What about these online stores?

[kberg]

All,

I've done business with both Crutchfield and eTronics, and have had excellent buying experiences with them. But what about these and especially OTHER online stores when it comes to buying REALLY BIG ticket items like 50" and larger TV's?

When I take a look at the "Price Comparisons" and see the long list of "merchants" and their associated merchant "scores", I'm wondering just how good they are to deal with when buying such a large item, and all of the potential problems one might encounter.

Does anybody out there have some good/bad stories to tell about dealing with some of these online merchants? It seems that some of them have excellent prices on the latest available sets, but I'm wondering if it still boils down to "you get what you pay for" (e.g., warranty?, authorized dealer?, etc.).

[billbillw]

Maybe if you name some specific dealers, we could comment.

[Toxis]

buy locally... it'll save you big in the long run. TOOOOO many horror stories to list.

[dorokusai]

Ecost/Denon - F

I went through four(4) Denon DVD-5900 B-Stock, not a single one arrived physically complete or functionally 100%. The excuses were just typical of an internet retail IMO. I also experienced a multitude of shipping/billing issues thru Ecost, which took alot of effort to have resolved. I lost nothing overall but alot of time and frustration.

I eventually went with a DVD-3910 B-Stock via Crutchfield, and as always Crutchfield was like a walk in the park. I also picked it up for a comfortable price, full warranty.

[unbridled_id]

It isn't fair to compare e-tronics and crutchfield. Crutchfields is an authorized dealer for most if not all of it's products where as e-tronics is not. Look at user ratings concerning e-troncis, I have and many are not very complimentary.

[reeltrouble1]

With the size, weight, bulkiness of 50" or bigger tv I would be hesitate to buy one from a discount e-tailers. Its pot luck maybe it works maybe not and if you have to return it some of there return policies can be tricky. Crutchfield would be ok, but I tend to still get my TV/monitors from brick and motar.

As Doro mentioned when it comes to universal Denon players I got a great deal on a B-stock 2900, it worked fine upon arrival then developed a small glitch with the tray, they took care of everything and I eventually ended up with an A-stock for the same price as the B-stock.

RT1

[unc2701]

I prefer brick & mortar, but if I can't get it local, Crutchfield is the way to go. You pay more, but it's worth every cent. Round 1 with the LSiW, it looked like UPS dropped it off the back of the truck into a lake, then pissed on it. Anyone else would have dumped me into UPS claim resolution hell, Crutchfield sent me a new one the day I called and took back the old one, no questions asked.

Beyond them I've had varying success. I got a klipsh sub for a friend off of ebay- this place had an internet store as well- and the sub had the serial number cut off of it. No big surprise, but they left me negative feedback after I mentioned that in an otherwise postive feedback... wish I could remember the name of the place. JR.com is great, but they play by the manufacturer rules, so that means they won't ship a lot of stuff. www.acousticsounddesign.com is OK, I got what I ordered, but it took awhile before they shipped and they felt really shady.

edit: audio advisor is great and always has deals on b stock & demos

[dorokusai]

I haven't bought gear from a B&M in ages. I source all my stuff from the internet.

Crutchfield is IMO the best online retailer period. As mentioned previously, they are a full retail price type, but the customer service is off the charts.

Audio Advisor is another excellent e-tailer with a stellar customer service.

I always keep my eyes peeled on both companies "B" stock, scratch & dent and closeout.

I picked up a Sony ES AVR from Etronics and had no problems, but I probably wouldn't deal with them again.

[Mike682]

I heard (from friends) that Onecall is an excellent place to shop. I am looking to buy something (upgrade itch) and I have been eyeing onecall because their prices are excellent, they are authorized for all the brands they carry, and I heard their customer service also excellent.

One cool feature they have is you can do auto price matches from other online retailers. Example, they have the HK 235 listed at 499, click the find a better price icon and my price went down to 349.

Just went to the site for prioce match info:

"OneCall will match the delivered price for identical, in-stock products with like delivery service from the list of competitors below. Additionally, we will price protect your purchase 7 days from your purchase date. If either OneCall’s price or a competitor’s price from the list below reduces then we will credit you the difference.

