Hi all, I'm just wondering what everyone's relative experience is with Quad servicing or IAG Group as they are known.

I'll start from the beginning.

Around three months ago I sent my Quad 57's in for a full service (after waiting a month for them to allocate me a slot).

I delivered them in their Quad boxes with Quad inserts so as to avoid any courier mishaps.

Sure enough a couple of weeks later the speakers were collected and I paid the roughly £600.00 bill for the service including two brand new treble panels, transformers and boards.

A couple of days into listening (and probably just as they reached full charge) one of the speakers had a very audible transformer hum. As the work was covered under warranty I sent it back but Quad said this was normal (what!!@*~) and I would have to pay an additional £200+ for a new bass panel (as this was the culprit apparently). I did say this should have been picked up in the original service and that the speaker should be silent but they argued me down and said I was just being picky and most people live with the "small amount of hum".

I wasn't pleased at all about this but as I am usually trustworthy of people I stupidly paid and went along with their assessment.

The other speaker then within a couple of days of the other being returned developed a very audible ticking (leaking) from its treble panel. Again, I spoke to Quad who said they would have it back but they doubted it was anything to do with the treble panel as they have "never seen a brand new one go wrong" so quickly.

A couple of days later they informed me it was indeed a faulty treble panel (as I suspected) and they replaced it free of charge as per their warranty.

I received the speaker back and yet again the same audible ticking (leaking) was present. I have now returned the speaker for a third time in a couple of months and Quad won't be sending it back until they have found the exact issue.

The speaker has now been with them for two weeks the most recent time and their email responses have simply turned into one word answers. When I politely asked them if there had been any progress this week, the service manager (Rob Flain) simply replied back "No".

In addition to all the above they implied I had damaged the grill on the speaker by packing it incorrectly. I have had to use a courier service the last couple of times as I simply don't have the time or petrol to keep traipsing up to Quad every couple of weeks. I pointed out to them if they were done properly in the first place they would never have been in a couriers hands to begin with. When I informed them I packed the speaker in their own box with their own inserts (the same as the previous times) they relented and agreed the damage was probably sustained during carriage and they would "look into" fixing it.

To say I am at a loss is a gross understatement. I have given them well over £800 for a service that was not carried out correctly in the first place and since it seems they have not bothered to check the speaker properly each time, wasting my time and generally treating me extremely poorly.

They even have suggested its my equipment causing the issues. For the record I am using low powered 5-20w tube amps with high quality power supplies/cables etc. The exact same setup is driving my Quad 63's without a single issue so the only variable left is the speakers themselves.

I'm sorry for the long explanation but this is one of the worst hifi experiences of my life and is making me question if owning these speakers (or at least getting them serviced) is worth this level of aggravation.

I feel truly robbed by Quad and their reluctance to resolve my issues seems quite unbelievable.


I just wondered if anyone has had any similar experiences and how they have dealt with them in the past?

I'm not a confrontational person but if something like this occurs I'm willing to involve third parties as I have time stamped video evidence of the issues along with an email trail documenting all of the above.

I would be satisfied with the speakers working as they should (even though they have had at least an extra £200 from me) or a refund for the service and I will take the speakers elsewhere.

I concede Quad are supposedly working on the faulty speaker now as per their warranty and they won't let it come back until they are satisfied it is fault-free, I'm not complaining about them still having the speaker exactly. I have just completely lost all faith in this particular company.

It's a real shame as contrasting experiences from people regarding the old "Quad" company are just that. Excellent service usually.

Any advice, experiences or help is much appreciated.

Cheers guys and gals.

Chris