Buying PSB? Read This!

[IAmCanadian]

If you’re thinking about buying PSB please read on about my recent PSB customer service experience. I own PSB Stratus Bronze fronts that I purchased 14 months ago, along with PSB Century 300i rears, and a C5i center that I recently purchased. A while ago the veneer on the front right speaker began to peel up and curl in such a way that it could not be glued back down and still cover the cabinet. Wanting the speaker fixed, my customer service nightmare with PSB began, throughout which my wife and I kept a journal. It reads as follows: (information in brackets is added to original content to avoid confusion)

Jan 28:Email K. Pritchard @ PSB (with info regarding problem) given info to call.
Call 1-800-263-4641 ext. 4201 (as instructed)
Talk to J. Wideman @11am and give situation re: speaker veneer peeling.
He calls back later that day with directions to ship to Pickering location.
Tells us he will put a rush on the repair and that we would hear from PSB the next week regarding the status of the speaker.

Feb 03:Ship out speaker, email J. Wideman about it.

Feb 04:PSB receives the speaker and signs for it.

Feb 18:Email J, Wideman about status of speaker because have heard nothing.
No Reply.

Feb 21:Leave message @ 1-800-263-4641 ext. 4201 about situation and inquire about status of speaker.
No Reply.

Feb 23:Morning, call 1-800-263-4641 ext. 4201 and talk to L.
Tells me she is looking into it, going to talk to the technician assigned to them. Will call us back.
No Reply @11:30am.
4pm we call back L., put on hold, then told she will call back in a few minutes.
No Reply.
5pm we call back L., not answering phone, try till 5:20. (office open till 5:30)
Call service manager at a PSB dealership, ask him to try to find out about speakers, give him info. (Great guy, we did not even buy the speakers from him)

Feb24: @1:30pm try calling L., no answer.
2pm talk to L., informs me she is waiting to hear from PSB international, referred to some email she received from them. Apologized profusely for not calling back and the run-around. Will let us know by end of the week about repair.
4pm PSB dealer calls back with more details, says he talked to Paul Barton himself. They are replacing the cabinet of the speaker. If we don’t hear back from them (PSB) by Friday, call him back to call Paul Barton again.

Feb 27:Try calling L. from 12:15pm to 1:30pm, no answer.
Call Dealer back, he will call them and find out what he can, he will call us back.
Dealer calls back, tells us they said it should be in by next Thursday (which is March 04, this dealer has been so helpful and selfless, will definitely buy future products from them ‘The StereoMan’ in Woodstock Ontario).

Mar 04:No speaker.
Call L. from 2pm to 2:30pm, finally get in touch, ask about speaker status, she says she will call back in 30 minutes.
No Reply.
Call L. back @3:20pm, say s no one has returned her calls about out speaker. I ask her to please find out about the speaker as we were told last week it would be here by now. She said she would find out for us and call us back.
No Reply.
Call L. back @4:20, leave message about contacting someone else to find out about our speaker (as we still don’t know the status of the repair or what is happening to our expensive speaker).
4:20pm call and leave a message with Paul Barton himself (the owner and designer for PSB Speakers) asking for info on our speaker. (ext. withheld)

Mar 05:Paul Barton calls back and leaves a message on our voice mail @9:30am.
He informs us that he will find out what is going on and that PSB will get back to us today.
No Reply.
4:30pm we call L., she stated she spoke with Paul about getting our speaker. Put on hold to call (warehouse?), gets no answer. Asks if she can call us back while she goes and checks on speaker, we ask to wait on hold instead. Informs us that the speaker is ready to ship. Will ship it Monday (March 08) by Purolator and that we should have it by Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. We informed her of our busy schedule and she said she would call us when it was shipped to make arrangements.

Mar 10Wednesday) No speaker or call from PSB.
4:20pm leave message with L. and Paul Barton about terrible service and current situation and ask to be called back.
4:30pm (after calling every number we could get a hold of) we talk to another PSB representative C. She tells the speaker has been shipped and gives us a tracking number.

