Well I thought I was purchasing a set of Cygnus.
The dealer emailed me an invoice and as I was reading thru it, I find a statement “sold as is” which struck me as a bit odd, given these were demos. I called the dealer and asked for clarification and requested a written document stating that there were no nicks or dings in either speaker, but he said he could not provide that as I requested. In our phone conversations I had asked multiple times during these calls to verify that there were no dings or scratches in the gloss black finish. He said that they were in great condition, which again I found odd that he would not provide written documentation to back up that these speakers were in his words, in great condition or at least close up photos so that I could see for myself. He said photos could not be provided beyond the images that were posted in his ad, which were not close enough to see if there were any issues, as the speakers had been crated, as he needed the space to display new speakers.
I then requested that I be able to fly to the dealer’s location to see, hear and inspect these speakers. He said that was not possible as they were crated already. So, I am to trust that these are as described verbally without written documentation as to condition or close up photos of each speaker so that I could see the actually condition.
When I first contacted this dealer, he said that the speakers were 3 years old, then during a follow-up conversation I was told that they were 5 years old. I was a little concerned about the truth at this point so I reached out to Rockport. They were very kind and provided me with the actual age of the speakers, and they were actually 8 years and 2 months old. They did assure me that the factory 5-year warranty was valid and would start as of date of purchase.
He said that he had local people that were interested, but who would buy an expensive item and not be able to ascertain condition? I really wanted this to work out, as these were my dream speakers, but I do not feel that I asked for anything out of the ordinary. I simply wanted to see what I was about to purchase or at least be given assurances of the physical condition either in written form or close up photos. Rockport is not to blame here and I truly think that their customer service is exceptional.
Given that I will not be allowed the opportunity to see, hear and inspect these large and expensive speakers, I have declined to go thru with this purchase.