Oh man that blows. I went through that with UPS years ago, a bunch of stuff got stolen off a truck and all they would give me was $100. I insure everything shipped UPS now (when I have the option). I've been lucky with AL I guess. wither that or they've improved somewhat. I heard that they take a lot of stock from other dealers going out of business, so it's probably common for them to get stuff that was returned, re-stocked etc. I won't defend them, esp. since I haven't yet had to work with them on a repair or return, but so far (knock on wood), my amp is tremendous. I would have preferred to go thru Audioholics, but they wouldn't budge off list. Perhaps I could have waited six months, but that wasn't really an option. I was building my new HT system, and that also means I didn't have a lot of room to play financially, since I was buying a few pieces. I deliberated for a long time over extended warranties too, esp. with my plasma. In the end, I paid a little more initially to buy direct from the manufacturer through an employee program instead of buying online. Price DID matter, very much as I mentioned, however I just didn't feel comfortable buying that online with some of the stories I'd read. I'm still debating whether to lay out more $$ on an ext. warranty. Anyone have a warranty retailer they recommend? Especially interested if anyone has actually had to handle a repair through one.
Dude I wish I could help with your bad AL experience, but for what it's worth, all this feedback here is valluable for myself and others. Had I read it prior to my purchase I prob. would have stayed away. Thx for the feedback.