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Seriously, Amazon? I mean....WTF?

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Meghan54 said:
OK, so I'm shopping bookshelf speakers and buy a pair of KEF Q300's from Amazon/Prime to try out. Got 'em but just didn't completely like their sound. They're actually quite good for their size and price, but I have an itching to try some Dali Zensors and Wharfedale Diamond 10.2's before committing. I've already auditioned a set of B&W 628's and found them wanting...too brittle in the upper registers for me.

Anyway, I spend a week with the KEF's and decide to return for exchange or refund. As they'd been purchased via Prime and were sold directly by Amazon, didn't think this was going to be a problem.....but I was soooooo wrong.

Go to return them and the action is refused because the speakers have "special handling and transportation requirements", whatever that means. They came in their own cardboard box via a UPS truck, nothing special with handling or transport, so I take advantage of email and ask why.

Get a response back from an Amazon CSR, to wit:

I've checked and see that the item is hazardous item.




Interesting. The speakers were just fine to have shipped into your warehouse, picked by some nameless/faceless worker, and delivered by an unsuspecting UPS driver, but when I choose to have them returned to you, suddenly they're "hazardous material".

And I wrote pretty much the same in a return email, basically venting my frustration with the above. (BTW....the "powerful magnets" that are being feared are shielded in the speaker.)

And I get this in return......




And I get a separate email stating:



Way to go, Amazon. Just when I was trying to ween myself from you, you go and do something like this. Crap! Now how am I supposed to maintain my moral indignation surrounding the speakers being mislabeled as hazardous materials and your refusal to refund. Sheesh. Talk about taking all the fun out of life!
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Be careful, Amazon granted you a concession and a pretty hefty one at that. Too many such returns and you could find yourself banned as a customer from Amazon.
 
IronWing said:
I guess I could go over to Meghan's house and give stuff a listen.
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Paypal me the gas $$ and I'll do it for you. He's ~1.5hr from here. You'll just have to trust me and my tinnitus on the sound.😛

If I go when he's fishing, I will just ship them to you.....:whiste:
 
The people saying the OP is a douche are wrong.

A reputable speaker store will let you return speakers if they do not sound the way you like in your listening environment in exchange for something else.

Just because they sound one way in the store doesn't mean they will sound the same at your house. That, and you need time to fully judge your purchase. The OP in this case has no way to listen to the speakers since Amazon has no store front to preview them and you can't go by others reviews because everyone has different tastes when it comes to speakers.

If you're dropping thousands of dollars on speakers (which is easy to do), you better hope you made the right choice.

I guess thats one argument for sticking to smaller mom and pop stores over big online retailers like amazon, even if the prices may not be as good.
 
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fstime said:
The people saying the OP is a douche are wrong.

A reputable speaker store will let you return speakers if they do not sound the way you like in your listening environment in exchange for something else.

Just because they sound one way in the store doesn't mean they will sound the same at your house. That, and you need time to fully judge your purchase. The OP in this case has no way to listen to the speakers since Amazon has no store front to preview them and you can't go by others reviews because everyone has different tastes when it comes to speakers.

If you're dropping thousands of dollars on speakers (which is easy to do), you better hope you made the right choice.

I guess thats one argument for sticking to smaller mom and pop stores over big online retailers like amazon, even if the prices may not be as good.
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They're not wrong for that reason. If the sound of speakers is that important to you then why the heck would you buy them online, unless you absolutely knew the model you were purchasing would satisfy? Obviously a business model that offers to ship speakers to your house for a trial period with a no-hassle return policy is going to have a hard time succeeding unless it prices that overhead in. But the OP is just an economic actor taking advantage of what Amazon allows. There's no moral judgement to make. Douchebaggery not found.
 
fstime said:
The people saying the OP is a douche are wrong.

A reputable speaker store will let you return speakers if they do not sound the way you like in your listening environment in exchange for something else.
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Yeah, but a _good_ audio store will also let you demo most of their products. My local high-end store (we only have one left) lets you bring things home to hear with your system in your listening room for as long as a week.

You can return pretty much anything for up to a year for an in-store credit, but they're not anxious to have you buy something for several thousand dollars and then have you return it a few weeks later. They would rather you knew what you want first.

They give absolutely no discounts on MSRP. If the manufacturer lists something for $4995, it'll be $4995 plus sales tax.

They'll resell the return as used, for no more than 20-25% off MSRP, and they'll still be in the black on that item.
 
Carson Dyle said:
Yeah, but a _good_ audio store will also let you demo most of their products. My local high-end store (we only have one left) lets you bring things home to hear with your system in your listening room for as long as a week.

You can return pretty much anything for up to a year for an in-store credit, but they're not anxious to have you buy something for several thousand dollars and then have you return it a few weeks later. They would rather you knew what you want first.

They give absolutely no discounts on MSRP. If the manufacturer lists something for $4995, it'll be $4995 plus sales tax.

They'll resell the return as used, for no more than 20-25% off MSRP, and they'll still be in the black on that item.
Click to expand...

That's hardly a traditional business though, it's a bunch of audiophiles who decided to make some meager amounts of money in exchange for being able to pursue their passion. You can hardly expect a multinational sell-everything-under-the-sun behemoth like Amazon to do the same. From what I hear their profit margins are already extremely slim for such a company.
 
NetGuySC said:
Seems kinda lowlife to buy something just to try, it seems as though the decision to return was made even before you purchased the speakers. I'm wondering why didn't you try the KEF, the Dali Zensors and the Wharfedale Diamonds at a brick and mortar before "committing". Anyways, good day to you
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^^ This ^^

Scummy thing to Do!!!
 
NetGuySC said:
Seems kinda lowlife to buy something just to try, it seems as though the decision to return was made even before you purchased the speakers. I'm wondering why didn't you try the KEF, the Dali Zensors and the Wharfedale Diamonds at a brick and mortar before "committing". Anyways, good day to you
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The thing about your 'lowlife' post is that you are suggesting he take advantage of a brick and mortar for sampling, let them pay the costs, and then buy from Amazon.
 
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