Buyer Beware of accessories4less Scam company with legit dealer license

[highfigh]

This is why we couldn't use the battery method to trace down speaker issues in car systems where we had caps on the upper range drivers to cut bass...they maybe would give out one very faint pop, and that was it.

You could have used a tone generator- I bought one around 1980, as well as a Radio Shack amplified speaker- found out how useful they were for troubleshooting by reading David Navone's column in a car audio trade magazine. I still use them.

 

[TankTop5]

Thanks for reminding me, haven’t checked their website in a while to see if there’s any good deals.

 

[ssmokeyy]

So these def tech speakers for there size handle the most power.. were not using them as center speaker but as atmos speakers. There going between the screen and ceiling. There is no extra room to fit a larger speaker. He did not want speakers in his ceiling since he has gone with maximum sound proofing we could do. Even if u can't test these with a battery or ohm check them that still mo reason why they didn't work witht he anthem mrx540. Moving forward I will be taking video of anything gear problems to show people and the dealer. Crazy I have been doing this since 2002 and never had any problems. This isn't my first theater build. Maybe a4l isn't a bad company but there employee Jeff sucks at his job. Bad enough that they lost over 5k in sales from my friend this year. We have more projects to do at his house and I was going to use them to get speakers.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Maybe a4l a bad company but there employee Jeff sucks at his job. Bad enough that they lost over 5k in sales from my friend this year. We have more projects to do at his house and I was going to use them to get speakers.

Look, you had a bad experience with a company. It happens. It doesn't make the company bad, it makes that single experience bad, which isn't a good thing, but it happens. Many others here have had nothing but a good experience with them. That's super important that you understand that most people did not have the same experience that you had. It also matters that we are only getting your side of the story. Which means that A4L isn't here telling us what was told to them along the way.

One thing that's for sure is that while you say A4L is terrible. They may have the same to say about you and your communication with them. Whether you were providing good information to them. Whether you were being rude to them. Demanding from the start. Or anything like that. Not saying you were, but we are really only hearing one side of the story.

It can be frustrating when you order something and it doesn't work, and I do believe any retailer does have a requirement to make things right. Certainly A4L, if they sent out a product which does not work, should be responsible for eating shipping costs. Not that they want to, but if you are exchanging the item because it is defective, they should want it back and test it in-house to ensure that it actually is defective as stated so they can possibly work things out with their supplier. I mean, if they got 'factory refurbished speakers', which don't work, then A4L is getting screwed over. Not just the customers. And it leads to things like this.

I mean really. A4L doesn't open up the boxes to test things. They just sell boxes of refurb gear which they assume should be working.

 

[ssmokeyy]

Look, you had a bad experience with a company. It happens. It doesn't make the company bad, it makes that single experience bad, which isn't a good thing, but it happens. Many others here have had nothing but a good experience with them. That's super important that you understand that most people did not have the same experience that you had. It also matters that we are only getting your side of the story. Which means that A4L isn't here telling us what was told to them along the way.

One thing that's for sure is that while you say A4L is terrible. They may have the same to say about you and your communication with them. Whether you were providing good information to them. Whether you were being rude to them. Demanding from the start. Or anything like that. Not saying you were, but we are really only hearing one side of the story.

It can be frustrating when you order something and it doesn't work, and I do believe any retailer does have a requirement to make things right. Certainly A4L, if they sent out a product which does not work, should be responsible for eating shipping costs. Not that they want to, but if you are exchanging the item because it is defective, they should want it back and test it in-house to ensure that it actually is defective as stated so they can possibly work things out with their supplier. I mean, if they got 'factory refurbished speakers', which don't work, then A4L is getting screwed over. Not just the customers. And it leads to things like this.

I mean really. A4L doesn't open up the boxes to test things. They just sell boxes of refurb gear which they assume should be working.

I updated my last post. i didn't double check what i was saying in the last post. I was saying maybe a4l isn't a bad company but jeff is a bad employee. He either doesn't know how to do his job, doesn't give a poop, or lying to us. I have the emails showing both sides since i was forwarded in those but again its not my place to put others emails on here. Also jeff told my friend and i that they were out of refurbs and since us 2 new ones. Funny that everyone states they are a refurb company so where did the new gear come from. This is a he said she said crap but on avs forum jeff has a bad rep there with doing the same crap to some people there. To the point they had to talk to his boss. I'm done with this and going to drop it now. I just wanted to fix what i said in the last post.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

From what I'm getting from people is when it goes smooth and the gear works everything is great but if u get some gear that's not working it's the customers fault and u should give this company money for free and not expect them to fix anything. Very poor customer service to almost criminal.

