Mu-so has died.

Sorry, but that's a lousy response. They're obliged to replace the item "at minimum inconvenience" to yourself and to refund any postage charges you incur.

Contrast this with Amazon; I recently received a TV from them but after a few days noticed a fault on the screen. They collected it the following day & refunded, no questions asked. I'd not expect less from the likes of John Lewis.

The response sounds very reasonable to me. Take it back, and if it doesn't work they will refund, replace or exchange. You really can't expect them just to give the money back on an expensive item without confirming it's actually faulty. If it turned out to be user error and they refunded, the supplier would not refund the store, who would be left out of pocket. That's not the case here of course, but JL need to follow a standard process. 

I'd agree if it was bought in a shop, but it was bought on-line. It's unreasonable to be expected to have to take it into a store to return it.

Its good that they're willing to exchange it, but it is an arse having to take it back to them.  Say for example you were housebound because of a disability, what then??  However I fear that by buying online you automatically adhere to their T&C's which probably state that you need to return faulty items to your nearest store.   If you are really a man of extreme principle, you could probably write them a letter complaining about the fact you had to pay for initial delivery (if it wasn't free of course, in which case you have no grounds to make this complaint) then had to spend money on fuel transporting the faulty item back to the store, and bringing the replacement home again.  I probably couldn't be bothered with that, but they may give you some free vouchers or some gesture of goodwill.  It's disappointing something of this quality and expense should fail so soon, but I guess it's a new product from Naim and they are only human after all. 

In the United States, by comparison, the notion of a UPS Call Tag (which requires no action on the part of the end-user other than to slap it onto the fully-populated shipping box and wait for pickup by the local UPS driver) is the traditional gesture of goodwill in situations such as these - once the product shows up in UPS's system (providing the box is not filled with bricks ), it's a safe bet that the replacement (advance, concurrent or otherwise) can be sent without the end user having to drive, walk or otherwise act.

In a nation the size of the United Kingdom, I'd be surprised if something like this did not exist-but what do I know?

John Lewis's returns policy for goods bought online clearly states that you can either return goods to a store or

"You can also use the pre-paid Royal Mail returns label on the delivery note. Ensure you obtain proof of postage from your post office and retain it until we have received your item and actioned the refund.  If your product requires a collection, for example large or heavy items above 15kg, please contact our customer services department using the contact details at the bottom of this page."

This seems very fair and reasonable to me

Actually, it does David - the Consumer Contracts Regulations ( which replaced the Distance Selling Regulations) stipulate that if an item is faulty, the retailer is obliged to pay the return postage costs.

John Lewis has offered me several options to go about with and one of them is to deliver a new one and take away the faulty one.

That's good news Super but this ordeal has taken a week to resolve, hopefully sorted before Christmas 

20 years ago I worked in the motor industry and the same principle applies, the dealer sells and is responsible for the car (repairs/replacement.....it does happen), it amazes me that retailers of all sorts try to get out of their obligations.

Well I've just come back from John Lewis and replaced the unit for a new one. I'm trying to connect to the router via wi fi or Ethernet connection and all I'm getting is a red flashing LED. Please don't tell me that it means a fault, i can't believe this.

Out of interest... where is the MuSo manufactured?

China.

If I were you Mr Super I'd give Naim's dedicated Mu-so helpline a call. I can't imagine you've got a second duff one!

I think that if this is another duff one and it can't be sorted out at my home i think that i'll have to take it back and get a refund. I have to get someone to take me there because i have no transport and pay for parking, it's not becoming cost effective is it ? It's a shame because i love it when it was going right.

:-(

I had a similar issue wit the Sonus Faber Venere speakers.... First speakers that SF had manufactured in China. I had three sets before I got ones that weren't damaged :-(

It's nothing to do with being manufactured in China. It's a question of quality control, but even then, things can go wrong, can't they? Still, I'm sure Mr Super will get help from Naim, who will no doubt be anxious to discover the reason for the faults.

I find two issues with manufacturing in China... QC is a big problem. Often parts/components are farmed out to smaller concerns so the main factory is good but QC on the smaller manufacturers is often not :-( The other problem is damage in shipping. With my SF speakers one looked like someone had whacked a hammer into the side of it and the other two times is was nicks and issues with the finish and bezel which should have been spotted at the QC stage. Makes you wonder though if there are any issues on the inside of the box!

Before retiring I used Chinese firms to manufacture several items for my company, and provided you had the right quality systems in place (the chinese would follow these meticulously) the results were as good as you'd get anywhere else. And you can be sure Naim would have put such systems in place.

I've had stuff manufactured in the UK and Germany that weren't as good. China is no better or worse than anywhere else these days.

It would be interesting to know how many mu-sos have been sold so far, and what the failure rate is. That's the trouble with forums - you often only hear of the problems.

That said, to get two dodgy machines is unlucky in the extreme. Quality control, soak testing or whatever should pick these things up, whether it's made in Salisbury or China.

I must say that we spend a lot of time providing service to the brands we sell - many different brands. There is a lot to know these days about digital music systems and it will be interesting to see if the high street stores and the Apple stores are able to hold up their end of the bargain. The Muso has been a success here in Canada - we just can't get enough delivered in time for Christmas. No one's fault but the calendar, if Christmas was in January, all would be fine.

I don't know why they don't move Christmas to January when the shops are quieter!

Hi Super, have you contacted Naim's mu-so support? I think it's unlikely you received two duff units -- perhaps the problem lies elsewhere, could be something really simple. It's worth a call.

Strange we've not heard from Mr Super about how he got on with Mu-so support. He must have contacted them by now.