Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Home Theater...

[samNOISE]

Bose

Here is a letter that I wrote to Bose after a very unpleasant experience with their Vancouver, BC outlet, the letter pretty much explains the circumstances predating it... they never replied

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Hello from Penticton, BC.

Visited your Bose center in downtown Vancouver this weekend in order to purchase a set of Bose 901 speaker systems. Wanted a set of 901’s for many years and was set to satisfy that desire, cash in hand.

However, upon entering your Vancouver facility and inquiring about an audition, I was informed that the Bose 901 speakers were packed in boxes and I would not be able to hear them. I asked if they would bring the loudspeakers up to the front showroom (where I was), so that I could physically see the speakers. I was informed that I would not be allowed to see them either – even though they were in fact in the building, a mere wall, (back storage), from where we stood. Their rationall for this was that if the packaging was opened, the value of the loudspeakers would be decreased...

My only option, according to the sales manager (to whom I was speaking), was to be this; I must purchase them, take them home, and listen to them. If I was not keen on the speakers, I was to ship it back – at my cost. The absurdity of this, and I informed them of the situation; was that I live over 500 Km from Vancouver.

Consider for a moment that this is the main promotional center of Bose products in British Columbia – and none of it’s residents are able to hear nor even see for that matter, the flagship model in the Bose model line! As a last ditch effort I inquired as to the chances of coming back later in the week to hear the 901s, going out of my way to stay an extra day in the city – just for the purpose of auditioning a set of properly set up Bose 901 loudspeakers. This would, I felt, allow the staff time to setup the speakers. (I assumed that the manager was simply pushed for time and didn’t want to set them up then and there). Wrong: the answer was still no. This, with a total of three staff members standing around, with no other clients in the building but me.

It was not that I did not look like a potential customer, I am a clean-cut, very well-dressed, 38-year old male - the absolutely ideal target market for your company’s flagship loudspeaker product.

If the attitude exemplified by this sales team is not ridiculous, I cannot imagine what is!

So, quite upset, I moved on to Sound Plus on West Broadway in Vancouver to audition a set of Magnepan loudspeakers. Not only did they offer up a cup of wonderful cappuccino moments after I walked in their door, but they allowed me to sit and listen to a [wide] variety of speakers in several different showrooms, pandering to my every request as far as swapping out components, moving items around the room etc. At the end of this listening session I walked out with a pair of Magnepan 1.6’s – loudspeakers that were equal to, if not more expensive than, your company’s product. Money was not the point – service was! Sound Plus’s simple attitude of “accommodate the client's A/V needs” earned them a sale, and it earned the Bose sales team my eternal scorn. You can imagine what I will tell friends about my Bose experience for the rest of my days.

Andrew D
(Full name & email removed)

 

[Sheep]

You live in BC? Cool! I was up in Nakusp a week ago.

SheepStar

 

[samNOISE]

Sheep

Sheep,

Ya man, BC is a pretty cool place. I was brought up as an armed forces brat, thus have lived (all) across Canada - and I can honestly say, this place is the best of the bunch! Now if only we could dump that one pesky tax like the Albertans did...

Yes, Nakusp is a very nice place - next time you are in the area, take a drive up the mountains and dip into their excellent hot springs. Its dirt cheap to use, clean and is located in a beautiful and fairly isolated spot. Also, check out Nelson, its just South of there a few hours - a very unique, very cool spot as well!

Can you answer me a question? I have a whack of LPs in excellent condition that I wish to post in the classified 'for sale' section, but 14 posts later, it appears that I still don't have enough posts logged with this forum so that admin will allow me permission to post to the classified section. Might you know what the magic number of posts is that I must attain?

Andrew D.
http://www.cdnav.com/free_&_legal.htm

 

[juxtiphi]

dope

you want a story I got one.


I need a new amp so I go down to circuit city, while I'm there I notice an open box buy concerning a Harmon Kardon 135HT for 500 bucks.

so I pick it up.

