Accessories4less AVR experience
halo
Posts: 5,616
in Electronics
I have purchased a few items from A4L over the past year. When I was looking to get something different, I went back to A4L.
I did a little research on the model I was considering and I came across this old thread: http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/1844941#Comment_1844941
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but, I have some information that is relevant to purchasing a refurbished unit from accessories4less and there are some misconceptions in this thread that I would like to clear up for potential future customers of accessories4less (especially during the holiday season).
To begin with, I purchased a refurbished Marantz nr1403 less a year ago from accessories4less. The unit worked fine until this October. Therefore, I had to take the unit in for repair to an authorized Marantz repair center. As I live in Chicago, there are two authorized repair centers located within 50 miles of me. The closest location to me only services Marantz items that they sell. The second is a long way from me, a 2-hour drive (one way). Without a third option, I dropped it off at the authorized repair center with a detailed account of the issues exhibited by the receiver.
So, keep in mind that, even though you have a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer when buying from A4L, you have to pay the gas or the shipping to get it to them and then back to you. They wouldn't take a credit card to ship it back to me, only a check. Then I have to mail the check, wait for it to clear, then wait for it to be shipped back. All in all, kind of a hassle.
After a week, I gave them a call to get an update on the status of the repair. No one answered so I left a voicemail message with my name and contact information.
A few hours later I got a call from a guy saying, "yes, can I speak to..." I replied, "yes, that's me." He said, "you dropped off an item for repair and you wanted an update on the repair?"
To which I replied, "yes, that's correct." He went on to say, "we had to replace a board and we are waiting on the part. Once we get the part, we'll repair the receiver. There's your update." He was kind of surly and I didn't care for his tone but he has my receiver and I'd like to get it back in working order so I say to him, "thanks for the update, I appreciate it." He says, "uh-huh" and hangs up on me.
They never contacted me to tell me the status of the repair, I had to contact them periodically. I'm ok with that; it isn't a big deal.
Finally, they tell me that the receiver has been repaired and that they can ship it back to me. I didn't drop it off with the shipping box so they had to charge me $10 for a box and packing material and $10 for the shipping. I figured that the shipping rate is very reasonable so I authorized the charge of $20. As I mentioned earlier, they wouldn't take a credit card payment so I had to send them a check.
My receiver arrived back to me pretty quickly and it is functioning perfectly.
The box it came back in doesn't match the receiver perfectly, it's a different model, but it was packed up well enough with foam encasements to keep it protected.
In the old thread, someone recommended an extended warranty. Another individual recommended an extended warranty from Square Trade. Be Advised: Square Trade does not and will not honor extended warranties for Refurbished Electronic Items. I know that A4L offers third party extended warranties, but I've never dealt with that company so I cannot speak to their quality.
This is not a knock against A4L or the Authorized Repair Center with which I dealt. This is simply a bit of advice about buying a refurbished item from A4L and what you might expect if you have to file a warranty claim under the 1-year of the manufacture's warranty.
Happy Shopping for the Happy Holidays everybody
I did a little research on the model I was considering and I came across this old thread: http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/1844941#Comment_1844941
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but, I have some information that is relevant to purchasing a refurbished unit from accessories4less and there are some misconceptions in this thread that I would like to clear up for potential future customers of accessories4less (especially during the holiday season).
To begin with, I purchased a refurbished Marantz nr1403 less a year ago from accessories4less. The unit worked fine until this October. Therefore, I had to take the unit in for repair to an authorized Marantz repair center. As I live in Chicago, there are two authorized repair centers located within 50 miles of me. The closest location to me only services Marantz items that they sell. The second is a long way from me, a 2-hour drive (one way). Without a third option, I dropped it off at the authorized repair center with a detailed account of the issues exhibited by the receiver.
So, keep in mind that, even though you have a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer when buying from A4L, you have to pay the gas or the shipping to get it to them and then back to you. They wouldn't take a credit card to ship it back to me, only a check. Then I have to mail the check, wait for it to clear, then wait for it to be shipped back. All in all, kind of a hassle.
After a week, I gave them a call to get an update on the status of the repair. No one answered so I left a voicemail message with my name and contact information.
A few hours later I got a call from a guy saying, "yes, can I speak to..." I replied, "yes, that's me." He said, "you dropped off an item for repair and you wanted an update on the repair?"