I would never buy refurb from any company, including A4L.

We have heard from forum members who have been happy buying things from A4L.

I'm not aware of their shipping policy. From what you are saying, if A4L ships you a defective item, you are responsible for paying shipping charges both ways? Even if you just want them to REPLACE the defective items?

 

[Tankini]

I would never buy refurb from any company, including A4L.

We have heard from forum members who have been happy buying things from A4L.

I'm not aware of their shipping policy. From what you are saying, if A4L ships you a defective item, you are responsible for paying shipping charges both ways? Even if you just want them to REPLACE the defective items?

I believe you are correct, they do State in Their company policy, 1#, a restocking fee, plus shipping both ways. To My knowledge there isn't any law that states a company must refund money in full. Outside of taking the company to small claim Court, in the state and county with which it resides that's about all the action that a consumer has for justice. The implied warranty differs from state to state for some kind of protected. With that I would imagine could be very expensive take a company to court on a case like that.

The only thing I could see would be class action lawsuit which could take years, you'd have to have a whole bunch of people joining in with a law firm willing to take the case.

I've only used A4L once, way back in 2016 picked up a Yamaha AVR 7790 paid 310 total. Gave that AVR to my Grandson to use in his PS5 setup, still performing flawlessly.

I have read Numerous bad reviews disgruntled customers. But there's Always Two sides.

 

[TLS Guy]

I updated my last post. i didn't double check what i was saying in the last post. I was saying maybe a4l isn't a bad company but jeff is a bad employee. He either doesn't know how to do his job, doesn't give a poop, or lying to us. I have the emails showing both sides since i was forwarded in those but again its not my place to put others emails on here. Also jeff told my friend and i that they were out of refurbs and since us 2 new ones. Funny that everyone states they are a refurb company so where did the new gear come from. This is a he said she said crap but on avs forum jeff has a bad rep there with doing the same crap to some people there. To the point they had to talk to his boss. I'm done with this and going to drop it now. I just wanted to fix what i said in the last post.

I have had further thoughts on this. I doubt they would have told you those speakers work if they didn't. What voltage of battery did you use to test those speakers?
I am wondering if you charge up the caps with a high enough DC voltage that could not pass a signal. Then on the return trip the caps slowly discharged, and the speakers worked again.

I can be almost 100% certain that this speakers were protected against low pass, by a series cap at the input.

 

[lovinthehd]

I believe you are correct, they do State in Their company policy, 1#, a restocking fee, plus shipping both ways. To My knowledge there isn't any law that states a company must refund money in full. Outside of taking the company to small claim Court, in the state and county with which it resides that's about all the action that a consumer has for justice. The implied warranty differs from state to state for some kind of protected. With that I would imagine could be very expensive take a company to court on a case like that.

The only thing I could see would be class action lawsuit which could take years, you'd have to have a whole bunch of people joining in with a law firm willing to take the case.

I've only used A4L once, way back in 2016 picked up a Yamaha AVR 7790 paid 310 total. Give that AVR to my Grandson to use in his PS5 setup, still performing flawlessly.

I have read Numerous bad reviews disgruntled customers. But there's Always Two sides.

No, that's not the return policy on defective product. Here's the policy.

All I saw was an ad for a refurb of this particular speaker, but they do sometimes also carry new product (have had that experience myself where I ended up buying new after returning a defective refurb). The refurbs in my case were from Denon, and assume the refurbs in this case were from Definitive Tech's (a sister brand of Denon, tho so maybe same contractor handles the refurbs before A4L)

Mark Sabbarese (sp?) is the owner of A4L. Maybe the employee is the problem here, hard to know. I think it would be odd that they would ship you new product if you purchased refurb product, as their pricing wouldn't be the same.

ps the odds that both speakers, either refurb or new, would be simultaneously defective would be pretty high....

 

[Tankini]

No, that's not the return policy on defective product. Here's the policy.

All I saw was an ad for a refurb of this particular speaker, but they do sometimes also carry new product (have had that experience myself where I ended up buying new after returning a defective refurb). The refurbs in my case were from Denon, and assume the refurbs in this case were from Definitive Tech's (a sister brand of Denon, tho so maybe same contractor handles the refurbs before A4L)

Mark Sabbarese (sp?) is the owner of A4L. Maybe the employee is the problem here, hard to know. I think it would be odd that they would ship you new product if you purchased refurb product, as their pricing wouldn't be the same.

ps the odds that both speakers, either refurb or new, would be simultaneously defective would be pretty high....

