My HiFi Disaster.

[Jasonovich]

Recently I sold my Dali Zensor 1 speakers on eBay to make room for the Dali Oberon 3.
A week later the buyer returned the speakers back to me on the basis the goods were damaged during transit.
I am so peed-off with Evri, on this occasion I failed to insure the goods for lost or damage. I was thinking don't bother, I have packed the speakers well, no chance these will be damaged. How wrong was I?
One speaker was intact, the grill pins were snapped inside the hole. The other speaker the tweeter was knocked back into the cabinet
On inspection of tweeter drive unit, it was repairable but I decided to order a replacement tweeter.
Once I have restored and operational again, I will use them in place of the Audioengine active A1 speakers, I have ordered SMSL A300 class D Bluetooth amplifer.
I will without fail pay the extra couriers insurance on Audioengine when I put these up for sale.
I have haemorrhage my money unnecessarily and had I done the due diligence I would not be posting this thread.
This was my HiFi disaster. Have any of you had similar experiences, what you would consider your own personal HiFi disaster?

 

[skinnypuppy71]

I sold a Atacama eris with 4 shelves.....I put it on collection only or buyer makes their own courier arrangements....good job as the courier lost a shelf.....I wasn't liable.

 

[jjbomber]

Recently I sold my Dali Zensor 1 speakers on eBay to make room for the Dali Oberon 3.
A week later the buyer returned the speakers back to me on the basis the goods were damaged during transit.

They take your working speakers to use to repair their own. Then they put their faulty parts in your speaker and return them. Happened to me with headphones.

 

[Dom]

Not a disaster but a mishap. I got up too quickly while on these meds and passed out, next thing I know I'm on the floor and my Mordant-Short Mezzo 6 speaker had fallen over.

Luckily it retained only a few scratches from falling over into the TV. It could have been a lot worse for my speaker and myself.

Effing meds.

 

[Cricketbat70]

They take your working speakers to use to repair their own. Then they put their faulty parts in your speaker and return them. Happened to me with headphones.

Now that I can believe because of what happens where I work. Quite regularly we sell stuff on Amazon only for customers to say item arrived damaged, Amazon no questions asked give the customer their money back and then claim it back off us, the so called damaged item arrives back and it's an item years old and a make we've never sold.

 

[Stuart83]

They take your working speakers to use to repair their own. Then they put their faulty parts in your speaker and return them. Happened to me with headphones.

😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠 It would cause me to go on a manhunt

 

[matthewpianist]

The grille pins on Dali speakers are very weak and not really fit for purpose. I experienced exactly the same on a pair of Zensor 3s some time ago.

Your mistake was using Evri. I've always used DPD when selling anything, and I've never had a problem. They also provide accurate collection and delivery times - better for me and for the buyer.

I have encountered issues with the odd purchase. I purchased a pair of MA Bronze 200s (new) and the manufacturer packaging was woeful. Combined with evident mishandling by the courier, they were damaged and I sent them back. I had similar with a pair of AE 109 Mk2s - again, the manufacturer packaging was poor.

 

[Jasonovich]

They take your working speakers to use to repair their own. Then they put their faulty parts in your speaker and return them. Happened to me with headphones.

You know JJ, I thought about that, you would have to drop the box from a high rise block to cause that kind of a damage.
Oh man, next time I'll take photo of the serial number, that was real naïve on my part. Sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt but that was stupid, lessons learnt.

 

[Jasonovich]

The grille pins on Dali speakers are very weak and not really fit for purpose. I experienced exactly the same on a pair of Zensor 3s some time ago.

Your mistake was using Evri. I've always used DPD when selling anything, and I've never had a problem. They also provide accurate collection and delivery times - better for me and for the buyer.

I have encountered issues with the odd purchase. I purchased a pair of MA Bronze 200s (new) and the manufacturer packaging was woeful. Combined with evident mishandling by the courier, they were damaged and I sent them back. I had similar with a pair of AE 109 Mk2s - again, the manufacturer packaging was poor.

