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Advice needed to help with issue with Dealer

kthbrdy

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Hi there,

I was hoping to get some advice here from some more experienced members here on the forums.

Here in the Desperate Dealers forum, I seen a pair of used speakers for sale here that caught my interest. I contacted the dealer selling the speakers and was offered a good price for the speakers. However, they were out of warranty and decided not to proceed with the purchase should any issues arise. After all, they cost thousands of £££s. That was fine, however the next day the dealer contacted me saying that they would include a 1 year warranty on them.

That was great! I felt confident proceeding as the dealer has a great online reputation, both on here and on other forums. I proceeded to purchase the speakers and a system control device commonly sold as a packed system with the 1 year warranty. Wahoo! My first big purchase on a high end audio system! I received the speakers, they worked great! I received the control device separately a few weeks after as there was a delay with shipping and Brexit.

Now, I troubleshooted the best I could but I could not get the control unit to work with the speakers. I contacted the dealer who was quite responsive and helpful but later said that there may be an unforeseen issues with the speakers being incompatible with the control device. The dealer said they never experienced an issue like this before and seemed quite shocked. Following that, they said the would sort out the problem but I would have to ship the speakers back to the manufacturer myself to get it resolved.

Unfortunately, a family matter that took place and I was unable to ship the speakers for a period of time. When I contacted the dealer to say I was going to sort it out, the dealer said that they were not able to help anymore. He suggested getting in contact with the distributer to resolve the situation before going completely silent and stopped responding completely. Having gotten a quote from the manufacturer I realised I was not able to afford to get this speaker / control device issue resolved for awhile as it was very expensive.

After some time, I eventually saved up the funds and got the speakers sent to the manufacturer to get sorted. After doing some tests they found out the speakers were actually faulty and this is why they didn't work with the control device. They ended up having to replace the DSPs in order to get the system working. I got the speakers back and its great having the system working as it should. Using the control device really levels up the experience!

What do you guys think? Can anyone suggest how I would best go about trying to get compensated from the dealer for the cost of the repair? Any help would be really appreciated and the repair was very costly.

Thanks!
Keith
 

Doodski

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I have not fully read your comment but I understand this has legal stuff in it? What country are you in?
 

Jimbob54

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I was unable to ship the speakers for a period of time
How long?
After some time
How long?

I think we need to know what timescales you are talking about here. And how long is the elapsed time from flagging the issue to sending the speakers to manuf. to find the fault? Were the speakers in use during that time?
 

Peluvius

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The time periods are relevant. Have you spoken to the Dealer about the outcome from the Manufacturer?
 

MCH

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Easy to track down at least part of the story if you check his past posts.
As a regular used gear buyer/seller, i hope if someone did something wrong it gets clarified. It will be healthy for the forum. Seems to be a lot of money...
 
OP
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kthbrdy

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Hi people, thanks for the reply.

Agreed, time periods are relevant. The issue was discovered immediately on receiving the control device. I was unable to ship the speaker for 3 months. When I got in contact with the dealer again to reorganise getting the issue resolved, 5 months had past. At this time, the dealer stopped being helpful and went silent. I wasn't sure what to do with this company going silent and not helping me resolve the issue.

From my understanding, if goods don't work as intended it is the sellers responsibility resolve any issues. I made contact with the manufacturer to set up and organise the repair when I could afford to do it. This was 16 months after the purchase. But is this my responsibility to have to resolve issues with speakers that weren't working correctly? The reason I only bought the speakers with the 1 year warranty was because I would not be able to afford any expensive issues that would arise in the first year of owning them.
 

Peluvius

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Hi people, thanks for the reply.

Agreed, time periods are relevant. The issue was discovered immediately on receiving the control device. I was unable to ship the speaker for 3 months. When I got in contact with the dealer again to reorganise getting the issue resolved, 5 months had past. At this time, the dealer stopped being helpful and went silent. I wasn't sure what to do with this company going silent and not helping me resolve the issue.

From my understanding, if goods don't work as intended it is the sellers responsibility resolve any issues. I made contact with the manufacturer to set up and organise the repair when I could afford to do it. This was 16 months after the purchase. But is this my responsibility to have to resolve issues with speakers that weren't working correctly? The reason I only bought the speakers with the 1 year warranty was because I would not be able to afford any expensive issues that would arise in the first year of owning them.

If these are the only relevant facts then yes, the dealer had an obligation to provide assistance within the 12 month warranty period. Given your issue was not identified until 16 months had passed your claim is more difficult to press although if the manufacturer is able to give you something in writing which specifically refers to the problem you raised with the dealer originally you probably have a case to press. How you proceed will be dependant upon your local consumer legislation.
 

MCH

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Hm, i certainly have no idea about these subjects but from what i read around it might be key if the dealer was promoting the merchandise in the country of the buyer (i.e. price in buyer's currency or ad in buyers language...) or not. If not, uk laws would apply. The ad, if it is the one i think, is still readable in this forum, talks about "vat included" and price in gbp...
I don't know, maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in. Good luck!
 

Snoopy

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He probably would have to prove that the loudspeakers where already broken when he received them. But that's going to be difficult after 16 months..
 

sq225917

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Name the dealer, that'll get you a response we can all see. And learn from
 

Suffolkhifinut

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Hi there,

I was hoping to get some advice here from some more experienced members here on the forums.