@lovinthehd, thanks for the correction, still a good return policy though. 10-15% still not bad, plus a few other criteria's which is understandable on their part. I looked at their return Policy but didn't read it thoroughly.
they are not say, Amazon that pulls in billions in yearly sales. Shipping alone to and fro can become very expensive with all the of sales that A4L has yearly.

 

[lovinthehd]

@lovinthehd, thanks for the correction, still a good return policy though. 10-15% still not bad, plus a few other criteria's which is understandable on their part. I looked at their return Policy but didn't read it thoroughly.
Their not say, Amazon that pulls in billions in yearly sales. Shipping alone to and fro can become very expensive with all the of sales that A4L has yearly.

Shipping can be more expensive for just about anyone compared to Amazon. Amazon returns tend to be warehoused and resold in lots from what I've seen. I would think A4L gathers them up on defectives and goes to the brand for credit/return.

A4L will grill you a bit on a return, as many buy refurb and just change their mind or get worried....but they will handle shipping if they approve the return. I had to share my knowledge as to how to set up and troubleshoot my avr issues and do resets, etc. They even went a few days beyond the 30 day window on my second refurb that was bad, as it took like 32 days to go belly up, that's when I opted for a bit more expensive but new unit of the same model. They carried more new choices back then, too, from what I've seen recently.

 

[ssmokeyy]

Friend never asked for a return. He asked for a warranty replacement. Jeff just picked what he was going to do. Didn't ask him what he wanted to do even after we both told him before sending these speakers back that he wants a warranty replacement. Again I see this as bad customer service. This whole thing about caps stopping 9v testing from working and not getting an ohm reading I do not buy it. My deff techs in my living room show ohms, elac , klipsch friends kef all show ohms. Also they didn't work with an anthem avr.

 

[TLS Guy]

Friend never asked for a return. He asked for a warranty replacement. Jeff just picked what he was going to do. Didn't ask him what he wanted to do even after we both told him before sending these speakers back that he wants a warranty replacement. Again I see this as bad customer service. This whole thing about caps stopping 9v testing from working and not getting an ohm reading I do not buy it. My deff techs in my living room show ohms, elac , klipsch friends kef all show ohms. Also they didn't work with an anthem avr.

You are clearly a very inexperienced technician. Those speakers had only 4" drivers, and in the speck are described as mid range speakers. Those speakers had NO bass drivers. So it would be normal practice to protect them with an inline series cap.

 

[highfigh]

I have had further thoughts on this. I doubt they would have told you those speakers work if they didn't. What voltage of battery did you use to test those speakers?
I am wondering if you charge up the caps with a high enough DC voltage that could not pass a signal. Then on the return trip the caps slowly discharged, and the speakers worked again.

I can be almost 100% certain that this speakers were protected against low pass, by a series cap at the input.

As soon as a charged cap is connected to a low resistance load, it will discharge. It's not a case of using a car battery to test the speakers and having seeing frozen voice coils with the cones at full outward excursion in a pair of dead Jensen car speakers at the stereo store where I worked, I can say with certainty that it's a bad idea. However, it only affects the woofers and any HP caps will only be damaged if the voltage exceeds their rating.

I'm not really a fan of using batteries to test speakers unless the person knows that the connection should be very brief. A tone generator is much better.

This whole thread smells of "I don't know what I should do!" and "I didn't RTFM or the sellers policies and now, I want to blame someone!".

 

[highfigh]

Friend never asked for a return. He asked for a warranty replacement. Jeff just picked what he was going to do. Didn't ask him what he wanted to do even after we both told him before sending these speakers back that he wants a warranty replacement. Again I see this as bad customer service. This whole thing about caps stopping 9v testing from working and not getting an ohm reading I do not buy it. My deff techs in my living room show ohms, elac , klipsch friends kef all show ohms. Also they didn't work with an anthem avr.

Dealers don't provide their own warranty on someone else's products unless they want to p!ss away a lot of money.

If someone lets another person tell them what to buy, the buyer should have done a bit of research and gotten some useful info before doing anything.

The first problem is that a 9V battery was used. You don't seem to understand that with a low resistance load, a battery can dump enough current to burn things and in fact, a survival kit can include steel wool and a 9V battery for starting a fire. Yeah, the steel wool will become red/yellow hot and dried bark, grass, etc will burn. It can also cause the coins in someone's pocket to become so hot that the person will become very agitated and reach in, to remove everything because it was burning their leg because the plastic cover had fallen off of the terminals. Ask me how I know.