Mar 11:No speaker or call back from PSB @5pm.
Call Purolator and they have no idea where our speaker is, launch investigation.
Call PSB and leave messages regarding situation.

Mar 12:Finally, Purolator finds our speaker, we get to pick it up at 6:30pm. When we got it home and pulled it out of the box we found that the speaker has been damaged. We examined the inner packaging, and find it has no piercing, so the damage must have occurred prior to shipping. It consists of a puncture hole in the upper right side of the speaker, from an accident that must have happened with a lot of force because the veneer crinkled into a wavy form above the impact mark. So we again find ourselves in the same situation we were six weeks ago. We have a damaged PSB speaker that needs to be repaired.
We called both Paul Barton @ PSB and Purolator to inform them both of the damage.
We also call ‘The Stereo Man’ and speak with their service manager, with whom we spoke to before, and tell him what has happened. First he says he’s appalled that it took so long to get the speaker back when he was told we should have had it back weeks ago. He then can’t believe that we ended up with a damaged speaker to boot. He informs us that he will now deal with PSB for us, calling them Monday morning (March 15), and that his solution will be as painless to us as possible to make up for what has happened so far. All this from a store that never sold us the speaker to begin with. Great guys.

I will post another update Monday when we find out what the next step is going to be.

[IAmCanadian]

Mar 15: Got numerous calls from Purolator claims service this morning. They are sending out an investigator to determine who is responsible for the damage.
Sent email to PSB to document informing them of situation.
No reply from PSB @5:00pm.

Mar 17: Purolator has made an appointment to inspect the speaker and its’ packaging this Friday (March 19).
Still waiting to hear back from ‘The StereoMan’, an informed and expected delay.
No reply’s from PSB yet @5pm.

[markw]

Just funnin ya, friend. That truly sux.

I would have expected a bit better handling of the situation, particularly since you're local to them. Heaven forbid someone in the states had to go through this.

[IAmCanadian]

Actually, that was quite funny. I needed that

[mtrycraft]

Actually, that was quite funny. I needed that

So now we have a cliffhanger here?

Not a good story for sure. Glad you kept such records. You should email this to Paul Barton. He needs to know so he can take appropriate action. Make sure you fill in all the names and specific complaints about each of those persons lack of common courtesy.

Certainly want to praise the dealer who is helping.

[markw]

Inquiring minds want to know. That, plus we like happy endings.

[Woochifer]

If this story is true, then PSB really blew it in your case. But, I also have to ask why didn't you just return the speakers to your dealer (you mention that the dealer helping you out didn't even sell you the speakers in the first place) and let them take care of it, since it's probably still under warranty? That's why manufacturers like PSB distribute only through authorized specialty dealers, because they will provide better aftersales support than a mass merchant like Best Buy will. And with the dealer markup, the service is what you're paying for and your incident is an occasion to make use of it.

[RGA]

I said nothing about the Energy sound - I did say that Energy sent Hi FI CHoice speakers that were falling apart - NOT DUE to shipping. A thread at AA was talkling about the same thing and poor customer service by replacing a broken tweeter with a NON current tweeter with its own set of problems.

The cheapest part of the business is the product materials. A $300.00 B&W costs them ~$30.00 to manufacture. Basically it would be around 1/10 what it ends up being retailed for with everyone taking their cut along the way. Which is why I say even if Energy spent a whole $700.00 in parts on their top of the line $4000.00 speakers - doubtful - it would be cheaper for them to replace it.

Since I live in Canada and worked in an office here as an accounts payable clerk I get a general sense of the costs for similar jobs. This person phones how many people. Custopmer service emplyee probably makes $13.00-$18.00 per hour(and that is JUST the cost of payroll add in medical and all that BS and it's probably closer to $22.00), and that is the cheap employee. His or her time running around asking people who probably make 50% more money an hour plus the phone calls - did the company pay the long distance? Was it long distance? There easily in the $400.00 range and we have not gotten in to the shipping charges and the fact that this issue STILL isn't resolved.

