CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Non-Audio Stuff => Random Thoughts => Topic started by: Mrip on July 08, 2015, 06:23:34 PM
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In 2013 I bought a Revel sub from an authorized dealer through Audiogon. Listing said dealer demo with warranty. The guy went way out of his way to make sure I was happy. Great customer service. Fast forward to this week. The sub dies. Harman support thinks it needs a new amp. Before they'll send me the module they ask for proof of purchase. I just forwarded them the audiogon details since that's the only documentation I could think of. Didn't think twice about it (but apparently I'm an idiot). HOWEVER, since I bought it "online," even though it was sold directly to me by an in-state authorized dealer who told me it was covered, it is not actually covered by the warranty. The entire reason I bought from a dealer was to get the warranty. The freakin listing even said WITH WARRANTY. Support says they are under "strict orders" not to provide service to items purchased online. The amp module will set me back $1100. This comes a couple weeks after my Senn M2 wireless were stolen on the subway. I'm about to flip my desk.
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Contact the dealer. Tell him what is happening. Request that he act as arbiter with Harman support.
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That's the plan, but he's no longer an authorized dealer. Harman support made a point of saying they "did some research" on the dealer and "it was the dealer's own decision to drop Revel." I have no idea why that matters or why they would tell me that, but I assume something went down.
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This is why I will never buy another Harmon product. Had a surround sound system; Infinity flagship. Had defective mid-range drivers. All of them went bad. In Europe Harman admitted the problem was a manufacturing defect and replaced them even when out of warranty. U.S. customer support said they had never heard of a problem with the drivers. Even though people had posted all over about it. One rep basically called me a lier, and another told me I must have driven them too loudly, which I didn't.
Good luck. Hope the dealer can help you out. I can understand why the dealer dropped them. But it shouldn't matter. They will do anything to not honor the warranty or back up their products. Horrible company IMHO.
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You should ask Craig Uthus about why he quit JBL after Harmon took over. Fun story.
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Harman ruins pretty much any company it takes over. In the Madrigal days Levinson was up there with the best of the best. Now they're mostly known for making Lexus stereos.
In the future, always ask for a sales receipt when buying anything used from an audio dealer. This was not an "online" sale from some 3rd party reseller, it should not be treated any differently than a phone order from a dealer. A receipt in hand though should thwart any effort by a company trying to screw you in a similar fashion.
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I'm almost as mad at myself for not reading the fine print before purchasing, but I think it's pretty clear that it shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to comb through the rulebook to make sure the $#&ing authorized dealer isn't screwing them. Did people at Harman actually sit down in a conference room, throw around a bunch of options and then decide that the best course of action when a dealer lied, or simply made a mistake, was to screw the customer? Really??
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I'm almost as mad at myself for not reading the fine print before purchasing, but I think it's pretty clear that it shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to comb through the rulebook to make sure the $#&ing authorized dealer isn't screwing them. Did people at Harman actually sit down in a conference room, throw around a bunch of options and then decide that the best course of action when a dealer lied, or simply made a mistake, was to screw the customer? Really??
It's actually pretty common for audio companies to just not know heads or tails of things. When I had one of my old Mirage speakers blow a driver under warranty, I contacted Mirage support for a replacement, who told me to contact the dealer because they are supposed to handle service. So I contacted the dealer, and they basically said "WTF are they talking about, we don't do that." Contacted Mirage again, got a different guy, and he sent out the replacement driver.
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It's going to be work, but for that kind of outlay, I would just keep going up the chain at Harmon.
Reminds me of the time Auto Europe tried to screw me for $600 on a windscreen that imploded when I closed the trunk on a car in Ireland. Upon exchanging the car they kept saying no problem, then 3 months later my credit card gets dinged.
Long story short, a website detailing the issue was created and came up top of the search list. US AutoEurope took notice and reversed the charge.
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Can you find a sub / plate amp from Parts Express that will fit?
