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  1. #51
    all around good guy Jim Clark's Avatar
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    Well, I've been following this debacle from day one and am beside myself at this point. While there is little I can do I have emailed the following to PSB:

    "I've been following the agonizing odyssey of a PSB owner through the forums at Audioreview.com.
    Buying PSB? Read This!

    I must tell you that I am dismayed at the lack of professionalism your company has displayed to date. As an audio hobbyist I tend to buy more audio gear than the average consumer and I've got to tell you that as things stand right now, I will never even audition a PSB product and will caution others who may be unaware of this situation to avoid your product line.

    I do not know the individual in question, we don't even live in the same country. For the life of me, I fail to understand how a company such as PSB could let this get so far out of hand. I'm hopeful that there is at least one conscientious employee at the company that will look into this matter and do their company the favor of making it right for the customer. If such a person exists within your company, one who will actually do what they say they will do, that person should be employee of the year for the next decade.

    Sincerely,
    James P. Clark
    Lenexa, KS"

    I have also tried to leave a negative comment in the guest book at the PSB site but I keep getting an "Internal entry fault" error message, whatever that is.

    I would urge all who are similarly bothered by this string of events to email the company as well. The address is info@psbspeakers.com I doubt this will reach anyone of authority but you never know.

    Good luck Iamcanadian, you're going to need it. I would think that perhaps you should consider posting your comments on a couple of other boards as well. the most well traveled would include:

    http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/index.php
    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

    Both of these sites maintain active speaker forums. It's a lot to keep up with, but I have a feeling that you are motivated.

    Regards,
    jc
    "Ahh, cartoons! America's only native art form. I don't count jazz 'cuz it sucks"- Bartholomew J. Simpson

  2. #52
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    Customer service

    What a sad tale. At least there are some companies that have steller service. Thiel audio is one such manufacturer. I wanted to upgrade the coaxial drivers on my CS 2.3 speakers when Thiel revised the unit. The price was reasonable so I went for it. I was asked if my woofers were the original units and I said "yes". Well, they sent new upgraded woofers as well. At no additional charge! I later mentioned that the speaker grills did not stay very tight at the bottom and wanted to know how to fix this. I told them I did not just want them to send me new grills having felt a little bad that they sent me free woofers. They insisted on sending new ones. To top it all off, these were purchased used! However, it was from a Thiel dealer and the warranty is transferrable if bought this way. But still! This is my 3rd pair of Thiels over the years and I have always had amazing service from them. I never had a failure but have needed minor parts and the odd question answered. I know they are more expensive than PSB but some things are worth paying for. Good luck with your struggle. PSB owes you big time.

    Tim McTeague

  3. #53
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    Thank you guys for the support, it is greatly appreciated. Posting has allowed me to keep my sanity through this ordeal. I know in the big picture they are just speakers, but we live in an apartment, and as such we spend a great deal of time in one room, the living room. It sucks having just one speaker to stare at/listen to for so long when you paid for two. Maybe some day I will look back at this and wonder why I got so upset. But for now, I am, and I don't feel like 'eating it'. Anyway, I digress, thanks again for the comments, and thanks for the other forum addresses. I will have my story posted there forthwith.

  4. #54
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    March 30:
    I have been contacted by ‘The StereoMan’, and the service manager that we have been dealing with has told me that the offer by J.E. was just a starting point and that he is a very reasonable man. That the offer made was just something that came to his head, and by no means inferred that it was the only offer. He assured me that something could be worked out if I just call him and inform him where I am coming from. He said the paramount concern for PSB right now is making things right because they have always considered themselves to be a customer service oriented company. Like I posted before, ‘The StereoMan’ has always been straight up with us, so I believe him.

    I will be giving J.E. a call back later tonight in about an hour when my wife gets home. I have been given his cell number and I hope we can work something out tonight. I, of course, will keep you all posted on what that decision will be. My spirits have been greatly lifted by the ‘The StereoMan’ talk. Just knowing that PSB is concerned about resolving this situation to my satisfaction and that J.E.’s offer yesterday was not an ultimatum puts me in a better mood. They do know that I exist, that I have a problem, and that they want to fix it. This is what I have been told and I am reporting it to you. I’ll keep you posted.

  5. #55
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    Smile A Resolution!!!!!!!

    March 30:
    First, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to vent all of my frustrations. Your comments were helpful in allowing me to resolve the situation. Thank you all very much.
    I have been in contact with J.Earl again, and we have worked out a deal that is just amazing. We WILL be getting the Silveri speakers and PSB will be taking a loss to give them to us.
    He told us that PSB just wanted to make us happy no matter the cost, and that yesterday’s offer was not an ultimatum, but just an idea/starting point for negotiations. He had never been filled in fully on our situation until today, and he was ready to do what ever it took to make us happy, which he did. We couldn’t be happier about the way it turned out. After he told us what he was willing to do, he went right to his superiors and got it approved for us right away. He even told us that we don’t even have to make any of the arrangements, as they will all be taken care of, and that we will be getting the new speakers faster than we thought possible.
    This is the kind of service we had been told to expect when we purchased our PSB’s in the first place. J.E. was in contact with us for LESS THAN 24 hours and it is done, and we are ecstatic. He has restored our faith that PSB, as a company, holds its customers’ satisfaction as a top priority. Although the service we received before J.Earl was not exceptional, Earl’s solution to our problem was, and so much so that we would be more than willing to do business with PSB again.