Amazon Featured Merchants
Abt Electronics
Best Buy
B&H Photo Video
Circuit City
Crutchfield
J&R Music World
Tweeter
Vann's"

Mike

[heiney9]

My recommendation is to have some kind of dialog with the merchant before you actually buy. When I was setting up my office/computer system I was all over the net looking for the best deal on a piece. I found a merchant who had the best $$$ and showed it was in stock. On the web site it was advertised for $249 and when I clicked to put it in the cart it showed $279, which was every other web-sites price. So I e-mailed them to try to find out what was up. Guess what, I never got a response. So I sent another e-mail asking why they never responded and how it’s not good business, etc….. and still no response. So I didn’t do business with them.

Get opinions and try to buy from reputable on-line merchants like Crutchfield, Amazon, OneCall etc…. If it sounds too good to be true….it probably is!

H9

[kberg]

Originally posted by billbillw
Maybe if you name some specific dealers, we could comment.

Bestbuy Plasma
OneCall
Butterfly Photo
Buydig.com

Looks like doing business w/ OneCall or more business w/ Crutchfield might be worth considering. I just don't want to put any of my hard earned cash into the hands of some (not all) of these DOLTS at Best Buy or Circuit City. I know there are some good folks at BB and CC but my overall experience with these people is NOT good.

I 've have yet to hear anyone say anything bad about Crutchfield, and although they may be a bit pricier, I suppose that's what we consumers need to pay to get the excellent service/return policy they seem to ALWAYS provide.

[heiney9]

Just to add to my last post, I have made a habit lately of finding a product on the net and then seeing if Amazon or one of it's partner companies carries it. In some cases they do, which is great because for everything over $25 shipping is free. This has worked out well for me.

FWIW

H9

[bknauss]

I don't know about Onecall's customer service, but their prices are simply amazing on some TVs. They check out the authorized competition on certain models of products and show you the lowest price and will match it. There's a Sony 50" LCD RPTV that was going for $1900 over the weekend. The cheapest I've found it anywhere else was roughly $2400.

[danger boy]

Originally posted by bknauss
I don't know about Onecall's customer service, but their prices are simply amazing on some TVs. They check out the authorized competition on certain models of products and show you the lowest price and will match it. There's a Sony 50" LCD RPTV that was going for $1900 over the weekend. The cheapest I've found it anywhere else was roughly $2400.

how much was shipping from onecall?

[Schris22]

i've never bought a TV from ecost but i have bought smaller electronics and the such and the order was fine IMO...

but i have heard good things about onecall as well...

Chris

[marker]

Ubid.com has my endorsement for bang for the buck. I got a couple of AVRs very recently from them new in box and full 3 year factory warranty since they are authorized dealers for less than $600 each shipped. Hard to beat that.

[Mark of Cenla]

I have had good service buying audio/video stuff from the following:

Crutchfield
Good Guys
J&R Music and Computer World
Amazon.com


Peace.

[billbillw]

OneCall has a great reputation.
I bought a camera from Buydig.com with no problems.
Crutchfield will never do you wrong.
I've heard good things about Butterflyphoto.
I've never heard of Bestbuy plasma.

I've bought 3 bigscreen TVs so far, but its always been from a B&M store (which always ended up cheaper after shipping).
Shipping can make or break the deal on when buying a 50".

Also, the convenience of having a B&M store that will easily exchange a defective TV in the first 30 days is immeasurable. Most online stores will prove to be more difficult if an exchange is needed.

[Teejai]

I ordered my HK receiver through Onecall and had no problems, great service and saved some money.

BTW, Onecall.com is now selling Polk LS, RTi, and Monitor series speakers.

[Emlyn]

I recommend buying large items like big screen TVs from B&M stores too, primarily because of shipping issues, warranties, possible need to return something, etc. I would buy medium sized flat screen (LCD) TVs from Onecall because they seem to have the best prices and shipping is cheap because the sets are so light weight and not easy to damage in shipping.

Unless it's something really cheap, I no longer buy anything else electronic related at B&M stores.

I recommend the following companies for internet sales and fair treatment afterwards if one has problems:

AudioAdvisor
Amazon
J&R
Onecall
Music Direct
Acoustic Sounds
Yourmusic
Partsexpress
SVS
Racks and Stands
Sanus

I've never used Crutchfield because they're Virginia based and I'd have to pay their full retail prices plus sales tax, but others I know have never had a problem with their service.