That's sensible advise, thanks Matthew.

 

[Stuart83]

I had an attempted theft of an amp from a DPD freelance driver.
I'm the other way I avoid DPD like the plague after that.

I never knew until then DPD use freelance drives and the problems it causes, simply put they couldn't even contact the driver not discipline him directly for trying to steal the amp as his boss was also freelance being that DPD had hired a group of drivers working under him.

It was horrifying being on the phone to DPD customer services while watching my amp being stolen via GPS.
The van driver said he'd delivered it yet came nowhere near the property indeed nowhere near the postcode or surrounding area.

He had not submitted a photo of delivery as supposed to only a photo of a random house that looks nothing like my BUNGALOW.

I quickly screen recorded the now known mans van GPS location via the app on my phone as proof and he had obviously gone back to his house with the amp and not moved for over an hour some 26miles away in Middlesbrough.

I know this as I spoke to various unhelpful idiotic customer service agents who kept dropping the calls whilst on hold, most of which spoke little to no English regardless managed to hit on a lovely English lady who was immediately helpful.
She divulged much more than she perhaps should of done including the confirmation that the driver was from indeed Middlesbrough.

Various attempts of contacting the driver were made always hindered by the fact he wasn't directly employed by DPD to his further removed boss who then rang him and then hrs later another lie would surface.

Unknown to this driver I'd videoed his whereabouts and also emailed the accompanying photo of my bungalow with the one of a HOUSE he had taken instead as proof of delivery.
Not the open door as instructed and a signature was never mentioned.

This driver had now been caught lying and in the act of actual theft yet it wasn't anything but the norm to them.

I rang richer sounds who were horrified and offered to replace the amp should it not be recovered etc but by then I wanted this driver strung up.
The stress was overwhelming confounded by the way DPD are as a company.

The driver was caught and still not sacked.
There was immediate problems even conversating with him as the helpful lady on the phone described he spoke no English only using his boss as a translator.

The amp eventually in a battered box found its way to me with a brocken amplifier inside that I'm pretty sure will of been done on purpose after he was caught.

DPD wouldn't tell me if the driver had been sacked or even disciplined using the data protection crap but the helpful lady who I know knew as Sarah told me not to expect anything to happen as his boss won't care as it's extremely likely he was part of the attempted theft.

Unfortunately richer sounds didn't cover the box so what it contained was on full display.

I doubt this is a thing specific to DPD but the reviews of them in particular are shocking.
Mostly it's this freelancing drivers they by nature have no control over or when a direct way if contacting them.

It's stupid not having a direct number for someone you employ or even knowing who you employ given that it was a small group of drivers working for a small company that DPD hired and only their boss they had partial contact with.

This man has got to be one of the dumbest criminals ever.
To steal whilst on being tracked with GPS and lie about location and then to send photos of a house as proof of delivery when I live in a bungalow is laughable now but at the time anything but.

I am almost certain this man will still be stealing and under the indirect employ of DPD

One thing is for sure I always try and avoid them always querying who is used for delivery when purchasing things.

 

[matthewpianist]

Bad experiences of any company put people off, and I would be the same.

All I can say is that I've sold a huge amount of kit over a period of several years, thanks to my incessant box-swapping. Some of it was very expensive stuff, but I have never experienced a single problem with DPD.

On the other hand, I've had Evri and Amazon drivers simply leaving deliveries outside without even letting me know.

We can all only work from our own experience.

 

[Jasonovich]

I had an attempted theft of an amp from a DPD freelance driver.
I'm the other way I avoid DPD like the plague after that.

I never knew until then DPD use freelance drives and the problems it causes, simply put they couldn't even contact the driver not discipline him directly for trying to steal the amp as his boss was also freelance being that DPD had hired a group of drivers working under him.

