Members Grantus Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 A cautionary tale about buying online: About nine months ago, I purchased a VHT Special 6 Ultra amp from a mom-and-pop seller in the Midwest for $330. At the time, it was hard to find them around here (I live in Maryland), and Guitar Center didn't stock them. GuitarCenter.com now sells VHT, but I'd rather give my money to a mom-and-pop. I do have to say I love this amp. It's a great-sounding amp, with a built-in attenuator, foot-switchable overdrive and a high-gain channel. Perfect amp for a basement player like me. The amp started malfunctioning a few days ago. Except for the tubes, it's still under warranty. So I contacted VHT, a couple of dealers in the area that now stock VHT, and finally, the original dealer. After several rounds of emails, VHT told me to ship the amp back to the original dealer, half-way across the country, instead of bringing it to one of the two dealers within 20 miles or taking it to a well-known amp repair shop 10 miles away. Cost of shipping, plus materials: $60 for a $330 amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 why so much? I just sent a powered PA speaker to the east coast for repair for $19.91 and that was over 40lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members purpledc Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 This is common practice. I dont know of a single company who pays for the shipping charges on a warranty claim. I do have a couple questions. One is who did you ship through? Many times fed ex and the post office are much cheaper than UPS and they treat your stuff better. I just sent a 50lb head through fed ex for $36. The other question is since you knew the tubes were not under warranty and depending on the issue did you check the tubes for failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 I shipped UPS. Perhaps I should've tried another carrier. I did check the tubes. Shipping was about $45. Materials, including a box, were $15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members purpledc Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 holy crap dude. Did you buy the box from them and have them pack it? For the future man, always keep the boxes you gear comes in with its packing materials if you can. This will ensure you have exactly what you need to ship the thing. Even if you break the box down you can fit it under a bed or behind a dresser. As for carriers I prefer fed ex. They have the best rates of the big three and they will actually inspect your package and tape it up better if they think it needs it at no charge. They also have a lot of convenient drop off locations at stores. Im surprised VHT doesnt have authorized service centers for their stuff. The special 6 ultra is probably the easiest amp in the world to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 My wife is a thrower-outer. Our house isn't big enough to keep large amp boxes. We probably threw the box out a month ago or so. But no, I packed it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrPFloyd Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 boxes that are compacted don't take up much space. I have a few that if i need, i just make them back into boxes for shipping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 boxes that are compacted don't take up much space. I have a few that if i need, i just make them back into boxes for shipping Right, I may do that from now on. Live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 This is common practice. I dont know of a single company who pays for the shipping charges on a warranty claim. I do have a couple questions. One is who did you ship through? Many times fed ex and the post office are much cheaper than UPS and they treat your stuff better. I just sent a 50lb head through fed ex for $36. The other question is since you knew the tubes were not under warranty and depending on the issue did you check the tubes for failure?yep, the speaker that I sent in for repair I have to pay shipping to them. They pay shipping back. That is pretty much the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GodBlessTexas Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 I shipped UPS. Perhaps I should've tried another carrier. I did check the tubes. Shipping was about $45. Materials, including a box, were $15. UPS is always more expensive than FedEx, even if you have a UPS account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave_Mc_2 Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 that's messed up. here in europe (far as i'm aware, could be wrong, the rules change so darn often it's hard to keep up ) if something goes wrong the retailer has to cover return postage. thomann paid for my return international shipping (bog standard special 6, not the ultra). though they changed tubes and only cleaned the pots. Which didn't fix the problem. i made them pay return shipping a second time I wasn't best pleased though, having to parcel it up etc. twice (only brought it to the post office once, i told them to collect it the second time ). Someone with as little amp knowledge as me would know that wouldn't have fixed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 UPS is always more expensive than FedEx, even if you have a UPS account.nope. UPS is noticeably cheaper for me, with an account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 Federal Express, all the way. I was shipping all my stuff through UPS and getting HOSED on costs AND the gorillas who work there were consistently breaking things and leaving shipments in the rain, etc. This was over a 10 year period, so it's not like I was having a kneejerk reaction. Mazi Bee advised me to get a Fed Ex account and I have never looked back. Better shipping rates, better handling, better tracking, and WAYYYYYY better customer service. After 4 years with Fed Ex, I will never go back to UPS. I hate when I buy something from Amazon and they choose to ship UPS, because I can almost guarantee the box will arrive looking like the big brown truck drove over it. Not all shipping companies are created equal, that's for sure! I've noticed just the opposite in my area, actually. I get/send several packages each week on average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gergbee Posted February 11, 2012 Members Share Posted February 11, 2012 AAGGH! I was seriously considering buying that amp but I can't seem to find it locally...now I am even more leery of buying that one online (considering the shipping from where I live). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 12, 2012 Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Do you have the amp back yet? I'd be interested to know what the issue was... transformer or component(s) on the board. I doubt I'll buy one, but I really like the idea of those amps. There have been two for sale for quite a while locally, but they aren't the ultra. Sorry to hear of your trouble though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Do you have the amp back yet? I'd be interested to know what the issue was... transformer or component(s) on the board. I doubt I'll buy one, but I really like the idea of those amps. There have been two for sale for quite a while locally, but they aren't the ultra. Sorry to hear of your trouble though. Just sent the amp yesterday. It sounds like VHT won't fix it, but authorize the dealer to send me a new one, since the dealer is not a repair shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SGRocker30 Posted February 12, 2012 Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 I don't want to argue in favor of UPS because they do suck, but what planet are you guys posting from with all this fedex nonsense? My local fedex is the most poorly run operation I have ever encountered. Idiots at the warehouse, idiots on the trucks, and even bigger morons answering the phone to dispense "customer service". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SGRocker30 Posted February 12, 2012 Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Good thing they had you send the amp all the way to a shop that wasn't capable of repair, eh? What a waste of your time and money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Good thing they had you send the amp all the way to a shop that wasn't capable of repair, eh? What a waste of your time and money. My point exactly. I could have driven it to a dealer 15 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SGRocker30 Posted February 12, 2012 Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Sort of OT, but keeping broken down boxes around the home is a bit of a fire hazard people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 12, 2012 Members Share Posted February 12, 2012 Yeah, that's a pretty sad commentary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JTEES4 Posted February 13, 2012 Members Share Posted February 13, 2012 You have to pay shipping. It's no different than buying from a store...if you buy from a store, do you expect to be reimbursed for gas and tolls? As far as shipping price....you got to shop around, can be done online....but always stay away from shipping "stores". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 13, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2012 You have to pay shipping. It's no different than buying from a store...if you buy from a store, do you expect to be reimbursed for gas and tolls? As far as shipping price....you got to shop around, can be done online....but always stay away from shipping "stores". I understand that it's my responsibility to return the amp. There were more local options, however. That's my only real gripe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted February 16, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 16, 2012 Just an update: While I've complained about the way VHT handled this warranty replacement, the dealer couldn't have been more helpful. They got my nonworking amp today, and are shipping out a new one the same day. They've responded to my emails promptly and professionally. So if you're in need of gear and like to support mom-and-pop businesses, these guys have my endorsement: http://www.soundscheapinc.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nicholai Posted February 16, 2012 Members Share Posted February 16, 2012 Fender did this to me on one of their $250 (after discounts) guitars. They wanted me to pay about $120 in factory warranty shipping. I sold the guitar, which was one month old or so, purchased through GC, who dumped it on fender. GC's managers response to my guitars problems were, well, if you want better quality buy something better than a fender. Um. What? SUre there are better guitars but a wrongly built guitar is a wrongly built guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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