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Caveat about the Cable Company return policy

I naively thought they had a liberal return policy and bought a few ethernet cables thinking I could return them if they didn't work out for me. Turns out in the fine print of the return policy you can only return interconnect and digital cables that are 1 meter and speaker cables that are 8 feet. Anything else is by their definition "non-standard" and therefore non returnable. That is despite the fact they have numerous lengths you can choose from their drop down menus and the company I bought from (Chord) lists the 5 meter cable I bought as a standard length,

here's the kicker.. you can only return speaker cables that are 8 feet but they sell them by the meter, so it is impossible to return an 8 foot speaker cable because they don't sell any. Lesson learned, read the fine print


herman
herman OP
2,259 posts
 
But their return policy needs to be clear at the point of sale.

to be fair.. it is posted on their website and I am at fault for not reading it. 

I do understand them not wanting to accept returns on “non-stock” items

I get that too, however, the 5 meter cable I bought is listed as a standard length on the manufacturer's website and is a choice on the drop down menu on the CableCo website. It did not occur to me that they might have a "no refund on anything other than 1 meter" policy.
maxima95
294 posts
 
I noticed this while I was contemplating a purchase.  The 8 ft vs. meter thing also bugged me.  Prior to a purchase, I would feel compelled to get an email reply from them specifying which items are returnable.

Also, after 2 prior purchases, the items later proved to be not in stock.  This was not shown on any screen during the purchases.

When I found this out (after I followed up), and after repeated queries, I wanted to cancel the order.  This was a struggle.  Each time (presumably by the same guy) I was told (condescendingly) that 'this was a high end cable and you just have to wait for a high end cable'.  Well, not necessarily and no I didn't. 
rdk777's avatar
rdk777
573 posts
 
Same thing happened to me and I ended up getting store credit.  I would order stuff (stylus gauge, cleaners etc) and it would take twice as long (~two weeks) to get the order.  Not worth it. Eventually used up all my credit and won't deal with them again.  Only use their site for prices.
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
I hate to say it but as many of you have stated here, things have gone south at The Cable Co.  There was a time in the not so distant past that they DID stock what was on their site and you would be serviced rather quickly.  I've had much better luck with places such as Parts Connexion. 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Devil's advocate.  The amount of cable offerings at "The Cable Company" is just absolutely huge.  I don't know of any vendor that would have several hundred to thousands of cables in stock when sales are unknown.  Unless they have a specific item in stock, they will usually have your cables drop-shipped directly from the manufacturer/supplier.  Their restriction on return cable lengths are exactly the same restriction as their "lending library".  They can accept returns on these since they are the most popular lengths and can "re-sell" those when other people like them during their "lending library" experience.
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