Stage 3 HA88 Rev B ventilation holes

[Spider]

we should all remember that there are variations in dialect, customs, grammar, and translation that could incorrectly turn an innocent statement into a perceived social offense.

That's true in general, but I beg to think that was not the case here. I am not native either, so please correct me if I am wrong, but to my ears neither the reply from Nord nor the OP's command of English as deducted from these exchanges can even remotely suggest they didn't know what they were saying.

You can't just speak and write as eloquently as that and then conveniently blame the language as soon as you say something off.

Hi,
I've just purchased Stage 3 HA88 Rev B.
After comparing some of the photos of this model I've noticed that my Nord doesn't have ventilation holes on the rear panel. Does anybody have the same "feature"? I don't know if this is an issue but it seems to be weird that my Nord differs from those on the photos.

@Hlaaulu - Sometimes a single word or set of quotation marks can change the meaning of an entire message to the reader. Here's an example of what I was referencing: In the original post, @jazzualdo used the phrasing: Does anybody have the same "feature"?

Depending upon intent, putting "feature" in quotes could be seen as being sarcastic with the intent to indicate Clavia did something wrong, or it could simply be the OP trying to find the right word to use. The same goes for the use of the word "weird", which again could be seen as being negative, or the OP just trying to find the right words to ask if his board is supposed to be the way it is. I guess it depends upon the perspective of the reader.

As for the Clavia representative's alleged use of the word "idiot" in reference to customers in an email to a distributor, that's not a good look, but I'm not sure how that word got in there (conscious use, limited vocabulary, or translation software). In any case, some training would be in order to teach the representative professionalism in communication and never to send anything via email that they wouldn't want forwarded to the person they would least like to read it.

Finally, yes, there are people who join forums and Facebook groups for the primary purpose of complaining, and there are those that make disproportionately large issues out of insignificant issues in an attempt to extract compensation from a vendor. Unless we see what the OP wrote in his query to Clavia, we will never know what may have led the Clavia rep to warn the Polish distributor about the OP. Despite the axiom, the customer isn't always right. You don't want to expend too many resources on those that can't be satisfied, so companies need to triage incoming issues - otherwise, they will not have enough bandwidth and will need to reduce service levels for all.

I'm not asserting the OP did anything wrong, nor am I defending what appears to be an unprofessional response from Clavia, but I think there may be some extenuating circumstances on both sides.

[Spider]

Sometimes a single word or set of quotation marks can change the meaning of an entire message to the reader.

Totally true, and it may be worth to take another look at Clavia's alleged response.

"These barred vents disappeared sometime during last year when the electric licences were renewed for the entire line of products.
It was determined that the risk of having idiots poke wires or metal into the holes overweighed the needs for the vent in the first place.

Your customer is of the breed that are constantly looking for faults and will most likely be back twenty times over with other queries of what might be wrong.
You may tell them in this case it is quite normal and just a sign that it is as freshly made as a Stage 3 could possibly be."

"Idiot" was not aimed directly at jazzualdo, but in general at clumsy users who may unvoluntarily damage their instrument and/or themselves. Specifically, it's about "renewing electric licenses", which makes me think that safety regulations for the risk of electric shock have become stricter, so Clavia opted for the simplest way to eliminate a possible source of contact with the internal power supply.

That said, of course "idiot" is not a word ANY company representative should use in any situation, and the subsequent sentence (which was in fact aimed directly at Jazzualdo) didn't make things any better.
Still, in the final sentence Clavia clearly told the distributor to report to Jazzualdo this official answer:
"It is quite normal and just a sign that it is as freshly made as a Stage 3 could possibly be."

So this is mainly the distributor's fault, who instead of giving only the official answer, copy/pasted the whole private communication (whose tone admittedly was really bad and unappropriate, but which anyway was supposed to be kept private)

[jazzualdo]

I've been using Nord keyboards since 2005 and have never ask the Nord service center any question until now. I did it through Polish service center and I don't know how they formed the question to Clavia. It doesn't matter for me. The thing that matters is how Clavia responded through forwarded message. That's it.
I came here with a problem to solve and now I'm the only one to blame the most.

[jazzualdo]

Nobody is against you for anything, we just discuss

a) the possible reasons for the wording used in the answer

b) the way the distributor is providing feedback from Clavia to the customer

That’s nothing to do with you, in fact I see a general consent here that you have a very valid case and the answer you got is very inappropriate

[Hlaalu]

I came here with a problem to solve and now I'm the only one to blame the most.

As Schorsch says, pretty much everyone in this thread is on your side...

[MartinJ2EX]

+1

As I said, interesting topic (as I'm all about the details - that's why I have a Nord)!
And, of course, the somehow inappropriate comment that slipped through, which is not aimed at you or (I suppose) any Nord keyboard users in particular, but aimed at sometimes drunk people in the audience, etc.... ! That's how we should settle this debate

I'm here because I love Nord Keyboards and I'm always curious what they might bring, change, improve, etc.
Sometimes some frustration is natural, if features get removed or issues arise - but still, that doesn't change the fact that we are proud of our instruments - I think many of you will agree!

