PSW 110 gone bad, Polk customer service a terrible experience
Comments
-
We are also having the same issue with our PSW110. It is only a few years old and has been take care of very well. It is making the same noise as everyone previously stated above. I have read that it is needing a part replaced. I am in the US. Could you give me the contact information so I could speak with someone about getting it fixed please? Also, I read that the part was shipped out for a few customers..is this a part that I can easily replace myself or am I going to need to take it somewhere once I receive the part? Thank you so much for your help!!
-
Hello,
You would telephone 1-800-377-7655 select option 1 and have the serial number and date of purchase handy when you call. I believe they send you a replacement amplifier which can be easily replaced, I think there's a video on how to do it. -
I'm on my 2nd psw110. The first one died and when I called Polk they said it'd be such amount to fix or for pretty much same price you can get a new one.. so I bought a new one.. well about 5-6 months ago the new one started screeching and thumping in the middle of the night.. got me out of bed pretty F'n quick.. well long story short I've been meaning to write in but life itself has been extremely busy.. so it's been on back burner.. well now I'm tired of movies with no thumping.. I've read through most of the comments and feel I have the same problem. Who do I need to talk to? Thank you in advance ..
-
You would want to call Polk at: 1-800-377-7655 select option 1 and have the serial number and date of purchase handy.
-
Hi, Ive owned my polk audio psw 12" subwoofer for the pass 4yrs. recently I've noticed there was no power my first initial thought was the fuse is gone I opened the panel at the back i checked the fuse it was good. Upon doing some research on google I stumbled upon this forum here I've learned the issue could be the amplifier. Any help will be greatly appreciated thanks.
Dave -
First bought my PSW110 in 2013. In 2016 it died. Customer service was gracious but we had to wait 3 months for the factory to produce a replacement. Now it has died again. So given all the subwoofer amplifier failures,1. has the design been changed and 2. What's the warranty on warranty replacements ?
With products so good, how can a company with such a fine reputation for quality allow themselves to be associated with what is clearly a product with persistent flaws.
-
Hello,
I'll ask my friend at Polk to contact you via email. -
People, quit messing with the trouble prone PSW110 and get a real sub.If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
-
Just yesterday I ordered an amp board for my PSW110. It cost me $120.00, this after I received an email from Polk stating it would be $100.00 - I must say that says a lot of their business ethics. The Email is included below this post.
I must say, that in the few years I used the Amp, it has spent most of its time unplugged and in the off position (we only use it on extreme movie nights with the kids - in all if, I have played it 20 hours in its life would be a lot). It has hummed since day one of owning it. I never had a subwoofer and did not know what that meant. Then at night a couple of times it wolfed by itself with nothing else on. It was plugged in and in the off position. It woke the whole house. I was thinking this was caused by electrical interference or something of the sort. Until recently when it did it and we could not power it off and the volume control could not quite it. We had to pull the plug and just let the sub sit there as a piece of furniture.
When dealing with polk, the person I was communicating to via email was great, they tried their best. However, the person I had spoken to when I called was not rude, just not caring. There was no Thank you or anything for ordering. When I told them that I had a quote from Polk for the replacement amp board of $100.00 they said that they did not care, it was $120.00. We did this a couple of times. What a company, give a client a quote and do not honor your word. Upper management must be proud, they need to write a book about business ethics and honesty in dealing with customers.
I asked what was their failure rate on these amp boards, eespically for the PSW 110.
I told this person that their ratings for this subwoofer was somewhat sub par. They replied that people only do the ratings when they have issues. I guess this person is correct, but when as a company you do not do right by the customer, the poor ratings just keep coming. Way to go.
Further, With me being a reliability/integrity professional, the question that I have for Polk is what is the MTTF for these boards? What is the main reason for the short use life? I think Polk would have this information, because I assume that they would do some sort of testing to define these limits. I know it is a statictical game at times, but it would help the customers understand the product better.
