Our forum vendor Douglas Connection has GREAT customer service
Clipdat
Posts: 12,972
It's one thing when a business provides good service and communication during a sale. However, the true measure of a business is how they do when something isn't quite right after a sale. I can say without hesitation that our very own @helipilotdoug has extraordinarily GREAT customer service during difficult post-sale situations.
I'm sure a lot of the regulars have seen the VTI rack drama that I experienced inside my equipment rack thread. Long story short is that VTI's quality control and manufacturing has gone very far south, and as a result their products are frankly garbage and are in no way deserving of your hard earned money.
As soon as I started identifying quality, workmanship, and fitment issues with the VTI rack, Doug was already corresponding on my behalf with VTI to get a replacement frame section shipped out. I literally did not have to expend any effort, he was completely on top of the situation just based on what I was posting. I'm sure if I had ordered it from another retailer, they would've said something to the equivalent of "Here's the manufacturer's contact information, good luck. Oh and by the way all sales are final. Have a nice day.".
When the replacement frame section arrived and was still inherently flawed, I quickly realized that I was dealing with a downright defective product. As with any defective product, I began the process to have the manufacturer pay for return shipping and to issue me a full refund.
VTI doesn't have have any terms and conditions related to returns and refunds listed on their website. Instead, they were coming up to them on the fly and relaying them to Doug via email. In this case, they stated that they would NOT in fact be paying for return shipping on this obviously defective product, and that they expected that I would. Furthermore, they stated that they would only issue a refund after they had inspected the product and determined that it was in "Unused, like new, re-sellable condition". Now you can see the conundrum. The caps were scratched from me trying to assemble the rack, boom - no longer like new. So essentially they wanted me to pay to return a defective product, and then upon arrival they would inspect it and determine that it did not meet the criteria for a refund and thus no refund would be issued. It's a no-win situation.
Doug and I worked together, going back and forth and discussing the situation. Although we didn't always see eye to eye on all of the finer details, he kept his patience and he never gave up on me as a customer. Eventually he gave VTI an ultimatum and a stern description of how they were to proceed. They did not take that well and they refused to adjust their fly by night policies in order to satisfy one of their dealers, and one of their dealer's customers. They simply were not going to give out any refund to me or Doug.
After a few days, Doug came to me with an extremely generous suggestion on how to proceed. He would give me the money I spent on the VTI rack in "store credit" to use toward a new Solidsteel rack that he just started carrying. I sincerely appreciate how he made this situation right for me and allowed us both to move on from a miserable experience dealing with VTI and their inferior flawed products.
Thank you again Doug for your impeccable customer service, I really do appreciate it. Club Polk is very fortunate to have you as our forum vendor.
I'm sure a lot of the regulars have seen the VTI rack drama that I experienced inside my equipment rack thread. Long story short is that VTI's quality control and manufacturing has gone very far south, and as a result their products are frankly garbage and are in no way deserving of your hard earned money.
As soon as I started identifying quality, workmanship, and fitment issues with the VTI rack, Doug was already corresponding on my behalf with VTI to get a replacement frame section shipped out. I literally did not have to expend any effort, he was completely on top of the situation just based on what I was posting. I'm sure if I had ordered it from another retailer, they would've said something to the equivalent of "Here's the manufacturer's contact information, good luck. Oh and by the way all sales are final. Have a nice day.".
When the replacement frame section arrived and was still inherently flawed, I quickly realized that I was dealing with a downright defective product. As with any defective product, I began the process to have the manufacturer pay for return shipping and to issue me a full refund.
VTI doesn't have have any terms and conditions related to returns and refunds listed on their website. Instead, they were coming up to them on the fly and relaying them to Doug via email. In this case, they stated that they would NOT in fact be paying for return shipping on this obviously defective product, and that they expected that I would. Furthermore, they stated that they would only issue a refund after they had inspected the product and determined that it was in "Unused, like new, re-sellable condition". Now you can see the conundrum. The caps were scratched from me trying to assemble the rack, boom - no longer like new. So essentially they wanted me to pay to return a defective product, and then upon arrival they would inspect it and determine that it did not meet the criteria for a refund and thus no refund would be issued. It's a no-win situation.
