Not a good experience
On Dec 12, 2024 I agreed to trade a Mark Levinson 585 for a Mark Levinson 326S. The understanding was that I would purchase the ML 326S for $4148, ship them the ML 585, and "Once we get your trade here and process it (typically 3-5 business days from when we receive it)," I would receive the refund of the about $3550. for the ML 585. I shipped the ML 585 on Dec 12, they received it on Dec 17. They shipped me the ML 326S on Dec 16, I received it on Dec 20. Two days prior to this, on Dec 18, I had received an email from them saying "Currently, we are experiencing a higher than normal volume of incoming items, which could delay our processing times. Rest assured, our team is working diligently to expedite the process as much as possible." In other words, they have an internal problem keeping up with the testing of the units they received, so they have decided to keep my money until they catch up. I immediately (Dec 18) notified them that I was not OK with this - that they should have notified me before I made the purchase if there was going to be a delay in paying me for the ML 585, and I would understand if it took them a week, but I did not want them sitting on my money any longer than that. I got back an email saying they would "get this cleared for you as soon as possible."
As soon as I hooked up the ML 326S, the selector knob just spun and fell off (maybe they need a new testing crew?) A few days later I notified them of the selector knob problem and asked again about the money they owed for the ML585. To their credit, they issued me an RMA to return the ML326S so that the selector knob could be re-attached, but at that point I thought, OK, they have the ML 585 which they haven't paid me for, they have the $4148 I paid them for the ML 326S, and now if I ship them the ML 326S, they have both units and all my money. Uh, no. I made arrangements to have the ML 326S repaired, and sent several more emails asking when I would receive my money for the ML 585. I got the run-around from them until Dec 30, when I finally got an answer. It took them over two weeks to issue the refund rather than the 3 to 5 business days they initially claimed, and I was shipped a broken product that I had repaired myself to avoid having to deal with them any further.
So how can a company like this have a 100% rating? Because when I purchased the unit, I was directed to their website. The purchase did not go through Audiogon, so there was no way to leave feedback. I waited exactly 90 days before posting this in case anything else went wrong with the ML 326S, because that is their warranty time. I consider this a shady way to do business, and I will never deal with this outfit again.
