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Audio-GD A Cautionary Tale  

post #1 of 57
1/1/10 at 11:57am
Thread Starter 
Before I begin with my story, Let me acknowledge that a lot of you have had excellent service from Mr Kingwa and consider him a true professional and a wonderful guy for creating the Compass et al. I know I'm going to get hammered for the tale I'm about to tell but hopefully it will illustrate how badly things CAN go when dealing with Audio-GD

It started back in early December. I was looking for a DAC to go with my Heed Canamp, and started reading about the Compass. I read all the reviews, the old and new Compass threads, etc and decided to give the Compass a try. I figured if I liked the sound I'd sell the Heed and maybe buy a little tube amp to run as an auxiliary off the Compass for a different sound.

I contacted Mr Kingwa on the 11th and got a price quote for the Compass and Sun and Moon hdams. He responded quickly and confirmed what I wanted twice, stating it would ship within 3 working days after payment. I felt comfortable and ordered with shipping through EMS, paying with Paypal. That's the last I heard from him.

After a week of nothing I sent an email on the 18th asking if my Compass had shipped,-no response. Tried again on the 20th,-no response. Tried again on the 21st,-no response. After the 4th try he responded saying the delay had to do with the Christmas rush and EMS was batch shipping. So I waited some more..

I finally had enough on the 30th and sent an email expressing my disappointment with him and his service, and a strongly worded request for information on my shipment. He stated he's checking with EMS and if my order is lost, he'll refund my money- 30 DAYS from now!

Please note that during all this time I received no voluntary information on my order, not even a tracking number, despite repeated requests. The only sketchy information I got was from one of our own members pointing me to a spot that lists what has been shipped on the Chinese side of the Audio-GD website. I still to this day have no solid proof my order was ever even shipped.

I guess I'm waiting for 30 days for my refund. Maybe the Compass will appear on my doorstep one day, who knows? To add insult to injury, Pacific Valve has the Compass on sale right now for $299 but I can't buy it because Mr Kingwa has my money and I don't know for sure if his Compass is going to show up or I'll get a refund.

I'll say it again, I'm not condemning Audio-GD or Mr Kingwa, I'm just telling the story of my experience in the hope that it will help you be a more well informed and cautious customer.

Take care.
post #2 of 57
1/1/10 at 12:12pm
Never heard some "Bad Service" story about Audio-gd and Mr. Kingwa. Shipping during holiday always take more times and more problem, in particular with international shipping. I can understand you being a little nervous (i always am when during shipping time). I am not hammering you of course since i have not (yet) bougth something from Audio-gd. Just be a little patient. 99% things will solve up imo. Anyway please, if this wilo solve up (which i am pretty sure it will), update this as solved. Community will help you somehow if things will not solve up i think, since Audio-gd best customers comes from this community i think-
post #3 of 57
1/1/10 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
I will most certainly post up with results when the problem is resolved. I'm excited by some of the other offerings by Mr Kingwa and would like to purchase as funds allow, but this experience really sours me...
post #4 of 57
1/1/10 at 12:31pm
Although your experience may be the exception, I think it's good we hear about things like this. It's like I've been saying about buying used: People want a *huge* discount on basically new gear just because they're not buying from the manufacturer, but they fail to take into account episodes like this that can usually be avoided by getting used from within the US (or from within their own country). Things like this highlight the fact that glitches can often occur, especially when dealing with someone 1/2 way around the world, and then your money is often tied up for longer than you'd like it to be.
post #5 of 57
1/1/10 at 2:33pm
I ordered mine late November, confirmed the same day, got the tracking number 2 days later, arrived early December, amazing service and speed.

Don't know what went wrong with you but must have something to do with the holidays.
post #6 of 57
1/1/10 at 3:22pm
If he has already confirmed that your amp was "lost" in shipping, why is he sitting on your re-fund for 30-days? Seems like it should be *his* problem, not yours.
post #7 of 57
1/1/10 at 3:34pm
My experience with their service have been excellent
post #8 of 57
1/1/10 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Il Mostro View Post
If he has already confirmed that your amp was "lost" in shipping, why is he sitting on your re-fund for 30-days? Seems like it should be *his* problem, not yours.
He didn't confirm it, he said "if".
post #9 of 57
1/1/10 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Necrolic View Post
He didn't confirm it, he said "if".
And he is still holding the funds for 30-days *if* it is lost. Things like this happen and are the "cost of doing business" -- something that well run businesses with a high level of service do not expect the customer to bear.
post #10 of 57
1/1/10 at 8:54pm
Bad Service from Audio-Gd? Yeah. Me too. I won't bore you with all the details, but it was pretty bad. I was told I'd be given a refund if I sent something to a service center. I did, then spent at least a week, maybe two arguing about the return.

Unit was shipped late to begin with. A part to fix it was supposed to be shipped, I don't know if it ever was. The attitude was very much 'too bad, I've got your money'.

Yeah, I know, some of the Audio-Gd gear looks very nice and it's probably a real bargain at the price. And many people have had good experiences buying it and derive a great deal of enjoyment from owning it.

But buying from China is not without risks.
post #11 of 57
1/1/10 at 10:40pm
Lol, I've been waiting over 8 weeks for my woo order, the only correspondence for most of that time was initiated by me. I received no ETA at the time and had no idea of when it was coming till I randomly got a shipping notice.

Patience... its coming...
post #12 of 57
1/1/10 at 11:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henerenry View Post
Lol, I've been waiting over 8 weeks for my woo order, the only correspondence for most of that time was initiated by me. I received no ETA at the time and had no idea of when it was coming till I randomly got a shipping notice.

Patience... its coming...
My new rule....I will NOT do business with anyone I can't call on the phone.
post #13 of 57
1/1/10 at 11:31pm
I've purchased from overseas before, and I will never do it again. It's just too much of a gamble in my opinion, especially when you're dealing with someone who doesn't speak your own language very well.
post #14 of 57
1/1/10 at 11:51pm
If a company wants to sell in a country with as many buyers as the US, they should have inventory in that country. Nothing personal, just business.
post #15 of 57
1/2/10 at 1:49am
Or you should fly over there and buy one?

If you want to buy from a few of the US makers, there is a massive build time?

Waiting a couple of weeks for an amp to be shipped from Europe/Asia or waiting 8+ weeks for an amp locally?
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