BTW- 9V batteries contain six smaller batteries in series- open one and see for yourself but make sure it's dead before starting.

Batteries really shouldn't be used to test speakers, which are designed to see ABSOLUTELY NO DC VOLTAGE! It can be OK to do that with a AA or AAA battery if the wires touch the battery terminals briefly, but if they were held on for too long, yes, it can damage the High Pass capacitor that some companies use to protect their Center channel and other tiny speakers from an AVR that wasn't set up correctly and clueless users who think they know how to test speakers. Small drivers aren't able to handle low frequencies, so a cap is the easy way to prevent that if they use something other than an AVR with adjustable crossover frequencies.

If a cap is/was used in his speakers, you won't see a number for Ohms, unless it's very briefly. Caps don't allow DC to pass and a multimeter uses DC Voltage to indicate resistance. You can't measure impedance, BTW- that needs to be done using AC Voltage.

 

[Danzilla31]

Friend never asked for a return. He asked for a warranty replacement. Jeff just picked what he was going to do. Didn't ask him what he wanted to do even after we both told him before sending these speakers back that he wants a warranty replacement. Again I see this as bad customer service. This whole thing about caps stopping 9v testing from working and not getting an ohm reading I do not buy it. My deff techs in my living room show ohms, elac , klipsch friends kef all show ohms. Also they didn't work with an anthem avr.

I'm sorry for your friend. I've seen your posts not just here but over on AVS on this subject. I remember on the avs thread you acknowledged that there were some things you and your friend could've done on your end better.

Reading the fine print a little better and having a video record of you being able to display the issue being the two biggest ones that stand out.

I also noticed you didn't seem too happy when a lot of forum members vouched for accessories 4less and had no bad experiences with them.

Maybe this was just an unfortunate outlier for your friend but it doesn't seem to be the experience of the majority of members that have used this company in our community

Which makes me want to hear accessories 4less side as well as yours about this situation before I'd even attempt to have an opinion one way or the other

Regardless I hope your friend gets his issues either resolved or finds a better alternative elsewhere if not. Sounds like a situation where you guys just learn from your mistakes and move on. We've all been in your shoes before on that.

 

[lovinthehd]

Friend never asked for a return. He asked for a warranty replacement. Jeff just picked what he was going to do. Didn't ask him what he wanted to do even after we both told him before sending these speakers back that he wants a warranty replacement. Again I see this as bad customer service. This whole thing about caps stopping 9v testing from working and not getting an ohm reading I do not buy it. My deff techs in my living room show ohms, elac , klipsch friends kef all show ohms. Also they didn't work with an anthem avr.

Odd thing to request warranty thru the retailer, the warranty would be through the brand/manufacturer. How many days had elapsed since purchase?

 

[ssmokeyy]

You are clearly a very inexperienced technician. Those speakers had only 4" drivers, and in the speck are described as mid range speakers. Those speakers had NO bass drivers. So it would be normal practice to protect them with an inline series cap.

Why would klipsch atmos speakers with 1 4 inch driver vs the def tech that has 4 4 inch drivers show ohms ?

 

[ssmokeyy]

As soon as a charged cap is connected to a low resistance load, it will discharge. It's not a case of using a car battery to test the speakers and having seeing frozen voice coils with the cones at full outward excursion in a pair of dead Jensen car speakers at the stereo store where I worked, I can say with certainty that it's a bad idea. However, it only affects the woofers and any HP caps will only be damaged if the voltage exceeds their rating.

I'm not really a fan of using batteries to test speakers unless the person knows that the connection should be very brief. A tone generator is much better.

This whole thread smells of "I don't know what I should do!" and "I didn't RTFM or the sellers policies and now, I want to blame someone!".

Who said anyone used a car battery? How many ways do u need to test a speaker before u call it dead? 3 is more than enough in my book.

 

[ssmokeyy]

Odd thing to request warranty thru the retailer, the warranty would be through the brand/manufacturer. How many days had elapsed since purchase?

25 days before he called in to a4l for warranty. Def tech said its out of there hands becuase it was less than 30 days. We found the dm20 local and havent had any problems with them. Also on avsforum post there were just as many people who had problems with a4l vs the ones who have blind trust in that company. Yes we should have taken video of all the test to prove our point. But doesnt mean Jeff at a4l is correct either. A4l or Jeff didn't prove to us that the speakers work either.