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by IAmCanadian
    March 30:
    First, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to vent all of my frustrations. Your comments were helpful in allowing me to resolve the situation. Thank you all very much.
    I have been in contact with J.Earl again, and we have worked out a deal that is just amazing. We WILL be getting the Silveri speakers and PSB will be taking a loss to give them to us.
    He told us that PSB just wanted to make us happy no matter the cost, and that yesterday’s offer was not an ultimatum, but just an idea/starting point for negotiations. He had never been filled in fully on our situation until today, and he was ready to do what ever it took to make us happy, which he did. We couldn’t be happier about the way it turned out. After he told us what he was willing to do, he went right to his superiors and got it approved for us right away. He even told us that we don’t even have to make any of the arrangements, as they will all be taken care of, and that we will be getting the new speakers faster than we thought possible.
    This is the kind of service we had been told to expect when we purchased our PSB’s in the first place. J.E. was in contact with us for LESS THAN 24 hours and it is done, and we are ecstatic. He has restored our faith that PSB, as a company, holds its customers’ satisfaction as a top priority. Although the service we received before J.Earl was not exceptional, Earl’s solution to our problem was, and so much so that we would be more than willing to do business with PSB again.

    Very good ending after such a long and frustrating trip. What a difference the right person makes. Unfortunately he is only one person in the company and cannot be everywhere all the time. You may want to ask him why all your frustrations had to happen in the first place?
    mtrycrafts

  7. #57
    Suspended topspeed's Avatar
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    Congrats!

    While I'm happy about your eventual outcome (they are replacing BOTH speakers to match, right?), I must say that personally I'd temper my enthusiasm with a re-read of everything PSB put you through. That wasn't customer service you experienced in the end, that was desperation. They should never have put you through that ordeal in the first place. This wasn't the case of one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch (to paraphrase the Jackson 5), you were finally fortunate enough to fine the ONE good apple that could make things happen. Let's be clear, it wasn't a miscommunication you had here, it was a f**k up of biblical proportions.

    Paul Barton should be ashamed of himself.

    Your fiasco is a perfect example of the adage: "Do something good for the customer, and they'll tell their friends. Do something bad, and they'll tell the whole world."

    Amen, Iamcanadian, amen!

  8. #58
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    It's amazing how many cool sayings people come up with on BB's. Someone should collect em and put them in a book.

    And I am sure that they are replacing both speakers. I jokingly asked if I could keep the Bronze's as well, they said no.

    As for why this all happened to begin with, I don't know. I do know who I will be calling if I ever need help with anything PSB related again though.

  9. #59
    Forum Regular thepogue's Avatar
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    Yea......BABY...

    congrats brudda....here's a win fer the good guys!! although I'm the first to go and hang the service rep...when something good "goes down" we've got to let the "masses" know also........so when ya tell the story....tell the WHOLE truth and nutten but the truth so help ya God!


    good fer you!!
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  10. #60
    all around good guy Jim Clark's Avatar
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    That was quick, my email must have rattled someone's cage. Glad I could help out.

    Seriously though, I'm glad that in the end PSB got a clue and I'd be surprised if they didn't learn something along the way. This should bode well for others considering a PSB purchase. I think that such a jump in speaker quality is a well deserved upgrade for your trials in this matter. I hope that you like them as much as I think you will.

    Today I sent a follow up email to PSB to acknowledge the fact that thy finally stepped up to the plate. You seem content, and that is the main issue. We have a small PSB dealer not too far from my home, someday I may have to go listen to a pair or two.

    jc
    Last edited by Jim Clark; 03-31-2004 at 12:41 PM.
    "Ahh, cartoons! America's only native art form. I don't count jazz 'cuz it sucks"- Bartholomew J. Simpson

  11. #61
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    I'm glad everything worked out......enjoy your speakers.

  12. #62
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    PSB Customer Service

    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    Falling apart, or just a defective component? Big difference there. If this is true, then Energy very well might have a problem.



    Good gawd, where do you get this information? Is this something that the factory told you? I doubt it, since materials costs and value added breakdowns are typically proprietary information.

    And you totally neglected the labor costs, which is really what would go into a repair job on a defective cabinet (assuming that a replacement unit is unavailable). And in any industry economic model I've ever done, the labor costs almost always make up the majority of the output value of a manufactured commodity. Material costs vary depending on whether the input is raw commodity or a value added component.



    A lot of fuzzy math going on here, and just because you worked in a Canadian office doesn't mean that you know anything about how customer service is handled by PSB or what their costs are. Heck, you don't even know if that service call ultimately gets routed overseas to some foreign call center. Even if your final tally of $400 is true (again, this seems like a number fished out of thin air, based more on assumptions and wishful thinking than hard facts), it's still way below your assertion of "thousands of dollars in wwasted workforce time". Your point may be valid, but don't waste it on needless exaggerating and made up nonsense.



