[mecano]

A story involving gradoes..
Most of you guys in the boards are living in the states .and many of you are happy grado owners not only because of the sound but also the excellent service of the gradolabs.I m living in Athens Greece south Europe and I bought my first grado the 225 5 years ago.Not something special but rather nice sound and very easy to drive I used them with receivers portables TV and even PC’s for games with no problem.A few moths ago I decided to go for the 325 .which I find much much better. 225 is nice but 325 very good and they don t need a dedicated headphone amp to sound good. I used them with my trusty pioneer a-400from the first time I heard some slight noises from the left earphone but only at very low frequencies.i thought maybe is the cable..and anyway at the time I was listening to stuff like REM –not too much low freq there...after some time I tried the Phillip glass soundtrack
“Koyaanisqatsi”.if you know it its full of very low freq organ lines.i couldn t listen to it from the first to the last minute noises (rattling?)were coming from the left channel..i called the local distributor here Spectrum Electronics.That company is also one of the better ”small” Loudspeaker companies in Europe(Audio Spectrum-not that I care for speakers but that’s another story!)so I thought they are trustworthy and reputable.no such luck….they didn t even knew the existence of the bowl pads until I told them!!he faxed to Grado Labs and told me they have to go to the US.and so he send them…That was 2 months ago….finally the guy from Spectrum Elec. called me and said that the left channel is fried. how?””dc leaking or clipping of the output stage of the amp-you will have to buy a new 325 because the duty charges are high and we cannot bring the fixed pair back to Greece””he told me that the only thing I can do is buy from him a new 325 with a small discount-290$ instead of the 400$ I paid to buy it new.he is asking for the full US price as you see….that means than if I had bought the rs1 he would told me “you will have to pay 800$ to buy a new pair anything whatever happens to them”Not “buy or die”but something like… “buy and die!”Maybe it was the Pioneer and the low imp of the Gradoes that’s not the issue ..things happen.Its that not only I lost the 400$ and my pair will stay in US but I can t buy Grado again because I will have to pay for a new one every time something happens to them!and from what I read at the boards gradoes are generally sensitive –How can I risk that again .I have some friends with US gear here in Athens and they told me they have never heard that think before-buy a new one if something happens?!and of course they will never buy grado after that

 

[OneMalt]

It sounds to me like you're being ripped-off. I know nothing of Greek laws but do you have some kind of consumer protection acency you can contact? I can't believe they maintain that your 325s can't be brought back. It would seem to me that they have a responsibility to return your headphones, repaired or not. Did they give you any kind of warning when you took your 325s in?

 

[mecano]

they told me that gradolabs wanted them and that they can t fix them in greece-rather ironic because SpectrumElectronics is making speakers for 20 years and some are hi-end with SEAS drivers etc.maybe gradolabs is not sending parts...so shipping to US was the only thing i could do...

 

[lini]

Oh man, that sucks - but I don't think the dealer can talk himself out of the new EU guarantee regulations that easily, especially when your defect turned up during the first six months (at least, if the EU regulations have been similarly translated to Greek law as these have been to German law). Because during the first six months the dealer has to prove that you've caused the failure - otherwise it's generally assumed that the fault was present in the purchased product right from the start. And I guess, that prove could be rather difficult, when you have used your SR225 under the same working conditions without any problems... Maybe you also have "consumer centrals" as we have them over here, which could help you in such a case - and a letter to Grado might also be a good idea... Otherwise you'd probably have to ask a lawyer for help, which might be a little expensive.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[JMT]

Mecano, is there any way you can get them to send the 325s to someone here in the states and then have them send you back your headphones? Hell, I'd be willing to be the middleman if you can arrange it.

Because I think your dealer is trying to screw you.

 

[Hirsch]

I'd suggest emailing Grado Labs. You can link to them at their website (www.gradolabs.com). They may be able to help you out, and certainly need to know that their distributor is bad. It's possible that once they know the situation they can send you the headphone directly. If it's declared as a return of a repaired item, it should not be subject to import duties.

It doesn't sound like the problem is with Grado. It sounds like it's with their distributor, and they need to know about it. If they can't help, then they become part of the problem...

