2. misc-audio
  3. 174534-102527

Buyer Dispute

I would like to have some opinions of a remedy for this issue:

I purchased a pair of B&W 804D3 loudspeakers through Audiogon in August 2021. They were shipped in original containers by freight. The boxes arrived damaged with some holes in the boxes, but no damage to the speakers accept for one very small spot, which could be repaired with a drop of stain. However, neither tweeter was functioning. A multimeter revealed an open circuit across both voice coils. The seller said that they worked before shipping but offered to send me replacement tweeters under the previous owner' warranty which I agreed to. However, and here is the rub; Because of supply chain issues, Bowers and Wilkins did not, and still does not have the tweeters in stock. I have been waiting 6 months for the seller to provide the replacements from B&W, but they continue to be out of stock. In short, I paid nearly $7,000 in August 2021 for speakers that I still cannot listen to.

Any opinion on a path to resolution?

 

kirbymydog

Showing 2 responses by 4krowme

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

It is obvious to most of us that the tweeters were Damaged Before Shipping. How that might have happened doesn't matter. Defective, non-working equipment is just that. Please keep this community informed as this proceeds. 

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

    I wouldn't have believed it myself, but a customer sent back a non-working unit that was working when it left. In my case, even though the product was decently packed, there was a jarring so hard in shipping that it snapped both power leads off the circuit board mounted transformer! The transformer itself was loose from the jarring, and four of the power caps were leaning all the same direction.

   The voice coil wire to a speaker, especially a tweeter, are far more light weight. In fact, hair fine. The speakers would have to be slammed to the ground face first, but yes, it can be done. 

    I was unwilling to accept this being a possibility until I saw what happened to my much smaller, lighter unit. 

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