Worst speaker buying experience ever - SPEARIT SOUND

[crazy]

Folks - I recently purchased a pair of B&W 804s from SPEARIT SOUND in Boston. What was supposed to be a fun experience turned out to be a nightmare.

Sure they give good discount, but when you're buying a $4,000 pair of speakers, you need to be treated a little respectifully, right?

Well, it was the worst buying experience of my life and sad to say that it has left a REALLY bad taste in my mouth.

I live almost 200 miles from from Boston so the trip was quite a hike. However, I was excited since I was going to pick up my shiny pair of B&Ws!!

The person out there, whose name was Richard was kinda rude and impatient. I mean I’m buying $4K speakers here so how about giving me some time and patience. I wanted to check out some CD players and this guy was like, come back when you’re ready to buy them or when you're ready to buy an amplifier … so I was pissed but was firm. So finally he asked someone to show me some CD players. Now this wasn't very nice ...

Then when buying the stuff, I wanted a cover for the speakers wire so that they don’t look so ugly. The person I was dealing with wasn't interested in selling me the wire cables - what the ... I know it’s only esthetic but it’s my wire and I’m paying for it – so don’t give me a hard time about it! I wasn’t too happy with the overall attitude.

Anyways, I didn't give it too much thought. So I just paid and bought my speakers home. I tried setting up the speaker and noticed that these 4 jumper cables that you need were all broken. All 4 of them!!! I called Spearit Sound and they said that it’s impossible that they’re ALL broken. They made me sound like I was a complete idiot and didn't know what jumper cables looked like. Not only were they broken, they were embedded in the speaker connectors!

So after a long conversation I said that I’ll just email them the pictures. After looking at them, they said “oh I see what the problem is, they’re all broken”!!!

Thank you very much - that's what I was saying all along!!!

Icing on the cake ...

So 2 days later I realized that I had a charge on my credit card for the speakers. What the &#&(*&@*

I had only put the deposit on the card and had written a check for the balance. I called them and the only response they could give was "there's no check". Boy, were they rude. They were unbelievably rude.

Anyway, long story short - I'm mailing them another check and putting a hold on the previous check. This is probably the last time I'm dealing with them.

Discount or no discount, I expect to be treated a little better. Yeah sure, I'm sure that all those Boston millionaires buy stuff from that store and they don't have time for the little guy. But we have self respect as well you know and this left a bad taste in the mouth.

When I went to check out the speakers, the guy I dealt with was SUPER NICE and that's what made me buy the set from this store. So it wasn't all bad but the final experience was a little painful.

I do love my speakers and the beautiful sound coming from the speakers will hopefully make me forget this buying experience, but for now, I sure am feeling a little pissed of ...

The rude ones: Ralph and Richard.

The nice guy: Leyland

The really nice ones: Ray & Chris (edited: I forgot the name earlier)

http://www.spearitsound.com/

I'll be posting some pictures of the broken jumper cables ...

[MrNightly]

Man that sucks. I would have returned them all, speakers included. I refuse to work with snooty people, and will go outta my way to the guy who treats me right.

I'm surprised you didn't walk out of the store when they were so stuck up. or at least say something to them, like, "Am I bothering you??" That usually gets their attention, and if it doesn't, you leaving $4K plus sitting in their lap that they could have made a cut on, seems to!

Hope the speaks erase all pain. They sure are nice! Get those pics up once you get a chance man!

David

[okiepolkie]

I'd at least contact B&W about the bad buying experience you had. I don't think they will care as much as Polk, but it will be at least one mark against them.

[mhardy6647]

Well, in fairness, $4k for a pair (I assume that was for the pair) of speakers nowadays is pretty low end in 'audiophile' circles. Ever price any Wilsons?

Not that I am defending snooty service; but it seems to be more and more the norm.

I pretty much stick to vintage and DIY for just that reason.

[crazy]

MrNightly - I agree with you. I did want to walk out, but I thought I was just over reacting. The nail on the coffin was the mess-up with the check payment and charging it on my credit card.

Okie - you are right. I will lodge a complaint with B&W. I know it probably won't go anywhere but it definitely warrants a compaint.

I know $4K isn't a big deal when there are $10K speakers available everywhere. However, my Polk Audio buying experience was 10 times better that the B&W and they costs exactly 1/10th of the B&W!!!

$400 Polk Audio Monitor 50's vs. $4K B&W 804s

I guess it's the principal. $10 or $10,000 - you should be treated with respect.