Here in the Desperate Dealers forum, I seen a pair of used speakers for sale here that caught my interest. I contacted the dealer selling the speakers and was offered a good price for the speakers. However, they were out of warranty and decided not to proceed with the purchase should any issues arise. After all, they cost thousands of £££s. That was fine, however the next day the dealer contacted me saying that they would include a 1 year warranty on them.

That was great! I felt confident proceeding as the dealer has a great online reputation, both on here and on other forums. I proceeded to purchase the speakers and a system control device commonly sold as a packed system with the 1 year warranty. Wahoo! My first big purchase on a high end audio system! I received the speakers, they worked great! I received the control device separately a few weeks after as there was a delay with shipping and Brexit.

Now, I troubleshooted the best I could but I could not get the control unit to work with the speakers. I contacted the dealer who was quite responsive and helpful but later said that there may be an unforeseen issues with the speakers being incompatible with the control device. The dealer said they never experienced an issue like this before and seemed quite shocked. Following that, they said the would sort out the problem but I would have to ship the speakers back to the manufacturer myself to get it resolved.

Unfortunately, a family matter that took place and I was unable to ship the speakers for a period of time. When I contacted the dealer to say I was going to sort it out, the dealer said that they were not able to help anymore. He suggested getting in contact with the distributer to resolve the situation before going completely silent and stopped responding completely. Having gotten a quote from the manufacturer I realised I was not able to afford to get this speaker / control device issue resolved for awhile as it was very expensive.

After some time, I eventually saved up the funds and got the speakers sent to the manufacturer to get sorted. After doing some tests they found out the speakers were actually faulty and this is why they didn't work with the control device. They ended up having to replace the DSPs in order to get the system working. I got the speakers back and its great having the system working as it should. Using the control device really levels up the experience!

What do you guys think? Can anyone suggest how I would best go about trying to get compensated from the dealer for the cost of the repair? Any help would be really appreciated and the repair was very costly.

Thanks!
Keith
If you live in the UK the Sale of Goods Act 1974 states if substandard goods are bought from a dealer then it’s the dealer’s responsibility. Was brought in to stop the soft shoe shuffle you’ve been getting. However you might have given the dealer a get out by agreeing to send your speakers back to the manufacturer. Had a similar problem with speakers years ago, gave them back to the dealer and told him to sort it out, which he did. Once again for residents of the UK if you bought them with a debit or credit card the purchaser was the company that issued the card. Bought a laptop from a dealer on Tottenham Court Road picked it up the following day and there was less RAM than there should have been. Took it back and was told not very politely to F*** Off. Went home phoned Barclaycard within the hour the dealer phoned and told me to bring it back so they could install the extra RAM.
 
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kthbrdy

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Thanks for the replies!

I have sought the services of the European Consumer Centre Ireland to deal with this. Obviously disappointed that things have gotten to this stage. The ECC work as a mediator in these types of situations with UK based sellers. I they requested the details of the manufacturer's repair which they work with UK side to resolve the issue with the dealer. Hoping something positive will come out of this. This dealer is seems well regarded on these forums so I'm hopefully they will do what's right here.

Can I ask, when buying expensive speakers, is it common to pay dealers via bank transfer? I paid via bank transfer which didn't seem like a red flag a the time due to the amount of money and debit/credit card fees that the dealer may incur but now has proved foolish.
 

Suffolkhifinut

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Thanks for the replies!

I have sought the services of the European Consumer Centre Ireland to deal with this. Obviously disappointed that things have gotten to this stage. The ECC work as a mediator in these types of situations with UK based sellers. I they requested the details of the manufacturer's repair which they work with UK side to resolve the issue with the dealer. Hoping something positive will come out of this. This dealer is seems well regarded on these forums so I'm hopefully they will do what's right here.

Can I ask, when buying expensive speakers, is it common to pay dealers via bank transfer? I paid via bank transfer which didn't seem like a red flag a the time due to the amount of money and debit/credit card fees that the dealer may incur but now has proved foolish.
No it isn’t normal practice and you aren’t covered by the UK’s regulations regarding purchasing goods. If you pay by a debit or credit card and the goods aren’t up to scratch it’s the card issuer who has responsibility and either the goods must be of serviceable quality or the card issuer must give you a full refund. In effect the card issuer purchased the goods.
 

HarmonicTHD

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Thanks for the replies!

I have sought the services of the European Consumer Centre Ireland to deal with this. Obviously disappointed that things have gotten to this stage. The ECC work as a mediator in these types of situations with UK based sellers. I they requested the details of the manufacturer's repair which they work with UK side to resolve the issue with the dealer. Hoping something positive will come out of this. This dealer is seems well regarded on these forums so I'm hopefully they will do what's right here.

Can I ask, when buying expensive speakers, is it common to pay dealers via bank transfer? I paid via bank transfer which didn't seem like a red flag a the time due to the amount of money and debit/credit card fees that the dealer may incur but now has proved foolish.
I would never pay via bank transfer. Most decent manufacturers/ dealer offer at least credit card or even better PayPal.
 

hege

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Such ghosting and shifting responsibilities when a warranty was offered looks disgusting, just calling how I see it.


Not that @Purité Audio is required to explain anything, but probably wouldn't hurt..
 

AudioJester

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Seeing these kind of experiences I will stick to local dealers/sources - no matter how tantalising the price is overseas.

Having said that, there are always two sides to every story.
 

sq225917

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Without a clear linear timeline populated with agreed verified events I prefer not to comment on these things, especially as I know one party in this instance well, but don't know the other.
 
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