Elemental Designs.... don't bother about their customers

[Matt34]

I wish they would handle my problem admirably. But unfortunately they have chose not too. As far as their product being of good quality, that is a matter of opinion. Read the full subwoofer review post on this site from mike c. He experienced the problems of eD as well. Also there are other threads on this site mentioning their amplifiers catching on fire. I've given Alex at eD until Friday evening to reply with a tracking number to let me know that a new subwoofer speaker and a new plate amp are on the way, otherwise off to court we go. And as far as them being the best bang for the buck....consider this. The eD subs pride themselves on making awesome cabinets with heavy materials and bracing. Yet then the install a crappy amp, sloppy sub, and plastic ports. Then they finish the unit off in an unattractive rubber coating. eD is a company known for making custom cabinets for cars, not attractive home audio products. Their amps aren't made by them. The subs are questionable. And for $100 LESS money you can buy the an MFW15 powered subwoofer which is attractive, not ugly, and well built with an appropriate slotted port instead of a rattling plastic port. Oh yeah, and it has 50 more RMS watts of power than the current A5-350! So I'm getting one of these!!

I know you just didn't use the MWF-15 as a reference to quality?

That move is like stepping out of a mouse trap straight into a bear pit.

 

[mike c]

I wish they would handle my problem admirably. But unfortunately they have chose not too. As far as their product being of good quality, that is a matter of opinion. Read the full subwoofer review post on this site from mike c. He experienced the problems of eD as well. Also there are other threads on this site mentioning their amplifiers catching on fire. I've given Alex at eD until Friday evening to reply with a tracking number to let me know that a new subwoofer speaker and a new plate amp are on the way, otherwise off to court we go. And as far as them being the best bang for the buck....consider this. The eD subs pride themselves on making awesome cabinets with heavy materials and bracing. Yet then the install a crappy amp, sloppy sub, and plastic ports. Then they finish the unit off in an unattractive rubber coating. eD is a company known for making custom cabinets for cars, not attractive home audio products. Their amps aren't made by them. The subs are questionable. And for $100 LESS money you can buy the an MFW15 powered subwoofer which is attractive, not ugly, and well built with an appropriate slotted port instead of a rattling plastic port. Oh yeah, and it has 50 more RMS watts of power than the current A5-350! So I'm getting one of these!!

may i ask why you don't complain about this on the AVSforum eD thread? there are but a few eD users here ...

 

[tedhontz]

I just went to a customer's house that has a MFW15. While it is not as heavy it works much better than my A5-350 ever did. I'm still not set on the MFW15 because I've read some post about issues with that company as well. I am also looking at an SVS subwoofer. While they do cost more money, I think that extra money just may be worth it. Oh, and as to why I don't post my complaints on the AVS forum....... I went to the AVS forum and searched for elemental designs. I couldn't find any mentions on any thread about their amp problems, actually any problems. Then I read their thread about how great they were and noticed something fishy. The thread was ran and controlled by two people that run the eD company! And then right next to the thread is advertisements to buy eD products! So I knew I'd be wasting my time on that site.

 

[Adam]

I'll put in my support for SVS. I had nothing but outstanding customer service from them, and I'm very happy with my PC13-Ultra.

 

[alexlindeman]

Yes Alex is watching these boards quite well. We'll see how long my complaint stays on here. I regrettably bought an eD A5-350. It caught on fire and their response was to send me a so called new plate amp that had a screw missing, a loose bolt, and finger prints all over it. It was defective from the minute I installed it and the eD subwoofer speaker itself has been damaged from when the first amp caught on fire. Alex at eD has ignored emails and has lied to me about me even being a customer and stated my unit was out of warranty until I found my paperwork to prove otherwise. Then he blamed me for the problem. I'm not an idiot. This is definitely not the first powered sub I've owned, yet this is the first one to have non-stop problems. I am in process of filing a small claims suit against Elemental Designs for denying my requests for warranty service. I have pictures of the char broiled amp that eD admits has issues which is why they've discontinued this amp on this model. Now I paid extra to upgrade from the LT/350 to the LT/550 and they want $125 to replace it with a downgraded 300 watt amp while under warranty! Do not purchase from this company! Do your homework, and on unbiased sites. If the forums contain the users Chris and Alex, well they run Elemental Designs and are gonna brag up their junk and lie their butts off. You've been warned!

This will be my sole post on the situation, as we do not discuss customer specific situations online.

When Ted had an issue with his original amplifier, we shipped out a replacement. It was not brought to our attention that his replacement amplifier was missing screws and had a loose bolt.

