Say you bought a speaker that retailed

[Paul R]

Well, I just sent an email off to the parent company. We shall see.

 

A couple of folks have told me that this is typical for this company. One said it is one of the reasons they have problems keeping dealers.

Contact your CC company as well- tell them you received damaged merchandise and the company is being a bit reluctant to replace them. Which is the exact truth of course.

[ecwl]

Kimo, I feel bad for you. But I may have a slight contrarian view and maybe others in the forum can convince me otherwise. Normally, when we buy speakers, we go through the dealer (usually local). The dealer receives the speakers from the importer and delivers it to us. If there is a problem with the new speaker, usually the dealer loans out their floor model to us and takes the broken speaker to be fixed either themselves or works with the importer or manufacturer to get the speaker fixed. As the customer, you still get to use the speaker. If there is no floor model available for loan, the dealer would not be charging you the full price of the speaker until the fixed speaker is available. You would never have to take out a driver from the speaker yourself. On the other hand, the customer is paying the dealer that extra profit margin so that if something goes wrong, it becomes the dealer's problem, not the customer's problem.

 

From what I'm reading, Kimo, it sounds like you bypassed the dealer and ordered directly from the importer? So did you essentially become the dealer? Did you still pay the importer MSRP or did you pay closer to the dealer price? If you still paid the MSRP, I think it's the importer's responsibility to get you a new pair ASAP while the importer fixes your speaker because the importer essentially becomes your dealer. But if you paid closer to dealer price, I think in a way, you're assuming responsibility as a dealer. So your concern about the manufacturer/importer's repair turnaround time is essentially a dealer problem.

 

From others' comments in the forum so far, it seems like I'm the odd man out with this view. Maybe I'm being harsh and unfair but I'd like to be convinced that I am totally wrong on this.

[Kimo]

Purchased from the closest authorized dealer. They offered to help, but there is no point in them sending me another speaker. This isn't their fault, and they would have had to send me 2 anyway.

 

Apparently this is the way this company does business. They must think it is fine.

[ecwl]

It's really too bad you didn't take up on your dealer's offer since now that you have opened up the speaker, it is too late to go back to them. This is my understanding from my local dealer when your situation happens. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in the forum can correct me if I am wrong. Had you taken up on your dealer's offer, you will get new speakers and your dealer will get the broken set. The speaker company would have charged your dealer a very low price for the new speakers they sent you. The dealer then fixes your broken speaker, however long it takes. Once your broken speakers are fixed, the dealer can sell the pair with a decent profit margin. So this becomes a win-win situation for you and your dealer although your dealer still has to go through the hassle of fixing your broken speaker.

 

It sounds like you have now assumed the responsibility of fixing the speaker with no upside for you. With all that said, hindsight is 20/20. I think your dealer and your importer should have insisted that you're not allowed to take apart the speaker for repair and that they should send you a new one and take the broken one back. It sounds like it is now a bad experience for everyone involved.

[lfs]

They have been around since 1926. Plenty of time to get it right.

 

If I had to guess, I would say you have a pair of Tannoy Glenair 10. Of course there is no need for you to confirm or deny this. Purely speculation on my part.

[NOMBEDES]

OP should have listed his location. Would make the thread a bit more helpful.

[Kimo]

It's really too bad you didn't take up on your dealer's offer since now that you have opened up the speaker, it is too late to go back to them. This is my understanding from my local dealer when your situation happens. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in the forum can correct me if I am wrong. Had you taken up on your dealer's offer, you will get new speakers and your dealer will get the broken set. The speaker company would have charged your dealer a very low price for the new speakers they sent you. The dealer then fixes your broken speaker, however long it takes. Once your broken speakers are fixed, the dealer can sell the pair with a decent profit margin. So this becomes a win-win situation for you and your dealer although your dealer still has to go through the hassle of fixing your broken speaker.

 

It sounds like you have now assumed the responsibility of fixing the speaker with no upside for you. With all that said, hindsight is 20/20. I think your dealer and your importer should have insisted that you're not allowed to take apart the speaker for repair and that they should send you a new one and take the broken one back. It sounds like it is now a bad experience for everyone involved.

 

I didn't assume anything. I inquired through the website, as directed. I then removed the drivers, as directed. I have basically followed their instructions to date, nothing more.

[Kimo]

If I had to guess, I would say you have a pair of Tannoy Glenair 10. Of course there is no need for you to confirm or deny this. Purely speculation on my part.

 

Very prestigious.

[Kimo]

OP should have listed his location. Would make the thread a bit more helpful.

 

Cleveland.

[Kimo]

So, it appears that the repair is just about complete 28 days later.

 

I don't find myself particularly enchanted by this level of service from Scotland's finest. I won't be working my way up the product line. As was mentioned in this thread, plenty of other choices at these price points.

[realhifi]

Purchased from the closest authorized dealer. They offered to help, but there is no point in them sending me another speaker. This isn't their fault, and they would have had to send me 2 anyway.

 

Apparently this is the way this company does business. They must think it is fine.

 

I can't imagine why you wouldn't have taken the dealers offer. That is what they are there for. Then there is no bad feelings between a manufacturer and customer as the dealer absorbs the wait time, etc. Odd.

[wgscott]

This is kind of like the experience I had with Rel. I live within driving distance of the national distributor, but I still had to go to a lot of trouble to find someone who would sell me one. I guess that should have been the first tip-off, but I wanted a down-firing sub that could take speaker level and LFE inputs simultaneously. Then it turned out to be a lemon. The first time it failed I took it back (at my own expense) and I think they forgot about it for a month or two. Then I got it back, and a couple months later it failed again. The second time I took it back (again, at my own expense), I asked for my money back. Eventually I got a replacement, and it has worked ok for over a year, so I kind of forgot about the experiences, but, frankly, I would never recommend a Rel sub to anyone. Their idea of customer service is a bit lax.

 

I did a total of 450 miles (cumulative) of driving that sub around the Bay Area.

 

I wonder if some of these manufactures take their queue from the behavior of up-scale restaurants that think they enhance their reputations by treating their customers like crap?

[Kimo]

I can't imagine why you wouldn't have taken the dealers offer. That is what they are there for. Then there is no bad feelings between a manufacturer and customer as the dealer absorbs the wait time, etc. Odd.

 

I could drive the drivers to the repair center. I would have had to ship them to the dealer to have him ship them to an authorized repair center.

 

This is the way it works with so few dealers left. The repair shop seems to have done a good job replacing the part, so this is just the way it has to be.

[Kimo]

This is kind of like the experience I had with Rel. I live within driving distance of the national distributor, but I still had to go to a lot of trouble to find someone who would sell me one. I guess that should have been the first tip-off, but I wanted a down-firing sub that could take speaker level and LFE inputs simultaneously. Then it turned out to be a lemon. The first time it failed I took it back (at my own expense) and I think they forgot about it for a month or two. Then I got it back, and a couple months later it failed again. The second time I took it back (again, at my own expense), I asked for my money back. Eventually I got a replacement, and it has worked ok for over a year, so I kind of forgot about the experiences, but, frankly, I would never recommend a Rel sub to anyone. Their idea of customer service is a bit lax.

 

I did a total of 450 miles (cumulative) of driving that sub around the Bay Area.

 

I wonder if some of these manufactures take their queue from the behavior of up-scale restaurants that think they enhance their reputations by treating their customers like crap?

 

I just crossed REL off my list. One idiosyncratic audio partner is enough for me.

 

At least your sub got a nice tour of the area.