It was horrifying being on the phone to DPD customer services while watching my amp being stolen via GPS.
The van driver said he'd delivered it yet came nowhere near the property indeed nowhere near the postcode or surrounding area.

He had not submitted a photo of delivery as supposed to only a photo of a random house that looks nothing like my BUNGALOW.

I quickly screen recorded the now known mans van GPS location via the app on my phone as proof and he had obviously gone back to his house with the amp and not moved for over an hour some 26miles away in Middlesbrough.

I know this as I spoke to various unhelpful idiotic customer service agents who kept dropping the calls whilst on hold, most of which spoke little to no English regardless managed to hit on a lovely English lady who was immediately helpful.
She divulged much more than she perhaps should of done including the confirmation that the driver was from indeed Middlesbrough.

Various attempts of contacting the driver were made always hindered by the fact he wasn't directly employed by DPD to his further removed boss who then rang him and then hrs later another lie would surface.

Unknown to this driver I'd videoed his whereabouts and also emailed the accompanying photo of my bungalow with the one of a HOUSE he had taken instead as proof of delivery.
Not the open door as instructed and a signature was never mentioned.

This driver had now been caught lying and in the act of actual theft yet it wasn't anything but the norm to them.

I rang richer sounds who were horrified and offered to replace the amp should it not be recovered etc but by then I wanted this driver strung up.
The stress was overwhelming confounded by the way DPD are as a company.

The driver was caught and still not sacked.
There was immediate problems even conversating with him as the helpful lady on the phone described he spoke no English only using his boss as a translator.

The amp eventually in a battered box found its way to me with a brocken amplifier inside that I'm pretty sure will of been done on purpose after he was caught.

DPD wouldn't tell me if the driver had been sacked or even disciplined using the data protection crap but the helpful lady who I know knew as Sarah told me not to expect anything to happen as his boss won't care as it's extremely likely he was part of the attempted theft.

Unfortunately richer sounds didn't cover the box so what it contained was on full display.

I doubt this is a thing specific to DPD but the reviews of them in particular are shocking.
Mostly it's this freelancing drivers they by nature have no control over or when a direct way if contacting them.

It's stupid not having a direct number for someone you employ or even knowing who you employ given that it was a small group of drivers working for a small company that DPD hired and only their boss they had partial contact with.

This man has got to be one of the dumbest criminals ever.
To steal whilst on being tracked with GPS and lie about location and then to send photos of a house as proof of delivery when I live in a bungalow is laughable now but at the time anything but.

I am almost certain this man will still be stealing and under the indirect employ of DPD

One thing is for sure I always try and avoid them always querying who is used for delivery when purchasing things.

That is one horror story, my commiserations regarding the damaged amp, I hope Richer sounds were able to replace.
The Data Protections is a pain, it's also a means for companies to conceal their misdemeanours. If it was a Public company, you can demand an FOI (Freedom of Information). I get that every time when the tendering favours one supplier over another. When an official FOI is issued, we have to release the documents for their peruse. Shame you don't have it in the Private sector, well, I guess you can't, I lot of people will serve time in prison

 

[Cricketbat70]

Bad experiences of any company put people off, and I would be the same.

All I can say is that I've sold a huge amount of kit over a period of several years, thanks to my incessant box-swapping. Some of it was very expensive stuff, but I have never experienced a single problem with DPD.

On the other hand, I've had Evri and Amazon drivers simply leaving deliveries outside without even letting me know.

We can all only work from our own experience.

We've had Amazon drivers just leave stuff at the door too, even in the pouring rain, my wife is always in, she is ill and hasn't worked for 2 years.
Even watched Amazon drivers turn up deliver to the street behind us and got a message on the Amazon app your item was delivered. 😡

 

[Cricketbat70]

I had an attempted theft of an amp from a DPD freelance driver.
I'm the other way I avoid DPD like the plague after that.

I never knew until then DPD use freelance drives and the problems it causes, simply put they couldn't even contact the driver not discipline him directly for trying to steal the amp as his boss was also freelance being that DPD had hired a group of drivers working under him.

