B&W 800D or 802D Cosmetic Issues

Thank you all your insights...I can't even began to imagine if dealer is trying to sell the B-stock or demo pairs as new.

I have been trying to work out the solution but my patience is wearing thin. The dealer is very reluctant to take back the pair at my home and don't wanna talk about refund either.

I am leaning towards asking credit card company to step in and sort out this mess.

If you are having a problem with your dealer, I can think of a couple of things you can do to help yourself. The first thing you need to do is change your attitude and become a problem. You tried to be nice and that didn't work. The longer this situation drags on works in favor of your dealer.

Then you need to call your dealer and threaten him with 3 actions you intend to make good on. 1. You will call B&W, as well as follow up your call with a certified letter stating that your dealer didn't follow proper B&W protocol required for the sale and delivery of B&W speakers. Also tell him you are sending B&W all supporting and related documents. But that's it. Give no more information. The dealer will be trying very hard to bait you into giving him more info, along with trying to convince you that this course of action will hurt, not help you. Be disciplined, and ignore it all.

2. Now tell the dealer (and follow up in your certified letter), that you will be taking him to small claims court for whatever the maximum allowed in your state is (most states are $5000), plus all related expenses. You will be suing for just the damaged speaker housing, and no more. Don't worry if the part doesn't cost 5k. Always ask for the max and let the judge decide what you should get.

From past experience, I know that the instant I bring up small claims court, you'll get a bunch of posters telling you to not bother, for any number of reasons. They'll be wrong. The US small claims court has a set of rules and regulations that very few people know about. Its not the same as using a regular court.

3. Now its time to start talking about stopping payment on your credit card. Its important to complete the first steps I list, as well as anything else you feel is important. You're not just going too call your credit card company up and have them reverse payment on a pair of 25k speakers you already have in your possession. There will be an investigation an an adjuster will be sent out to look at the speakers. Showing the adjuster that you are already taking reasonable steps to resolve the issue will go a long way in getting the credit company to side with you.

You will have 2 obstacles to overcome when dealing with the credit card company. The first, is that very few people are familiar with speakers that cost 25k. Expect them to be naturally suspicious, and do whatever they ask in helping them assess the value of the speakers. Second, due to the amount of money involved, expect a fight if things come down to a refund. The chance that your dealer left the money he got from the sale in the bank account linked to card purchases is most likely 0. That means, if the dealer does not cooperate in refunding the money, the bank will have to use their own funds. They won't want to do this, so expect some resistance.

I hope this info helps you out. If you can convince your dealer that you will be taking action on 1 and 2, they should fix the problem right away. That's why sending them a certified follow up letter is so important. They know you're serious.

Can anyone explain the economics of a dealer selling high end loudspeakers. What's the dollar cost to him/her of taking back two sets of high cost components and replacing them with a third set? Is it all out the dealer's pocket or is the distributor/manufacturer putting some money on the table?

"09-18-15: Onhwy61
Can anyone explain the economics of a dealer selling high end loudspeakers. What's the dollar cost to him/her of taking back two sets of high cost components and replacing them with a third set? Is it all out the dealer's pocket or is the distributor/manufacturer putting some money on the table?"

It depends. In this case we don't know the whole situation because there's a question as to weather the speakers are actually new or b stock or refurb. If its a defect from the factory on a new speaker, the factory makes good on the part in either a replace of fix scenario. The dealers usually eat the labor of maybe going out to the customers house, repack time, shipping drop off. But nothing really big. The markup on a typical high end speaker is usually pretty decent, and most manufactures don't allow you to discount the product, and your market is usually protected.

I believe this situation is a special case. As mentioned before, there's the question of the speakers not actually being new. I'm not sure what B&W would do in this case because they didn't really do anything wrong, but their dealer did. My guess is that if they get all the facts, they'll warranty the speaker. Its just the right thing to do.

If the speakers are legit new, this still is a special case in my opinion. By the looks of it, the dealer may have bitten off more than they can chew. Its one thing to sell a 25k speaker, but its something else to sell and service a sale like that properly. Most likely, this dealer doesn't have the funds to cover all things that can go wrong, and the customer is suffering as a result. My best guess is that the dealer would like to do the right thing, but he doesn't have the resources. Personally, I feel bad for the dealer, but he needs to make this right. He knew something like this could happen, yet he still chose to take the money. Its not the customers fault he chose to gamble.

Not to get off topic, but anyone that’s ever read my posts has probably seen my rants about how important it is to pick the right dealer. Or at least one that's capable of handling the sale. Several years ago when I bought a pair of 802's from Stereo Exchange, I asked them if they were in stock. They laughed and showed me the computer screen. They had 26 pairs in stock downstairs. The point is, a dealer like this can handle all aspects of a sale like this. Since then I've moved to Audio Connection for most of what I buy. John's in a different league entirely. If a manufacturer gives one of his customers a hard time he'll put his foot up their a**. I'm going on about this because I think those of us that have good dealers should get the word out to help others who may not. Too many people have to suffer with bad dealers.

Zd gives very good advice. With this much $$ involved this has gone way beyond the "my dealer is a good guy and I don't want to be a harda$$." There are places in the U.S. where you buy a house for that price and for lots of people that's a year's take home pay.