[WilliamM2]

I've had great service from all of the following:

Sound City
Crutchfield
Cambridge Soundworks
Parts Express
Etronics

Etronics is my new favorite, because they always ship the same day, and have always double boxed my shipments for protection. They are almost always the cheapest too.

[Ron Temple]

Originally posted by marker
Ubid.com has my endorsement .

I'm looking at Ubid and JandR for a refurb receiver. Someone over on AVS really put the "thumbs down" on Ubid. Anyone else with positive or negative? The prices look too good to pass on if they are reputable.

[ND13]

Originally posted by Ron Temple
I'm looking at Ubid and JandR for a refurb receiver. Someone over on AVS really put the "thumbs down" on Ubid. Anyone else with positive or negative? The prices look too good to pass on if they are reputable.

A buddy of mine made several purchases from them a while back with no issues. He bought a pair of Missions and some in walls.

[audiobliss]

There certainly are a lot of online retailers listed in this thread. I've bookmarked all of them! However, which of these would y'all say are as solid as Crutchfield and Audio Advisor?

[kberg]

Has anybody done business with or have anything to say about DTV City?


DTV City (http://www.dtvcity.com/)

[audiobliss]

Does anyone have a link to any stores (with websites...duh) that are authorized dealers for Cambridge Audio? I can't seem to find any.

[Mike682]

don't know if this was mentioned yet....check out resellerratings.com..they have a huge index to internet stores and rates them. Site also has customer reviews, etc..

Here's a link to onecall's ratings, to look at another store, enter store on top right:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1873.html

[dorokusai]

Originally posted by audiobliss
Does anyone have a link to any stores (with websites...duh) that are authorized dealers for Cambridge Audio? I can't seem to find any.

I will presume that you are one handed this evening.

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/dealers.php

&

www.audioadvisor.com

The link acts funny but it works. You have to make sure that your in the dealer page for the US....take a look in the top right corner. It sent me to Saudi Arabia once....hmmm

[audiobliss]

Thanks for the assumption, doro. :p

Actually, I've already been to their dealer search this evening. However, none of the dealers they listed had websites. So, I tried to think of all the URLs each store might have and tried them. I did that for about 4 or 5 states, and didn't come up with a single site! :mad:

I forgot about Audio Advisor.

Thanks!

[dorokusai]

I would probably just stick with AA as they have excellent customer service and support. Keep your eyes in the Clearance and HotBuys sections for very nice prices on Cambridge Audio....Hell, that's where I bought all mine :)

Good luck.

[audiobliss]

You have some Cambridge Audio gear? I missed it in your sig.

Thanks for the tip!

[marker]

I don't know if it's still valid or not, but HTF recently had a on line coupon to get a C A intergrated and it's matching CD player for $199 each, SHIPPED! You can't beat that.

[dorokusai]

Originally posted by audiobliss
You have some Cambridge Audio gear? I missed it in your sig.

Thanks for the tip!

The CA is in my computer rig, and it just takes up too much space to have it hanging around in the SIG with that other junk. There aren't many ppl who care about a computer rig but there are a couple tidbits in the showcase.

I was turned to CA originally because I wanted to build a modest rig for my Dad. It was a suprise and I wanted something to compliment the MINTY original Mon10's I found in my travels the month prior. NAD was my first choice, but timing affected that deal. I like warm gear, and the "British" sound is often warm and articulate, perfect Polk-Peerless type....and NAD defines this genre IMO.

CA was being blown out by Audio Advisor, and nothing like a great price to grab you eh? I had read alot of positive data about this manufacturer, and coupled with a Russman "You should check out CA...you dumb f*ck", I figured it was worth a shot.

No problems, love their gear, wouldn't hesitate to buy another piece type attitude.

My Dad's rig is very cool, and I dig checking it out when I visit. He's running a Sony ES CDC, but other than that it's all CA.

Ahhh, the fruits of ones' labor as it comes to harvest :)

[Ron Temple]

From the reseller rating given to Ubid, I doubt if I will give them a try. Thanks for the link.