Then there is the incalcuable fact that this person probably won't make his next speaker a PSB or Energy like the other thread. Good service increases your chance of future sales. Theoretically, his next speaker might have been a $7k version 10 years from now...next time maybe B&W or some other will get that sale. Theoretically, PSB and Energy are in the hole $7k or whatever the upgrade speaker would have been. This is all hypothetical lost sales but even people in this thread who are bouncing two or three products may just as soon drop them from consideration maybe won't buy a $300.00 Aphap B or $4k Veritas.

Another poster mentions it could be an isolated instance then again it may not be. I'm not talking about the quality control here either. Every company no matter how good or how expensive or how careful are going to put something out that fails in some way before expected. IT HAPPENS.

What does not always happen is the gross issues provided by this poster. The company is showing a high level of incompetance in dealing with customers - so why should anyone trust them in any other endeavor? Part of buying new is to get service when you need it - otherwise you may as well buy used. Certainly if you want a better sounding product your money goes further sonically...but you risk it with no warranty. In this case the warranty is almost more of a pain in the ass than anything else.

[Woochifer]

I said nothing about the Energy sound - I did say that Energy sent Hi FI CHoice speakers that were falling apart - NOT DUE to shipping. A thread at AA was talkling about the same thing and poor customer service by replacing a broken tweeter with a NON current tweeter with its own set of problems.

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

The cheapest part of the business is the product materials. A $300.00 B&W costs them ~$30.00 to manufacture. Basically it would be around 1/10 what it ends up being retailed for with everyone taking their cut along the way. Which is why I say even if Energy spent a whole $700.00 in parts on their top of the line $4000.00 speakers - doubtful - it would be cheaper for them to replace it.

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.

Since I live in Canada and worked in an office here as an accounts payable clerk I get a general sense of the costs for similar jobs. This person phones how many people. Custopmer service emplyee probably makes $13.00-$18.00 per hour(and that is JUST the cost of payroll add in medical and all that BS and it's probably closer to $22.00), and that is the cheap employee. His or her time running around asking people who probably make 50% more money an hour plus the phone calls - did the company pay the long distance? Was it long distance? There easily in the $400.00 range and we have not gotten in to the shipping charges and the fact that this issue STILL isn't resolved.

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.

Then there is the incalcuable fact that this person probably won't make his next speaker a PSB or Energy like the other thread. Good service increases your chance of future sales. Theoretically, his next speaker might have been a $7k version 10 years from now...next time maybe B&W or some other will get that sale. Theoretically, PSB and Energy are in the hole $7k or whatever the upgrade speaker would have been. This is all hypothetical lost sales but even people in this thread who are bouncing two or three products may just as soon drop them from consideration maybe won't buy a $300.00 Aphap B or $4k Veritas.

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?

Another poster mentions it could be an isolated instance then again it may not be. I'm not talking about the quality control here either. Every company no matter how good or how expensive or how careful are going to put something out that fails in some way before expected. IT HAPPENS.

What does not always happen is the gross issues provided by this poster. The company is showing a high level of incompetance in dealing with customers - so why should anyone trust them in any other endeavor? Part of buying new is to get service when you need it - otherwise you may as well buy used. Certainly if you want a better sounding product your money goes further sonically...but you risk it with no warranty. In this case the warranty is almost more of a pain in the ass than anything else.

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.

[92135011]

With regard to that particular Energy speaker, I think what happened was that one of the drivers wasnt working or something, if i recall correctly. I read that review, which received really bad marks since they could hear anything from it. What happened was that the first day they it didnt work, then the second day it worked, and the third day didnt work.

[dkord]

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.

[MikeyBC]

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.

[skeptic]

"The cheapest part of the business is the product materials. A $300.00 B&W costs them ~$30.00 to manufacture. Basically it would be around 1/10 what it ends up being retailed for with everyone taking their cut along the way. "

This has been a basic truth about the retail price of electronics equipment, at least audio equipment versus the cost of the parts that go into them since time immemorial. There was a time when many if not most audiophiles built their own equipment or at least some of it. Amplifiers, preamplifiers, tuners could be built from kits if you didn't want to become educated in electronics and build your own. Even tube manuals had schematics for typical amplifier designs in the back and magazines like Radio Electronics always published excellent designs you could build from scratch. As for loudspeakers, many people built their own and even today you can buy pre packaged kits with enclosures in every state of completion from basic plans to completly finished cabinets. Heathkit used to offer kits for building you own Altec Lansing and AR3a louspeakers which performed reportedly identically to the factory assembled versions when the instructions were followed.