Now if I walked in their driving an Porsche and a $1K Hugo Boss suite, things might have been different :)

[jakelm]

I pretty much stick to vintage and DIY for just that reason.

Im with you!!

[Demiurge]

I treat the guy buyng $30 worth of parts from me with the same respect as the guy buying a $40,000 piece of equipment from me. These guys had no reason to be assholes to you, and I would have walked out.

[crazy]

Thanks for support guys - I agree about the walking out part except this didn't all happen at the store ...

I mean I found out about the broken jumper cables at home and had to deal with them over the phone ... frustrating.

Then I found out about the credit card thing today ... again had to deal with them on the phone ... again frustrating.

Finally - I live 200 miles from their store and those speakers are bloody heavy! Otherwise I was in a good mind to return those.

Like you said, hopefully the music will help me ease the pain - that's what music does quite well!

[mldennison]

crazy,
sorry you had that experience. the only time i was in that store i dealt with Leyland and he was very nice and patient just you had indicated, no experience with the other guys you had problems with. sounds like the place is not all that well run though, thanks for letting us know, guess i will go elsewhere next time i am looking.

[Demiurge]

crazy,
....guess i will go elsewhere next time i am looking.

...and this is how their $4,000 mistake could turn into a $100,000 mistake over time.

[brettw22]

If you can get a discount there, you can probably get one somewhere else.

It's not worth the BS you're going through to spend that kind of money, so my advice is to return them and let them know they've used their 3 strikes and you're taking your business elsewhere.

By continuing to deal with them, you're basically telling them that you're completely OK with being treated like shit, because in the end, they still have your money.

[okiepolkie]

Also, since you actually have the charge on your credit card, you can take them back and refuse to pay the balance(according to your credit card's guidlines). They will be out the sale, and you will be out the speakers for the time being.
As far as customer service and fair treatment,you are right. As a small business owner, my philosohpy is that it doesn't matter how much someone pays for an item. It does matter that they came to me to buy something and they deserve to be treated fairly for it.

[crazy]

Here are the pictures of the jumper cables. As you can see, these are rather odd jumper cables!!! The other 2 are also broken.

The second picture shows where those jumper cable ended up ... if you look closely, they're inside the speaker connectors. I was able to take them out quite easily thought - thankfully.

Here are some pictures of the gorgeous speakers (and the Krell 400Xi) themselves

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15980&d=1145498423

[Shizelbs]

Sorry man. Thats a pretty raw deal.

Today, in the spirit of things, I am going to be a total dick to all the old ladies that come in for their 32 cent bottle of diuretic.

[polkatese]

Today, in the spirit of things, I am going to be a total dick to all the old ladies that come in for their 32 cent bottle of diuretic.

:p :D YOU GO, SHELBY!

Crazy, sorry to hear your experience. The grievance to return those speakers to the store, I don't think, is worthwhile, but clearly you need to complain to the Store Manager or owner (if it isn't a chain).

The bottom line is this, do spend your money with a store that treat you like a customer. I've been in your situation many times, the worst treatment is usually happened over the phone, since they can't see you. Here is a fact for you: My favorite place to spend my audio gears money (and it's quite a bundle) is a small dealer in Andover, MN (I live in SoCal). Second place, another small place in San Diego County, 300 miles roundtrip from where I live, even though there is one reputable dealer (who are frequented by many polkies here) closeby within less than 10 miles from my house. Why? because I don't like his condescending attitude, in trying to decide whether I am worthy of his time in showing his merchandise. He would asked probing questions such as, where did I buy my Krell, B&K, and others, which are clearly none of his godd**** biz. Anyways, I spent the SF Cremona money, instead in that tiny SD dealer, and guess what, I gain a friend. So, a 300 miles of worthy trip, to me.

[MrNightly]

...and this is how their $4,000 mistake could turn into a $100,000 mistake over time.

This is exactly right! I know I will never buy $4k speaks from them :) Or even $500 ones either. Pass it on, and make sure you are treated with respect!

Death to smootchy!! :D :D

[cfrizz]

Crazy, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I have always been treated well by them. I'll tell you what, I'm going there tomorrow to check out the Rotel RB1092. Hopefully I will get Leland & I will relate to him what you told us.

Also you could try emailing this person from their website:http://www.spearitsound.com/direct.htm

jtozzi@spearitsound.com

[polkatese]

I meant to ask you this, Crazy: how did ALL four jumper cables got broken off at the binding post? How is that possible? was the prong made of soft copper? curious..