 

[OneMalt]

Actually, I've already forwarded a link to this thread to Grado. Sorry for being so bold mecano but this whole thing just really pissed me off.

 

[john_jcb]

When this is resolved I would like to hear the story from the Grado side. The thing all seems a bit underhanded.

 

[mecano]

Thanks for the interest guys!
“consumer protect organizations» I know how strong they are is US.but in Greece things are different…-obviously GradoLabs does not send parts to distributors otherwise I could have fixed it myself.If I want to take back my 325 I have to pay for EVERYTHING myself -duty customs and it would cost me the same about 280$ as he says(”because the box is big “that’s his excuse)I knew it would cost to ship it from New York to Athens there are customs charge for every EU country.i didn’t know it was so much and that I must pay for everything its like the official distributor doesn t even exist like I bought my pair from some unknown guy in the middle of nowhere.
Because except of 2 or 3 speaker companies Greece manufacture absolutely nothing all hi-fi here is through distributors official or not .and only luck can make this network work for us poor hi-fi fanatics in this country.That means that if you are lucky enough to find someone you can trust you are fine otherwise you lost.
I m into the headphone hobby for 15 years and I know almost everyone here some are supportive and friendly like Creek or Beyer even Sony(I used to own the cd3000 for some years)others are crap like Sudgen or now Grado.They just want to earn and never spend money for service
Its like the”Casino” the film with De Niro and Sharon Stone we have to pay to “play”(hear) sometimes we succeed but at the end the Casino(distributors) always wins
Just like in the movie…

 

[OneMalt]

I would hope that Grado is blameless. I suspect the culprit here is the dealer.

 

[DarkWolf]

If you absolutely can't get grado to send the phones back to the dealer in Greece, perhaps you could convince them to send the phones to someone from head-fi here in the US and then have them send the phones to you. Some research would have to be done to see if it really can be shipped at a reasonable rate or not though. Kinda far out, I know, but it's a thought.

 

[OneMalt]

Hell, I'd wrap them like a Christmas present...I think that would exempt them from duty.

 

[wab]

Mecano, the guy is trying to rip you off! Sending something to the US and back should be around €50, maybe even less. About the customs thing. Just say there's a broken pair of headphones inside, or at least don't say it's a commercial good worth $300.

 

[kerelybonto]

The key here is what Hirsch wrote: "If it's declared as a return of a repaired item, it should not be subject to import duties." You have already paid import taxes on these, probably added into the original purchase price. They are not a new import and no more taxes should apply. Unless your dealer is an idiot, he knows this -- it really sounds like he's trying to rip you off.

Get the broken headphones back from your dealer, send them to Grado yourself, and tell Grado to lable them as repaired. That should avoid import taxes -- of course, even if you had to pay them, it'd cost significantly less than buying a new pair.

kerely

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by mecano Thanks for the interest guys! “consumer protect organizations» I know how strong they are is US.but in Greece things are different…-obviously GradoLabs does not send parts to distributors otherwise I could have fixed it myself.If I want to take back my 325 I have to pay for EVERYTHING myself -duty customs and it would cost me the same about 280$ as he says(”because the box is big “that’s his excuse)I knew it would cost to ship it from New York to Athens there are customs charge for every EU country.i didn’t know it was so much and that I must pay for everything its like the official distributor doesn t even exist like I bought my pair from some unknown guy in the middle of nowhere. Because except of 2 or 3 speaker companies Greece manufacture absolutely nothing all hi-fi here is through distributors official or not .and only luck can make this network work for us poor hi-fi fanatics in this country.That means that if you are lucky enough to find someone you can trust you are fine otherwise you lost. I m into the headphone hobby for 15 years and I know almost everyone here some are supportive and friendly like Creek or Beyer even Sony(I used to own the cd3000 for some years)others are crap like Sudgen or now Grado.They just want to earn and never spend money for service Its like the”Casino” the film with De Niro and Sharon Stone we have to pay to “play”(hear) sometimes we succeed but at the end the Casino(distributors) always wins Just like in the movie…

How can this be Grado's fault?
It sounds like Spectrum Elec. is cheating you.