Getting what I paid for - gut check please!


All - I purchased an expensive (for me) DAC a few weeks ago from a small but well known high-end manufacturer close to where I live.  It was a previous-generation model made available at a price significantly lower than the current generation model.  I paid for the item in full prior to pick up.  Upon pick up, I discovered the item’s faceplate and remote were a different color than what the manufacturer had indicated prior to purchase.  Upon getting it home, I learned by reading the materials that the warranty period had started at the date of manufacturer, not the date of sale, meaning the warranty period was about one-third the length it would normally be.

The manufacturer is offering to replace the faceplate with the correct color for a fee.  He says the warranty "is what it is."

Is any of this standard practice?  This was not advertised as a used or demo unit when I agreed to purchase it, and there was no mention of a different warranty period than what would accompany a normal retail sale.  Was I wrong to expect that a previous-generation model would be sold with the same warranty as a current-generation unit?  Am I wrong to expect that the manufacturer replace the faceplate free of charge to make this unit the color that I agreed to prior to sale?

I’d appreciate a gut check before I press the issue or ask for a return.  Thanks!

lousyreeds1

If it was sold as a manufacturer and it was a demo it should have the full warranty, aesthetics may not be perfect if demo.  If sold by a dealer then and it was a dealers demo then the warranty started when the dealer bought the unit and used it as a demo, then it is not considered new.

Warranty starting from the date of manufacture?  That is plainly absurd.  If it is sold with a 90 day warranty because that's all that's left, OK, you made your choice.  But if its sold with a 1 year warranty and then in the fine print, its "oh, that's 1 year from the date on manufacture," that is an unfair and deceptive business practice under many states' laws.

Send it BACK! there is a world of great DACS out there......

 

Don't make yourself crazy. You'll feel bad every time you look at it if you keep it.

 

HG-NYC