Whilst on tour in Spain one of my G4 headset speakers went silent. The unit was a birthday gift over a year ago and outside the 12 month warranty period. I emailed USA based Cardo who initially referred me to the supplier for warranty support BUT have, since 7th June 2011, extended their warranty from 1 to 2 years from the date of purchase on all Scala models. However, the UK supplier agreed that EEC legislation was relevant - a 24 month warranty period was applicable and the item was not fit for purpose so a replacement exchange is now taking place. That's a few pennies saved to my next trip. I hope this information helps others to make successful claims on these products.
Well a year on and I was on tour in the Harz mountains with my replacement Cardo G4 unit and the left hand speaker stopped working. Back home I am unable to get it working so, as the unit is out of warranty, I replaced the speaker with a similar item from Maplin costing under £5. A simple job as long as the protective varnish is scraped or burnt off the wires prior to soldering and, in fact, the sound and volume was noticeably better. What is more worrying is that all the guys on tour with me and using G4's are all having similar problems, sometimes cured by tapping the offending item, and their is no assistance from Cardo if the item is out of warranty. Now, one guy's G4 was not accepting a charge and Cardo stated there was no repair service available in Europe for out of warranty units. Their email suggested the current technical market option was to replace the whole unit or upgrade to the G9. Of course, he as a customer is now lost but a PC repair shop an has opened the module, identified the lithium battery (similar to many ipod batteries) available and is fitting same for a modest charge. Cardo are now receiving numerous emails from the tour group, copying in the UK distributor and American CEO, as to the unacceptable after sales service and questionable marketing strategy - when did the idea of throwing away a £350 G4 when a £5 battery goes kaput become acceptable - you could liken it to throwing away your £13000 GTR when the £100 battery dies!!
Thanks for the info :punk:
Nothing's made to last these days or so it would seem.