Astell & Kern - Bad Service?
Jun 1, 2015 at 1:50 PM Post #17 of 40
AmEx awarded the dispute in my favor and has credited my account.  Last night, a Head-Fi member PM'd me direct email to a contact they had within IRiver and that rep got back to me this morning and provided a return label.  If all goes per the direction from Amex, once they start working with IRiver they should be able to show they received the AK Jr and the credit will remain.
 
I'll try and get some clarity on the UPS refusal conundrum if there is a manager at the office when I stop by today.  It sounds like I should have challenged them on their policy last week a little more, but I don't know or really need to know UPS policy at depth so if this is my mistake it isn't one that bothers me.  I'll still try to get clarity and share for any future readers.
 
P.S. One anecdotal point that I didn't share originally... when I tried to do the refusal with UPS and explained the situation above as to why I was trying to refuse this delivery her exact words were "that is fishy" when she heard the situation and saw the address was scratched off.  I doubt this changes any opinions expressed earlier of me being over dramatic, and if so I'm OK with that. 
 
Take care everyone & thanks for the help!
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 3:04 PM Post #18 of 40
I'm glad you finally reached someone, and your issues are getting resolved.  I don't think you were being at all dramatic.  There is nothing more frustrating and maddening to me than the communication vacuum when a business fails to respond to important support inquiries.  It's all the more curious since my own experience showed that there are at least a few people at iRiver customer service doing a very good job indeed, and that usually doesn't happen without support from higher up.  In contrast, the website is poorly designed, which makes the first point of contact with their customers vague, hard to navigate, and inaccurate. To me, such a wide range of competence and effectiveness among the different parts of the company indicates a dysfunctional upper management structure, but they must still have enough going in their favor to attract at least some quality people.

Regarding the scratched-off address, I've received one or two packages over the years where certain parts of the label had suffered physical damage during shipping, so it could have just been an unlucky coincidence and not the result of chicanery or malice.  FWIW I find it hard to believe that UPS were unable to retrieve the originating address from the tracking number.
 
Jun 15, 2015 at 7:18 PM Post #19 of 40
I have been dealing with the lack of responsiveness to emails and that mysterious phone number for two weeks now as well. I have a brick AK120II on my hand. I try every day, multiple times a day, Pacific time zone as well. I am so livid with this company I hope everyone considering AK review this thread to be warned. My situation with them mirrors yours entirely. If someone could PM me that mans email account to get around this ill feel $1700 better.

Rob.
 
Jun 16, 2015 at 12:18 AM Post #21 of 40
chuckjones242 said:
I have been dealing with the lack of responsiveness to emails and that mysterious phone number for two weeks now as well. I have a brick AK120II on my hand. I try every day, multiple times a day, Pacific time zone as well. I am so livid with this company I hope everyone considering AK review this thread to be warned. My situation with them mirrors yours entirely. If someone could PM me that mans email account to get around this ill feel $1700 better.

Rob.
Click to expand...

 
Wow this is now a third similar story.  It looks like someone PM'd you the info, but none of this should be necessary.  This is not a good reputation to be building for items at their price points.
 
Jun 16, 2015 at 12:33 AM Post #22 of 40
The first time I called I got a person who told me no problem, will send you an email with an RMA and instructions.

2 days later no email, sent a follow up email to the support email posted on their site. No response.

Start calling that infamous number on the site, and despite getting him once, I've never been able to get him again. As I said, I try daily and often.

Called B&H hoping they had a different contact, they said they don't.

I found the other two varieties of their support emails... One called webmaster and another support.inc. I email all three of these daily as well. never have had a response.

What's wrong with the unit? It fails to be recognized by any computer at all. Yes, have troubleshot it every way possible and can tell you the USB port just doesn't work.
 
Jun 16, 2015 at 12:43 AM Post #23 of 40
To me it looks like a foreign company without adequate support in the U.S., or growing pains. I wish I knew it was a Korean brand, not designed or built in the U.S. It's crazy to think I spent $1700.00 for what probably cost $20.00 in parts and labor. I don't want to hear about R&D. Think of what Audeze and Schit are able to pull off with completely built in the U.S. parts and assembly. If I had any idea this was something being drop shipped from Korea I would have never ever bought it, it is the absolute opposite of a luxury brand. It's a rip off perpetrated on my ignorance.

That said.. Put in my Shure 846's with balanced Silver Moon cable and it sounds phenomenal. I hate that it does. Again, if this was a result of some lone engineer in PA that no one could get in touch with because he was playing Magic the gathering over the week I'd understand and probably be charmed by the scrappiness. I just hate this brand and the elitist flossing it really is.
 
Jun 17, 2015 at 2:40 AM Post #24 of 40
chuckjones242 said:
To me it looks like a foreign company without adequate support in the U.S., or growing pains. I wish I knew it was a Korean brand, not designed or built in the U.S. It's crazy to think I spent $1700.00 for what probably cost $20.00 in parts and labor. I don't want to hear about R&D. Think of what Audeze and Schit are able to pull off with completely built in the U.S. parts and assembly. If I had any idea this was something being drop shipped from Korea I would have never ever bought it, it is the absolute opposite of a luxury brand. It's a rip off perpetrated on my ignorance.

That said.. Put in my Shure 846's with balanced Silver Moon cable and it sounds phenomenal. I hate that it does. Again, if this was a result of some lone engineer in PA that no one could get in touch with because he was playing Magic the gathering over the week I'd understand and probably be charmed by the scrappiness. I just hate this brand and the elitist flossing it really is.
Click to expand...

This comment nails it on many levels.  I personally don't have a problem with it being a Korean company except for their obviously not having a robust presence here in the states.  Although if there were a comparable product that was made in the USA, I would buy it in a heartbeat.  And I'd probably put the component + manufacturing cost at two or three hundred bucks although that's a quibble.  

I love my AK120II, it sounds amazing with my SE846's as well, has a great UI and design, and is super easy to use.  The price is high but IMO the product itself is excellent.  That all being said, it shouldn't require hours and hours of hair-pulling and dice-rolling to get basic post-sale support, that is a huge problem that the company will have to correct if they want to make it in the US/NA market.

I have to ask though, did you check your spam filter for the email?  I'm going to send you another PM with more contact details for the guy at iRiver.
 
Jun 17, 2015 at 10:25 AM Post #25 of 40
Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a jingoistic nut.  There are so many niche brands in this hobby that are US based, for the money I assumed (stupidly) that this was one as well.  My disappointment in my lack of research led to this post :)   I will keep everyone up to date, the contact that was PM'd to me responded in 5 minutes and gave me an RMA.  Will see how long it takes to repair / replace (it should be replaced...) and let you'all know.
 
Jun 17, 2015 at 10:40 AM Post #26 of 40
You have every right to be pissed. Doesn't matter where they make their devices, they should provide customer support. I don't think I can support a company like this anymore...the way they treat their customers is inexcusable. I hope you get it sorted.
 
Jun 17, 2015 at 2:19 PM Post #27 of 40
No jingoism was inferred, and in retrospect my comment on that point was a little stronger than I intended.  I've got to remember to turn my brain down a point or two when posting at 2:40AM :p

I'm 1000% behind buying made in the USA as much as possible, and will happily pay a premium to put food on the table for my fellow citizens.
 
Jun 17, 2015 at 4:34 PM Post #28 of 40
Just to weigh in hear, I am also having issues with my AK JR and need an RMA to get a replacement and have been trying to contact them through the regular support email as well as a direct contact email i got from another headfi-er but I still have not received any responses. I will try again right now. I am also a bit frustrated.
 
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