I set the thing up and all is well. However the next day when I turn it on the amp goes into Protect mode.

now I now this is usually caused by a short or touching speaker wires you know,...

so I did a controlled pull out of of each and every wire and component looking for the problem.

when I had taken out all the connections I tried to turn it on again and it was still in protect mode. EVEN WITH NOTHING CONNECTED!!

after trying to reset it and all that happy horse **** I became fed up and brought it back.

circuit city tried to tell me that the electricity at my house must be causeing this and that I needed to spend 150 bucks for what they call a line conditioner because my 55 dollar surge protector isnt enough.

I aint buy nothin so I tell them to plug it in and they will see that it wont work.

It friggin worked!! so I brought it home set it back up and it worked until I shut the f#$ker off!!

turn it on the next day its back to protect mode.

so I brought it all back again and asked to exchange it for a new one they told me I would have to pay the difference!!

I was so pissed, why offer something as a bargain and not be willing to exchange it at that price.

if I had the extra 200 bucks I would have bought something else in the first place.

the only reason I bought it was because it was at a reduced price.

how is it a deal if I have to bring it back and pay the difference.

ITs not a deal at all , they are useing an underhanded tactic to force someone to buy a new one at full price!!


Circuit city sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hemiram]

Another one of thse horror stories was when I decided to have a friend make a slightly modified copy of a home entertainment center that was at a local store. The main mods were just to make it bigger in all dimensions, and to put outlets and pass through holes for wires and cooling in it. It was going to be done with Oak veneer over 1" plywood and Oak plywood, and faced with solid Oak, just like the original, and stained and varnished. It will hold a 37" LCD, all my other equipment, and 4 of the 5 the drawers on each side will each hold about 40 DVDs each, the other drawer on each side is for "junk". i used to have a link to the original piece, but it's been dead a long time now..

Now this guy does amazing work, it's as good as anything I have ever seen, regardless of price, but he's slow..to the max. He SWEARS it will be done in 3 months. I go over a few weeks later, and he's got quite a few parts cut out, and quite a few are ready to be cut. I think he's actually gonna get it done. Then, a whole lot of stuff happens. First, his dad has a stroke, and has to be moved to a nursing home. So there goes a couple of weeks, and I have no problem with it. Then, his wife decides they HAVE to go to Australia, where she is from, before Labor day. She's a teacher, so it makes sense, and there goes a couple more weeks. Then he's sick when he gets back, and then..

Well it's after Christmas, it's not much further than it was when I saw it, and I finally run out of patience with him, and tell him to forget it, I'll pay for the wood and stuff, and ask him how much for doing the job (I've known him for 45 years, and price was never really discussed before) to the point he was at.
He gets all insulted, and we get into a huge fight. We don't talk for a while, and then run into each other at the local car dealership while getting our trucks worked on. He swears it will be done by the end of summer. I say ok, great, I'll just sell the one I bought in the paper or something. It's a POS anyway, and cost me almost nothing.

So..summer rolls on by, his dad dies, and now it was close to thanksgiving, and I'm more amused than upset at this point. I go over and there's dust a mile thick on the same pile of parts I saw before, but there were two new pieces! WOW. They were Oak facings for the front, and must have taken all of 15 minutes to lay out and cut. I made a joke saying I'll be on Social Securtity before it's done, and off he went! I just left, never said a word.

That was 2004, it's STILL not done! He has cut out almost all the pieces, and the drawers are almost done (not stained or anything though). We are talking again, and his wife, as a birthday present to me, promises she will nag the hell out of him to get it finished.

Funny thing is, I can't use it now! It wouldn't even fit into the room I have my stuff set up in, and I don't have the money now to set up the living room like I was going to do it previously! So, if/when I do get it, it's probably going to be sold on ebay or something. I should get some decent money for it, but he's gonna flip when I tell him I won't be using it. I don't even want to think what it's going to weigh when it's all done. It's got to be over 700 pounds. My mother had a wall unit that was 680, and this thing is heavier and deeper. Just one 4X8 sheet of that plywood weighs a bunch! It's going to be in 3 "modules" that will have to be put together "on site". I may just have to tell him to stop and just build his kid a new PC as a gift to keep him from melting down.