With all of this said, I spent the $120+ dollars for the new amp board, only so I would not have an anchor in my living room. This subwoofer will be gifted to the game room to my oldest son. I do not see me purchasing Polk ever again, and I will tell my family and friends about my experience with Polk - they all understand how I take care of my stuff - unless this board fails within a year - yep I will send it in for another under warranty.
I guess I had high expectations for Polk. It was something that I dreamed about owning for over 20 years. However, I guess the day that Polk was the best or strived to be the best is over. Now they are just a big box store speaker supplier.
Further, with me ordering the board, I ordered a new amp, different brand - My reasoning is I looked at Polk on better business bureau's site C- (way to go) and when I looked up Polk (PSW 110) on Amazon, I did the math and the ratings worked out to be a 68% (this is a D where I live), way to go Polk - such high standards in customer satisfaction and quailty.
Somehow, when they say the go for $100.00 each, they must mean near it. Because where I am from there is a difference in $100.00 and $120.00.
The email is below:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Polk Audio. We are sorry to hear about your subwoofer, it sounds like the internal amplifier board is failing. Unfortunately you are outside of the three year amplifier warranty. Outside of the warranty we have two options. We have replacement amplifier plates, they go for $100 each. Give us a call at 1-800-377-7655 ext 1181 to place an order. Alternatively you can ship your amplifier plate to our repair facility. They will do a free diagnostic and call you with the repair estimate. Our average turnaround is about 7-10 business days.
You can ship your amplifier plate to:
Polk Audio Attn Service Dept
1 Viper Way Vista CA 92081
Include a note with your name, daytime phone number, and return address. Optionally, you can add your email address to receive the return tracking information.
To remove your amplifier board, there should be a handful of screws surrounding the amplifier plate (10-14 screws). Once removed the amplifier plate will come out of the enclosure. There will be two wires, positive and negative. They are connected via fast on connector, so pinch and slide it right off. When going to reinstall these wires, they are size oriented, so you cannot confuse where each will go back (only fit back on in one configuration).
We recommend using UPS, FedEx, or USPS for shipping the amplifier board. It is advised to protect the amplifier board during shipping; bubble wrap or packing peanuts are great!
-
Hello,
I'm sorry you are having this experience. I've sent your email address to Kim Jasper, CS manager and have asked him to contact you. I've explained the replacement amplifier price difference and know he will work with you to restore your confidence. -
Hello,
Polk will honor the older price, you should be contacted by Kim as soon as possible. -
Sounds great, I am looking forward to the communication.
-
Give him a call at 1-800-377-7655 extension 5208 or via email Kim.Jasper@soundunited.com
-
Kenneth, I sent him an email a few minutes ago. Thank you for giving me the contact information. I will keep you posted. Thank you again.
-
You're welcome...!
-
To the Polk team, I have emailed Mr. Jasper and he handled the issue professionally. He was kind, Courteous and did place customer care in front as any business should. I can't wait to get the board in hand to get the subwoofer back to operational condition again.
Thank you Mr. Swauger,
for your help and giving me the contact information.
I learned a lesson, maybe the first contact for issues and problems is this Forum board over the customer service email. However, in the end, it looks like we have a mutually agreed solution which makes both of us happy.
To both Mr. Swauger and Mr. Jasper, thank you for your time and effort. I really appreciate it. In the end, after dealing with you two. I think Polk can write a great book about customer service.
Again, thank you very much. I believe Polk won me over again. They did live up to their standard that I believed them to be. In the end through emails today, I believe they have done good and right by me.
Thank you, -
I'm sorry there was the problem to begin with, but am glad things became better. I hope you continue to enjoy your Polk subwoofer for many years.