If no fit, build an external box for the plate amp and run wires to the woofer cone.
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It's going to be work, but for that kind of outlay, I would just keep going up the chain at Harmon.
Reminds me of the time Auto Europe tried to screw me for $600 on a windscreen that imploded when I closed the trunk on a car in Ireland. Upon exchanging the car they kept saying no problem, then 3 months later my credit card gets dinged.
Long story short, a website detailing the issue was created and came up top of the search list. US AutoEurope took notice and reversed the charge.
I agree go up the chain. It took 3 months with a different company, but I ended up talking to their President/CEO. Then the problem finally got fixed. Ridiculous.
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I'm no lawyer, but the latest 2015 Revel warranty (http://www.revelspeakers.com/tl_files/content_resources/PDF/Revel_Product_Warranty_2015.pdf) simply states: "This Limited Warranty is valid only for Products purchased from an authorized Revel dealer." There are no other conditions listed for obtaining a valid warranty.
I don't see how some statements on a webpage (http://www.revelspeakers.com/revel-warranties.html) (not in the warranty and intended to help consumers steer clear of un-authorized sources) and statements in a dealer agreement changes the warranty. Seem to me there is only one question: was the dealer Authorized at the time of sale.
The FTC has some suggestions for "Resolving Disputes" about warranties (http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0252-warranties), including contacting your state's consumer protection office and possibly going to small claims court.
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Good point about the warranty. It does, however, say that they won't cover "claims based on misrepresentation by the seller." Looks like a decent opening for them. I got ahold of the seller, who is still in business just not selling Revel gear, and he said he'd contact them. If he gets nowhere I'll call myself and make it a "big deal" as I have nothing to lose.
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I'm no lawyer, but the latest 2015 Revel warranty (http://www.revelspeakers.com/tl_files/content_resources/PDF/Revel_Product_Warranty_2015.pdf) simply states: "This Limited Warranty is valid only for Products purchased from an authorized Revel dealer." There are no other conditions listed for obtaining a valid warranty.
I don't see how some statements on a webpage (http://www.revelspeakers.com/revel-warranties.html) (not in the warranty and intended to help consumers steer clear of un-authorized sources) and statements in a dealer agreement changes the warranty. Seem to me there is only one question: was the dealer Authorized at the time of sale.
The FTC has some suggestions for "Resolving Disputes" about warranties (http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0252-warranties), including contacting your state's consumer protection office and possibly going to small claims court.
Great Ideas btw. Years ago when a formerly famous half of a current audio company held my equipment for months to do a simple mod on it, a letter to the attorney generals office in his state got the logjam removed. Got the equipment back, not exactly with the mod I wanted.
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Threaten BBB complaints, tweet at the head of care for Harman, basically make it a big stink. It'll be fixed.
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Several edits later - Long story short I worked out a one time accommodation. They even sent me an email so I have proof! They will repair it this time but that's it. Apparently the company was particularly displeased with this reseller.
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That's great. Glad they came around. headbang
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That's great. Glad they came around. headbang
Indeed. Thanks for all the help guys.
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they don't earn any points for the "we will do you a favor, but never again" attitude with me. When will companies wake up and just say I am sorry and we will take care of you. And not act so arrogant that they make you feel bad for ever buying one of their products.
But in the end you got it resolved............................this time :)p13
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they don't earn any points for the "we will do you a favor, but never again" attitude with me. When will companies wake up and just say I am sorry and we will take care of you. And not act so arrogant that they make you feel bad for ever buying one of their products.
But in the end you got it resolved............................this time :)p13
That's the same attitude I got from them...minus the we will do you a favor. Mine was more like "stop calling us you lier and go away."
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Received my amp back. Invoice says they replaced an "open resistor in the audio control circuit." I made all this fuss over one resistor.
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I remember someone at HF was saying that people not liking the earphone he was OCDing for was due to some sort of conspiracy against Harmon.
It seemed like a weird thing then, but reading this, wow.