Beamish Electronics — Attraction in Cleveland

At one time Beamish Electronics had a stellar reputation. (Based on their current business practices it’s a bit unbelievable that they are still in business AT ALL.)

Many years ago I had an excellent experience with this company. They repaired a Sherman Rodec Restyler analog filter for me in a timely fashion and shipped it back to me in PA.

Great.

In the fall of 2022 I was in the Cleveland area on business so I decided to drop off the detachable main module of a Korg M3 synth for repair as the display was blank upon powerup, expecting the same positive experience. The staff member “Chris” who took my synth was up front about how busy they were and that I should expect a substantial wait time. I said that I understood and would be fine with that and to just let me know after assessing the unit what to expect in terms of repair.

I did not receive a call back after several months so I called them. They had not even looked at the synth (I believe at this time I spoke with “Chris”) and they once again complained about how backed up and understaffed they were but with the assurance that the unit would be looked at and that they would let me know what to expect. Of course they never called back with an update or a repair plan or anything.

Approximately a year later in May of 2024, after having moved from PA to CA (and of course never having heard from anyone at this company in the interim), I called Beamish to see if they could FINALLY be helpful with completing a repair on my synth. This time I spoke with a staff member named “Hugh” who apologized and assured me that someone would finally take a look at my synth and that someone would contact me very soon about the situation. OF COURSE NO ONE CALLED ME BACK.

On Thursday, June 13 I called again and got “Chris” who repeated his complaint about how unbelievably backed up and understaffed the company is, but agreed to actually finally look at my synth and see about the feasibility of repairing it. He told me that if I don’t hear back from him by the end of the day on Friday that I should call back on Monday. I did not hear from him on Friday and was about to call on Monday when to my surprise he did call me back and we agreed that he will just ship me the synth AT MY EXPENSE and that I will explore repair options here in CA. He told me that he would pack up the synth in the next day or two and give me the tracking number and the cost to ship. Of course he never called back.

On Friday June 21 I called multiple times in the morning during business hours and only got a machine. In general “Chris” and “Hugh” really seem to have a kind of “cat and mouse” routine they use to stonewall and string along their customers. Amazing.

Not only is my synth still worth several hundred dollars on the used market, it still holds sentimental value for me and it seems probable that they will never return it

AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS!

AVOID! AVOID!! AVOID!!!

Edit: Approximately one month after writing this review I FINALLY got my synth back exactly as I had left it with Beamish. They finally sent it to me via Fedex at my expense, unrepaired. Apparently the touchscreen display is no longer available as a...

Sent my Lexicon to Beamish over a year ago after speaking to Hugh about what i needed. He said it would take 3 weeks. After a couple months i called and he gave me the runaround. Months later i called again and more runaround. Called again during the holidays and nothing. I dont believe i will ever get my unit back. Terrible experience avoid at all costs. Scam artists they will steal your gear! I may seek legal...

BEWARE. I sent a unit for repair and they went a head and repired it without my concent, for a price I spacifacily said "if it's above a this amount do not repait it. They went a head and repaired it without telling and when I said its way above my budget, they replied "you can abandone the unit", really? Do you think I'll abendone a PCM42? I will never ever repair anything with these...