Thankyou Andy you must have convinced someone because I just got an offer of guaranteed servicing I wouldn't have to pay for, after a month of asking for that.
They're still considering my warranty void which I think is a bit contradictory but at this point I'll take anything.
A month ago, 8 days after I wrote and got the dealer to bug them, the rep at RSM finally said:
"We are sorry for your issue. We have seen issues previously where the HA300 is damaged by installing defective tubes. I apologize but
as you had purchased and installed these aftermarket tubes the warranty is no longer applicable.
For this situation we suggest you contact our U.S. Repair Partner, VAS Audio. They have extensive knowledge on the HA300 and are the repair service we recommend for all non-warranty issues."
https://vasnyinc.com/
after my reply:
"
Please know that installing different tubes is suggested, though the use of non-Cayin products that causes damage to the HA300 is not considered a manufacturer’s defect."
"
Our initial assessment is this is a issue caused by the installation of non-factory tubes. You will need to ship the HA300 to VAS Industries and cover the cost of the shipping fees. Our Engineer will assess the HA300 and determine the cause of the issue and the solution to repair the unit. Should the issue be caused by a manufacturing defect, we will pay for the repair and the shipping cost to send back to you. Should the cost of the defect be non-related to a manufacturing defect you will be required to pay for the repair and the shipping cost to return to you." (how would they determine that?)
The rep at Cayin kept repeating:
"1. All our warranty is only covered by its original owner at its original selling territory. As for your case the unit should be sold in USA and you can only get warranty from our USA agents.
2. All our warranty service is given by our local agent. If there were any warranty issues please feel free to get contact with our local agent. On your case it is RSM as we advised to you. (in fact they were referring me to VAS but also said "VAS INC is not our authorized agent. We have stopped cooperation with them for years." confusing)
3.
Any defective out of self modification will not be covered by our warranty. " (this sounds like it actually refers to opening up the amp, not rolling tubes but they're using this to tell me rolling new WE300B's voids the warranty)
"Our local agent in Canada for your reference is as below:
In order to guarantee the validity of warranty in future please buy our products there locally. " (I guess they're assuming the only reason I was still asking for warranty is as if I didn't want to pay shipping to the states - but in fact it's the principle of the warranty being void for rolling tubes and the guarantee of servicing being covered by Cayin when I haven't done anything wrong and the WE tubes have been tested as perfect)
"First and most important mistake you've made is that you have not bought the unit from local authorized agent. If you bought there locally your issue can be easily taken care of by our local agent." (suggesting in fact that perhaps the reason I'm being refused warranty is that Cayin doesn't want to have to pay for the shipping across the border)
Just to be clear because it's being named I would never dare hot swap.
I think people should know about this discrepancy between what the manual is suggesting and how Cayin and some distributors respond when their units fail after rolling tubes. Perhaps buying across borders and language barriers are an issue but at the core there is a real issue here of subjective policy that leads to the worst experience of customer service I've ever had, particularly for a premium product.
If you click the big Support button on Cayin's website it simply reads:
"Cayin products are represented and offered by its Authorized International Distributors and Dealers. Any products sold via authorized Distributors or Dealers are covered by Cayin's warranty. The warranty is for the sole benefit of the original purchaser of the covered product. If there were any service issues please get contact with your local authorized Distributor or Dealer. If case you want to get contact with Cayin Directly please send your inquiries to
service@cayin.cn. "
In a case where neither dealer nor distributor actually honor warranty or help a consumer whose product fails, to be frank I think this is representative of Cayin washing their hands of responsibility beyond the manufacturing process. That's not a warranty to begin with in my understanding.
Now if I can get this baby working again with the help of VAS and I'm not charged for it beyond shipping to the states, mostly all is well again, but I still won't be allowed warranty for the remaining 8 months of that term and this back and forth has been absolutely exhausting. If the so-called perfect WE 300B tubes did cause it to fail should I really trust the amp with them even after it's fixed? Why would I subject myself to this whole process again?
Thanks again for your help everyone.
).