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

Your generous willingness to resolve the problem has exhausted reasonable time to correct the situation. You should not have the buck passed on to you, and have to deal with a middleman, with whom you have no contract with.

@kirbymydog Don't wait any longer, file with Paypal and notify Agon asap. If you paid your Paypal transaction via credit card, you should also dispute with your card issuer.

I suggest filing the PayPal dispute via phone even though you may have to schedule a callback. This will allow you to explain the filing delay due to your attempt to get the replacement tweeters. Via online form, you'll stand a good chance that the software will deny your claim due to the delay, but their people generally will try to assist. In a similar situation, I was shocked to find PayPal willing to eat the cost of the claim and make good both me the buyer, and the seller. But you need to pursue a full refund. They might even let you keep the broken speakers too...not kidding. Cheers,

Spencer

@kirbymydog Wow, you're one of the most patient and understanding buyers I think I've ever seen.

You're sold non-working speakers misrepresented as working when shipped. You accept offer of replacement tweeters which have not arrived for over 6 months, and don't appear to be arriving any time soon. Your assuming no issues with crossovers in having caused original tweeters failure, which I might agree with since both tweeters are defective. This points even more to seller lying to you.

 

I'd have been done with this sale right from the get go, inoperable tweeters would have been the end for me. Looks like you've fallen in love with these particular pair of speakers. Become a realist, you've been had by dishonest seller and a speaker company that keeps no spares on hand. I'd be long gone out of this deal!

Hello,

You may need to get some interim speakers for now. You could open a dispute with  PayPal but in the end you loose the deal on the speakers. Everything in audio is going through the roof in price. I can’t imagine what these all aluminum speakers cost now. You might be giving up a once in a lifetime deal due to current prices. Last thing is try to find some tweeters on eBay or AGon or something else to get them going. There might have been a pair of these speakers or another model with the same tweeter that has serious cabinet damage. That’s how I got a hinge and sub platter for my Linn TT. Not cheap but cheaper than new. I hope this helps and this all gets resolved soon. 

Thank you. Yes, I do have other speakers to listen to. But not like the 804’s. The drivers cost  about $960 each. No aluminum housing…just the dome tweeter Itself.