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Anyone know what happened to Kevin the Soundbroker?


rogert

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Hi All

I bought a THX Ultra 2 system from a Klipsch dealer who freqents these forums two and a half months ago. After a bit of a drama getting delivery, the stuff did arrive but short the omni mount brackets I ordered.

Kev's communications are sporadic at best, but last I heard he had re-ordered them for re-shipping on the 5th September. I've since sent a bunch of emails and left messages on his service, but he is not responding.

The mounts were not that much (~100 bucks) but I'm in Europe and my local HiFi suppliers don't have the omni mount brand, otherwise I'd buy them locally. My HT is all ready to go, save for the L and R 650's sitting on top of cardboard boxes - not pretty!!

From a previous thread, I think Kev has a few friends on the board, so if anyone knows any way to get in touch with Kevin outside of his normal business contacts which he is not responding to, please drop him a line for me and tell him I would very much like either some news on the imminent arrival of the mounts, or a refund. I think 10 weeks is long enough to wait!!

Thanks

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What a shame!! This is not the first problem I have heard with him. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially dealing overseas. But this is the second time I have read where he just dissapears after the payment. Comminication seems to be lacking on his end. At least you got your speakers..Good luck and hopefully he will read this post now that his reputation is in question. You would think he would have learned his lesson from an earlier problem he had with another fourm member. Just email him and let him know you would like to buy another Ultra 2 system.... That seems like the only way to get his attention...[^o)]

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Thanks, I will email Amy and ask her if there is anyone in my region that can send the brackets.

I was hoping by posting here that Kevin would respond, but it looks like he's been AWOL for about a month from the forums and his business email and phone. I'm impatient but usually pretty tolerant to delays, as long as communication is good. However, 3 months delay and no comms for 5 weeks is well beyond my limits!

I think I'll register an official complaint with Klipsch too, as it does not do the brand any good to have dealers flaking out like this.

Anyone know how I can do that?

R

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm bumping the thread as I still have not got any resolution to this after more than 3 months now.

I emailed Amy at Klipsch who replied saying someone would be in touch. 2 weeks later and still nothing, even though I emailed Amy a reminder last week.

I would really like to register a dealer complaint against Kevin Enderle aka The Soundbroker with Klipsch, as well as get some flippin speaker mounts!

Klipsch may have some great gear, but it seems those involved in selling the stuff and servicing the customers afterwards have a bit of a problem with communication. Sure leaves a bitter taste after having spent $10k+ on their products :-(

Thank god for the forum at least!

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First off you the 'dealer' has no business trans-shipping product. That is frowned upon highly, and you should have gone through your local distribution channel. If you took a leap of faith, that is your baby.

Klipsch does not represent the 'dealer', rather the other way around. I am sorry if that sounds callous, but the 'dealer' has zero business shipping out of country, first and foremost.

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Thanks for the responses.

I always give people the benefit of the doubt, often too many times. However, in retrospect, I am now convinced Kevin deliberately lied to me about the first shipping of the mounts to buy time for himself to order them 'a second time'. Then something has gone awry and I do not believe he has followed through, and just kept my money, probably justifying this by a surprise increase in shipping charges he incurred by not verifying rates properly in the first place.

Amy from Klipsch has now been in touch again and have said they have terminated their relationship with Kevin, so at least no-one else has to experience the same, although he is still promoting Klipsch products on his website, so maybe some policing is needed?!

In my case, at least I got the speakers, but I am left without mounts that I paid for and also a 'useless' K1 amp that Kevin recommended I buy to drive the THX sub, rather than use the KA Amp. Yes, more fool me for being naieve enough to believe a registered Klipsch dealer's advice about Klipsch products!!

Regarding going through my local dealership - well that's easy to say when you live in the US and there's a Klipsch dealer 'on every street corner'. When you live in a country that is not represented internally and buying from the closest (Italy) increases the price by more than 100%, then it's not so obvious. I did eventually find a great dealer in Germany, but lost communications just at the point of placing an order (German business often take a 2-3 week holiday in the summer, which I was not aware of and just thought the dealership had gone out of business).

This is when Kevin's email arrived via the forum. He was very persistent, and answered all questions immediately, and offered a good price, even with shipping, duties, and taxes that rivalled the German quote. I had no idea that dealers are not allowed to trans-ship. How do you expect me to have known that? Dealers certainly do not tell you this, nor do they tell you how they price the products. There is clearly no standard prices enforced by Klipsch, as every dealer I spoke to quoted a different price.

Suggesting that a manufacturer is not responsible for its sales representatives is not so much callous Michael as rather bizarre!

Best

Roger

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It is common knowledge that people ordering out of province, state or country is 'trans-shipping' product. It does not matter what company it is, they all frown upon it. Same with e-Bay, this is called 'grey market' selling. Dealers order a large amount of inventory and ship it all over the place, sometimes removing serial #'s etc to conceal the source.

This is why there are 'authorized' dealers and 'unauthorized' dealers. The 'unauthorized' dealers obtain their wares from authorized channels, most times without product even reaching the 'legitamate' dealer, rather drop-shipped at a warehouse somewhere, to be resold.

I should edit: SOME companies will sell direct when there are no direct sales channels, OR will approve a dealer to sell to you from another area, if there are no dealers in your area.

http://www.klipsch.com/support/warranty-policies/details/consumer-and-commercial.aspx

http://www.klipsch.com/support/other-policies/details/unauthorized-dealer-warning.aspx

https://www.klipsch.com/news-center/press-releases/details/klipsch-lawsuit-settlement-with-brandnamez-com-eliminates-another-aggressive-unauthorized-internet-promoter.aspx

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Common knowlege? Well maybe for you, but that doesn't make it common! Perhaps you are a dealer yourself or in the trade, so you see something as obvious that others are unaware of.

Personally I use the internet including ebay to buy stuff from all over the world and that's the first time I heard it referred to as grey market. I've certainly never experienced a seller 'fess up to it, so again, my response, how is an average joe consumer supposed to know that. I think you assume too much.

I already bought the KA1000 to go with the sub, from the 'legit' dealer in Germany, so I have no need to struggle to adapt the system to fit the K1, I just dumped it in the garage and wrote it off as a bad experience. If I ever meet some young band needing a bit of road gear, i'll donate it ;)

I bought a couple of TV monitor wall mounts from the local electronics store that fit the KL's nicely, so I'm all but done

Thanks again for all the responses. I've found the forum hear extremely helpful and informative.

Best to all.

R

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It is common knowledge that people ordering out of province, state or country is 'trans-shipping' product. It does not matter what company it is, they all frown upon it. Same with e-Bay, this is called 'grey market' selling.


"Grey market" is a term that's used with several types of products. Photo gear is available in some markets in both grey market and domestic versions, with the grey market stuff being cheaper but not having any official warranty. Some New York photo retailers state clearly in their ads that their product is official US and comes with a full manufacturer's warranty.

Motorcycles are another area where the grey market appears, with (for example) rare Japanese-market models being sold through certain "import" dealers in England because those models are not imported by the manufacturer. A dealer warranty may be available, but getting parts is always problematic.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, rogert.
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kevin is no longer selling klipsch per his ads on avs:

Reason for selling is that I own another company besides The Sound Broker. That other company is growing like crazy so I had to make the difficult decision to pare things down and am now going to specialize only in Danley Labs and JTR. Of all the speakers in the Klipsch line, these are the ones that are going to be the hardest to give up as they are absolutely STUNNING.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=7498

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