authorized vs unauthorized

[RumbleNTheTrunk 10+ year member]

Just figured id post this up. I see a big difference between authorized/unauthorized prices....ebay and the like. I use to be all about the warranties my last setup I bought was all authorized. But honestly most companies warranties are sketchy, pretty much if you **** up your sub for instance and you bought from an authorized dealer you have the pay the same ammount someone that didnt buy authorizedwould have to. I'm not ranting I just dont understand paying more for a warranty thats only valid to manufactor defects. I posted this up because I was told 150$ to have my '06xxx reconed plus shipping if I blew it( I dont even have the xxx yet I just called to see how much real power it would take daily and of course they just said 2kw.)

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[mikeyboc 10+ year member]

IMO it really depends on what your buying. For example, I have been thinking about some Focal K2P's, and if the store installs them they have a 3 year warranty (which is according to the store is a direct swap). In that case I think it is worth it. With your RE situation, the recone is the same price if you bought authorized or not, so why waste the cash.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

also on some companies, i would rather deal with where i bought it than the actual company, some places will exchange it out with out hardly any questions, but if you send it t a company they might try to get you to pay to fix it or what not

i believe some things are good to buy authorized while others are not

 

[RumbleNTheTrunk 10+ year member]

IMO it really depends on what your buying. For example, I have been thinking about some Focal K2P's, and if the store installs them they have a 3 year warranty (which is according to the store is a direct swap). In that case I think it is worth it. With your RE situation, the recone is the same price if you bought authorized or not, so why waste the cash.

yea I know I just dont get some companies warranties...Diamond's sounds awesome on paper until you read the fineprint. Pretty much it has to be installed by an authorized dealer and purchased and has to stay in the same vehicle...if put in a different vehicle it has to be installed again by the same or a different authorized installer lol for their "lifetime warranty"

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Different companies deal with warranty returns in different manners. Additionally different authorized retailers deal with returns in very dissimilar methods.

I used to run Diamond Audio M3 components before I upgraded to the M6 sets I use now. Those M3s were bought authorized from my local DAT dealer. A tweeter went bad on the passenger side.....still unknown as to whether it was user error or a build defect but when I took it back to tell them it wasn't playing they immediately took my car back into the install bay to check the wiring. When that ended up not being the issue they immediately uninstalled the defective tweet, replaced it with a good one out of a set they had in stock, and told me if I had any further issues to let them know post haste. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Crutchfield is also outstanding on their returns when the gear is still under warranty. An eXcelon KDC-X569 HU I bought from them started giving a TOC error when the unit only had abut two weeks left of the 2 year manufacturer's warranty. I called Crutchfield and told them what it was doing, they looked up the original invoice to see if the warranty was still in effect then once that was verified they issued me an RMA number and even paid for the shipping to send it in! Turnaround was only about 2 weeks and the deck hasn't given any problems since.

 

[SUB_URBAN 10+ year member]

Different companies deal with warranty returns in different manners. Additionally different authorized retailers deal with returns in very dissimilar methods.
I used to run Diamond Audio M3 components before I upgraded to the M6 sets I use now. Those M3s were bought authorized from my local DAT dealer. A tweeter went bad on the passenger side.....still unknown as to whether it was user error or a build defect but when I took it back to tell them it wasn't playing they immediately took my car back into the install bay to check the wiring. When that ended up not being the issue they immediately uninstalled the defective tweet, replaced it with a good one out of a set they had in stock, and told me if I had any further issues to let them know post haste. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Crutchfield is also outstanding on their returns when the gear is still under warranty. An eXcelon KDC-X569 HU I bought from them started giving a TOC error when the unit only had abut two weeks left of the 2 year manufacturer's warranty. I called Crutchfield and told them what it was doing, they looked up the original invoice to see if the warranty was still in effect then once that was verified they issued me an RMA number and even paid for the shipping to send it in! Turnaround was only about 2 weeks and the deck hasn't given any problems since.

Yea i only buy h/u's from crutchfield they are the bomb.

 

[RumbleNTheTrunk 10+ year member]

Yea i only buy h/u's from crutchfield they are the bomb.

where I purchased mine....but as far as blowing a sub due to, to much power do ya'll feel that should be warranted? and if not shouldnt atleast shipping be free or something if you purchased authorized.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

What you're talking about, Rumble, is user error. And were I the company in queston I cannot say that I would be particularly excited about being culpable for someone who has no clue how to properly implement the gear they are using. That leaves too much room open for abuse of the warranty.

If it is a manufacturing defect then yep, I say fix it and pay for shipping. If the end-user cannot understand that sending 1000 watts into a driver rated for 400 might be a bad idea then tough luck for them.

Just my $0.02.

 

[RumbleNTheTrunk 10+ year member]

What you're talking about, Rumble, is user error. And were I the company in queston I cannot say that I would be particularly excited about being culpable for someone who has no clue how to properly implement the gear they are using. That leaves too much room open for abuse of the warranty.
If it is a manufacturing defect then yep, I say fix it and pay for shipping. If the end-user cannot understand that sending 1000 watts into a driver rated for 400 might be a bad idea then tough luck for them.

Just my $0.02.

good point im not in this situtation just thought I would bring it up. Well actually I did have a problem of this nature before. WIth my last sub I was running the reccomended power to the sub from their amp and I blew 3 subs. First one was warranted it was considerd manufactorer defect, 2nd time we had this simmiliar problem but it wasnt warranted. So I upgraded subs from there old gen. sub to their new thinking I wasnt going to have this problem and I blow the sub the same day i get it. I send it back and its considered my fault because the coil and such is covered in fiberglass dust. Now I didnt build the box but had a knowledgable person do so. Should that still be considered user error? The box was blamed for messing the sub up, but it was to there specs.

 

[mikeyboc 10+ year member]

Way back when I worked for CC, there were certain products, including a decent amount of car audio, that they didn't even repair. If it was within the warranty they simply replaced it or gave you credit if it was no longer stocked. We used to change shit out all the time if it fell under this catagory, broken or not.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

I don't get what you're asking. Authorized is what it is. You get a warranty on your product. No company on earth should cover user error. It is not their fault people are less than capable of not breaking the equipment.

Are you saying $150 is too much for a repair on a $700 product that you would break

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

depends on price....

I got my D9TDXs for 225 each new,the local guy wanted like 3x that much

ummm,at 225 who needs a warrenty if it breaks just buy another.....

plus,I never own anything long enough to worry about a warrenty because

I like to change parts and experiment while I suppose the guy who does a system

one time needs that warrenty I dont

.02

In all the time I have been messing with unautherized stuff I had one fried amp,my Xenon

and luckily the Ebay seller swapped me for another unit so I did actually get a warrenty of sorts

 

[squeak12 10+ year member]

I myself dont buy authorized. I dont keep equipment long enough usually. Now if it does have a defect from the factory then Im screwed, but thats the risk I take. Unless its installed by a dealer, if it was my company, I wouldnt cover it either. User error doesnt only have to be too much power, either.