[Polk65]

It's up to you, but I'd have those on the way back to those ungrateful sob's the next day. Sure listening can relieve the stress, but the memory?

[TroyD]

No doubt, I'd take them back, they aren't the only B&W dealers around. Eff them.

You know, the high end audio retailers whine and whine but in a LOT of cases, they are doing it to themselves as evidenced by my little excursion at Audio Atlanta. I even sent them an email explaining what happened....never heard a WORD.

BDT

[dorokusai]

Hello,

Thanks for the head's up. We do care and unfortunately these things happen. As humans, we're not always perfect and sometimes the chemestry between people is just bad from the beginning. I don't know the circumstances here, but suspect there are two sides to the story, but, as a retailer, I know it's the customer's story that really has weight. I'm going to make sure the owner and Boston manager see this.

Regards,
Jack Tozzi
Internet Sales and Marketing

The response came within 12 hours....on a weekend. I think a rush to judgement concerning Spearit Sound would be premature, but what the hell do I know.

[crazy]

I meant to ask you this, Crazy: how did ALL four jumper cables got broken off at the binding post? How is that possible? was the prong made of soft copper? curious..

Not really sure - what I think happened was that the speakers were taken out for testing/ demoing/ whatever - and put back in the case without removing the jumper cables themselves. That explains why the ends of the jumper cables were still embedded into the speakers themselves as shown in the picture above.

I think these are the original jumper cables that came with the speakers.

Update: I received a set of 4 new jumper cables from them last evening

[crazy]

dorokosai, thanks for the update!!

I agree that there are 2 sides to every story - but if you see, I did not just slam them. I clearly explained both the good, the bad and the ugly. 3 of the 5 folks I dealt with were patient and great, and I did not hessitate to mention that.

So while there are 2 sides to every story and I'm sure they'll have their own version, I clearly explained what happened without deviating from the facts.

A few points to note:

1) Folks who shop at these high end stores are there because they're usually pationate about music and know a thing or two about speakers and electronics - hence they should not be treated as if they don't know anything

2) Misunderstanding & miscommunication can happen but it can be resolved without gettin rude.

3) It takes 1 rotten fruit to spoil a great bowl of fruit salad

In all, I'm not saying that Spearit Sound sux and all the folks out there are .... but everyone's not the same and while they have great folks out there, there sure are a few bad apples.

[BobMcG]

There are a lot of businesses that have employees that are great and employees that suck.
You can either do no business at that shop again or simply refuse to do business with the sales people you dislike. I would imagine that the sales crew receive commissions on their sales so choose to deal with the people you like. And let them know right up front why you choose to only work with certain people. This rewards the good ones and makes the others look like (to the business owners) the jerks they are.

[cfrizz]

I went into Spearit Sound this morning & demoed the Rotel 1092. I copied Crazy's post & gave it to Leland. He thanked me for bringing this situation to his attention & gave me his & the 2 other people that dealed with Crazy side of the story.

As I said, in the 16 yrs I have been going to their store, I have been treated with great curtesy, respect & they have been patient & helpful. I wouldn't hestitate to do business with them or recommend them to others.

I hope everything works out to your satisfaction Crazy.

[cbl117]

I'd take the speakers back because...

If the jumpers broke off in the speaker connector, it makes me think there was a AWFUL amount of stress thrown on those connectors before the jumpers snapped. I'm just anal and the thought of that would make me sleep uneasy for a long time.hehe..:D

[crazy]

... gave me his & the 2 other people that dealed with Crazy side of the story.

I definitely would be interested in hearing what that was ...

[cfrizz]

I will send you a PM.

[crazy]

I will send you a PM.

Thanks! Appreciate it.

[MrNightly]

Aww, can't ya share with the rest of us that are following this story as well?? I'd like to hear both sides too..

[cfrizz]

I have left it up to Crazy whether or not he wants to post it. It's not my place to do so.

[Joey_V]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal D. When I bought my speakers, I expected to be treated well.... or I walk out, I dont care what kind of discount you're giving. But in your case, you already have the speakers, dont return it - too much hassle. Make sure they know you're upset (cfrizz did that) and let them make it up to you.

[crazy]

I have no problem is posting their side of the story so here it is.

cfrizz, thank you for your help in getting their side of the story.

Hi Crazy.

Their main concern is the fact that they never got a check from you, so they had no choice but to charge your credit card. Needless to say they are confused.

They have been in business a long time & I have paid them with a personal check just last year & the transaction went just fine. Losing peoples checks is not good for business.