[CountFosco]

I came here with a problem to solve and now I'm the only one to blame the most.

As Schorsch says, pretty much everyone in this thread is on your side...

Pretty much. I asked the OP a question 6 times, and he's answered it zero. The email we're talking about came from, presumably, a Nord technical support professional, who's answered many such emails successfully in the past. That Nord employee made a huge mistake by sending that email, no question. To the point where it's probably time to find another job. But that person was clearly angry, more angry than normal. What doesn't ring true in this story is this:

I was filling the form at their website asking if this is correct there are no vent holes...Just a polite question about the thing, so I don't really understand Clavia's type of answer.

Was your polite question worded like this:
Excuse me, I noticed that my NS doesn't have the same vent holes as other ones. It would be great if you could let me know if there was a design change to alleviate my concerns.

Or this:
What the fk kind of show are you w@nkers operating? You missed the ventilation holes on my NS. I want my money back. Worst company ever.

?

My impression is that it was more like the latter, and you're purposefully avoiding answering the question which would change that impression.

The thing I particularly take note of is the following. This is obviously not true, as you said you filled out the online form directly to Nord:

I did it through Polish service center and I don't know how they formed the question to Clavia

Alleviate my concerns that you're only telling one side of the story. For the 7th time, how did you word your query?

[Nord33]

However, as a trading partner of Clavia they should not forward such an answer straight to the customer, they should let you know a professional answer in an appropriate wording, and behind the scenes escalate the misbehaviour of an individual Clavia employee to Clavia's management to avoid that a single bloke at Clavia damages the image of the whole company.

I completely agree on this one. Because I really think this is not what Clavia really is. It's about one guy who is probably nervous about customers asking some "stupid" questions about product that cost $4000 and for that money need to be almost perfect!

[jazzualdo]

I came here with a problem to solve and now I'm the only one to blame the most.

As Schorsch says, pretty much everyone in this thread is on your side...

Pretty much. I asked the OP a question 6 times, and he's answered it zero. The email we're talking about came from, presumably, a Nord technical support professional, who's answered many such emails successfully in the past. That Nord employee made a huge mistake by sending that email, no question. To the point where it's probably time to find another job. But that person was clearly angry, more angry than normal. What doesn't ring true in this story is this:

I was filling the form at their website asking if this is correct there are no vent holes...Just a polite question about the thing, so I don't really understand Clavia's type of answer.

Was your polite question worded like this:
Excuse me, I noticed that my NS doesn't have the same vent holes as other ones. It would be great if you could let me know if there was a design change to alleviate my concerns.

Or this:
What the fk kind of show are you w@nkers operating? You missed the ventilation holes on my NS. I want my money back. Worst company ever.

?

My impression is that it was more like the latter, and you're purposefully avoiding answering the question which would change that impression.

The thing I particularly take note of is the following. This is obviously not true, as you said you filled out the online form directly to Nord:

I did it through Polish service center and I don't know how they formed the question to Clavia

Alleviate my concerns that you're only telling one side of the story. For the 7th time, how did you word your query?

Ok so here is another side of the story. I've sent the form to Nord writing the same question as here on the forum. I don't have a copy of that since I've sent it through Nord official form, not via email. They've never replied so I contacted my local service center by phone asking them exact the same thing in a most polite way. I was told that they saw my question sent through the form and they will try to get the answer directly from Nord. They also promissed me to forward my photos (exactly the same as I posted here) to Nord and they formed the question about this issue on my behalf. That's it. Are you satisfied now?

There would be no such silly and annoying questions if Nord kept their website photos up to date so everybody would be happy and there would't be any customer who's trying to constantly looking for faults.

[ajstan]

Ok so here is another side of the story. I've sent the form to Nord writing the same question as here on the forum. I don't have a copy of that since I've sent it through Nord official form, not via email. They've never replied so I contacted my local service center by phone asking them exact the same thing in a most polite way. I was told that they saw my question sent through the form and they will try to get the answer directly from Nord. They also promissed me to forward my photos (exactly the same as I posted here) to Nord and they formed the question about this issue on my behalf. That's it. Are you satisfied now?

There would be no such silly and annoying questions if Nord kept their website photos up to date so everybody would be happy and there would't be any customer who's trying to constantly looking for faults.

If you correctly enter your email address when you use the form on the Nord website, you should receive an automated email with all the information you entered on the form, including the "Detailed description of problem/symptom".

The instructions on the website also state that your request will be sent to the distributor in your country and to check your junk mail folder to your distributor if you haven't received a reply within a few working days. If you check your junk mail folder, you should have a copy of what you sent to Nord. You confirmed that your distributor received your query, so that part of the process is working correctly.

Also, I would think that most would find incremental updates and improvements to the current model (instead of waiting for the NS3Ex or NS4 to improve anything) to be a positive. There have been quite a few updates to the Stage series since I purchased my NS388 in 2017. Updates to the front panel, brackets for the music rest on the NS3C, improvements on the assembly of the pitch stick, mounting holes for the Nord Monitors, and more. I'm not sure how practical or useful it would be to have a picture gallery that included every possible iteration of every model of the NS3. As noted by your distributor, be happy you have the newest and latest model!