Polk Customer Service is - No Service!

dschwandt

:mad:
First off, does any know how long Polk speakers are supposed to last under normal to light use? I have a pair of M5's I purchased back around 2000 and one has a bad driver. Polk does not have a replacement - COME ON, IT'S A BASIC 6" SPEAKER! I have been emailing with Eric Wong from Tech Support and after his last ridiculous response indicating - buy more speakers from us or send me your speaker and we'll try and fix it, but, oh my I, can't guarantee we can do it. I tired of being a peed on customer. Does anyone know who I can speak with having authority to actually try and take care of a customer?

Thank you.

Not happy with Polk Customer Service.

zarrdoss

uasually they have been top notch for me and even sent me new polly-switches for 20 year old speakers at no charge. if they dont have any they dont have any, I would look for one used. And one cannot say they can fix it for sure without checking it out first.

Good luck

George Grand

Most of us get great service from .......... Eric Wong. You did too.

Montoya

Your speakers are eight to nine years old what are they suppose to do you are far past the warranty period. I would be content just knowing they are going to try and fix the problem the speaker is old it has been in service since 2000 even under light use that is a long time period.

shack

How the hell have you been "peed on"? It's a 9 year old speaker by your own admission and the model originated in the mid 90s. What more do you want them to do besides make an effort to fix it...especially when there are no replacement parts? It was a $100 MSRP per speaker when new. Find a used pair and be done. Polk owes you nothing and and their offer to try and fix it is more than you deserve and is more than generous on their part. Your expectations are unrealistic. Oh and BTW it is a 4 1/2 inch driver.

Kex

Nothing but stellar service for me too, and all of my current speakers are at least ten years old. I suppose I may just have got lucky that they never ran out of any of the parts that I have ever needed. Don't rub them the wrong way dschwandt, they will go out of their way to be helpful if they can.

I also agree with the others: if Polk really don't have the parts any more, you can find them used if need be.

ben62670

Wow. Polk CS is by far one of the very best companies for Customer Service out there.
OK the speaker is nine years old.
A six inch speaker is not just a six inch speaker.
Eric offer to try to fix a speaker that is way beyond warranty.
Pfft you have the nerve to complain.
Try to contact other speaker companies with your same complaints. I'll bet you will have a hard time even getting through, and then when you do I can almost guaranty that you will get no service on a 9 yo speaker.

Edit: Does dsch stand for ****? Just curious
Thanks
Ben

lightman1

I've never had a problem from Polk. I needed new drivers for My SDA's. Called 'em up, gave my address and a package was on my porch in four days. I'm not familiar with anything 2000 to present, but maybe the replacement drivers aren't an in stock item.
Double G said it. If you spoke to Eric, you're gonna get good service. Let them help you. It may not be an overnight, magical experience, but they will help you.
Patience Padawan, patience.

zarrdoss

these are the plastic surround speakers right?

lightman1

shack wrote: »

How the hell have you been "peed on"? It's a 9 year old speaker by your own admission and the model originated in the mid 90s. What more do you want them to do besides make an effort to fix it...especially when there are no replacement parts? It was a $100 MSRP per speaker when new. Find a used pair and be done. Polk owes you nothing and and their offer to try and fix it is more than you deserve and is more than generous on their part. Your expectations are unrealistic. Oh and BTW it is a 4 1/2 inch driver.

I see shack has both six-shooters polished and ready to go.:D

Toolfan66

Upgrade dumbass.

Everytime i have talked with Eric he has been very helpful as he was with you.

Try craigslist and go away.

Toolfan66

Does dsch stand for ****? Just curious
Thanks
Ben[/QUOTE]


In this case yes.

Kex

dschwandt wrote: »

... send me your speaker and we'll try and fix it, but, [...] I, can't guarantee we can do it. ...

What this probably means, IMHO, is that he cannot determine precisely what the problem is from your description of the issue. They will surely not have every part still available for such an old speaker (mine are older still, but they still have some of the parts), so they cannot guarantee that they will be able to fix it. They are probably just trying to inform you politely that it is up to you to decide if you want to pay the shipping charge to get the speaker to them so that they can check it.

If you choose this route, they may ask you to ship just the driver, or some other parts (not the cabinet). In any case, if they can fix it, then the cost will be surprisingly reasonable in my experience. If they cannot fix it, you will have wasted the shipping charge. Either way, it's up to you to decide if you prefer to find used parts through other owners here in Club Polk (by posting a "wanted" thread in the Flea Market section, or on eBay, or even craigslist.org.

As for longevity, there are many members here still buying and using twenty year old Polk Audio speakers that can reputedly rival some of the best products available on the market today for a fraction of the cost.

zarrdoss

we have a really nice thread where you can make some replacements from a paper plate some tin-foil and a penny.

dschwandt

Perhaps I was a bit pre-judgmental of Polk's CS department as it seems many of you are happy campers and have had good service. I have Klipsch and Pioneer systems that are older than my Polks and I thought I bought a better pair of speakers in Polk, that's all.

xj4094dg

I recently went through this exact process. I found a pair on ebay for 39.00, and even though one woofer did not survive the sh!tty packaging from a non-forum party, I now have two spare tweets and used the one good woofer to replace the one I had blown. Polk told me if they did have the replacement it would have been 60.00. Find some used. Be happy. Its going to be fine...really.;).