Considering that any idiot can mount drivers in a box and call himself a speaker manufacturer, it seems a shame that most people are too busy, too lazy, too unwilling to spend the time and effort to build anything on their own. Unless you have a special unique product that can only be purchased from a manufacturer such as a magneplanar full range unit, it seems a shame that people waste so much money on audio equipment. IMO, when people stopped tinkering with equipment, this hobby died. Now they change out a speaker wire and think that they have made a great discovery.

[3db]

However, this will not deter me from purchasing future PSB products. So far, this is the only complaint I've heard of poor PSB service except those purchasing PSB from non-authorized dealers.

I'm speculating that PSB has probably more than one company service rep and this one person that handled The "Canadian" may be an incompetent, uncaring ???hole. And one person doesn't make a company.

Hey, this person may be in fact a factory plant from eithe B&W or Paradigm bent on destroying PSB J/k

Seriously, any company including B&W and Paradigm are not impervious to hick-ups like that and to draw conclusions that PSB is dreck (This translated from German means dirt) from this one episode is unreal, unfounded, and unsubstantiated BS in my opinion.

[3db]

One question that does spring to mind just now is this; Were the warranty registration cards filled out on these speakers?

[IAmCanadian]

Wow, I guess I have to clear a few things up regarding my posts here. First I would like to say that when I started this thread I never told anyone to stay away from, or never buy, PSB speakers. In fact we are very pleased with the sound and value of our PSB speakers, we DO own FIVE of them, building on our original Stratus purchase. I don’t think I have criticized their performance at all, I only offer up my experience so that others can take it into consideration, maybe ask important service related questions upon purchase. I by no means implied that others are guaranteed to have similar experiences, I am just reporting mine, and even if no one cares what I have gone through, it has been very therapeutic.
I purchased my speakers from an authorized dealer, but they were no longer able to assist me. When I wanted to add another speaker to my setup, I went to the nearest town that has an authorized dealer to buy my PSB C5i center channel. When I experienced their excellent customer service I brought up our speaker problem, and he suggested we send them back to PSB for repair. As I have noted above, I later turned to this dealer for help, which they promptly offered. I still have the original receipt and completed warranties so there has been no questions as to the legitimacy of my purchase.
I understand that not every PSB customer is treated the way I have been treated by the company, I am only posting my experience, which is real. I have all the dates times and names of all the people I have been in contact with. And since I only had one phone number, for the longest time I was dealing with L. who is just one person. It is entirely possible that I just wasn’t as important to her as other things and that’s why I got the service that I did. I have called Paul Barton himself and had him call back saying that he was very busy but that he would get to the bottom of it, and have someone call me back. The problem was that no one did. If someone uses this experience to not purchase PSB themselves, then perhaps they were uncertain about the purchase in the first place, because this thread alone should not be reason enough to not purchase a product. Now that doesn’t mean that I will personally buy from them again, but that is just me, and this is the first time I have said so.
I know mistakes do happen, and that things like this can occur even with the very best of customer service staff. I DO think that someone over there should have called me back to apologize for the poor service, as there is really no good excuse. I’m not asking for free speakers or something outrageous, just a simple "We’re really sorry this happened to you” would be acceptable. But that hasn’t happened.

[topspeed]

I think this is a great thread and very helpful to anyone interested in audio products. You should neither apologize for your content nor for the doughnuts that you had the misfortune of dealing with. It only takes one person to screw up an entire company's reputation and every CEO knows this. We're all big boys and girls here and can certainly decide for ourselves whether or not this thread will effect our decision making process.

The old adage in sales is "If you don't take care of your customers don't worry, someone else will."

