Rigol Warranty and unauthorized sellers in North America - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dougl707
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 03, 2011, 06:20:10 am
content: I thought I should pass an issue on to the group that I have run into.I purchased a Rigol DS1052E scope from Amazon.com around the end of April.It stopped responding to front panels over the weekend.I contacted Rigol support in north america and was informed that this scope I purchased was not authorized for sell in North America. The company that sold it to me was purchasing the scope directly from China and reselling them in the US without authorization (I suppose from Rigol).So far...I do not have any resolution to this problem.I tried to go to Rigol's website in China to find a contact for a corporate support person but had no luck.Anybody have any contacts in Rigol in China?I'm not sure how to proceed. Any ideas would be appreciated.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2011, 09:23:19 am
content: Now you know why I avoid Rigol. No service upfront, even when you threaten to buy their equipment. No service after you bought their stuff.The key is, all these "illegal" Chinese sellers must get their Rigols from somewhere. Guess where they get them from? Right, from Rigol. Rigol happily provides these sellers with waresin bulk. As you see from Rigol's reaction, they fully know that these sellers export them. They track serial numbers, they know the sellers. But instead of no longer providing these sellers with wares, they let them continue, they cash in, and later deny service.To your question:Your first point of contact would be the seller, if he is still around.If he isn't around, you are stuck with Rigol. Good luck with them. You could go to the Rigol web site and try to register an account. Once you are registered there is something like a support form, where you can enter a question. Be careful with personal details you enter in the form. If I remember correctly they make the questions public.You will find a few service telephone numbers on the Chinese site. You won't find support telephone numbers on the European or International Rigol site, while the Chinese version of the site has them right on the home page. The European and International sites just have a corporate phone number somewhere on the sites, but they don't do support via these number.But all these numbers and forms likely won't help you. Even if you manage to talk to someone who speaks English well enough, and doesn't pretend to not understand what your problem is, you will likely find they don't care. I never managed to get hold of someone who (a) cared, (b) was a higher-up, capable of doing something, and (c) willing to do something. They have your money, you are no longer of interest to them.QuoteHere is my collection of worthless Rigo e-mail addresses. I would assume a lot of them are already defunct.caolirong@rigol.comchengjianchuan@rigol.cominfo@rigol.comJohn_Chiang@rigol.comjameszhu@rigol.comliguojun@rigol.comliweilue@rigol.comservice@rigol.comshareyourthoughts@rigol.com(yes, I laughed and cried at the same time when I got that one)sunzhen@rigol.comBut really, try the seller first. The chances that he cares are higher then the chances Rigol cares.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2011, 10:56:37 am
content: Rather than ship it back to China, which is highly dubious, contact Drieg here at eevblog. He has a thread here on Rigol repairs and he can upgrade it to 100 MHz at the same time.But before you go there, who was the vendor you bought it from at Amazon? Have you contacted them?Although Amazon has a 1 mo return policy, contact them too because if its a non-authorized vendor you could make a case about it being 'counterfeit'. I suspect that the unauthorized models could also be counterfeit, that is factories that produce the scope for Rigol are manufacturing them and selling them behind Rigol's back, and they are for the most part identical to the real thing. The only way to know is the serial numbers which Rigol would know and could make available.Also, some credit cards extend product warranty, like Amex, for all purchases and will refund your money if you can't get the original vendor to respond.This is one thing that bugs me about Rigol, above what Bored says, another is about quality control from Chinese brands, assuming its not counterfeit. US and European branded China made products are more consistent, but Chinese brands you have to be cautious, one day is terrific bang for buck, the next day its toxic waste. We've had a string of mostly defect free Rigol 1052es from 2009-10, but with 2.05xx firmware from presumed authorized sources, I hear more software and hardware issues with that vintage than the prior ones.Its after the fact, but we've read about problems other buyers of 'unauthorized' Rigol gear get by Rigol, and given the free shipping by tequipment.net who advertises on eevblog, its advisable to buy Rigol stuff from; the price is nearly the same for both authorized and the unauthorized vendors.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2011, 08:46:48 pm
content: i got an email from rigol. i cant remember when i asked for the programming guide. what i remember few days back i registered in their site and downloaded the file. FWIW, if anybody in the mood to contact them, this the time for the spam!Quote

author: maiakaat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2013, 02:11:05 pm
content: I had a really good response from Rigol NA on a faulty/partially faulty rotary encoder, they didn't have the serial as it was UK purchase, and not from them directly. But I did get it passed to the EU via contact details, I've emailed them in hope of a decent response, it also has a 2.05 firmware, which doesn't seem t have serious issues, but does have a few minor ones.The scope is 18 months old.

author: maiakaat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2013, 02:14:23 pm
content: Quote from: maiakaat on May 01, 2013, 02:11:05 pmRigol have confirmed it was purchased from a UK legitimate seller, but as I purchased it from a private buyer (with receipt) I don't know if EU rules regarding the manufacturer still apply (2 years of cover), MCS I think have fulfilled their obligations which expire usually after around 6 months even for a direct purchaser, and have asked Rigol to do the repair, I am waiting to hear if they will.Unfortunately the person I bought it off has refused to spend 10 minutes requesting a repair if Rigol say no, given I also have the original receipt, and the high prices these scopes can go for 2nd hand, I would urge people to be careful, as even under EU law the receipt may be worthless, and individual sellers are likely to use these things just to raise the price.Is it worth saving 30% on a nearly new scope, if 6 months later it develops a fault.I will probably be able to repair a rotary encoder myself fairly easily if I need to, but this is a warning

author: maiakaat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2013, 09:08:51 pm
content: I thought I'd update that after MCS Test equipment confirmed when it was purchased to Rigol they agreed to repair the scope, this is certainly a big deal given they probably have no obligation to do this after the resale, so I'd say this makes Rigol and MCS test equipment look pretty good in terms of after sales support.The original seller refused to help despite it only taking 10 minutes of his/her time to arrange things with Rigol, so the warning on new 2nd hand equipment still stands.