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Quality issues with Tekton speakers....

I was reading all the buzz about these Tekton speakers and after sorting through all the reviews, decided to order a pair of the Pendragon (the big ones... $2,500 a pair).

When they arrived, I found them to be boxed well and in perfect shape, although one thing was very noticeable once I looked at the speakers. The woofers had a slightly different tone (color). The upper woofer in each tower was basically dark gray or black (like most paper woofers you might come across) and the lower woofers were slightly blue in color. After looking on the web some, I could not find a Pendragon speaker photo ANYWHERE that had this color difference. Since they did not come with speaker grilles, I knew the color difference would bother me as long as I owned the speakers.

I contacted Tekton (Eric Alexander) via e-mail and explained the issue. After almost a week of not hearing back, I sent another e-mail and his response was...

(copy and pasted right from my e-mail)... " I'm sorry. Please refresh my memory. What seems to be the problem? Thanks, Eric"

I described the issue again and he offered to exchange the speakers. I said there was no need to ship back a huge pair of 85 pound speakers and have him send me another pair and suggested maybe he just send me grilles at no charge to cover the speakers and I could live with the slight color difference in the woofers. I really feel that grilles should be included in a $2,500 price tag however.

All of these e-mails took several days to answer by the way.

He agreed and said he would get the grilles out right away... they were sent a few days later and upon arrival, I realized there was a pretty big problem. I had a normal type speaker grill with 4 pegs on the back and a speaker with no peg holes. After all the time, e-mails, no answers, etc., I was not interested in wasting any more time with the matter and asked for a partial refund through PayPal and asked a simple question... why send me grilles for a speaker that he just shipped to me with no holes to put them in? His reply was to offer to make new grilles and send "velcro dots" to affix them to the speakers with.... WOW.

The WORST part about all this: Within 30 minutes of making a PayPal claim about the issue and asking for a partial refund from him, Eric tried to call me right away... now that there was money at stake.

The really sad part of all this is that the speakers actually sound pretty damn good now that they are broken in... I just hope the quality and communication come up to the same level for the sake of Tekton as a company.
128x128audiofreak32
markpao
519 posts
 
I read this thread in disbelief. Disbelief that some think Tekton did this horrific thing to the OP. Seriously? He offered to exchange the speakers. Good grief.
Now a while back I read in these forums that someone paid some $5000.00 for an Art Audio amp and never got it. And never got his money back. That my friends is ground to beat up on somebody. IMO
shakeydeal
979 posts
 
I am going to say it again. It would have been far easier to swap out drivers and be done. The OP didn't originally want grilles, so that is a non issue. The mismatched drivers, however, IS the issue. I wouldn't want to live with it either, but I know how to use a cordless screwdriver, so the problem would be easily solved.

Shakey
speavler
32 posts
 
First of all, it wasn't a criticism, it was a helpful suggestion. Email is not always the best form of communication. This isn't a big company with a dedicated customer service department. The guy checking the emails is also the guy constructing the speakers. Just is what it is. And also a reason these speakers are priced where they are. You can probably do the math on the drivers and materials and figure how much they cost in parts alone. Add overhead and these prices aren't possible. Just saying.
chrshanl37
833 posts
 
So the guy constructing the speakers is the owner and sent them out like that? That's what your saying? That's even worse yet. I'm not out to bash this company nor am I debating that they are a good bargain. I've recommended tekton to my friends who are tube guys. That's not the issue here. But if Eric wants to stay in business he needs to sort out the QC issues as well as his communication. Unfortunately that's the reality of running a business. I have sent emails to numerous manufacturers in the past both big and small and have gotten prompt replies from the owners. To defend the lack of communication is senseless in my opinion if the guy sends an email stating that he had an issue with the speakers, from that point forward Eric should be the one to initiate further contact. And yes if it where me I would have opted to switch the woofers out myself but that doesn't mean everyone would be comfortable doing that simple task. Also its been said he offered to replace the speakers but no where In the thread does the op mention if Eric offered to pick up the cost. If I missed that I stand corrected.
polarin
73 posts
 
I'd say it's time this thread died...
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