[PredatorZ]

Just getting ready to send my Predator back to Ray to have my battery replaced. I was under the impression that it was covered under a 3 year warranty and an overall Lifetime warranty on the unit its self. Here's a quote from the RS site " The Predator has a life time warranty, parts & labor, the battery has 3 years. The customer will pay shipping both ways only. The warranty is transferable to any owner."
Ray Samuels Audio.
 
And  Rays response to my email
"The Predator does not have 3 years warranty my friend.
It has life time warranty. The battery has 90 days warranty for me from the manufacturer & I give one year warranty on the battery. "
 
No real big problem, maybe an extra 45 bucks out of my pocket over the deal, but I love my Amp and want it to work properly, so Ill gladly pay  the piper. You have to admit, even the one year warranty on a battery is excellent, so its all good in the end. I just hoping the site would get updated to reflect the actual warranty details. Apparently there's a new charger , "  We use new battery with new charger that has RED light on top indicating battery is charging.
The light turn GREEN when battery is fully charged.
Battery & the charger are $45.00 only.
Shipping it back to you if you are in the US is $16.00
Total is $61.00. "
 
Ill post an update when I get it back

 

[The Monkey]

I'm not sure why you're so willing to pay when the warranty clearly states that the battery is covered by a 3-year warranty.

 

[SR-71Panorama]

Cheers

 

[PredatorZ]

Quote:

I'm not sure why you're so willing to pay when the warranty clearly states that the battery is covered by a 3-year warranty.

Honestly, I really don't want to get in an argument or heated discusion with Ray over this, yes it sucks that its gonna be an extra 45 bones, it's kinda like insulting a cook before he makes your meal. I trust in Ray's integrity, but Id rather he was a happy camper when he opens up my predator and performs a battery transplant. I feel I did pay a premium for my unit $500 for a 2 color unit, and I purchased one of his LOD cables for another $125, so I have a reasonable investment. Maybe it's my bad luck this year, I have a Gamepad from belkin, which had a lifetime free replacement warrant, n52te, well they sold the product to one of it's other companies and now its worth nothing, They refused to honor the warranty. Lesson learned, never buy another belkin product again. I really have a deep distrust of Big companies. On the other hand, I love the idea of supporting american companies, and perhaps Ray isn't giving me the warranty I thought I had, but it's only over the battery, and he is actually loosing on the deal offering a longer warranty than the manufacturer. It's a slippery slope when you start splitting hairs over wording, and I really think I'm right, but what really can I do ? Unless he changes his mind, and he seemed pretty stubborn to waiver, then I have to pay and move on. I might have had my unit for over 3 years, but Ray never responded when I asked if he had that info. I'm over it really, just a bit disappointed.

 

[aluren]

I guess $45 means more to him than a bad reputation... 

 

[PredatorZ]

Sadly it appears that way.
 

 

[PredatorZ]

Ray Chimes in
 
Do you have the new charger that has Red light when charging & turns to green when the battery is fully charged?
If you do then I will replace the battery for you free of charge. If you have the old charger that has NO light what so ever on it then that was the charger that we stopped shipping with the old battery that we no longer have.
The new charger & the new battery have to replace both of the old ones. I am sorry for not up-dating my web site as I have no time for that & your unit is almost three years old on that battery which still is operating but is not giving you the longer playing time.
Please let me know what charger do you have with your Predator.
Ray Samuels
 
So it seems it's my fault, I had no idea I purchased the outdated version with the more limited warranty. So for 3 years now, the website has publish incorrect warranty information, and it was up to me to bring it to his attention, for that I should get a $45 bonus for catching his error.

 

[Pars]

Apparently that is how we do business these days

 

[n_maher]

The real question remains - is Ray going to honor the warranty that existed when the product was purchased, or not? It's perfectly fine that he's updated the warranty for the product and that newer versions do not carry the same warranty as was originally specified. Heck, car manufacturers change their warranty periods all of the time but they're bound to honor the warranty that applies to the product purchased and so is Ray. I'd have a hard time paying $61 for a warrantied repair, that's for sure.

 

[PredatorZ]

Thanks for your concern, Ive advised Ray that I have posted on head-fi about my concerns, if he wants to damage his reputation in our community then he can stick to his guns and deny me what is only fair. I'm also going to post on Stereophile, as the Predator is in they're Class B recommended components, and will post on they're sister site Innerfidelity. At this point I wouldn't even consider another RS product, and I'm in the market for a nicer desktop unit that can outperform my portable setup, somewhere in the 1000 to 1500 range is the budget Ive allowed myself. I was looking at the Raptor by RS, but now I am going to rethink my needs and look elsewhere. Funny thing is, I am normally a very brand loyal person, if I get great service and like the product Ill buy again from them. I'm pretty much a Grado fan, I like they're sound signature, possibly will get the PS500's or the RS1's as an upgrade to my 325i's, I have always recieved excellent customer service from Grado, they know how to treat they're customers. If nothing else my posts will give some future customers pause before they consider doing business with RS. I found it completely unacceptable that his reasoning was that he didn't have time to update his site, wow ! That really pissed me off, and drives me to keep this torch burning until some resolution.

 

[Dyaems]

maybe the person replied to you during the email exchanges is his "son" again

 

[Radio_head]

Gotta love the not having time to update the website excuse.  I use it sometimes with customers... because my site has over 500,000 product pages.  And then I still give them free stuff because we were in the wrong.
 
But hey, maintaining those product pages for... 10 products has got to be tough.

 

[PredatorZ]

Ya, quite possible, really hard to say who might be mashing the keys on the other side of the screen. Not sure that excuses anything, but might explain a few things. From your again remark, I'm guessing his son has on other occasions spoken for his Pops. Does this indicate a change in the management and possible future of the Brand ?
 

 

[PredatorZ]

Quote:

Gotta love the not having time to update the website excuse.  I use it sometimes with customers... because my site has over 500,000 product pages.  And then I still give them free stuff because we were in the wrong.
 
But hey, maintaining those product pages for... 10 products has got to be tough.

Ya, that very sentence struck me to the core of what his value of me as a customer was. He used the "my friend" to correct me in what I felt was disrespectful and condescending, and when it boiled down to it, it was his lack of reading comprehension, or laziness that he didn't even read my email in entirety.
 
Quote "The Predator does not have 3 years warranty my friend.
It has life time warranty. The battery has 90 days warranty for me from the manufacturer & I give one year warranty on the battery.
So your battery is out of warranty. We are replacing it with new one that comes with specially designed charger for it.
Two things as I said won't be covered under life time or 3 years warranty.
The first is the battery & charger the other shipping the amp back to the customer.
Cheers.
Ray Samuels "

 

[Radio_head]

I wouldn't read too much into the "my friend" line, that can be a cultural thing, I hear it all the time with people from certain regions.  Or he could be a jerk.  But having met him I'm more inclined to say it's the cultural thing.