As for the snobbery, yeah it can happen, & one of them did get kind of uppity with me, but I kind of expect it in the smaller shops. But all in all they are a very helpful professional bunch of people.

Like I said I hope everything works out for you & I will leave it up to you if you want to post this response to the thread.

So all I want to add to this is that checks and paperwork will and do get lost - they don't have a computer to track their transaction, so it's all paper. Which is fine. All they had to do was say, "sorry we can't find your check so can we charge your CC?" - or atleast be a little polite instead of getting all defensive and keep repeating "there's no check" on the phone. Right?

Well, I did later speak with Ray who was as polite as ever and confirmed that once they get the replacement check (which I mailed in) they will take that charge out of my credit card.

Now isn't it common business practice and proper business etiquette to let the customer know before they put a large amount on their credit card? That's all I'll say in my defence.

Like I've said several times, it wasn't all a bad experience - there was the good, bad and ugly... but in the end, I do have amazing music at my home :)

Oh and I do want to thank Joey_V for helping me get an amazing deal on the Krell 400Xi.

JOEY_V you rock!!! :cool:

[crazy]

cfrizz - you need to clear your PM mail box :)

cfrizz has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space.

[SKsolutions]

@#$%

[SKsolutions]

Living 1.5 miles from their Boston Store, I've had occasion to stop in. I expect some condescending attitude, but rarely go I get it. In my last visit, I was in "Contractors attire", driving my 10 year old Saturn (34mpg !), looking for the cheapest DVD player they sell. I doubt they would have recognized me as the same man that has also shown up in suit and tie, looking at the Statement pieces. If there was any difference, it would be that they felt they had to explain the basics to me when I was wearing a suit and tie. I won't say that snobbery doesn't exist there, because it does. Sometimes it's the expectation of getting it, and the defensiveness of the consumer. I know I've done it. I'm not saying this was the case with you Crazy.

[WilliamM2]

Why bother sending a check if they already charged it? I would have just sent the check to your credit card, eliminates the risk of them losing this one too.

[cfrizz]

Cleaned out now.

cfrizz - you need to clear your PM mail box :)

cfrizz has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space.

[brettw22]

Why bother sending a check if they already charged it? I would have just sent the check to your credit card, eliminates the risk of them losing this one too.That's what I was thinking too......

[Joey_V]

Oh and I do want to thank Joey_V for helping me get an amazing deal on the Krell 400Xi.

JOEY_V you rock!!! :cool:

D-

You make me smile and blush and feel all good "karma" inside. I'm glad you went the way of my dealer... he's a stand up guy! He even knows that my ML Summits were bought used and he still honors the ML warranty, knowing that ML doesnt honor second owner ML speakers! Super guy... you should meet him, I'm sure he is far and away, better than the guys you met at Spearit Sound.

Glad you like, er.... love?, the Krell.... that wouldve been my piece you punk! :p

JK!

Back to topic, I really hope that this bad experience does not leave a bad taste in your mouth with regards to your wickedly good 804S..... keep rocking, D! :D

[crazy]

You make me smile and blush and feel all good "karma" inside. I'm glad you went the way of my dealer... he's a stand up guy! He even knows that my ML Summits were bought used and he still honors the ML warranty, knowing that ML doesnt honor second owner ML speakers! Super guy... you should meet him, I'm sure he is far and away, better than the guys you met at Spearit Sound.

Yup - he's awesome! I actually didn't deal directly with him since he was on vacation but with a lady who had an amazingly sexy voice :D

Glad you like, er.... love?, the Krell.... that wouldve been my piece you punk! :p

I thought you're in love with the Rotel 1090!!! Maybe I can swing you over to the dark (metalic finished black) side to the Krell 400Xi. I guess with the (beast of a) speaker set you have, you need something a little more powerful.

Back to topic, I really hope that this bad experience does not leave a bad taste in your mouth with regards to your wickedly good 804S..... keep rocking, D! :D

Oh, I've (almost) forgotten that with those black beauties playing gorgeous music almost 24/7 (atleast when I'm home). My wife also really loves the system -- and you know how important that is :)

[crazy]

I just got off the phone with Ray - this guy is amazing!

He's the man and I don't have enough great words to say about him. I just feel like kicking myself for going to pick up the speakers when he wasn't there - would have saved me a lot of headache.

This is how he took care of me and made this shopping experience a pleasant one again ...

1) Credited my card for the amount that was charged without my permission

2) Created a new receipt with all the pertinent details

3) Mailed me a complete new set of wires with the cable covers and banana plugs (!!!)