PS. I just ordered a spare tweeter for my LSi 7's (another shipping/packaging victim). Only 80.00 shipped! Should be here tomorrow.

LSife is sweet...

ben62670

zarrdoss wrote: »

we have a really nice thread where you can make some replacements from a paper plate some tin-foil and a penny.

That's funny right there:D

ben62670

dschwandt wrote: »

Perhaps I was a bit pre-judgmental of Polk's CS department as it seems many of you are happy campers and have had good service. I have Klipsch and Pioneer systems that are older than my Polks and I thought I bought a better pair of speakers in Polk, that's all.

A little bit;)
Stick around and learn something. Like others have suggested get some off the bay and be done with it, or just get some newer Polk's. Polk speakers are very hard to beat bang for the buck.
Ben

Toolfan66

zarrdoss wrote: »

we have a really nice thread where you can make some replacements from a paper plate some tin-foil and a penny.

Kevin thats some funny **** right there.

Toolfan66

dschwandt wrote: »

Perhaps I was a bit pre-judgmental of Polk's CS department as it seems many of you are happy campers and have had good service. I have Klipsch and Pioneer systems that are older than my Polks and I thought I bought a better pair of speakers in Polk, that's all.

Really dude try Craigslist or ebay.


Larry.

Kex

FYI: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/recent/m5/

In case you hadn't found it already. I wouldn't waste too much time or money with those, but I could be wrong (maybe they're well worth it). Sending them in for examination will not cost a whole lot though, since they are not nearly as big or as heavy as some of the speakers many of us own!

You might also need to ask yourself why the driver got damaged. If you don't answer that, it could happen again. I own some older New MiniMonitors that are small speakers too, but with surprisingly good sound IMO. If feeding them good clean power, I don't believe I could possibly cause them to blow a tweeter or a driver, despite their modest size, and I like to listen quite loud, apparently.

lightman1

dschwandt wrote: »

Perhaps I was a bit pre-judgmental of Polk's CS department as it seems many of you are happy campers and have had good service. I have Klipsch and Pioneer systems that are older than my Polks and I thought I bought a better pair of speakers in Polk, that's all.

Sometimes you have to realize it's time to turn loose the Chrysler LeBaron because you can't get the parts anymore. Go ahead and buy the '72 Camaro. Parts can be had on the cheap anywhere. Then when you get her running, you wonder why you ever bought that other thing.
More power and better sounding.



.02
Russ

Toolfan66

I was wondering what they looked like. all this over that?

Dude really, Upgrade.

There's always Bose!!!!!!

lightman1

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Really dude try Craigslist or ebay.


Larry.

Let him speak, Larry.
Or else I'll set in on you. See my previous posts.;)

Toolfan66

lightman1 wrote: »

Let him speak, Larry.
Or else I'll set in on you. See my previous posts.;)

since you asked nice.:p

ESavinon

Polk customer service is top notch. The best i've dealt with.
Try ebay for a replacement driver or better yet buy a new pair of bose speakers :rolleyes:

Sherardp

I knew as soon as I read the OP thread it was getting shot down. 8yrs is quite a long time, follow up with Eric and send them in. Best bet.

Face

Try walking into a car dealership and complain about a problem the day after your warranty expires.

danger boy

dschwandt wrote: »

:mad:
First off, does any know how long Polk speakers are supposed to last under normal to light use? I have a pair of M5's I purchased back around 2000 and one has a bad driver. Polk does not have a replacement - COME ON, IT'S A BASIC 6" SPEAKER! I have been emailing with Eric Wong from Tech Support and after his last ridiculous response indicating - buy more speakers from us or send me your speaker and we'll try and fix it, but, oh my I, can't guarantee we can do it. I tired of being a peed on customer. Does anyone know who I can speak with having authority to actually try and take care of a customer?

Thank you.

Not happy with Polk Customer Service.

Your speakers are nine years old.. they have held up well in that time. I have 20 yr old speakers.. and I would not expect Polk Audio to fix them for free or have replacement parts in stock for a 20 yr old speaker.

If they do have replacement parts for my old speakers.. I expect to pay for the parts and install them myself.

If you like your M5's enough.. look on Ebay for replacement parts or a pair for spare parts or a new pair. IF you're not tied to them.. look for a newer pair of Polk Audio speakers.

good luck in whatever way you decide to go.

Gempler

to the op, are you talking about the funky triangular shaped plastic enclosure "M5" sourround speakers or the "monitor 5"?
if it is the monitor 5 i think there is still a pair of them for sale in the flea market section of these forums. check it out...
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79099

comfortablycurt

christophermuto wrote: »

to the op, are you talking about the funky triangular shaped plastic enclosure "M5" sourround speakers or the "monitor 5"?

He's referring to the funky triangular shaped ones.


As others have said, these are some fairly old speakers, and they can't be expected to keep an excess stock of parts for everything they've ever made. These aren't exactly higher end speakers as it is, they probably didn't really anticipate many people trying to fix them. The few times I've had to deal with Polk CS, I've been nothing short of thrilled. Excellent customer service.

Where do you have these speakers installed? Are they part of a surround system, what location? Depending on what you're using them for, I'd upgrade to some better speakers myself.