Keep up the good work.

[RGA]

Woochifer - See Skeptic.

Look at any dealer selling kits versus fully made...the kit is usually not the deal it should be.

You are correct I left out the cost of the repair(the biggest costs probably dwarfing the others) plus the cost of the replacement cabinet which is likely the most expensive part of the entire speaker...but I did say the issue was not resolved. You are correct that fixing the unit probably would take more man hours that building a new one. But that only supports cumulatively that the cost of a new box, the time involved and the labour to fix it probably dwarfs the price of just sending a new product out the day they saw the clunker come back in. Routing the call overseas would cost more money(and now it is you who is making assumptioms)...a lot of call centers are in Canada for the cheaper labour.

If the speaker's retail is not 10 times the materials cost I'd be very surprised. I did read that the 303 in cost of parts is $30.00.

It's not terribly difficult...go and look at speakers with Vifa or other KNOWN drivers and you can track down the prices. I have seen 1k speakers that have total driver costs under $70.00 - again retail...companies buying in big numbers probably get that down at least 50%. Add up the cost of the 4 meters worth of cheap wood and a crossover and we're at what $150.00 and I think this is really really a high high figure. Yes labour is costly but most of this stuff is built in China these days...less so speakers perhaps...but machines and drill presses can probably dole out a speaker within ten minues...depending on the size of the company - probably far less for big guys like B & W, JBL and Paradigm.

I agree with Skeptic on this for the most part. I would be oipen to kits - but I want to hear the speaker first...then if I liked it I would buy the kit.

[3db]

I hope I didn't come across as slamming you as that wasn't my intention at all. I was just annoyed with all the perceptions on poor quality of PSB speakers in general that were based soley on your bad experience. I do feel your pain and no one should haveto jump through hoops like that. Thats just poor Customer support no matter how you look at it. In fact I was soannoyed with your dilemna that I went hunting for a "contact us" link on PSB's web page to give them a "wake up" email and linking in your post. But I got side tracked at work as usual.
Will resume the hunt again today. Good luck!!

[46minaudio]

Woochifer - See Skeptic.

Look at any dealer selling kits versus fully made...the kit is usually not the deal it should be.

You are correct I left out the cost of the repair(the biggest costs probably dwarfing the others) plus the cost of the replacement cabinet which is likely the most expensive part of the entire speaker...but I did say the issue was not resolved. You are correct that fixing the unit probably would take more man hours that building a new one. But that only supports cumulatively that the cost of a new box, the time involved and the labour to fix it probably dwarfs the price of just sending a new product out the day they saw the clunker come back in. Routing the call overseas would cost more money(and now it is you who is making assumptioms)...a lot of call centers are in Canada for the cheaper labour.

If the speaker's retail is not 10 times the materials cost I'd be very surprised. I did read that the 303 in cost of parts is $30.00.

It's not terribly difficult...go and look at speakers with Vifa or other KNOWN drivers and you can track down the prices. I have seen 1k speakers that have total driver costs under $70.00 - again retail...companies buying in big numbers probably get that down at least 50%. Add up the cost of the 4 meters worth of cheap wood and a crossover and we're at what $150.00 and I think this is really really a high high figure. Yes labour is costly but most of this stuff is built in China these days...less so speakers perhaps...but machines and drill presses can probably dole out a speaker within ten minues...depending on the size of the company - probably far less for big guys like B & W, JBL and Paradigm.

I agree with Skeptic on this for the most part. I would be oipen to kits - but I want to hear the speaker first...then if I liked it I would buy the kit.

RGA while I agree the parts a inexpensive its more to it than that..Factorys to build these products. The cost of these factorys has to be figured in.Tooling such a CNC routers,saws,and other tools can be huge,and need to be repaired/replaced often.The cost of blades bits and other items need to be figured in..Labor cost,Insurance,SS,and electric bills need to be figured in.R&D has to be figired in also..Im sure there is more..

[Jim Clark]

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

[mcteague]

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

[IAmCanadian]

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.

[IAmCanadian]

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.

[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.