    Now, you're REALLY stretching things, and just bringing all kinds of other tangents in. Is this fuzzy computation of future value a part of your "thousands of dollars in wwasted workforce time" or is it just more spinning of the subject?



    And that's exactly why I asked whether or not he considered returning the speakers to the dealer and letting them deal with the warranty issues. People I know who've worked in audio stores handle warranty orders as part of their customer service. Depending on the type of problem, a lot of dealers can either do the repairs in-house or send it to a local repair center, and at least troubleshoot it and make the initial diagnosis. The dealer's supposed to deal directly with the manufacturer, and handle the warranty fulfillment on behalf of the customer. That's part of the reason why these specialty audio manufacturers hand pick their authorized dealer networks, because they have good track records at handling aftersales support. With this arrangement, a customer should not ever have to deal with the factory while a unit is under warranty. If there are any hiccups in the warranty fulfillment, the dealer should be the one to break the logjam. I know if any issues ever arose with my Paradigms, my dealer would handle it, and Paradigm's website and warranty say that any support issues should first be directed to the dealer. I have a very hard time believing that PSB would setup their customer service any differently, and suggest that customers address all warranty issues directly with the factory rather than first going through the dealer.

    When I had a defective driver on a Boston speaker, I took it back to the dealer. They did all the initial testing, paperwork, and coordination with the repair center, and handled the transport and notifications for me. If there were any problems along the way, they were not my issues to deal with. Two weeks later, my speakers were returned as good as new.
    When one of my PSB Stratus Mini's developed a bad woofer, I called PSB for warranty service since the dealer was quite a drive away. They told me that they would take care of the problem but through that dealer which they did do in a reasonable amount of time. Paradigm requires warranty service from the dealer as well but my experience with their turn around repair time is that they are not very good.

    As far as speaker companies go, Wharfedale seems to have service that's a cut above. They overnighted a replacement speaker, and several grilles at no cost to me for shipping or otherwise. Other posters I've seen also have attested to IAG's/Wharfedale's great customer care. Thus saying, I am much more likely to make another Wharfedale purchase from a company which sets such importance on buyer satisfaction.

  13. #63
    Listener MikeyBC's Avatar
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    I own a pair of PSB Stratus Silver's, one of the kids got curious and wrinkled the tweeter dome pretty bad. I called PSB direct in Pickering ON. I gave them a credit card # over the phone and within 4 days I had my new tweeters installed, though they were not covered by warranty and were just over 5 years old. But the service was very effecient.

  14. #64
    Forum Regular Audio Girl's Avatar
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    PSB Speakers

    First, let me say that I haven't had the time to read all of this thread. Having that in mind....

    Glad it worked out for you. I used to be a long-time PSB supporter (3 separate "upgrades" over prior purchased PSB speakers). After comparison to a number of speakers, I find the PSBs very dark, the sonics compromised, and poor quality craftsmanship. There are a number of speakers on the market for equivalent dollars which are superior (at least in my system), and customer support is much better from the get go.

    Ag
    "And the three gifts of moving on are forgiveness, hope, and the great beyond, After that perhaps peace can come, Peace will come." -- Mary Chapin Carpenter (2007)

  15. #65
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    Well, that is a long and sad story, with a happy ending. I hope. I have PSB Bronze's, Image 2B's, and Image 9C, and never had any trouble. I hope your tale is something of an anomaly. I really like the Bronze sound and think PSB makes a good product. Yeah, there are better speakers out there but I do believe they provide good quality for the money.

  16. #66
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    Recently I purhased two PSB C-9 center speakers for my system from this PSB authorize deler in Honolulu. One of the C-9 speaker was brand new still in a unpoened box, the other C-9 center speaker was a returned product because of a blown speaker. Well, heres my story the dealer agreed too replace two of the six in a half speakers and the crossover with no charge and it took only two weeks in this whole process.Smiles all the time especially when I got two of PSB C-9 a faction of the retail price. $200.00 each for a C-9 center speaker with a five year warranty you just can't beat. I guess you went too a non-authrize dealer for the PSB speakers. I made no phone calls just talk to the authrize dealer straight and let them take care of the paper work.

  17. #67
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mililanihawaii
    Recently I purhased two PSB C-9 center speakers for my system from this PSB authorize deler in Honolulu. One of the C-9 speaker was brand new still in a unpoened box, the other C-9 center speaker was a returned product because of a blown speaker. Well, heres my story the dealer agreed too replace two of the six in a half speakers and the crossover with no charge and it took only two weeks in this whole process.Smiles all the time especially when I got two of PSB C-9 a faction of the retail price. $200.00 each for a C-9 center speaker with a five year warranty you just can't beat. I guess you went too a non-authrize dealer for the PSB speakers. I made no phone calls just talk to the authrize dealer straight and let them take care of the paper work.
    Hi Mili-in-hawaii,

    Don't look now, but most of the posters in this thread are long gone now. Note the date from 2004.
    Welcome to AR though. Hope you get a chance to join in on a few currents threads.

    Mike
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

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