Audioadvisor.com Aftersales Story

This post is not how I wanted to start my interactions on SBAF, but here goes anyway. Wasn't sure where to post this, but APB seems appropriate.

Has anyone had recent dealings with Audio Advisor? I recently purchased a Marantz 40N integrated amp, and then returned it within their 60 day window for returns. Following their return policy, I called and got an RMA#, and took the unit back as they are local to me. Their RMA email indicated that it would be 7 business days before my credit card would be credited.

-I emailed the person who issued the RMA 7 days later to check status, and got not response.
-I called in the next day to check, and was told that the return was in the system, the guy who normally checks the units in was out sick and running behind, but it shouldn't be more than 3-4 more days.
-Called again at the 12 day mark, and was told it was in process and it would be just another day or two.
-Called again today, the 15 day mark, and was informed that they(audio advisor) had experienced a "major fraud", and that all returns were on hold until "next week". I asked them when next week, and they did not know. I asked if they were planning to notify customers affected by this, and they did not know. I told them I needed someone there to email me something to that effect as I am now beginning to think I need to involve the authorities. So far, no email. This seems super sketchy.

I have no prior experience with AA, but I did a little online checking prior to purchasing through them and they seemed legit. I'm quite concerned now as to how this is going to turn out as they are not emailing me, or providing any additional record of conversations that I've had with them.

Does anyone know what the next steps should be here? Police, Better Business Bureau, .... ? I don't want to be a a-hole, but the Marantz was a pricy unit.

I try to comfort myself with the fact that AA seems like a pretty big company, and should be able to make this right.

 

I've never dealt with them but thought they were legit. If you paid with a credit card, you can do dispute the charge & let the credit card company take care of your business. The Better Business Bureau is a waste of time; they have no real authority.

 

I've had a good experience with them. I tried to order an open box component rack from them back in the fall. There was an issue with their website, which they'd recently overhauled, and I had a hard time trying to get the order to go through. The customer service rep was very helpful and took care of the transaction. When I didn't get an email confirmation, and nothing happened for a few days, I called back. He did some sleuthing and realized that the color option I'd wanted wasn't in fact in stock and the system simply hadn't fulfilled the order because of this. They rep was very apologetic, offered me the open box pricve on the one with the different color or on the one I wanted, when it came back into stock, and a few weeks later he followed up to see if I still wanted it.

It was a bit of an effort, then, but they did right by me, and they were polite, diligent, and professional. I wouldn't worry. I'd give them a few more days before escalating the issue; you can always get your credit card company to intervene, if needed.

 

I ordered from them years ago and had no trouble at that time. Most recently I called them because I was going to order something and wanted to pick it up. I recently moved to nearby their warehouse. I called and actually talked to a human which was nice. He indicated that I would be able to pick up the hardware from their warehouse. I have not yet ordered the hardware, however.

I have driven by their warehouse and I can confirm it is a real place and real humans work there. If OP feels as though the retailer has not lived up to their end of the bargain, you could begin to open a case with your financial company and issue a charge back. This is an option that exists and not enough people realize it is within their power to not be taken advantage of by retailers.

I would encourage you to do your best to work with AA and try to resolve it, but do not feel bad if you are beyond your comfort zone and need to get your credit card company, bank, etc. involved. I have done this myself (not with AA of course) and it worked out in my favor.

 

I'm going to see what happens on Monday/Tuesday and figure out what to do at that time. As folks have suggested, I'll begin with my credit card folks and go from there. I tried to talk with someone a little further up the chain around 3:30 PM, but to no avail. The customer rep I've been dealing with is very professional, and I get the sense that she got left holding the bag with no direction from her management, and yet has to deal with folks like me. I'm sympathetic to a point.

@Greg121986, I was there to physically drop off my unit as I don't live too far away either. I rang the doorbell by the overhead doors, and someone buzzed me in. The guy who checked in my Marantz seemed nice enough. No issues with the whole process until this flap. Security is not exactly Fort Knox levels, but the building is nondescript and I don't even think I saw a sign out front. There must be security cameras around. Obviously not enough.

It's really too bad as I was planning to frequent AA for various things. I may still do so, depending on how this sorts itself out. All accounts I have seen say the same thing, that this retailer is a good source for gear.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I'll follow up when I know more.

 

This matter was finally resolved yesterday.

After leaving VM's on Friday, and hearing nothing back on Monday, I finally got a manager on the phone Tuesday morning.

Had a cordial conversation with the company Operations Manager. Apparently, the company had been hit by credit card fraudsters. I don't know how bad it is, but Audio Advisor is now apparently now using PayPal as their credit card processor as a result, and the delays involved in my refund were related to their IT department needing to get their interfaces re-directed to new financial institutions and changing the website and probably a dozen other things.

If only someone had provided some context last week(instead of simply telling me my refund was not being processed due to fraud, and dumping me to VM, and not emailing...), I would probably not have freaked out about it. I'm not sure how many others were/are waiting for large refunds, but a little customer communication plan surrounding this issue might not have been the worst idea in the world. I did provide this as feedback to the manager, and he thanked me for it and apologized for the confusion and delay. He said he'd look in to my situation and call me back before the end of the day.

True to his word, he called me back a few hours later and told me that my refund had been submitted to the credit card provider, so that is awesome. Just waiting on it to post to my bank, and that might take a few days.

I will most likely be open to using Audio Advisor in the future.

 

Also, I would understand if moderators would want this thread title edited, or just delete the whole thing. I don't want to give the impression that Audio Advisor is committing fraud or anything.

 

If anything, I feel it's good to have up as a testament to their customer service, good and bad. Maybe something innocuous like "Audioadvisor.com Aftersales Story" or something to that effect. This isn't a typical sort of post here on SBAF, but I'd be lying if I said I've not indugled in similar storytime threads myself now and again.

Do hope you get your money back soon, incidentally, and that you find a great integrated amp that suits your needs.

 

Audio Advisor is local to me as well. They're legit but they're an old company (40+ years) that hasn't upgraded their operations in many years. They are nowhere near as efficient as Music Direct. Their target demo is Boomer (just read their abysmal catalog for proof). Glad to hear you got resolution to your issue.

 

Boomers...and apparently noob GenX-ers struggling for relevance!