Chris had already mailed me the jumper cables.

So what turned out to be a not so fun Monday afternoon in Boston has now turned out to be a great shopping experience thanks to the amazing Ray.

I really wish that these folks were on commission (they are not), since I would always take my business to Ray and tell everyone I meet and post on every forum to go see this guy - he's the man (along with Joey_V of course) :cool:

Next time you go to Spearit Sound, always make sure you speak to Ray Krise.

btw ... I think Ralph is the owner of the store :eek:

[cfrizz]

I have always gotten outstanding help from Leland. The others have treated me good as well.

But what's important here is that when brought to their attention they made it right!

[brettw22]

I'm not typically so forgiving with companies personally.....

Great, so they fixed the wrongs after they had your money and pissed ya off.......these companies aren't supposed to be playing 'catch up' with customer service...

I'd still be taking my future business elsewhere...........but congrats nonetheless.

[cfrizz]

Brett, everyone makes mistakes at least they did their best to get things straightened out.

Now IMO if it was me, since I would have had to drive 200 miles in to pick up the speakers anyway, I would have hand delivered the check right to them at the sametime. Especially when we are talking that much money. I certainly wouldn't trust the mail!

That way something like this wouldn't happen.

[F1nut]

Mn.....

[crazy]

Now IMO if it was me, since I would have had to drive 200 miles in to pick up the speakers anyway, I would have hand delivered the check right to them at the sametime. Especially when we are talking that much money. I certainly wouldn't trust the mail!

That's precisely what I did the first time - hand delivered the check - it got lost!!!

Second time around I send the check by mail - registered. Problem sorted.

Moral of the story - trust the mail - atleast you can track the package :-)

[F1nut]

I had only put the deposit on the card and had written a check for the balance. I called them and the only response they could give was "there's no check". Boy, were they rude. They were unbelievably rude.

Anyway, long story short - I'm mailing them another check and putting a hold on the previous check. This is probably the last time I'm dealing with them.


Oops, so right you are.

[madmax]

We need someone ready to spend $50K to go in, let one of the dicks do all the selling and then walk out with nothing after he learns the name of the salesperson and verbally relates what he read about them on some website to the manager. :D
madmax

[crazy]

Ok, so here's the last chapter (hopefully) to this chapter ...

Returned the speakers - why? because 1 of the speakers were bad. It was distorting and even though it was covered under warantee, I decided to return them.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40323

I did get a pair of new B&W 804s and learnt my lesson the hard way - i.e. don't go in for used or demo speakers. They may save you some $$$ but sometime it might not be worth it.

I'm an optimistic so I'll end the saga by saying, all's well that ends well

cfrizz - should have let you know that I was heading there. Who knows we could have bumped into each other :)

[cfrizz]

I'm happy everything worked out for you Crazy! Enjoy your new speakers.

[miner]

What kind of deal did they give you for the demo speakers? I bought my B&W N804 new in 2005 for $2800 with tax. The B&W jumpers have spades on both ends, BTW. I reecently upgraded my amp to the Rotel RB-0192 and now the Bee & Dubbs really sing.

[simphiwes]

i can so identify with this gentleman who's had a bad buying experience. this happens a lot in South Africa. i have often gone into a shop to buy audio equipment, be it speakers or cable or dvd or cd player and 9 times out of 10 times i'd get bad attitude as if i am not supposed to be buying the stuff or i am stupid for buying polk over B&W, at one time the guy called them 'cheap shits' polkaudio that is. we wont all like the same audio equipment but that does not mean you need to trash my tastes and make me feel like i am a retard. i actually decided to just import everything i want and only deal with the people that are willing to sell to me and be decent about it as well, if not the can kiss my @#$.

[crazy]

What kind of deal did they give you for the demo speakers? I bought my B&W N804 new in 2005 for $2800 with tax. The B&W jumpers have spades on both ends, BTW. I reecently upgraded my amp to the Rotel RB-0192 and now the Bee & Dubbs really sing.

The demos were going for $3000. $2800 seems a really amazing price. I haven't seen anyone get lower than $3000 on new speakers.

The best I got was 15% on new speakers but that seemed ok since every other dealer in this region was willing to do 10% max on new speakers. I got a great deal on the Krell though (thanks to one of the valued members of this forum)

So, yes - I did pay a premium on these speakers from what I've heard others get it for ($3000-3200) but I've not heard of anyone get it for this low a price. That's certainly an amazing price on those speakers!