[Kevin Brown]

 

I understand the not-very-good treatment you got from Grado, but why not just talk to Audio Advisor 1st in the 1st place?  That's what I would have done.

 

 
After reading through the thread I think you manufactured some of your own misery. I dont get why you did an end around on Audio Advisor and went straight to Grado. Sounds like what you should have done is send the product back to the blokes that sold it to you and exchanged them for a more satisfactory pair. As far as how you were treated by Grado it sounds like they could have handled the situation better and unfortunately some people are not very adept at dealing with angry and frustrated consumers. What I would do is get in contact with audio adviser explain your dissatisfaction with the product, what you have already done, and see what they can do to make it right.

 
 
 

 

[PANGES]

Quote:

 

I understand the not-very-good treatment you got from Grado, but why not just talk to Audio Advisor 1st in the 1st place?  That's what I would have done.

 

 
After reading through the thread I think you manufactured some of your own misery. I dont get why you did an end around on Audio Advisor and went straight to Grado. Sounds like what you should have done is send the product back to the blokes that sold it to you and exchanged them for a more satisfactory pair. As far as how you were treated by Grado it sounds like they could have handled the situation better and unfortunately some people are not very adept at dealing with angry and frustrated consumers. What I would do is get in contact with audio adviser explain your dissatisfaction with the product, what you have already done, and see what they can do to make it right.

 
 
 

To the OP... I'm sorry you were in that situation; however, I agree with KneelJung. You should've talked to the place you bought them from first, before going straight to Grado.
 
When I purchased my SR80i from Headroom (headphone.com), and I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the headphone because the plastic had scrapes on it, the silver lettering was worn off, and the ear pads had some knicks and cuts on it. I called Headroom, and they told me to return the headphones for a full refund. I sent them back the next day, they honored their promise, and refunded my money. 
 
A lot of people don't like buying from Headroom, because they're expensive a bit more expensive than most places, but honestly, I would pay a little extra for their customer service. The guy there, Dan, seems to know a lot of about headphones and didn't once hinted or blamed any mistreatment on my part, which is rare from any store, be it online or walk in. 
 

 

[kkennally]

 
Quote:

 To the OP... I'm sorry you were in that situation; however, I agree with KneelJung. You should've talked to the place you bought them from first, before going straight to Grado.  
When I purchased my SR80i from Headroom (headphone.com), and I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the headphone because the plastic had scrapes on it, the silver lettering was worn off, and the ear pads had some knicks and cuts on it. I called Headroom, and they told me to return the headphones for a full refund. I sent them back the next day, they honored their promise, and refunded my money. 
 
A lot of people don't like buying from Headroom, because they're expensive a bit more expensive than most places, but honestly, I would pay a little extra for their customer service. The guy there, Dan, seems to know a lot of about headphones and didn't once hinted or blamed any mistreatment on my part, which is rare from any store, be it online or walk in. 
 

[size=10pt] I know that I could and should have sent them back to the original place of purchase. But after I emailed Grado and they saw the picture and agreed with me and told me to send them in, I felt committed to that. I just did not see this coming...A company that deals in high-end audio products and seeing that I purchased one of their signature products I thought this would be a no brainer. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]2 years ago I purchased A new Cambridge Audio amp (740A) and upon arrival I opened the box and noticed during shipping the top cover was dented. I called Cambridge audio and within 4 business days I had a new top panel for my amp...[/size]
[size=10pt]We buy products from these companies that are not sold at Best buy or Wal-Mart for a reason...[/size]
[size=10pt]I guess shame on me....[/size]

 

[PANGES]

Quote:

 
Quote:

 To the OP... I'm sorry you were in that situation; however, I agree with KneelJung. You should've talked to the place you bought them from first, before going straight to Grado.  
When I purchased my SR80i from Headroom (headphone.com), and I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the headphone because the plastic had scrapes on it, the silver lettering was worn off, and the ear pads had some knicks and cuts on it. I called Headroom, and they told me to return the headphones for a full refund. I sent them back the next day, they honored their promise, and refunded my money. 
 
A lot of people don't like buying from Headroom, because they're expensive a bit more expensive than most places, but honestly, I would pay a little extra for their customer service. The guy there, Dan, seems to know a lot of about headphones and didn't once hinted or blamed any mistreatment on my part, which is rare from any store, be it online or walk in. 
 

[size=10pt] I know that I could and should have sent them back to the original place of purchase. But after I emailed Grado and they saw the picture and agreed with me and told me to send them in, I felt committed to that. I just did not see this coming...A company that deals in high-end audio products and seeing that I purchased one of their signature products I thought this would be a no brainer. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]2 years ago I purchased A new Cambridge Audio amp (740A) and upon arrival I opened the box and noticed during shipping the top cover was dented. I called Cambridge audio and within 4 business days I had a new top panel for my amp...[/size]
[size=10pt]We buy products from these companies that are not sold at Best buy or Wal-Mart for a reason...[/size]
[size=10pt]I guess shame on me....[/size]

 
I know what you mean. After spending that much money for a product that looks like it was put together by a 1st grader is pretty irritating. I've dealt with companies directly before too (Little Dot), and when I told them the face plate on my DAC was chipped, they just asked for a picture and sent me a new face plate without any more questions. 
 