He was not the original purchaser, and because of this I could not find his order in the system. He stated that over a year ago his amplifier was replaced. This puts the amplifier electronics out of warranty. Which is why it was stated as such.

The speaker we use in this cabinet was removed and he installed another different brand speaker. Thus modifying the setup. Which we never suggested.

I offered a replacement amplifier at a discounted rate, as the amplifier is out of warranty. We have had a couple customers go from the LT/550 to the LT.300 with positive results.

The replacement amplifier also worked before leaving. The issue Ted appears to be having with the amplifier, is that he is reaching the protection circuitry and the unit shutting off. This is a setting issue.

AVSforum is unbiased, just as much as any other site. Its just a large share of their visitors have found our equipment to work well in their applications.

Now I apologize for any issues you have had, but I am working my hardest to get the situation take care of.

I requested that you send the amplifiers and speaker back so we can examine them.

Alex Lindeman
Elemental Designs

 

[jinjuku]

Thanks for the filling in the gaps. I hate it when a person gets on a forum and out of purely selfish interests posts half truths. Especially when they run counter to my own personal experience with eD and what I hear from others.

I was wondering what the full story was and now I know. You should never be afraid of defending your company and product in the light of having done nothing intentionally wrong.

 

[tedhontz]

jinjuku, please don't rush to conclusions. Alex gave his final wording and I will reply. The original owner purchased the unit on 9-24-2007 according to my original paperwork. I called eD and transferred ownership information as allowed in the transferable warranty. I then received a confirmation email from eD welcoming me as a customer. I transferred the information in my name so that they could ship me out a replacement amp UNDER WARRRANTY on 5-19-08. On 6-11-08 I sent an email to eD stating that the REPLACEMENT AMP was defective. NOTE, this was all done while within the one year warranty. Elemental Designs dropped the ball and never resolved the issue under warranty. As far as me installing another brand of sub in the box let me say this. I was instructed to hook 9 volt batteries or a multimeter to the voice coils on the defective sub to see if it was bad. I told the tech I didn't have a multimeter and didn't want to be touching anything with 9 volt batteries as that was a ridiculous thing to ask a customer to do. I was given permission by eD to put the other sub in the box to test it. The sub was the same ohm rating and wouldn't hurt an amp. This was done only temporarily to prove that once I installed my other sub the rattling sound went away. I find it funny that he is using that against me as an out clause. I also find it funny that they had no trouble pulling my information up in their system to send me a replacement amp but now all the sudden they didn't know who I was until I spent two days going through moving boxes to find my original receipt and order number. I don't know why it is so hard for Alex to admit that Elemental Designs dropped the ball on this one. Every company makes mistakes now and then. But when they do they need to accept responsibility. They say the LT/550 amp isn't a problematic amp yet there are multiple threads on this site saying that their amps caught on fire just like mine did. Mike C on this site had issues with this company as well. Alex told me in an email today that it was Mike's fault for testing the sub outside of the enclosure and that is why it blew up. eD will probably blame me for blowing up my sub yet I have a paper from the local pro shop saying it's just as likely that my sub was damaged when my first amp became char broiled. Actually my subwoofer never sounded right after that incident which is why I tested a different subwoofer in the enclosure. There is no way to tell if the sub was damaged by the amp clipping it or me overextending it which if it was a good sub, shouldn't of happened so nothing will be proved here. I didn't want to start fights but I don't like Alex lying and saying it was out of warranty when my dates prove that this all happened under warranty and eD never fixed the problem and still isn't fixing the problem. Now I can submit for all to see my original emails showing that I complained about these issues while under the one year warranty. I can also show you an email from the tech telling me to hookup 9 volts batteries to the unit. I have all the emails and all the dates and the evidence shows the truth. So, if Alex is okay with it I'll post the emails for proof that I'm telling the truth here and I'm getting shafted. Something tells me that Alex wouldn't like me posting those emails and I'm not out to crush him, I'm out to get my unit fixed under warranty like it should've been a long time ago! So there you have both sides of the story. Alex never did anything about my complaints because he thought my unit was out of warranty and thank god I have the original emails sent to prove it was actually UNDER warranty. Now I'll wait to see what happens and I'll post back to let everyone know. I'm hoping they will resolve this issue so that the outcome can be a positive one.

 

[mike c]

Alex told me in an email today that it was Mike's fault for testing the sub outside of the enclosure and that is why it blew up.

did he?

