RTi-12's damaged in shipping

[chopperman69]

I recently purchased a pair of RTi-12's from Amazon.com. Both showed up in sad shape. One had the front of the speaker crushed, and both had the grille and the plastic piece at the bottom destroyed. Amazon tried to make it right by shipping another speaker to replace the crushed one, but it's grille was destroyed as well in shipping.

Has anyone else had similar problems? Is this just an isolated incident with UPS? Can I get parts from Polk to make my speakers look nice again?

Thanks

[thejck]

i'd say talk to amazon and ask them whats going on. also talk to UPS and ask them whats going on. dont try to repair them but get them in perfect condition new unless they are going to give you a big discount. still if the speaker cabinet is damaged then you dont want to try fixing that. the grill can be replaced.
make amazon get it right. dont waste your money otherwise.

so ure sitting on 4 rti12's right now?? that would be sweet if you only paid for 2

[mlastarza]

Sorry to hear that.

I should be receiving my RTi-12s today from amazon.com via UPS, Hopefully fully intact. My first time dealing with them.

[cnjvh]

Two 12's and two 8's shipped via UPS - 3 out of 4 arrived with broken grills.

[bruss]

fed ex destroyed both of mine a couple months ago..

[chopperman69]

I convinced Polk is partially responsible. You can't put foam on the ends of 85 pound speakers, stick them into boxes, and expect them to survive. There is NO support on the front, back, or sides of the speakers...

[thejck]

man i am glad i didnt go that route. i found a local dealer and got the speakers from him. he took care of the shipping and handling. great people i would recommend them to anyone in the st. louis area.

[thejck]

I convinced Polk is partially responsible. You can't put foam on the ends of 85 pound speakers, stick them into boxes, and expect them to survive. There is NO support on the front, back, or sides of the speakers...

i think they need to cover the whole speaker in foam.. i dont care for the 3 layers of foam on the top middle and bottom

[Lainar]

I also bought 2 RTI12's from JR.Com and both arrived with damaged grills and one broken foot and also shipped by UPS. I think what is happening is that these things are very heavy and not double boxed. I'm in canada so shipping these back would be expensive so JR agreed to reimburse me for the grills.

Not happy with UPS that's for sure

[thejck]

even the box that my local dealer dropped up at my house after he had it shipped to them was damaged. luckily no damage to the speaker

[bondslex]

I usually order from onecall. They have a much better shipping method. They will match anybody's price and my cherry Lsi's showed up on a palate and were shipped by truck Tuesday morning. They look and sound absolutely beautiful.

[XJRGUY]

This is a common problem with these speakers.

When I first purchased RTi12's I went through FIVE speakers before I got a set that was perfect.

It must be utterly amazing how many of these get destroyed due to careless shipping and inadequate packing material by Polk.

XJRGUY

[Silverti]

My CSi5 and rti12's had no problems. When I had my FXi5's shipped, the grills were broken (FEDEX). The seller just sent me new grills and all was good.

I just got 2 outlaw 2200 monoblocks from fedEX yesterday. The box was beat to hell. Even the FEDEX guy told me to look at it. But I knew they were double boxed (Standard for them). The deep puncture didn’t break into the second box. Had they not double boxed. That amp would have been f'ed up something fierce.

[jmasterj]

Now this is messed up... the speakers get shipped to the stores we buy them from intact. Why the hell can't they make it to our homes ? Shipping cost too much for things to arrive damaged...

[chopperman69]

The speakers probably show up at stores in better shape because they are shipped on a pallet.

Polk, if you are listening, something needs to be done here... Sure UPS is at fault here, but I get a lot of stuff from them that is not damaged. I wonder why?

You can't blame it all on the shipper.

[Sherardp]

My 12s showed up in Japan, one speaker perfect, the other had the grill come off and had one of the 7 inch drivers hanging out. I just screwed the driver back in, snapped the grill on and checked them to make sure all was well. I sent an email to crutchfield and they still sent me a replacement driver, good on them for excellent service.

[danger boy]

why is this happening mostly to the new Polk towers? about 6 yrs ago when I bought mine. they were not damaged in shipping... they came UPS as well. I think extra padding is needed in the Polk boxes before they are shipped out.