I wouldn't be so fast as to say shame on you, because it's only human to expect a company to be grateful that we spend $700 for a product that probably only cost them $50 to make. It's really not wrong on your part to expect that, if something were to ever go wrong, they would own up and take responsibility for their crappy craftsmanship/quality control (because they should). This sort of thing happens a lot when a company grows big enough to not have to care whether individual consumers are happy or not, because people will still buy their stuff. 
 
I really am sorry that something like this happened to you. The best route at the moment would be to try and contact the seller who sold you the product and see what they can do about it. It's obviously a Grado flaw, and not something YOU did, so I don't see why they wouldn't take it back or exchange it for another. 
 
Personally, I was considering buying a set of Grado RS1i's, and now I am reconsidering. Someone said that it's stupid, because there's tons of people happy with their products, but that isn't the point. The point is that Grado screwed up, and wont own up to it. If a company is not willing to support their customers, then I don't see any point in a customer supporting the company.
 

 

 

[jc@gradolabs]

Dear Kennally
 
please email me:
 
jc@gradolabs.com
 
Thanks
 
John Chen
Grado Labs
Director of Sales
732-560-8912

 

[jc@gradolabs]

Panges
 
please let me know where I can have RS1i's made for $50.00 here in the United States.
 
Thanks
 
John Chen
Grado Labs
Director of Sales
732-560-8912

 

[tuanhung303]

he doesnt mean it seriously, you know? just a comparison.
 
Quote:

Panges
 
please let me know where I can have RS1i's made for $50.00 here in the United States.
 
Thanks
 
John Chen
Grado Labs
Director of Sales
732-560-8912

 

[jc@gradolabs]

What about the reference that it was put together by a "first grader"?

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

he doesnt mean it seriously, you know? just a comparison.
 
Quote:

Panges
 
please let me know where I can have RS1i's made for $50.00 here in the United States.
 
Thanks
 
John Chen
Grado Labs
Director of Sales
732-560-8912

 

 
This is the same BS that gets thrown around on HF whenever someone is unhappy with Grado (or whoever). Of course, AKG and Sennheiser are lining the earcups on their headphones with baby seal fur and gold edging ...
 
Its up there with the 'expose' that showed the cumulative parts cost to Apple for the iPhone was about 40 dollars - basically, the cost of R&D. marketing and maintaining a distribution network is zero when you read these breakdowns. 
 
To the OP, your issue should be with the reseller - I believe they failed in their duty to their customer by shipping an obviously flawed product in the first place. 
 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I think it is generally known that Grado pretty much has no quality control standards. It wouldn't take much effort to find numerous accounts of people getting Grados that were cosmetically flawed...scratches, dents, dings, scuffs, ect. Now for the lesser priced stuff that might be acceptable and most people just roll with it. But when I spend $700 on a pair of highend headphones...the darn things better be perfect. Even my $300 SR325i's I would expect to be perfect. But sadly that seems to not to be the case all too often with Grados.
 
 

Quote:

What about the reference that it was put together by a "first grader"?
 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I think that everyone agrees with this but the point is, even though the OP did not go to the dealer with the problem and went straight to Grado, Grado agreed to address the issue and asked for the headphones to be sent in to them. Then they turn around, treated the OP like garbage, and returned the headphones unfixed. That is pretty piss poor service...especially since the headphones have a one year warranty that should cover manufacturer defects, which I would think that a very noticeable cosmetic flaw from the factory on a pair of $700 headphones certainly would fall under. If Grado didn't want to be bothered with the problem perhaps they should have suggested themselves that the OP contact the dealer and have the issue resolved through them. Instead they took it upon themselves to deal with the problem which they obviously failed to do.
 
Quote:

 
To the OP, your issue should be with the reseller - I believe they failed in their duty to their customer by shipping an obviously flawed product in the first place. 
 

 

[jc@gradolabs]

 
Your statement "has no quality control" and  "all too often" is incorrect .

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Sorry Mr. Chen...perhaps you should look around here a bit and you'll see that YOU are the one that is incorrect.

 

[jc@gradolabs]

My name is John Chen, not Mr.Grado.
I don't just look at Head-Fi, I look after the national and international markets.
 

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

What about the reference that it was put together by a "first grader"?

well...grado isn't known to have the best build quality in the world....
 
i think it's clear who many of us on head-fi are in support of, generally nobody picks on grado labs too much for the build issue because we've all come to expect it (not the looks, the sound) but when it's obvious who was wronged, I think being so courteous is out of the quesetion
 
james