[kenshone]

So a little background: I'm from America, where companies that sell expensive products bend over backwards to give good customer service.

Now, I'm trying to get some service for and/or purchase multiple Ultrasone Editions (quite expensive headphones). As far as I can tell, Ultrasone doesn't have a dedicated support phone or email. So I've been contacting them through their general email and phone, and these communications have been ignored now for several business days. Is there some kind of business holiday in Germany that I'm unaware of?

I have expensive Ultrasone Edition headphones sitting in customs that the company will likely have to assist in clearing, and I'm starting to feel uneasy. I'm unaccustomed to this communication style when dealing with company on products that are worth hundreds, or thousands of dollars.

Can anyone with experience in these situations, perhaps from Europe, share advice?

 

[GREQ]

There are no public holidays at this time in Bavaria, Germany.

Like most companies in Germany, you can only contact them 'normally' through their 'Contact' page on their website, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to them through Twitter or Facebook.
I've had faster responses when dealing with more urgent matters when writing to companies on social media.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

So a little background: I'm from America, where companies that sell expensive products bend over backwards to give good customer service.

Now, I'm trying to get some service for and/or purchase multiple Ultrasone Editions (quite expensive headphones). As far as I can tell, Ultrasone doesn't have a dedicated support phone or email. So I've been contacting them through their general email and phone, and these communications have been ignored now for several business days. Is there some kind of business holiday in Germany that I'm unaware of?

I have expensive Ultrasone Edition headphones sitting in customs that the company will likely have to assist in clearing, and I'm starting to feel uneasy. I'm unaccustomed to this communication style when dealing with company on products that are worth hundreds, or thousands of dollars.

Can anyone with experience in these situations, perhaps from Europe, share advice?

Just curious...did US port authority (or USPS if public post instead of FedEx/UPS/etcc) tell you why it's stuck in port? Because when I buy stuff - even a used amp that came from Australia - I preferred shipping to our US address and then I'd either pick it up on my next trip or someone visiting will just take it back because, so long as there isn't actually anything illegal in the shipment (which the US government actually does a better job of detecting, unlike Triads shipping a drum of meth that Ph port authorities...then it disappeared from the Customs warehouse before the Ph DOJ's DEA and NBI moved it to their evidence warehouse), it always, always, goes through without a problem. Unlike here where, in the most extreme examples, Ph Customs tried to tax people over

1. A single package of about 50 Christmas cards, all written over but they classify as "commercial quantity," which my Mom sent in one package to me to give to people at Christmas parties instead of mailing them individually.

2. A pack of several capacitors and resistors, again considered "commercial quantity," where the guy who dealt with this was pondering over whether to bring the broken amp he was fixing to prove they were all for personal use or to bring a lawyer (he went with the latter, because he had a frat bro who was in the Ph DOJ who had no court appearances the following afternoon, and took the rest of the day off just to intimidate some idiots in Ph Customs...but AFAIK he had the amp in his car anyway when they came back for the freaking parts).

From what I the only difference between the EU and here is the money actually goes to government coffers and you can at least think about how that money might get spent on a Leopard instead of some Customs douchebag's new car.

 

[kenshone]

There are no public holidays at this time in Bavaria, Germany.

Like most companies in Germany, you can only contact them 'normally' through their 'Contact' page on their website, but it wouldn't hurt to reach out to them through Twitter or Facebook.
I've had faster responses when dealing with more urgent matters when writing to companies on social media.

Thanks for the tip. I tried their Facebook and someone with access to Ultrasone's account saw the message. I hope for a response soon, because the shipment is sitting in customs probably waiting for a duty payment from their end.

When I started buying these not-so-cheap Ultrasone headphones, I assumed that they would have dedicated customer support should any service be required, but I now realize that the company is much smaller than I thought.

Regardless, I hope they stand behind their premium products and reopen communications, seeing as I've been quite supportive of the company's headphone quality in various forums.

 

[kenshone]

No contact from Ultrasone yet. It's been a week of zero contact from them and my headphones are sitting in German customs awaiting action from Ultrasone.

In America, the only reason a company would go from amicable to zero communication like this is if they were worried about some kind of legal liability, but I don't understand what liability that could be.

When you spend $1000+ on a pair of headphones, there is an expectation of a certain minimum level of customer support, and this definitely does not match it.

 

[GREQ]

I don't even understand WHY it's in customs in the first place.
It's not German customs problem, but USA's customs problem.
It really shouldn't have gone there in the first place.

I've ordered from USA, Japan, China and UK (post Brexit) and the items have always left the country of origin quickly, and then taken about a week sitting in German customs before continuing the journey with the local carriers who takes on the responsibility of collecting customs fees.

You're absolutely right - the responsibility of the package is ALWAYS with the sender, not the recipient.
Ultrasone need to pull their socks up.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

No contact from Ultrasone yet. It's been a week of zero contact from them and my headphones are sitting in German customs awaiting action from Ultrasone.

In America, the only reason a company would go from amicable to zero communication like this is if they were worried about some kind of legal liability, but I don't understand what liability that could be.

When you spend $1000+ on a pair of headphones, there is an expectation of a certain minimum level of customer support, and this definitely does not match it.

Did German Customs actually tell you why they're holding it? Because if you're basing it off tracking, maybe it's technically past Customs, but it can't show the next step until it gets scanned as it gets on a cargo plane, and that can be delayed by a number of things these days:

1. Maybe javelins and MREs or tinned food have priority on air cargo transport

2. Maybe there are fewer planes coming in or air traffic is being controlled for safety reasons vis a vis Konigsberg, which is still blockaded