To which I replied, "yes, that's correct." He went on to say, "we had to replace a board and we are waiting on the part. Once we get the part, we'll repair the receiver. There's your update." He was kind of surly and I didn't care for his tone but he has my receiver and I'd like to get it back in working order so I say to him, "thanks for the update, I appreciate it." He says, "uh-huh" and hangs up on me.
They never contacted me to tell me the status of the repair, I had to contact them periodically. I'm ok with that; it isn't a big deal.
Finally, they tell me that the receiver has been repaired and that they can ship it back to me. I didn't drop it off with the shipping box so they had to charge me $10 for a box and packing material and $10 for the shipping. I figured that the shipping rate is very reasonable so I authorized the charge of $20. As I mentioned earlier, they wouldn't take a credit card payment so I had to send them a check.
My receiver arrived back to me pretty quickly and it is functioning perfectly.
The box it came back in doesn't match the receiver perfectly, it's a different model, but it was packed up well enough with foam encasements to keep it protected.
In the old thread, someone recommended an extended warranty. Another individual recommended an extended warranty from Square Trade. Be Advised: Square Trade does not and will not honor extended warranties for Refurbished Electronic Items. I know that A4L offers third party extended warranties, but I've never dealt with that company so I cannot speak to their quality.
This is not a knock against A4L or the Authorized Repair Center with which I dealt. This is simply a bit of advice about buying a refurbished item from A4L and what you might expect if you have to file a warranty claim under the 1-year of the manufacture's warranty.
Happy Shopping for the Happy Holidays everybody
Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10
Comments
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Thank you very much, this is good information.
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I've bought refurbs from them before as well. Overall I've had good experiences, but one time I had an issue with a receiver right out of the box. Called A4L support, & after going through some basic trouble shooting was told that I needed to deal with he manufacturer if repair was needed. They apparently don't accept returns on refurbs, but that's not real clear anywhere in their stated policies.
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??? This doesn't sound right. Hmmm.
oh, return for your money back?
No, but they should have sent you a new unit post haste.
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Man, that experience would leave me salty. I certainly wouldn't go back to that place ever again. I'd rather drive longer than give them my money.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Man, that experience would leave me salty. I certainly wouldn't go back to that place ever again. I'd rather drive longer than give them my money.
The repair shop seems to mirror Marantz own attitude toward warranty repairs...
One of the main reasons I picked the SC-87 over the SR7009...
I just did not want to deal with Marantz if I had a problem.
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When my Marantz AV7702 remote stopped working, I called Marantz who quickly sent me a replacement remote under warranty. I purchased the Marantz from Accessories4Less. While on vacation with family, I visited Accessories4Less and was given a tour of their facilities by the owner. When I had some issues with the Marantz that were not remote related, Accessories4Less answered all my questions and helped resolved my issues with the Marantz. With their help, I no longer have any issues with the Marantz and enjoy it everyday with my Polk SDA 2B.
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I had a very similar experience as the op this spring with a Denon 4100 that I got from them. I'm done with them.
The so-called warranty on the refurbished items suck and there isn't a single repair shop in the fourth largest city in the county(Houston) for Denon (and presumably Marantz). I had to pay shipping and then 6 weeks later, they sent it back in a different box without the power cable, mic, etc. I spoke to them several times and they promised to send my box and other stuff. They, of course, never did.
I have purchased two Pioneer Elites since then and the Denon is in a bedroom. -
I'm sorry to hear that. The people I have dealt with over the years @ A4L
are good people. Sounds like it is a roll of the dice now. -
You CAN return a receiver to A4L BUT, you have to pay the shipping coast of shipping it back to A4L, PLUS the cost of the original shipping it cost them to send the unit to you, AND a 15% restocking fee. However, if the unit is defective out of the box, you are entitled to a return & a refund (they pay the shipping to send it back to A4L) OR you can exchange the item for no fee.Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
"Be Advised: Square Trade does not and will not honor extended warranties for Refurbished Electronic Items. "
How do you know this? They cover USED things I buy on ebay (they have covered several claims), so why wouldn't they cover refurbished? Is this somewhere on the site?
