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Quality issues with Tekton speakers....

I was reading all the buzz about these Tekton speakers and after sorting through all the reviews, decided to order a pair of the Pendragon (the big ones... $2,500 a pair).

When they arrived, I found them to be boxed well and in perfect shape, although one thing was very noticeable once I looked at the speakers. The woofers had a slightly different tone (color). The upper woofer in each tower was basically dark gray or black (like most paper woofers you might come across) and the lower woofers were slightly blue in color. After looking on the web some, I could not find a Pendragon speaker photo ANYWHERE that had this color difference. Since they did not come with speaker grilles, I knew the color difference would bother me as long as I owned the speakers.

I contacted Tekton (Eric Alexander) via e-mail and explained the issue. After almost a week of not hearing back, I sent another e-mail and his response was...

(copy and pasted right from my e-mail)... " I'm sorry. Please refresh my memory. What seems to be the problem? Thanks, Eric"

I described the issue again and he offered to exchange the speakers. I said there was no need to ship back a huge pair of 85 pound speakers and have him send me another pair and suggested maybe he just send me grilles at no charge to cover the speakers and I could live with the slight color difference in the woofers. I really feel that grilles should be included in a $2,500 price tag however.

All of these e-mails took several days to answer by the way.

He agreed and said he would get the grilles out right away... they were sent a few days later and upon arrival, I realized there was a pretty big problem. I had a normal type speaker grill with 4 pegs on the back and a speaker with no peg holes. After all the time, e-mails, no answers, etc., I was not interested in wasting any more time with the matter and asked for a partial refund through PayPal and asked a simple question... why send me grilles for a speaker that he just shipped to me with no holes to put them in? His reply was to offer to make new grilles and send "velcro dots" to affix them to the speakers with.... WOW.

The WORST part about all this: Within 30 minutes of making a PayPal claim about the issue and asking for a partial refund from him, Eric tried to call me right away... now that there was money at stake.

The really sad part of all this is that the speakers actually sound pretty damn good now that they are broken in... I just hope the quality and communication come up to the same level for the sake of Tekton as a company.
128x128audiofreak32
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,009 posts
 
Chrshanl37,
That's true, but there is so much value in speaking person to person. The intent of the printed word is often misunderstood.
mikirob
955 posts
 
I'm just laughing my ass off. I love the wtf b.s. Why don't you go get another tattoo wtf guy. Yeah, I go to your restaurant, get petty about too much salt, call my friends to Yelp you to negative death since nothing you do (comps), can please me. Further example, you claim to be first-rate, you attempt to make things right for me, but I will here none of it, my petty salt complaint grows bigger, I and my friends now hate you, your service all your good stuff doesn't matter to the many folks who might have visited your restaurant. My friends and I continue scream bloody Hell for weeks on end, hiding behind the Internet keyboard; we do, do damage to your business.

Now, Eric has built a number of terrific speaker models, has worked real hard building his business, rumor has it he is swamped with business, makes minor mistake and you want him nailed to a cross. You are just a bit too cavalier in harsh judgement of Eric (something stinks). As stated before, he offered to exchage the speaker for OP. That should have been enough. Some guys are just a little too trigger happy to sully a good rep over the Internet.

My wacko scenario above could happen to anyone. A tad of mercy and a benefit of doubt can go a long way in life. Might even help achieve a better outcome.
markpao
519 posts
 
I read this thread in disbelief. Disbelief that some think Tekton did this horrific thing to the OP. Seriously? He offered to exchange the speakers. Good grief.
Now a while back I read in these forums that someone paid some $5000.00 for an Art Audio amp and never got it. And never got his money back. That my friends is ground to beat up on somebody. IMO
shakeydeal
979 posts
 
I am going to say it again. It would have been far easier to swap out drivers and be done. The OP didn't originally want grilles, so that is a non issue. The mismatched drivers, however, IS the issue. I wouldn't want to live with it either, but I know how to use a cordless screwdriver, so the problem would be easily solved.

Shakey
speavler
32 posts
 
First of all, it wasn't a criticism, it was a helpful suggestion. Email is not always the best form of communication. This isn't a big company with a dedicated customer service department. The guy checking the emails is also the guy constructing the speakers. Just is what it is. And also a reason these speakers are priced where they are. You can probably do the math on the drivers and materials and figure how much they cost in parts alone. Add overhead and these prices aren't possible. Just saying.
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