Well I will NOT be buying Paradigm again.. You need to know

[Hawst]

I am venting so please try to understand...

I bought a pair of Studio 100s about 6 months ago and one of the tweeters quit. I am thinking no biggie right? Just called Paradigm service to get a warranty replacement. They told me I need to go back to the place where I bought them.

I did but they no longer sell Paradigm and they said good luck working with them and good luck getting your speaker fixed!

At the time of purchase there were NO Paradigm Reference dealers in Dallas so I had to order them out of state from another dealer. And now they no longer carry Paradigm.

So I called paradigm back to see who is the closest dealer to me and explained my dealer at the time of purchase no longer sells Paradigm - and Gary @ Paradigm tells me well good luck as they may not fix them for you! I am like you are joking right? He says no, if you didnt buy the speakers from them they don’t have to warranty yours. Unbelievable! So I am thinking he is just having an off day and I call the dealer (which is new to Dallas and just happens to be about 4 freakin blocks from me - which in a normal situation would be a good thing) and they tell me that they do not do warranty work! I am like, comon here please can you help as you are the only local dealer I have to work with here.

He explains that they are a design studio that works with custom home builders and designers and they do not sell to the public! Arg! I continue to beg and he tells me he will at least call his rep to see if the regional rep will help out but do not get your hopes up.

After I get this speaker repaired these things will be up for sale ASAP. I will never buy from them again. This is ridiculous!

I knew it was a bad sign when it was so hard to locate a Paradigm dealer - as there was a reason for this and I should have bought something better supported by dealers.

Who cares how nice they are if they break on you in 6 months and dont really have a warranty???

/pesedoff

 

[corysmith01]

...and Gary @ Paradigm tells me well good luck as they may not fix them for you! I am like you are joking right? He says no, if you didnt buy the speakers from them they don’t have to warranty yours. Unbelievable! So I am thinking he is just having an off day

If this is true, that's shocking. Those are some relatively spendy speakers, and it seems like they'd want to bend over backwards to keep a current owner happy in the hopes that he/she becomes a continued buyer/supporter of the brand. Wow. I'm pretty amazed they didn't try to figure out alternative solutions for you. Bummer. Good luck.

 

[RMK!]

Was the company you purchased the speakers from an authorized dealer when you bought them? Unfortunately, it is the buyer’s responsibility to make this determination before buying. In any case, that is ridiculously bad customer service and I feel for you. I'm sure if you write a letter or send an e-mail to Paradigm (upper management) they will resolve this for you.

I had a very different experience. I purchased my Monitor Audio speakers from the now defunct Good Guys stores. I had a midbass driver go out and I called MA's North America Distributor Kevro Intl. The immediately sent me a replacement driver no questions asked.

 

[majorloser]

Can the speaker be sent back to the factory for repairs? I would think if you have a sales receipt you can prove the date of sale for warranty and that the company purchased from was indead an authorized retailer at the time of sale.

I can not speak for Paradigm, but I have had to send speakers and electronics back to the factory for repairs many times. I have found that the cost of shipping to the factory is far better than the hassles of dealing with a retail store. I have also found that the turn-around time is faster.

 

[bongobob]

Something smells. By that logic, if a dealer goes out of business your warrantee is voided. I might be mistaken but that sounds illegal to me.
I'd definitley go further up the ladder on this. The regional rep should be able to help. Please let us know what happens. - B

 

[silversurfer]

I just looked on the Paradigm website and I can't seem to find the warranty policy.

 

[majorloser]

QUESTION: Are these aren't the same speakers you were talking about in another thread that you wanted to re-wire? If you tampered with the internals or changed the way the drivers are connected to the crossover you will have voided the warranty.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27187

 

[ParadigmDawg]

If you live in Dallas, try calling Marvin's electronics in Fort Worth. I have had very good luck with them. I bet they will send you in the right direction.

 

[Hawst]

Well I have good news! The local dealer did call the local rep and although they can not service me the local rep is going to take care of me.

He explained that no, the speakers do have a 5 year warranty and he is not sure why Gary @ Paradigm took the position he did.


For ANYONE that doesnt believe me - follow these instructions exaclty:

Call Paradigm service center at this number - 905.632.0180 and ask for Gary (apparently he is over warranty stuff there)

Tell them that you need a warranty replacement speaker for a studio 100 (tweeter).

He will tell you that you need to contact your local dealer.

Tell him you bough them from another dealer out of state (he didnt care to ask why i didnt buy fomr my local dealer - as I didnt have one at the time)

Ask him if the local dealer will warranty the speaker and fix it if you didnt buy it there.

He will tell you NO, its all up to the local dealer if they want to honor the MANUFACTURERS warranty.

Tell him no, he must give you a speaker if they will not and see what answer you get. He will basiclaly tell you to go jump in a lake and good luck!