Seriously, ive been on this forum for years.. and never do i remember this many people claiming to have damaged speakers arrive at their house.

[MikeC78]

They must be really rough housing these speakers in shipping. I've had the RTi8's and now the LSi15's, and they're both packed more than adequetly for shipping.

Sometimes shippers remove items from boxes for inspection. Was there any discrepancies with the packaging in general?

[dorokusai]

I was at a frat party a long time ago and the speakers being used(abused) were from the high dollar cage at UPS. They sounded wonderful.

[mlastarza]

Received my RTi-12's last night via UPS. Unlike the rest of the system (center, surrounds, and sub) the RTi-12's were shipped only in the polk factory box without an additional external box. The boxes were pretty beat up. Both speakers work fine but both have about a one inch scratch/dent on a side plus both grills are broken.

[thejck]

this is sad. all these great speakers biting the dust like that.

[chopperman69]

Received my RTi-12's last night via UPS. Unlike the rest of the system (center, surrounds, and sub) the RTi-12's were shipped only in the polk factory box without an additional external box. The boxes were pretty beat up. Both speakers work fine but both have about a one inch scratch/dent on a side plus both grills are broken.

Welcome to my world...

Sounds familiar. I'll be speaking to Polk today about replacement grilles and I'm gonna bitch about the shipping fiasco.

[XJRGUY]

The speakers probably show up at stores in better shape because they are shipped on a pallet.

Polk, if you are listening, something needs to be done here... Sure UPS is at fault here, but I get a lot of stuff from them that is not damaged. I wonder why?

You can't blame it all on the shipper.

That wasn't a variable with my case.

The local retailier (Fry's) had numerous damaged RTi12 speakers that they had no idea were in that condition until I bought them.

Needless to say they were promptly returned and I bought from a specialist audio store in another part of L.A. I then received immaculate condition speakers.

XJRGUY

[Keiko]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/delivery/ups_damage.html

[sabotg]

Ok so maybe the POLK packaging isn't the greatest but it relies heavily on the shipper. I ordered two RTI 10's RTI-6 and CSI 5 from crutchfield (three seperate instances) and all arrived in pristine condition. The difference is that they were all shipped by Eagle Global Logistics. These guys are extremely careful with their packages and I had zero damage on the stuff ordered.

[jimmyzen]

I have a pair of RTi 12s that I bought from a private individual. She took them to a UPS store for packaging. When they arrived both boxes were crushed on all 4 corners and both were battered beyond belief. One speaker was OK but the cabinet was banged up on the other and the grille was broken. The claim is still in process with UPS.

Meanwhile I bought a PSW1000 that was delivered by Fed Ex Ground. It arrived with both handle openings in the box torn out to the top. There were half a dozen large punctures through it, too. The styrofoam piece at the top was broken into 3 pieces. Remarkably, the speaker was not damaged and worked fine.

Yesterday I received a replacement RTi 12 I ordered from Crutchfield (I had to order a replacement since they are being discontinued and I'm not sure how long UPS will take to settle). It was sent via a freight company -Eagle Global Logistics- which I was told did a much better job of getting stuff delivered relatively unmolested. Right. When it got to me the box was split completely open along the top on two sides. There were tears and fist sized holes all over the box. I made the driver wait while I opened and inspected it. It survived but to look at the box it is a miracle it did.

Over the past couple of months I bought a new preamp, a new tuner, new CD player, a new phono preamp, an equalizer and a power amp from eBay, a new tube buffer amp, and a turntable and mixer board for my PC. Every single item arrived looking like it had been through serious combat. It was only the double boxing and oversized packaging that allowed these items to arrive intact. Sort of. The CD played failed after about 3 hours of use and is gone now for 6 weeks for warranty repair. I don't think it survived its original journey to me afterall.

I have got to believe these package delivery companies are paying a fortune out in damages. One seems as bad as another. I guess this is the downside of getting stuff to the consumer quickly. It's too bad because I remember when things weren't like that, especially with UPS.

It isn't just big stuff either. Last Thursday UPS delivered a package of ink cartridges for my printer. It looked like it had been stomped on. (Sigh.)