If the only problem is the hum, have you tried using a DC blocker?
Bad experience with PurePower of Canada
This is my first post here in a long time, and I seriously considered not writing it, but the situation I'm about to relate to you has reached a crisis point, and I feel like I have little choice now but to call a manufacturer out in public for shockingly substandard customer service.
The company in question is Canadian firm PurePower, maker of an acclaimed line of AC power regenerators. I've owned their APS 1050 for several years now, and until recently it functioned flawlessly and made a decent improvement to my system's sonics. However, at the very beginning of June, a power surge blew out the input side of the unit and made it nonfunctional. (Interestingly, my other regenerator, a Chinese-made Dussun, escaped unscathed.)
I called PurePower and spoke to a gentleman named Damian. He gave me a repair quote over the phone and told me to send the unit in. It arrived at PP's Niagara Falls facility on 6/11/15. Damian said it would be a quick repair and would be back to me within a week.
Real long story short, by the middle of July, I had yet to receive my unit back. PP stopped answering my phone calls and emails and repeated requests for a tracking number. Damian's story had changed any number of times over the month PP had my 1050. First he said, "It's going out tomorrow" (that was around the 16th-17th of June), then "It has gone out" (he told me that a couple of times), and then "It's at UPS" (his penultimate lie). Having finally exhausted my patience, I threatened to take this whole thing public and consider legal action if I didn't get a straight answer. Only then, less than half an hour before my deadline to him, did Damian return my call. He said that the company had been on vacation for the past two weeks (though this wasn't reflected on their answering machine or their email, and he even admitted he had been in the office several times during the break). He said the unit was fixed and would go out Tuesday, July 21. Again, he promised me a tracking number.
As of today, July 31, I still have not received my 1050, and the company again is not returning emails. In fact, even more disturbing, their phone number is now out of service. What bothers me most of all, they cashed my check three weeks ago, and I have NOTHING to show for my expenditure. I'll stop short of calling it outright theft, but it sure feels like it.
I am now afraid that I won't see my unit again anytime soon, if ever. It's hard for me to tell if this whole saga is the result of PurePower's utter incompetence or something more malevolent. But, whatever it is, I feel seriously taken advantage of. As I've said, it wouldn't be quite as much of an issue had they not already cashed my check, but the fact that I did my part and paid them and they've completely reneged on theirs--and now refuse to answer inquiries . . . well, that pisses me off. And it won't stand. That's why I've taken to forums like this one to warn fellow audiophiles about PurePower's antics. After doing some research online, it seems that I'm hardly the only one to complain about their customer service in the last few years.
I hate to resort to a post like this, but the audiophile public deserves to know when a manufacturer clearly doesn't do right by its customers. And this, to me, is a case in point. With any luck, this situation will be resolved in my favor and I'll get my 1050 back, but until then, I'm damn well going to let my voice be heard. By its shoddy behavior, PurePower has forced my hand.
P.S. If anyone can suggest any consumer-rights organizations I can contact, I'd appreciate it. I've already reached out to the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, but have yet to hear back from them.
The company in question is Canadian firm PurePower, maker of an acclaimed line of AC power regenerators. I've owned their APS 1050 for several years now, and until recently it functioned flawlessly and made a decent improvement to my system's sonics. However, at the very beginning of June, a power surge blew out the input side of the unit and made it nonfunctional. (Interestingly, my other regenerator, a Chinese-made Dussun, escaped unscathed.)
I called PurePower and spoke to a gentleman named Damian. He gave me a repair quote over the phone and told me to send the unit in. It arrived at PP's Niagara Falls facility on 6/11/15. Damian said it would be a quick repair and would be back to me within a week.
Real long story short, by the middle of July, I had yet to receive my unit back. PP stopped answering my phone calls and emails and repeated requests for a tracking number. Damian's story had changed any number of times over the month PP had my 1050. First he said, "It's going out tomorrow" (that was around the 16th-17th of June), then "It has gone out" (he told me that a couple of times), and then "It's at UPS" (his penultimate lie). Having finally exhausted my patience, I threatened to take this whole thing public and consider legal action if I didn't get a straight answer. Only then, less than half an hour before my deadline to him, did Damian return my call. He said that the company had been on vacation for the past two weeks (though this wasn't reflected on their answering machine or their email, and he even admitted he had been in the office several times during the break). He said the unit was fixed and would go out Tuesday, July 21. Again, he promised me a tracking number.
As of today, July 31, I still have not received my 1050, and the company again is not returning emails. In fact, even more disturbing, their phone number is now out of service. What bothers me most of all, they cashed my check three weeks ago, and I have NOTHING to show for my expenditure. I'll stop short of calling it outright theft, but it sure feels like it.