I was SO relieved to hear from the local rep that first he took the time to call ME - and then he said dont worry I will take care of it. As you can see he is doing something I dont think he is obligated to do. As per Paradigm the local DEALER is obligated ONLY if you bought from them.

So, if you buy from your local dealer and then move and dont have a local dealer in your new area and have to rely on Paradigm Corp - I really feel for ya if you need one fixed.

Not to mention all those people that are buying them used and still under warranty!!! I think they are screwed without the origional reciept.

 

[Hawst]

Please dont make assumptions - no they are not the same speakers. If you will actually read the post you point out in the link you posted I cleary even say in that post that those were extras and I have a seperate pair of studio 100s as my primarys.

here is a pic of my living room - and again as stated in the post I am referring to the speakers next to my plasma screen

http://www.bpteck.com/stuff/Paradigm_Studio100s/DSC008222.JPG

QUESTION: Are these aren't the same speakers you were talking about in another thread that you wanted to re-wire? If you tampered with the internals or changed the way the drivers are connected to the crossover you will have voided the warranty.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27187

 

[billnchristy]

It is amazing that they gave you a hard time at all.

I am glad I have found a company that takes great care of their customers and even trusts them enough to do authorized mods.

 

[emorphien]

Quite frankly that's disturbing. I'd call Gary back and ask to speak with his supervisor.

 

[jazz nut]

I would suggest that you write Paradigm upper management, that way they can rectify the situation for other people with the same issue or similar problem.

 

[Hawst]

Its not my job to write them or resolve thier policies. I know what you are saying but I just dont feel that way. if they want to be a top hi end company then they need to act like it and this includes their policies - Gary didnt make that policy up out of thin air.

After these are fixed they are being sold - cheap.

This gives me the excuse to go with I set I really wanted in the first place - but the endless good reviews of Paradigm made me think that many people cant be wrong - so I went with Paradigm against my judgement. Again, I tell you that the lack of dealers really concerned me. Now I have been assured by Paradigm this is a just concern when you need to have warranty work. AND that thier warranty is discretionaryly upheld on a case by case basis - and mostly only good if you bought from that dealer.

Gary should have warrantied the speaker on the spot when I told him that my dealer was from out of state and no longer sells Paradigm. He had no business putting my problem on a local shop deferring me elsewhere. Even if I had to ship him the entire speaker only for him to later take the easy way out and say "it was blown from abuse by way of too much power". Heck, any crapy company would take that route.

Well, I have learned a lesson. Thanks for letting me vent to get it off my chest and share this with everyone in hopes they are aware now as well to make a better informed descision.

Happy Holidays everyone,

 

[Pianoman84d]

Out of curiosity, what are you going to replace the paradigms with?

 

[kgb540]

Gary must have misunderstood what the situation was. I had to replace a tweeter in my Eclipse BP's earlier this year and he said I could purchase directly from Paradigm with my Visa. The Eclipses havent been in production for over 6 years and certainly out of warranty. Strange and unfortunate situation.

 

[Hawst]

Maybe, maybe not, in any case he was not in any shape or form supportative and offered no suggestions other than if my local dealer didnt take care of me I was out of luck.

Heck, he didnt even offer to sell me one either! (/flailwildly)

As stated - they are for sale - first 1500.00 takes them - I dont want them in my house.

Gary must have misunderstood what the situation was. I had to replace a tweeter in my Eclipse BP's earlier this year and he said I could purchase directly from Paradigm with my Visa. The Eclipses havent been in production for over 6 years and certainly out of warranty. Strange and unfortunate situation.

 

[Hawst]

I am going back to a brand that isnt popular on this site so I will refrain from saying what it is. But I have own pairs of them all of my life (20 yrs). I have only broken one due to my fault of over powering them (back when I was hosting kegs parties in college) and even told the manufacturer and they sent me a replacement anyway.

I was unwise to be unloyal and I have now paid the price - I will not do it again.

Its a very cold feeling to go through what I did - as in to buy such an expensive pair of speakers and have one break (no biggie stuff happens) but to then be thrown out in the cold by the manufacturer all alone with only a slim chance of getting support and I AM VERY THANKFUL the local Rep has the business professionalism about him to take care of me. I will try to buy him a nice dinner if/when he brings me a new tweeter to show my gratitude.

Out of curiosity, what are you going to replace the paradigms with?

 

[emorphien]

I am going back to a brand that isnt popular on this site so I will refrain from saying what it is. But I have own pairs of them all of my life (20 yrs). I have only broken one due to my fault of over powering them (back when I was hosting kegs parties in college) and even told the manufacturer and they sent me a replacement anyway.

Huh, now I'm even more curious.

 

[Audioholics]

a brand that isnt popular on this site so I will refrain from saying what it is.

We don't care what brand you're going to... nobody's censored here unless they spam/pimp their own site/company without our knowledge.