Repairs at your peril!

I took my Rotel RA12 Amplifier/DAC in for repair before the end of 2021, it was so long ago I have forgotten the exact date, and I am still waiting for it to be repaired (or returned).

I was initially told there was a problem with the main board and that it would need to be replaced, and for that to happen, I would need to pay for the replacement board before it was ordered. I made the payment (more than R4500), and waited, patiently at first, as Covid was disrupting deliveries and slowing everything down, so their excuses that it was delayed seemed plausible.

It took months before the part finally arrived, and in that time, and since then I never received any unprompted update or communication on what was actually going on, every month or so, I would send messages asking for a status update, most of which went ignored, eventually after much pestering and occasional 'in person' visits, they would give me some excuse that this or that had happened.

Long story, not so short, here I am, soon to be a year on, and as far as I know they are no nearer to fixing it that they ever were. I have threatened them, that I want my money and amplifier back, which usually gets some response, usually a new explanation of what is causing the delay, followed by another month or so wait before I remember to contact them again and ask what the latest progress is, I have finally given up, and decided to write this review, which is in short, 'If you actually want your device repaired, and it is in any way out of the norm, brand or repair complexity wise, then take it to X-Bytes at your peril.