I am now afraid that I won't see my unit again anytime soon, if ever. It's hard for me to tell if this whole saga is the result of PurePower's utter incompetence or something more malevolent. But, whatever it is, I feel seriously taken advantage of. As I've said, it wouldn't be quite as much of an issue had they not already cashed my check, but the fact that I did my part and paid them and they've completely reneged on theirs--and now refuse to answer inquiries . . . well, that pisses me off. And it won't stand. That's why I've taken to forums like this one to warn fellow audiophiles about PurePower's antics. After doing some research online, it seems that I'm hardly the only one to complain about their customer service in the last few years.
I hate to resort to a post like this, but the audiophile public deserves to know when a manufacturer clearly doesn't do right by its customers. And this, to me, is a case in point. With any luck, this situation will be resolved in my favor and I'll get my 1050 back, but until then, I'm damn well going to let my voice be heard. By its shoddy behavior, PurePower has forced my hand.
P.S. If anyone can suggest any consumer-rights organizations I can contact, I'd appreciate it. I've already reached out to the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, but have yet to hear back from them.
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- 62 posts total
Oh my god, audiophile around the world, Richard’s non-sense continue to amaze me (and it should amaze you, too, after you read his email to me. On Jul 22, 2018, at 2:53 PM, Richard Janzen <richard@purepoweraps.com> wrote: Richard Janzen, let me make few points perfectly clear to you: 1. The units you sent me are YOURS, NOT mine. They are NOT ’my unit’ until I tell you that I am buying and keeping it. 2. Don’t bother me any further with your b.s, about new spins and new reasons why you do not have the money to refund me. Even if they are true, that’s YOUR problem and I don’t care to know. You have YOUR hardware back, so send me MY MONEY. I have given you enough of my ’sympathy’ and ’patience’. 3. The 3 units you sent me are garbage. First unit I operated it for 5 minutes and took it out of my system. Second unit I turn it on and turned it off, in 1 minute. And after waiting for more than 15 months, the third unit I operated it 5 minutes and took it out of my system. I refused to even call them ’audition’ time as they were making such loud buzzing sound that listening to and enjoying music was impossible. Again, they are YOUR units, and were NEVER ’my unit’ I want you to understand clearly that our offer to refund your original purchase price after a year was based on our ability to resell the unit you returned. 4. How dare you making that statement. "Want you to understand clearly that our offer to refund ... after a year ..." You were the one who kept me without anything to audition for 15 months. You should have refund me after I sent the first 2 units back to you (within less than 2 weeks of my 'starting audition') The hardware are yours and never mine until I tell you I will keep it. You have no legal ground to claim that you have to sell ’MY UNIT’ before you can refund me my money. We shipped three seperate PurePower 3000 units to you. Each one ot those units was carefully tested before leaving our plant. Each one was fully tested when it came back. Each of the three PurePower 3000s were perfect in their operation. 5. Anyone reading this thread will only have to Google search for keywords ’PurePower buzz buzzing noise’ to see that the problem had been reported by many and over the past many years. I rest my case. You have to have at least a little sympathy for our side of this issue. We delivered three of our best models. We expended countless hours trying to make your noise issue appear in our test room. We had to sell the first 2 untis at a 25% discount. We shipped 6 cartons to and from California. Our financial losses have been well past $5,000 - all in the name of trying to provide customer service above and beyond. 6. You have just exposed yourself to the world what a fraud you are in above statement. Huh? "Our warranty and promise to refund does not apply to perfect product with no faults". ANY offer on a FREE home audition/trial, by ANY audio manufacturer or its distributors, with 100% money back guarantee, NEVER hinges on prospective customer having to provide a valid reason - whether customer return the unit because it is defective, or whether the audio gear failed to perform as advertised (even just on sound quality, satisfaction ground). Here are your own words back in March 1 of 2017: On Mar 1, 2017, at 2:49 PM, Richard Janzen <richard@purepoweraps.com> wrote: "But 2 days is usually enough" ... You are right, I didn’t need 2 days; only needed 5 minutes to know that I don’t want them. Finally, let me wrap up by posting the remaining text from Richard’s most recent email, with subject line "Why we need a new way to resolve your refund issue" You could have sold it to another San Francisco Audiophile for $5300 and they would have had a fantastic bargain and truly great sound. 7. Are you *!@&* kidding me??!! Suggesting that I try and sell your junk to someone else so I can get my money?? I think you have again exposed your true, ugly self for the whole world to see. 8. Let me make it PERFECTLY clear ONCE MORE - and paraphrasing what you said - "If things don’t improve in 10 days, then maybe I’ll just have to find money outside of the company to pay you" That should have been the first thing you do on June 6, 2018 when you received my return (which is already 3 weeks after I informed you about returning the 3rd unit for refund due to the buzzing noise), not 2 months later (and still just all talk but no action). Bottom line: Refund my money immediately. |
New Jersey state business license record for PurePower Partners LLC Richard and Damian Janzen names are nowhere inside that doc. https://www.audioasylum.com/forums/shady/messages/6903.html It's a defunct store, on Main Street of Hackensack, NJ. Owner was some Korean guy, selling audio/visual (TV, stereo, CDs, Records) |
- 62 posts total