Doug and I worked together, going back and forth and discussing the situation. Although we didn't always see eye to eye on all of the finer details, he kept his patience and he never gave up on me as a customer. Eventually he gave VTI an ultimatum and a stern description of how they were to proceed. They did not take that well and they refused to adjust their fly by night policies in order to satisfy one of their dealers, and one of their dealer's customers. They simply were not going to give out any refund to me or Doug.
After a few days, Doug came to me with an extremely generous suggestion on how to proceed. He would give me the money I spent on the VTI rack in "store credit" to use toward a new Solidsteel rack that he just started carrying. I sincerely appreciate how he made this situation right for me and allowed us both to move on from a miserable experience dealing with VTI and their inferior flawed products.
Thank you again Doug for your impeccable customer service, I really do appreciate it. Club Polk is very fortunate to have you as our forum vendor.
Comments
-
Doug gets an attaboy for actions above and beyond the call of duty.
-
Nice job Doug! We love you!Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
Doug has always been a champ of a guy, that's just his nature. Don't hesitate doing business with the man.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
I’ve had several excellent transactions with Doug and he’s been a champ of a guy in each case. Highly recommended.
-
@helipilotdoug
Doug is my first stop when looking for stuff. I'd rather buy from him than anyone else even if it means I need to wait for shipping as I cant get it right then and there.
Dougs Furez speaker wire is AWESOME! I've got a couple hundred feet of his 14/2 and 14/4 over the past few years for my different projects. I prefer if over the Audioquest FLX wire as its a lot cheaper per foot, just have to plan ahead since its not local to me.
Met him at LSAF and we had a blast. I wish I could buy more from him to ensure he stays in business.
Heck, occasionally I call him up just to chat. Plus he's never pushed me toward one product over another based soley on price, rather entirely based on performance and what I'm hoping to do. That means sometimes he's suggested CHEAPER stuff
"....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) -
Doug rocks....he responds to questions super quick even if you are not a customer yet.
-
He is a pretty good cook too!!JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
-
Thank you Drew and all others for the kind words. I was brought up to follow the "Golden Rule", and that is how we try to treat everyone.Sunfire Theater Grand IV
Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature
SRS 2.1TL
SDA 2BTL's
CSiA6
FXiA4
FXiA6
SDA 2A's
Monitor 10A's
http://www.douglasconnection.com -
Count me in on the Doug love fest, and his service before and after the sale."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Doug is my morning coffee buddy at LSAF. A few tall tales have been told.....
-
Doug is my morning coffee buddy at LSAF. A few tall tales have been told.....
I thought that was the goat....... wait, thats who you make eggs for first thing in the morning
"....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) -
Here’s an oldie but a goodie re: VTI as a company:
forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/46986/vti-customer-service-sucks/p1Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
My 2-channel audio rack is made by StudioTech and I like it a lot but I don’t think they’re in business any longer
Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10 -
Doug's a standup guy!Home Theater/2 Channel:
Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer
dhsspeakerservice.com/ -
westmassguy wrote: »Doug's a standup guy!
I had my 2nd transaction with Doug this past week.
I inquired about vacuum tube pin cleaning kits
Great customer service, quick shipping, product arrived in great conditionAC Regenerator PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 10
Source Lumin U1 Mini into Lampizator Baltic 4 DAC
Pre Cary SLP-05
Power Rogue M180 Dark monos
Mains Salk HT2-TL
Rythmik F12 -
Hey Glenn, let me know how you make out with tube cleaning kit.Sunfire Theater Grand IV
Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature
SRS 2.1TL
SDA 2BTL's
CSiA6
FXiA4
FXiA6
SDA 2A's
Monitor 10A's
http://www.douglasconnection.com -
I spent a lot of time in and out of Doug's room at LSAF each year...I try to stay away when customers show up and I am always glad to watch his room when he needs to step out for a minute (for per say for a smoke)
I order a lot of stuff from Doug. most of my friends setup is from him.. and their in the wall long cables for their HT. Just pick up a bunch of his power cables...
got my VTI rack from him and luckily it was in great shape when it arrived..
he is one of the nicest person you will ever meet in person I glad I got to know you Doug...you have become a great friend and I am looking forward to seeing you soon my friend. It going to be a great time again so I'll see you Thursday!
Be good and see ya Soon
2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