It was horrifying being on the phone to DPD customer services while watching my amp being stolen via GPS.
The van driver said he'd delivered it yet came nowhere near the property indeed nowhere near the postcode or surrounding area.

He had not submitted a photo of delivery as supposed to only a photo of a random house that looks nothing like my BUNGALOW.

I quickly screen recorded the now known mans van GPS location via the app on my phone as proof and he had obviously gone back to his house with the amp and not moved for over an hour some 26miles away in Middlesbrough.

I know this as I spoke to various unhelpful idiotic customer service agents who kept dropping the calls whilst on hold, most of which spoke little to no English regardless managed to hit on a lovely English lady who was immediately helpful.
She divulged much more than she perhaps should of done including the confirmation that the driver was from indeed Middlesbrough.

Various attempts of contacting the driver were made always hindered by the fact he wasn't directly employed by DPD to his further removed boss who then rang him and then hrs later another lie would surface.

Unknown to this driver I'd videoed his whereabouts and also emailed the accompanying photo of my bungalow with the one of a HOUSE he had taken instead as proof of delivery.
Not the open door as instructed and a signature was never mentioned.

This driver had now been caught lying and in the act of actual theft yet it wasn't anything but the norm to them.

I rang richer sounds who were horrified and offered to replace the amp should it not be recovered etc but by then I wanted this driver strung up.
The stress was overwhelming confounded by the way DPD are as a company.

The driver was caught and still not sacked.
There was immediate problems even conversating with him as the helpful lady on the phone described he spoke no English only using his boss as a translator.

The amp eventually in a battered box found its way to me with a brocken amplifier inside that I'm pretty sure will of been done on purpose after he was caught.

DPD wouldn't tell me if the driver had been sacked or even disciplined using the data protection crap but the helpful lady who I know knew as Sarah told me not to expect anything to happen as his boss won't care as it's extremely likely he was part of the attempted theft.

Unfortunately richer sounds didn't cover the box so what it contained was on full display.

I doubt this is a thing specific to DPD but the reviews of them in particular are shocking.
Mostly it's this freelancing drivers they by nature have no control over or when a direct way if contacting them.

It's stupid not having a direct number for someone you employ or even knowing who you employ given that it was a small group of drivers working for a small company that DPD hired and only their boss they had partial contact with.

This man has got to be one of the dumbest criminals ever.
To steal whilst on being tracked with GPS and lie about location and then to send photos of a house as proof of delivery when I live in a bungalow is laughable now but at the time anything but.

I am almost certain this man will still be stealing and under the indirect employ of DPD

One thing is for sure I always try and avoid them always querying who is used for delivery when purchasing things.

You just can't believe the gall of some people. Again at work we've used a number of couriers -fedex, yodel and whatever they were before Yodel- over the years for small items like DVD players ,15”lcd TV's (yep that's how long I've worked here) etc and we always wrap them in thick black plastic but we've had drivers or depot staff carefully cut the tape off the wrapping remove the item and tape it back up.
One customer who was expecting a 15" LCD TV opened the box to find a brick.

 

[Revolutions]

I use parcelforce when I send guitars. Something like £50 to send insured for £1500- and that’s for a guitar shaped box, which is long & more expensive to send.

My only real disaster* was buying a P6 used for £700, only for the cartridge to crap out after a month.

*hardly a disaster though, tbh

 

[Tinman1952]

I use parcelforce when I send guitars. Something like £50 to send insured for £1500- and that’s for a guitar shaped box, which is long & more expensive to send.

My only real disaster* was buying a P6 used for £700, only for the cartridge to crap out after a month.

*hardly a disaster though, tbh

Yes I've always used Parcelforce or Royal Mail Special Delivery for items I've sold on eBay. Might cost a bit more but you get proper tracking and I've never had a problem. Deliveries on the other hand by DPD or Evri (Hermes) are a nightmare....I've seen drivers drop boxed speakers from the tailgate on to the road then jump down after them. I dread to think how they are treated at the depot....😖

 

[Stuart83]

That is one horror story, my commiserations regarding the damaged amp, I hope Richer sounds were able to replace.
The Data Protections is a pain, it's also a means for companies to conceal their misdemeanours. If it was a Public company, you can demand an FOI (Freedom of Information). I get that every time when the tendering favours one supplier over another. When an official FOI is issued, we have to release the documents for their peruse. Shame you don't have it in the Private sector, well, I guess you can't, I lot of people will serve time in prison

Thank you for your concern 😀

And yes richer sounds replaced the amp straight away.
I hesitate to mail order anything now over a said amount which isnt ideal given the inconvenience it causes especially with things that come further afield.

Out of all if it richer sounds yet again proved to be very good in all things hifi.
I can't recommend them enough.
The guy I deal with is very stand of'ish not to some peoples taste but exactly to mine.
He never bothers me when I go which isn't often but always remembers to leave me alone whilst browsing.

The willingness to let me have free reign over both the demo room and the equipment is so welcome.
He literally just opens the door and says "have at it".

I remember demoing the roskan k3 and cd player with Dali's at a volume that cleared the shop of customers which was unbeknownst to me as I assumed the room would be soundproof and it just brought an almost hidden smile to his face.

Nothing is a hassle to richer sounds in Middlesbrough.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Now that I can believe because of what happens where I work. Quite regularly we sell stuff on Amazon only for customers to say item arrived damaged, Amazon no questions asked give the customer their money back and then claim it back off us, the so called damaged item arrives back and it's an item years old and a make we've never sold.

I was telling Mrs 12th about this last night - just staggering.

 

[podknocker]

Recently I sold my Dali Zensor 1 speakers on eBay to make room for the Dali Oberon 3.
A week later the buyer returned the speakers back to me on the basis the goods were damaged during transit.
I am so peed-off with Evri, on this occasion I failed to insure the goods for lost or damaged. I was thinking don't bother, I have packed the speakers well, no chance these will be damaged. How wrong was I?
One speaker was intact, the grill pins were snapped inside the hole. The other speaker the tweeter was knocked back into the cabinet
On inspection of tweeter drive unit, it was repairable but I decided to order a replacement tweeter.
Once I have restored and operational again, I will use them in place of the Audioengine active A1 speakers, I have ordered SMSL A300 class D Bluetooth amplifer.
I will without fail pay the extra couriers insurance on Audioengine when I put these up for sale.
I have haemorrhage my money unnecessarily and had I done the due diligence I would not be posting this thread.
This was my HiFi disaster. Have any of you had similar experiences, what you would consider your own personal HiFi disaster? View attachment 5980View attachment 5981View attachment 5982

Evri are terrible. They were called Hermes until last year I think and they got some terrible reviews. I think they changed their name, because there's a fashion brand called Hermes and the fashion company were fed up of getting slated for no reason and it had an impact on their sales. I gave a terrible review of the courier company Hermes and did notice many people were giving the fashion company some right stick, for services they don't provide. I nearly lost over £100 of boots when they left the parcel at the wrong address and the flat numbers bear no resemblance. If I buy anything online now, I find out which courier they use. I will never uses Evri, because I know how bad they are. I don't know if it's wages, lack of training, or just a malicious and deliberate attempt to annoy customers, but the percentage of delivery failures, or damaged goods in transit, is very high with this company. DPD, Royal Mail, Parcelforce, Amazon seem to be very reliable.

 

[Jasonovich]

FIXED!
Whoopee!

 

[davidf]

I had an attempted theft of an amp from a DPD freelance driver.
I'm the other way I avoid DPD like the plague after that.

I never knew until then DPD use freelance drives and the problems it causes, simply put they couldn't even contact the driver not discipline him directly for trying to steal the amp as his boss was also freelance being that DPD had hired a group of drivers working under him.

It was horrifying being on the phone to DPD customer services while watching my amp being stolen via GPS.
The van driver said he'd delivered it yet came nowhere near the property indeed nowhere near the postcode or surrounding area.

He had not submitted a photo of delivery as supposed to only a photo of a random house that looks nothing like my BUNGALOW.

I quickly screen recorded the now known mans van GPS location via the app on my phone as proof and he had obviously gone back to his house with the amp and not moved for over an hour some 26miles away in Middlesbrough.

I know this as I spoke to various unhelpful idiotic customer service agents who kept dropping the calls whilst on hold, most of which spoke little to no English regardless managed to hit on a lovely English lady who was immediately helpful.
She divulged much more than she perhaps should of done including the confirmation that the driver was from indeed Middlesbrough.

Various attempts of contacting the driver were made always hindered by the fact he wasn't directly employed by DPD to his further removed boss who then rang him and then hrs later another lie would surface.

Unknown to this driver I'd videoed his whereabouts and also emailed the accompanying photo of my bungalow with the one of a HOUSE he had taken instead as proof of delivery.
Not the open door as instructed and a signature was never mentioned.

This driver had now been caught lying and in the act of actual theft yet it wasn't anything but the norm to them.

I rang richer sounds who were horrified and offered to replace the amp should it not be recovered etc but by then I wanted this driver strung up.
The stress was overwhelming confounded by the way DPD are as a company.

The driver was caught and still not sacked.
There was immediate problems even conversating with him as the helpful lady on the phone described he spoke no English only using his boss as a translator.

The amp eventually in a battered box found its way to me with a brocken amplifier inside that I'm pretty sure will of been done on purpose after he was caught.

DPD wouldn't tell me if the driver had been sacked or even disciplined using the data protection crap but the helpful lady who I know knew as Sarah told me not to expect anything to happen as his boss won't care as it's extremely likely he was part of the attempted theft.

Unfortunately richer sounds didn't cover the box so what it contained was on full display.

I doubt this is a thing specific to DPD but the reviews of them in particular are shocking.
Mostly it's this freelancing drivers they by nature have no control over or when a direct way if contacting them.

It's stupid not having a direct number for someone you employ or even knowing who you employ given that it was a small group of drivers working for a small company that DPD hired and only their boss they had partial contact with.

This man has got to be one of the dumbest criminals ever.
To steal whilst on being tracked with GPS and lie about location and then to send photos of a house as proof of delivery when I live in a bungalow is laughable now but at the time anything but.

I am almost certain this man will still be stealing and under the indirect employ of DPD

One thing is for sure I always try and avoid them always querying who is used for delivery when purchasing things.

I had a DPD driver/employee steal a £4.5k CD player.

 

[Jasonovich]

I had a DPD driver/employee steal a £4.5k CD player.

Ouch! Stuart had a similar problem with DPD and it appears this isn't done in isolation, was it insured?

 

[davidf]

Ouch! Stuart had a similar problem with DPD and it appears this isn't done in isolation, was it insured?

They wriggled out of the full amount.

 

[Jasonovich]

They wriggled out of the full amount.

Not great. Sorry to hear that. Moving forward, I wish you never have to experience that again.

 

[Stuart83]

Seems like this sending of bogus photos of the any old house is the norm with DPD then the parcel goes missing from there.

Doing a little digging Hermes changed to evri because of bad reviews with an add campaign to refresh their brand status.

The theft rate amongst drivers on the trust pilot all reflect toward foreign drivers who speak little English as I found.

DPD local in particular are shocking, it seems they just send a photo of anybodies house followed by a successful delivery text then the parcel goes missing from there.

I won't use them unless I have to.
I did notice on the occasions I've had to for things I can't get myself they use a different driver to the one that stole from me.

I sincerely hope they sacked him but doubt it as they had no control over him directly.