-
Hi Ken! I bought a PSW 110 about 4years ago. My wife hated the sound so I turned off my sub completely. Recently I wanted to listen to music with the sub on and realized that it was making weird sounds. I called Polk CS and they asked me if I had proof of purchase after I explained I hardly had a chance to use it. I'm currently looking on my bank statements for proof of purchase but is probably futile because it is probably out of warranty. I feel a little cheated because I hardly got any enjoyment from it and now is broken. I was wondering if I can get some help. Hate to spend 125 to get it fixed. Thank you.
-
Hello,
I'll send a copy of this post and your email address to a friend at Polk. I'm sure he will work with you to solve the problem. -
Thank you Ken. Even if the outcome is not what I want, the fact that you replied to my email so quickly and tried to help me means a lot to me.
-
No problem, glad to be of help.
-
I started earing popping sounds out of my subwoofer PSW110 a few weeks ago. I tought it was a loose wire but I realize recently that the problem is the subwoofer itself.
I then found this forum where I discovered that I am not alone having issues with this PSW110. I called the customer's service but the technician claim that my subwoofer is out of warranty (purchased in 2013) and I will have to order a new amplifier. He transfered my call to the parts department but I did not succeed to talk to someone.
I wonder if it worth to buy a new amplifier for it if it is not to last. I had purchased this subwoofer only to compensate the lack of bass of our bookshelf speakers in the living room so we didn't use it to shake the floor. -
Hello,
I'm sorry you're having a problem. The bass amplifiers come with a three year warranty from date of purchase. I'll ask a friend at Polk to contact you via email about a replacement. As a member of Club Polk you are eligible for a price reduction and free shipping. -
Thank you Ken for your fast reply.
I received an e-mail from Ken Carter with the information to ship the PSW110 to California for a free evaluation. However I expressed my concern about this request (overall cost, lost, damage, long term reliability of the device, etc.). Ken then recognized that with shipping and the cost of a repair probably being between 60.00-100.00 it may not be worth it to send it.
It is not acceptable that a subwoofer die shortly after the warranty period (built-in obsolescence?). I will use that money to buy another subwoofer from another brand that hopefully will be more reliable. -
Hello,
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. -
I just registered here in order to post on my similar experience with my PSW110. Recently, it has begun to crackle and hum constantly. I take good care of my components and it was working fine until recently. I contacted Polk support and was immediately transferred to out of warranty repair after explaining that I did not have the physical receipt. Without more than the explanation I've given above as to my problem, the associate immediately said it was probably the amplifier and that I would need a new one or purchase a new subwoofer. Never did he investigate further or help me to trouble shoot. I was hoping this could be repaired inexpensively but I am not happy with the support Polk provided which was nothing. I purchased this sub less than 3 years ago so I would still be under warranty but without my receipt, I guess there's no hope. Will be looking to other brands in the future.
-
I just registered here in order to post on my similar experience with my PSW110. Recently, it has begun to crackle and hum constantly. I take good care of my components and it was working fine until recently. I contacted Polk support and was immediately transferred to out of warranty repair after explaining that I did not have the physical receipt. Without more than the explanation I've given above as to my problem, the associate immediately said it was probably the amplifier and that I would need a new one or purchase a new subwoofer. Never did he investigate further or help me to trouble shoot. I was hoping this could be repaired inexpensively but I am not happy with the support Polk provided which was nothing. I purchased this sub less than 3 years ago so I would still be under warranty but without my receipt, I guess there's no hope. Will be looking to other brands in the future.
Good luck in your search - consider a higher end sub from a company that specializes in subs, like HSU, Velodyne or SVS.
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Hello,
Sorry for your difficulty. Did you happen to register your product when you bought it? -
Hi,
I'm having the same issue with my Polk sub PSW110 recently. getting weird noise only not any bass. just happened suddenly.
I live in Australia , Victoria , Melbourne.
hopefully, someone could help me here and I really appreciate it
Thanks
Ben
-
Hi Ben,
I'll ask a friend at Polk to contact you via email.
![[Deleted User]](https://w8.vanillicon.com/83b82048d67877ca27bbc25d5d38f9d3_100.png)