1) i wouldn't disassemble a working sub in the first place
2) i was given permission to remove the driver BECAUSE it wasn't working properly in the first place
3) i made sure with an SPL meter that i did not exceed a minimal amount of excursion (it sure as hell way less than the excursion videos on eD"s own site)

and the only reason i brought out the driver to make a video of the noise was because apparently, eD was conveniently NOT understanding what was wrong with my sub. [i didn't know then that they were gonna leave me hanging]

4) the "replacement driver" was just as crappy

that is why i did not want to talk about eD.
it's never their fault.
and always a twist of the truth (yes, lies) alex, ben and chris know about WHY i took out the driver ... and yet they keep bringing up the fact the lie that i blew the driver by playing it outside the box. [and everytime i bring up sharing the chat log files, they shut up *saved as word documents]

why don't they EVER bring up the fact, the drivers had from the VERY BEGINNING exhibited driver noise.

at one point they blamed the shipping guy.

why don't they EVER bring up that the new drivers FROM THE PHILIPPINES (no shipping whatsoever) was ALSO exhibiting driver noise at stupid low levels of movie content.

the two AMPS i have, have totally different sensitivities on the input side, so to balance them one is maxed out, while one is at 12 noon.

so yeah, i'm glad some of you got great service, but it sure doesn't mean you got great service that noone else got shafted.


i was good to leave all this behind me, BUT I WILL NOT LET eD LIE about me!

to eD: you want to play mud slinging? you can have your lies and I can tell the truth. let's see who hurts who.

 

[mike c]

Thanks for the filling in the gaps. I hate it when a person gets on a forum and out of purely selfish interests posts half truths. Especially when they run counter to my own personal experience with eD and what I hear from others.

I was wondering what the full story was and now I know. You should never be afraid of defending your company and product in the light of having done nothing intentionally wrong.

i'm glad you got great service.

but it looks like eD DOES screw people over.

 

[jinjuku]

I just want to see salient posts that bring out a chain of events supported by facts.

Mud slinging only confuses the problem at hand. Emails and phone logs are to the point and clear up any chain of events so you know how the actual transaction unfolds.

Too many posts where the complainer comes out sounding childish. Put the facts out there. Put the chronological order of events out there. Let those things speak for themselves.

I 100% understand that Mike C and Tedhontz have had a different experience than I. That is unfortunate. One of the other issues is one of benefit of the doubt. The more reasoned post backed up with actual detail is going to be heard loud and clear.

Ted, your last post is the type of post I look for. Has details letting me know the chain of custody and events. My suggestion if the events are as they are told to us? eD should make you two whole. Bottom line. If it is a pain to deal with customers in another country, then don't offer product.

 

[tedhontz]

thank you jinjuku for the more understanding and supportive reply. I have to say I was quite upset at your original comment when I'm the consumer that is telling the truth and getting screwed over. And thank you Mike for backing me up on here as well. It's really sad that it's come all the way to this. I've had to spend countless hours of retrieving all emails sent and received from Elemental Designs. Like most of you on here most likely, I work very hard for the money to buy my stereo components. For me I refuse to go in debt for any of this equipment so I pay cash and hard earned cash at that. And when I throw out money for a product I want it to work right or be fixed just like all of us would most likely. When I have to go on the defensive for a product that I paid hard earned money for, it just infuriates me. So I'm saving my piggies up to just get the SVS PB13 Ultra and be done with it. Until then I'll use my 7 year old Fosgate Audionics FA15.0 which somehow as an idiot customer that doesn't know how to set gain (sarcasm) I've managed to keep working just fine all these years. But thanks again jinjuku for the understanding this time I appreciate it.

 

[mike c]

thanks jinjuku. i really didn't want to be the whiney guy on the forum complaining ... i didn't even finish my eD review because i was too disappointed.

it's just that someone keeps bringing it up (that in itself is ok) but someone has always been misled into believing i fumbled the ball. last time this chitstorm happened a few weeks ago on AVS ... (i don't even know why eD wants to keep bringing this up) Ben Milne said that "this was their livelihood", i figured with the US economy and all ... i dropped the topic then and there. now Alex starts these lies again.

and these eD subs aren't the first to pass through my hands [having two really eliminates the possibility of a faulty sub], i've played with a few subs ... and they don't die by themselves, even cheaper ones.

eD did not do the shipping from the US to the PH. i have a guy in CA that does my shipping for me and he handles the stuff like his own stuff. [oh and eD tried and will probably try again to blame shipping damage, well it was in this same container with 2 other subs that were perfectly fine] for all they care, i could be in IOWA doing chats during unholy PH times, tons of email (on my part), long distance calls.

of the months of daily chatting with Chris of eD ... i really treated him as a friend, i understand that it was out of his hands if their boss DID NOT WANT to answer for the product, so i did not push as much. otherwise, when i get screwed, i get even.

oh, i heard Chris wasn't with eD anymore ... hmmm.