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| especially before even giving him a chance to repair/replace the unit and make things right. |
I know I was a little heavy handed in my wording, I probably should been a little more patient for sucessive responses. I know that you catch more flies with honey etc. but honestly I was pretty sure of how he was going to respond based on what other members said of how he dealt with them when they had problems. I did do research on this forum regarding any other problems people have had with Lawrence and his Zeros. Several members had chips installed backwards which caused them to be DOA. It is easy to prove that this was completely Lawrence's fault, yet he wouldn't send another until they send their's back (at a cost of around $40). Therefore there is no reason to believe that he would be any more charitable to me when I can't even necassarily prove that it was his fault. Also he typically doesn't answer emails for several days. In no case did he offer any other option other than shipping it back. One member responded by simply fixing it himself at his own cost. The fact of the matter in these cases where the chips were installed backwards, the units were DOA and even the simplest test on Lawrence's end could have seen this, which to me proves that he does ship some units without even testing them. These DOA units were received only a few months ago so unless he recently drastically changed his QC policies, it sheds some doubt on the current batches being completely tested. And besides, do you really believe him that it is most likely damaged in shipping if there was absolutely no visible damage internally or externally. His answer was a clear cop out.
I at least waited for his initial response which was to send it back on my own dime, wait for him to prod around, and then he will do something, oh and that he was sorry. Basically the same resolution that everyone else got. What would make me think that upon successive emails he will decide to pay for everything and ship out a new one immediately. I want to listen to my music, not wait another month and pay another $40 for something that seems very likely to be his fault. It is very easy to claim that "Highly probably something happen during transportation" and then take no responsiblity for my damaged headphones, wasted time and money. It was pretty clear from his response that he wasn't going to take responsiblity for any of it.
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wait, you're filing a complaint before hearing back from him on whether he'll refund you?
seriously What. way to jump the gun. |
I never ended up filing it. I was considering it so that these events could be documented with paypal from the start. Also I was hoping I could get some leverage in getting a full refund (including the original shipping) and possibly compensation on the ship back.
Say what you want about me being an ******* and jumping the gun but I think everyone pretty much knows how this is going to end. From his past policy, he clearly doesn't operate out of charity by any stretch, at least my email gave him some incentive to response in my favor. I am going to have to ship it back ($40), my headphones are toast ($50), and maybe if I'm lucky he won't claim that the initial shipping was nonrefundable and I will get the full $200 I paid back and not just $160. However, that is probably unlikely, I probably will lose $130 because of this.
Update: I emailed Lawrence back and apologized for being so aggressive in my response and to please understand the stress the situation has put on me. I asked if I sent him the package back if he will refund me the full $200. I said that it would only be fair since I will already incur a $90 loss.
It is really frustrating losing that much money but I guess it could always be worse so I am just going to try and forget about it for now. I will ship back the Zero tommorrow. I figure my HD497's getting burned up is good excuse to buy better ones. I never wanted to badmouth Lawrence or ruin the guy's reputation but I do think that letting everyone else know the exact situation was a good idea. It was through recommendations from Head-fi posts that lead me to deal with Lawrence in the first place, unfortunately I didn't read about the mishaps until after. People should be aware that when they buy from Lawrence, if they receive a DOA (and this has happened several times) they will have to pay at least $40 more and wait several weeks to get a functioning one. This seems to be a real issue with some sellers from China and it should be something that people are aware of. Other sellers from China have made it clear that they will protect the customer from being screwed in such circumstances, therefore there is no reason to deal with ones who show that they won't.
