|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
32.211.41.68
Purchased a new pair of ATC speakers(SCM-40 v2). On arrival noticed the boxes did not have consecutive serial numbers. The speakers sound and look great but apparently the dealer sent the wrong match. One speaker should have been matched with the next consecutive serial number. The correct serial numbers are written on the warranty card.
ATC speakers are all closely matched at the factory so there isn't any deviation in sound. The wood veneer is matched in color, however, it is not close in pattern.
Any input welcome. I could send them back but they were purchased in the UK. Dealer is not to interested in switching them out either.
Follow Ups:
Just to update. I contacted ATC and they did not seem concerned about the mismatch. "Sometimes they get jumble up" was her comment. She told me to put the serial numbers I have on the warranty card.
Have been contacting the seller via Paypal, my form of payment, since he went silent on me. I asked for a little compensation or the correct speakers. He agreed to pay for return shipping at his expense but he does not have the matching speaker. Sounds like it will be a outright return and I will have to repurchase them somewhere else. The kicker is the Pound went down since the Brexit so i'll be out $400 with the current exchange rate. Also not sure if I can get the $175 duty I paid back.
Still contemplating...
Be sure to specifically request consecutive serials next time. That one cannot expect consecutive serial numbers and matched veneers in this price category seems a bit ridiculous, but now you know better.
The dealer never provided you with a reason for the steep 20% discount, other than saying they were "open box"?
Edits: 06/25/16
I received a email regarding a 1 day demo clearance sale. A pair of the ATCs were listed as open box, hence the discount. The next day they emailed to say the open box pair was sold before they could be removed from the site. They would honor the discout price on a new pair but it would take 2 weeks to get them from ATC. Since the build date was 6/7/16(or 7/6/16 in UK terms) I tend to believe them. I placed the order on 5/23/16.
Yeah, I would definitely investigate further. Maybe they'll refund you an additional 10% or so..?
If normally consecutive, the dealer should have advised that they
are NOT consecutive (before sold), in this case. They should have made that clear. ATC might have issues with that "no tell" tactic from dealer.
Edits: 06/25/16
.
Did they come from an authorised ATC dealer in the UK? Did you have to wait a while before they were shipped?
The reason that I ask is that direct supply to you outside of the EU (for the time being!) would likely be in breach of the trading terms between the retailer and ATC. The second question is asked because most dealers would be unable to supply expensive speakers from stock (they would only have demonstrators). I would normally expect them to be strictly " subject to order" with a brief lead time before arriving at the dealers ( when they would arrive with consecutive numbers) to be sent on to you.
So the reluctance of the dealer to deal with you and the inconsistent numbering implies that something odd has happened.
As I am an active (pun) ATC customer I would be interested in learning who the dealer involved is in regard to any future purchases I may make.If you don't wnat to identify him in the forum then please PM me.
I have no problem identifying the dealer in this affair(pun). Audio Affair in Birmingham.
ATC authorized and outside of the s/n mismatch they've been great. These were ordered as a open box special with 20% off list but actually were brand new, unopened.
Took 2 weeks, warranty card said they were made on 6/7/16.
I was told they ordered 2 more pair besides mine so the match for mine is most likely sitting in the warehouse. They must not care another set will be mismatched.
Thanks for the advice. So let me ask you if I should push the issue or let it be? I am calling ATC on Monday to get their take on the issue.
Frank
Push a little...don't crazy either. See if they will put pressure
on the dealer to either do a refund or a further discount that
you will accept.
One needs to question why they were sold as an open box special with a 20 % discount. There is a reason. I suspect that Audio Affair have somehow managed to mix up a pair in the course of business and are unable to trace or retrieve the missing, matching one. Maybe they got a single one in specially to make up the pair. Hence the discount to move them on.
Thanks for letting me know the identity of the dealer. You got a bargain but remember the dealer wasn't discounting the price on a whim. All the others offered are at full price.
I think he answered that. The advertisement had stayed up too long and he placed an order at an advertised price even though they had already sold the "open box" pair. The store decided to bite the bullet and honor the price anyway, and sent him to brand new, unopened speakers.Unfortunately, it seems the store does have a few pairs of these on hand and new in the box and may have accidentally shipped him one from one set and one from another.
My big question is how big are these speakers that it would cost so much to ship one back and get you the correct one? If I had just paid $14k for a pair of speakers, I would really want everything to be perfect. Even taking the discount, we are still talking about over 10K!
Edits: 07/03/16
The used selling aspect would be a big problem for me. If I can't see serial numbers when looking at used speakers, I'll ask seller for them everytime.
Don't delay. Sorry, but life is too short for shoddy service. Why should you have to live with someone else's cock-up?
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Yes but how responsive would ATC be? After all the OP has subverted their USA dealership network by self importing. On the other hand they would no doubt be interested in learning which of their UK dealers allowed this.
One thing that the OP can be satisfied with is that there will be no acoustical mismatch between the two speakers due to ATC's unusually tight tolerances in drive unit production.
Aside from what I see as probably a minor aesthetic shortfall in the veneers not matching precisely this leaves the question of warranty. In normal circumstances he has a speaker without a matching warranty card. However as these are not manufacturer authorised imports I would guess that the warranties may not be legally enforceable as is the usual case for grey imports. If a pair does go wrong (they are ATCs, they won't), then any service will be at the discretion of the local agent.
I wonder if the retailer who supplied them is an authorised UK ATC dealer? They do not have a huge stable of them and I wonder if the reluctance of the dealer to sort out the OP's problem is caused by the pair being secured by the retailer via "unorthodox" channels? Most UK dealers would not hold SCM 40s as a stock item and, as with most expensive audio equipment in the UK, they would have been supplied by ATC to meet the customer's specific order as a consecutively numbered pair to match the warranty card. So I think that there is some kind of oddity going on.
BTW, ATC themselves are always wondeful to deal with. I was speaking with them only on Thursday.
VERY interested as it would appear that is who screwed up.
They need to make it right.
You need to prod them.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
You may get better response by posting in http://atcforums.co.uk.
You should contact ATC. A mismatched pair of $7000 speakers would sure bother me. If you ever decide to sell them you will really have a problem. Unacceptable !
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: