UPS Strikes again...with Stealth!

[Jonnyozero3]

Let me tell you a story...

So today, the UPS truck pulled up. The nice men dropped off two boxes of goods just for me. I was happy.

I was even happier when I noticed that the boxes were in very good condition, especially for UPS. I didn't see any grievous box damage, so I accepted my new toys with glee.

I took the boxes downstairs, and proceeded to open them. I am being completely honest when this is what happened... I thought to myself, "Wow, these boxes are looking really clean, usually UPS beats on them more. This is great!"

Then I pulled a speaker out....

(((THUNK))) (((Clack)))

WTF WAS THAT! I screamed in my head.

Well...this is what it was....

http://family.webshots.com/album/556219663QyWRzm

Anyhow, both the woofers are separated from their mounts to the cabinet, and the cone, of course, and are bouncing around inside the enclosure with reckless abandon. UPS must have done some serious box tossing to cause this. I'm surprised that something like this could have been caused with so little box damage. Luckily, pair #2 looks fine (look new to me, actually). And I'm calling Dave as I type

[ebh]

oh man that hurts. speaker abuse like that cannot be condoned. i like my ups man, but if he brought me speakers like that.... i hope you can get this resolved, and that ups pays up to dave for their crimes!

[Jonnyozero3]

I spoke with James, and they're going to put a claim into UPS for it. I just have to box them up and put them out my front door and the right time. They're sending me out a replacement pair stat. So, no big harm done - I have one pair to play with in the meantime. Got to love quick and effective customer service.

[jamesg]

OK, everyone sing along with me: "'Tis the season to be jolly...."

Well, it's the Christmas season -- what more can we say? At Ascend, this is a joyous time of year when sales go up and satisfied customers treat themselves to Ascend speakers for their home theaters. We do count on UPS to complete the chain, and unfortunately they are not perfect.

To be fair to UPS, they do a heck of a job (hat tip to GWB) most of the time, especially considering the volume they move. However, at this time of the year, when workloads triple, they have to hire temporary help who do not necessarily share the work ethic of their regular staff. In other words, stuff happens. We're all human after all.

This is status quo for Ascend. We note this uptick in damage claims every December. To any of our customers who were among the unfortunate few to receive damaged Ascend speakers, I sincerely apologize. We will handle all claims with UPS and we will ship a replacement pair of speakers within 48 hours of notifications. It's the best we can do.

We are also re-evaluating our packaging, and subsequent shipments will have extra cardboard reinforcement in each box.

Thanks again for all of your loyal patronage of Ascend Acoustics and we wish you luck and joy during this holiday season!

[bikeman]

I spoke with James, and they're going to put a claim into UPS for it. I just have to box them up and put them out my front door and the right time. They're sending me out a replacement pair stat. So, no big harm done - I have one pair to play with in the meantime. Got to love quick and effective customer service.

Welcome to the club, Jon. UPS did the same to me with my 340 Classics two years ago. No damage outside, toasted inside. The packaging on the 340SE's has been improved but no packaging is exempt from the UPS gorilla. Ascend handled my claim in a timely and somewhat painless fashion and it looks like things haven't changed in the customer service dept.
After I received my damaged speaker, I emailed Ascend and said I'd attempt to fix it myself. Got a call from Dave F. a few minutes later (midnight EST) "requesting" I not attempt it. That's how I first got to know Dave F. At that moment, I knew I had chosen the right speaker company.

David

[GirgleMirt]

http://family.webshots.com/album/556219663QyWRzm

Wow... Are these really how the b-stocks are supposed to look? I can understand miner cosmetic blemishes, or things that you can't see with the grills on, but thats pushing it a little!

[curtis]

When I was in college...many moons ago, I was on the tennis team. During this time of year, UPS would actively recruit student athletes for part time temporary jobs for the very reason James mentioned. I never took a UPS job, but many of my friends did,.....some of the stories they told just made me shake my head.

The tennis players that took the jobs handled the boxes very carefully......they guys that I would be afraid of were the ones on the swim team.

[Abhi]

Well...this is what it was....
http://family.webshots.com/album/556219663QyWRzm

This is exactly how my new CBM-170SE looks.

[Lou-the-dog]

It appears that due to the extreme handling condititions that the woofers could use some additional dampening during transit. Those UPS folks must be dropping these speakers HARD and the drivers just can't take the punishment. Hard part is to find some additional cushioning that won't scuff the drivers. Good luck Davef.

Randy

[davef]

Hi Guys,

This is a true nightmare of a problem and I am completely dumbfounded. The CBM-170 has used the exact same packaging material for 7 years. We are talking 7 years worth of shipping CBM-170 (this is a LOT of speakers)
Absolutely nothing on our end has changed. 1 even 2 weeks ago, deliveries were fine.

We once ran into a problem where UPS had a new hire at the depot and for a few days, damage reports were higher than normal and after he was let go, no more damage. I suspect something like this is happening again.

The only thing I can rationally conclude is that these are being dropped onto load/unload conveyers from serious heights, many times during transit.

I have initiated a thorough UPS investigation and until I figure out what is going on, we are going to hold shipments.

This is absolutely NOT ACCEPTABLE TO ME!

If you are reading this thread and have received damaged product, or even suspect your product is damaged without even opening up the packaging, please contact me privately at davef@ascendacoustics.com

Of course, we will take good care of you.