take more than 2 weeks.
This isn't detector related, but it shows what can happen sometimes. I went to the doctor one day, sat down and over heard this lady talking to her husband. Seems she had been there for an hour and a half or so and wondered why she hasn't been called in. 5 minutes later I get called in. I told the nurse that as much as I wanted to get in and out quickly I was concerned about how long the lady had waited. I went back to the waiting room, and in just a couple of minutes they came and got the lady. When she came back out she look right at me and mouthed "I love you".
Apparently the staff had set her folder on top of a file cabinet and forgot it.
So, you really should call and ask about it.

so, did you get her phone number?

 

[BillF]

Haha, Mojo. Noooooo! She was with her husband.
You funny man.