But sorry about your experience, that does suck, and with the others chiming in I am very reluctant to buy from them again. My single purchase was fine...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
"Be Advised: Square Trade does not and will not honor extended warranties for Refurbished Electronic Items. "
How do you know this? They cover USED things I buy on ebay (they have covered several claims), so why wouldn't they cover refurbished? Is this somewhere on the site?
But sorry about your experience, that does suck, and with the others chiming in I am very reluctant to buy from them again. My single purchase was fine...
I contacted ST about purchasing a warranty for my purchase from A4L and they stated that they do not cover refurbished equipment.
"Any and all pre-existing conditions that occur prior to the Coverage Start Date of this Protection Plan" In this case, they consider a refurbished item to have a pre-existing condition or known defect, at least that is what I was also told when speaking directly with someone from ST.
Perhaps they are mistaken but I didn't feel confident in their honoring of the warranty I wanted to purchase at that point.Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
Man, what a hassle. I strongly dislike dealing with business people who act like they're doing me a favor, and are borderline abusive. I'm still polite and courteous all the same, though. Not like you're gonna get anywhere going head to head, but yeah, like NF said, I probably wouldn't do business with them ever again, and would send the unit off somewhere or something to avoid them. That repair shop dude sounds like he has some issues. You should have asked if he needed a hug. Or a kick in the teeth for being so D'y.
Interesting on the Square Trade. I've seen them all over the place. Not sure what to make of the reviews I've seen for them - you know, the less than complimentary ones.
Hope it's smooth sailing for you now.
Some of these other stories do seem to make for a bit of a blem on A4L - if I buy from them I'll be sure I'm good with their policies. I've always had pretty good luck with used and refurbished, but past performance is no guarantee...I disabled signatures. -
So far, @msg, the new AVR from A4L is working fine, just a little bit of a learning curve for me from one brand to another.
I've had good experiences with refurbished equipment as well, which is why I don't mind buying another piece of refurbished equipment.
They can't all be winners. lol. Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
I disabled signatures.
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Well you can receive a nicely packed box of hard drives like I received today. Static paper all dented up...yes they are going back
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Those are probably fine Ron, you're just being paranoid.
LolI disabled signatures. -
Those are probably fine Ron, you're just being paranoid.
Lol
If it was me, I'd return them. I didnt pay full price for a possibly defective product. And if it was for say something important, like my business to record data.... then I'd be TWICE as cautious.
Especially hard drives....."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
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txcoastal1 wrote: »Well you can receive a nicely packed box of hard drives like I received today. Static paper all dented up...yes they are going back
Where did those come from? What moron would ship harddrives like that! Jeez! -
Where did those come from? What moron would ship harddrives like that! Jeez!
That looks like an Amazon packing job to me...
Does PFB work for them now? -
Where did those come from? What moron would ship harddrives like that! Jeez!txcoastal1 wrote: »Well you can receive a nicely packed box of hard drives like I received today. Static paper all dented up...yes they are going back
These drives are for my business server, the are NOS WD Blacks and I paid a premium since they were NOS. They were shipped by Amazon. I had a drive fail in my Raid5 and was going to rotate each one over the next few days for refresh.
So yes they are critical and yes they are going back
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
hehe, that was intended as satire
Ahh... too early in the morning for that for meUpstatemax wrote: »
I recently had a simlar HDD pack job from Newegg. Box was 3 sided with a nice rounded edge to what should be a corner......
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
That's a strange packing job coastal. Yesterday I received a new Synology NAS & 2 WD red drives from Amazon. Drives were well packaged inside their own individual boxes then boxed with the NAS in one larger box. The drive packaging looked to be the factory packaging from WD as each box was sealed with a tamper sticker. Wonder why yours were not packed similarly?
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That's a strange packing job coastal. Yesterday I received a new Synology NAS & 2 WD red drives from Amazon. Drives were well packaged inside their own individual boxes then boxed with the NAS in one larger box. The drive packaging looked to be the factory packaging from WD as each box was sealed with a tamper sticker. Wonder why yours were not packed similarly?
Xmas help I suppose, I was shocked just you are. I ordered Saturday evening and it arrived Monday morning and was fulfilled by Amazon. It's not the end of the world just thought it would be a no-brainer and that's what it was--a no brainer--who packed it.2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
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