Wilson Audio paint problems

I can personally attest to the fact that Wilson Audio has excellent, top-notch customer service. I purchased a pair of black Sophia 2s that were demo units. They were manufactured in 2006 and I bought them in the third quarter or 2007. After about 6 months of ownership I had the same cracks to develop. I contacted Wilson Audio directly to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. I was put in touch with a gentleman named Jerron Marchant. He asked if I could take some photos of the cracks? I wasn't sure that they would show up that well but with some extra lighting and such I was able to capture the flaws. I sent the pictures to his email address and within minutes he called me back, explained to me what the problem was. It wasn't a problem with the paint as I thought, but was a problem with the proprietary cabinet material instead. There were a few isolated cases of a bad batch of that material that they even had isolated within a particular serial number range and some had issues, and some did not. I expected them to repair and repaint them, and they explained to me that they would not have defective speakers out in the market with their name on them and they would build me a brand new set. I was even able to change colors and selected a custom color that they did not offer as an upgrade option. I paid a very reasonable amount for the paint upgrade and they built me a brand new pair of speakers and had them shipped to my dealer and installed in my home inside of two months.

I was anxious and checked up from time to time and Jerron kept me aware of the production start date, process, shipping status and everything. I can not say enough good things about Wilson Audio, their speakers, and their prompt customer service.

I did fulfill all of my warranty obligations by buying from an authorized Wilson dealer, having them do the set up and voicing, and filling out the warranty cards and returning them within the time frame that they required.

If you bought them new, had them deliver and set them up, filled out your warranty paperwork, then I can assure you that they will stand behind your defective speakers and you have no worries. If any of those steps were skipped then I can't make any assurances at all.

I was never put off, never avoided, my calls and/or emails were always answered promptly and with courtesy. I am very, very particular and borderline obsessive/compulsive about most everything, and I know that I was a pest at times, but that never was a problem. I was treated like I had bought ten sets of speakers from them.

I wish you luck and let me know if there is any way I can assist you. I hope for your sake that your speakers meet all the warranty criteria.

I do want to add the fact that I inquired about purchasing the old defective speakers and was politely refused because they wanted them destroyed so that they would not end up out on the market by some unscupulous seller at some time in their life. I know this to be a fact that they had to be destroyed because my sales counselor wanted to purchase them as well and he was refused like myself, even though he was one of Wilson's top salespeople in the country if I am not mistaken.

I don't think it's fair for people to judge a company unfairly for adhering to policies and following their warranty criteria as it is outlined. If someone wants to get a bargain and not go through the normal channels then I appreciate the fact that they want to save money, but you do end up getting what you pay for.

It is not Wilson Audio's fault that a vendor they buy materials from produced a defective lot. That is out of their control as would be an auto manufacturer that buys rack and pinions from a supplier. I have found that the suppliers and manufacturers work hand in hand to correct these unforseen problems if or when they arise.

Good luck and I hope that everything works out for you.

Tom

Ozzy, I appreciate your sentiments and concern that I had to wait a couple of months. As I acknowledged in my earlier post, I really am borderline O/C and I wavered back and forth about whether or not I wanted silver or black trim and ports, and was given a pretty quick build date, as I am sure there were already orders in the system for people that did not have their speakers at all. I did have a perfectly great sounding pair of speakers and was in no hurry. Being totally honest, and to show how accommodating Wilson was, they had already started production on my replacement black speakers when I decided I wanted to change to Macadamia Metallic. In all honesty they should have told me tough luck, your black speakers are already under way, but they graciously told me that would be more than happy to build and paint a set of custom speakers and would surely sell the black ones due to their popularity. Since the Wilson Gloss paint system does not come out of a can of Krylon (no offense to Krylon) and makes automotive paint pale in comparison, it does take a while for the speakers to make it through their production and shipping process. They had to ship them to my dealer which is in Tennessee and set up a date and time to deliver and set them up for me in Kentucky. My sales counselor was out of town at CES or CEDIA or somewhere when they received them and one of the employees at HiFi Buys was kind enough to crack one of the crates to tell me how amazing they looked.

As far as swirl marks, nicks, chips, dings, or anything of that nature, I feel absolutely certain that paint just doesn't fly off of speakers, cars, or anything else with no reason. How can anybody expect any kind of finish to hold up if it is bumped into, knocked around, or whatever? When you hit the paint on a car there is some give with the sheet metal (or fiberglass), but with a material as rigid as M or X material there is no give at all and if the paint is struck it is going to chip or sustains some damage. It's inevitable.

I am not on the Wilson payroll, I have no special ties, or allegiance to the brand. I just think that they offer an incredible product, with incredible sound (according to my ears), and they have treated me very well.

I have yet to see a person being led into a store at gunpoint and forced to buy Wilson Audio speakers. if they are like me, chances are they went in with the intent to buy something totally different but after a good old fashioned A/B test they opted for the Wilsons.

Can anybody here on this forum name any brand or product that hasn't had some kind of problem, recall, or issue of some sort at one time or another? It's not about the company making an error or having a defective product, it's how they go about dealing with the problem at hand. I can't speak for everyone, but I can say that Wilson has exceeded my expectations in every way.