My Letter to Minelab: FINAL UPDATE!!! (Posted at End of Thread)

Ikeltite from Minelab arrived today!

After getting an answer on Thursday that Minelab would sell me an Ikelite, and responding Thursday evening by email, I was not contacted again until I reached out and emailed them again around midday on Monday. At that time, I was told that “somebody would call me either that day or tomorrow”. On Tuesday afternoon I got the call from Minelab and paid for the Ikelite. It was just under $49 - much better than getting the battery one for $75 and rigging it. Well this afternoon the Ikelite from Minelab came in! What’s even better is that the connector seems to match the strobe one that I got off Ebay for under $29 even though the housing is a little different. When my electronics buddy gets them next week I will know with 100% certainty. I will also ask, if he can, that he use the one from the underwater strobe light instead of Minelab’s and keep the Minelab one as a future backup. A big THANK YOU to all for your suggestions and assistance! I was also a little disheartened at the few of you that PM’ed about your horrible repair experiences with Minelab. Hopefully this will improve in the future.

georgeinsc said:

Felix I have posted on a couple of forums about the deplorable situation that owners of Minelab machines find themselves in when it comes to repairs. My first email to Minelab Usa Customer Service went unanswered. I later sent a much stronger worded message and got an answer. Of course The Lady wanted to talk on the phone while I prefer to do my talking in writing. She finally showed up on one of the forums and even finally sent me an email telling me that she could not find a machine under my name. So I had to tell her what my name is that I use for all business transactions. I gave her the information and lo and behold my machine is repaired and back on the way home after Only 16 Weeks.

Marty is doing all humanly possible but one person can not keep up with the work load.

I am told that New Management is very concerned and taking action to correct the problem

When it comes to Minelab I am not from Missouri but don't tell me what you are going to do "Show Me".

Cindy is the Customer Service Rep for Minelab USA.

E-Mail" [email protected] .

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sent my ex cal for repairs/mods to KellyCo almost a "month and a half ago" spoke with Marty just a few days ago theyre only up to repairng machines that were sent back in december! was told another 3 friggin weeks to wait b4 they might even look at my machine disgusting and very disappointing.

JohnnyB172 said:

sent my ex cal for repairs/mods to KellyCo almost a "month and a half ago" spoke with Marty just a few days ago theyre only up to repairng machines that were sent back in december! was told another 3 friggin weeks to wait b4 they might even look at my machine disgusting and very disappointing.

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Was your machine under warranty

JohnnyB172 said:

sent my ex cal for repairs/mods to KellyCo almost a "month and a half ago" spoke with Marty just a few days ago theyre only up to repairng machines that were sent back in december! was told another 3 friggin weeks to wait b4 they might even look at my machine disgusting and very disappointing.

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Unfortunately, your experience is not unusual and has been going on for years. Maybe if you remind Kellyco of the Minelab Customer Care Charter. Yeah, I'm sure that will solve everything. ...not!

R5

I have heard china makes fake minelabs, if true someone is making the parts somewhere.
I know their knockoff of the honda 5.5 hp engine has many interchangeable parts with a genuine. I hate thievery but I also don't like to be held over a barrel by a company that I was kind enough to do business with. My season is short in Michigan I can't waste time with long repair returns. I'm sure the research can be done to find these parts but maybe not. This post is just a thought and not intended to ruffle any feathers except minelabs.
In my opinion I think they would sell a lot more detectors if parts were readily available or service time was very quick like it should be.

Briman05 said:

Was your machine under warranty

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no Brian machine is approx 3 yrs old

Cindy was a great communicator; unfortunately, she is no longer with the company.

I don't know if anyone else has had a problem with the Ikelite connectors ML has been using the past couple of months for repairs, but we have had 3 that do not fit all the way into the battery pod. There's a noticeable gap, and on one it was so significant the detector had to go back to have it changed.

The company still has problems with repairs. Unfortunately!