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
dmcvt
3 posts
 

Just want to humbly point out, that until the new tweeters reach kirbymydog in good working order, it's not over. The allegedly fragile tweeters were shipped to Georgia, should now be on their way to New Mexico, then must be shipped to the buyer. They will follow the same approximate route that the speakers followed, where damage was claimed by the seller. That's a lot of transit time and handling.

roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,741 posts
 

That's why I said "until further notice".

kirbymydog OP
36 posts
 

The new tweeters arrived yesterday, and I will be evaluating the loudspeakers over the next few days. The seller informed me that there is no need to send the original tweeters back. This gave me the opportunity to perform a limited amount of forensics on the tweeters, so I removed the dome/voice coil assembly (three screws) and inspected the voice coil. It appears that the transitional connection between the lead wire, and the VC winding wire had broken loose from voice coil proper. This was causing the discontinuity through the VC. It is very probable then, that the tweeter failures were due to physical shock as the seller was insisting. This means that the tweeters were very likely working prior to shipment which sheds a different light on many of the posts in this discussion.

Because of this information, I will have both loudspeakers checked over for any further shipping damage, now that they appear to be fully functional.

So, this appears to be resolved, however, I still had to wait 6 months before using these loudspeakers. Next time, I will immediately insist on returning the item for a full refund, rather than accept damaged or otherwise non-working goods

roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,741 posts
 

Glad to hear that it finally worked out for you Kirby.

sns
3,003 posts
 

The idea that shipping caused those tweeters failure is slim to none. I doubt B&W would design a tweeter subject to this sort of failure from shipping, they'd have s whole lot of damaged tweeters to replace if this the case. And the chances of both tweeters suffering same failure.....

 

Anyway, hope new tweeters work out for you, you deserve a medal  for patience.

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