Poor service from Raven Audio.
I was researching audio equipment and contacted Raven Audio. I spoke to James Connell. I told him the products in which I was interested and asked him if Raven offered a Military Discount. He stated that he would offer a 5% discount. At the time I was stationed overseas and could not have the items shipped to my location but assured him of my interest and that I would purchase the units when I returned stateside. Upon my return to the U.S. I contacted James and stated that I remained interested in the Celest towers, but that they were now out of my price range after their recent price increase. Jim stated that he had some Celest bookshelves which were coming available and that he had a first-run pair which he could sell to me for $1,999. We even video chatted so that I could see the speakers for myself. Jim stated that the speakers would not be ready for at least another two weeks, as he had to have them photographed for their website. He asked that I follow-up with him in about two weeks. At the end of our conversation, I verbally confirmed the prices and details of the package. After our conversation, I sent James a follow-up e-mail with a detailed itemization. Jim acknowledged my e-mail twice, and never attempted to correct the information. This is an exact cut and paste of the itemized breakdown I emailed James.
- Blackhawk integrated with a $300 discount
- New Celest bookshelves at $1,999
- Upgraded tubes in Blackhawk (you had mentioned the JANs in front, Brimars in middle, and I think GE in the back)
- Power cable
- Speaker cable
- RCA cable
Again, James acknowledged this e-mail twice and made no attempt to correct any of the information.
Per his instructions, I contacted James two weeks later by e-mail to ask if the speakers were ready to ship. James responded that they would be ready to ship in two more weeks and asked that I call him directly to “catch up briefly.” I called and texted James numerous times over the next week with no answer or response. He finally answered my phone call a week later. I was excited when he answered and expected a pleasant conversation that consisted of him taking my credit card information and telling me how much I was going to enjoy the set-up. Instead, James opened with, “I am not going to lose money on speakers.” He went on that he had a bad feeling about this deal as I had haggled him on price. I responded that I had not haggled on price, I had asked about a military discount and expected him to honor the price he had provided me. He stated that he would not, and that since I did not have it in writing the contract was nonbinding. I respectfully corrected James that in Texas, the state in which he operates, a verbal contract is legally binding. This infuriated him, and he proceeded to try and lecture me on being grateful for the “favor” he was doing me by offering a military discount. I quickly rebutted that he was doing me no “favor” but was instead extending a courtesy to me and every other servicemember with a discounted price. He would hear none of it and continued with his rude ramblings about how I should be more grateful to him for having a military discount. The fact that this company thinks that I or any customer, military or not, should feel a debt of gratitude to them is preposterous and, quite frankly, offensive.
I have chosen to live my life by a certain set of ethos, among them honor and integrity. I do my upmost to support businesses which uphold these values. Raven Audio falls completely short of that bar. Instead, they employ unscrupulous business practices by misquoting prices and then lack the integrity to honor them. Worse, they then try to blame the customer for their own ethical shortcomings. In the end, I chose to take my business elsewhere and suggest you do the same.