Why I have had enough of Richer Sounds

Ok first of this all in my opinion, and I am writing a complaint to RS.

I've been disapointed in them for a year now as they never have anything in stock, so everything has been bought at superfi instead.

Its my mums birthday today so I decided to get her one of them cheap DVD players from RS, but surprise surprise they didn't have any in stock, but they had a full size graded Accustic Solutions DVD521 they could let me have for £40, I though that sounded good and my mum can have my small midi size one.

So I got home on the bus with my new DVD plugged and test it with an only fools and horses dvd. The first time it crashed on the credit screens (the copyright thing) so I tried it again it work, I started watching an episode for 10 minutes then suddenly the sound went off, about 10 seconds later a really loud high pitched sound came out from it, my imediate thought was shit, that must have blown my tweeters.

Luckily they sound like they still work, I shall inspect the voice coils tomorrow however I am still left with a fualty DVD player which I will now have to return wasting another 2 hours of my time.

So to cut a long story short the first time I've bought anything from RS in ages and its faulty. I am not wasting my time anymore with them, everytime they never have the stuff I want in stock, when they do it dosn't work. I am not saying this was deliberate on their part but its still anoying especialy if any damage to my tweeters was caused.

Another thing that pisses me off is the fact that I have heared so many times their salesmen giving dixons style advice, today they were trying to flog a basic Limit DJ turntable saying it sounded better than the Project Debut to this customer because the platter is bigger in depth, I thought what crap.

So the time has come to say good bye RS, and thanks for letting my have my first seperate system, but if you carry on going down hill like this then you will be running out of customers. I also know of a few people (in real life, and none audio enhuasts) that have not been happy with Richers.

In the old days it just seemed like they had stuff in stock all the time and they were always willing to do a deal, but now they are just playing on their good reputation and abusing it. But remember Dixons probably had a good reputation in the 1960's but now look at it, I fear RS is going the same way.

Anyway I am going to get my money back on this DVD and go and get one from the supermarkets (at least they work)

 

If you know what you're doing and know what you want then Richers have some excellent bargains. I've never had any trouble from them and bought quite a lot of stuff from them over the years. Most recently got my Marantz SR4200 AV amp from them for a bargain £199

You can't blame RS for selling a broken DVD player, it could happen to any shop. About not having stuff in stock, why not just phone them up in advance and check and then if they have it, reserve it. They've always held things for a day or two for me.

Michael.

 

Sorry to hear it fella! Phone them before returning it and let them know you're not happy. If you're going to try and exploit it a bit and try and get them to replace und upgrade Ask for the manager straight away. He/she will be the one with the "Power" to sort out a deal.

Mixed dealings with them myself in the past. I think if you know how to "use" them, then they can still offer a good place for bargain budget/low mid gear. They do say in their own adverts to phone before traveling too.

 

I have never seen a bargin in Richer.

They had a sony learning remote thingy, I thought it was a bargin but found it cheaper.

I never bought it.

 

yeh don't blame RSounds AT...incidentally you can always find LG DVD players around the £50 mark can't you?

i got a new Optimum 2000 av rack in today at work- £500s worth- they had forgotten to put in one of the shelves- doesn't mean that we shouldn't deal with them- its just a mistake..

 

Never had a problem with Richer Sounds in 10 years and probably around 10 purchases of all kinds in that time.

Research first and if they have what you want in their adverts then call and reserve. They turn over stock very quick: some stock is very limited.

I just sold a great pair of Rogers DB101's ... cost around £400 when first released; bought from Richers 5 years ago as discontinued stock for £90 and just sold them for £95!!

I think it's a little unfair to expect their staff to have the knowledge of a genuine 'audiophile' type person. They sell hi-fi, mainly bottom and mid range, at very cheap prices and so the knowledge they have seems to me generally OK in context of 99% of their customers needs.

Dave

 

Anyone can unwittingly sell a duff unit, after all they are all sealed upon purchase and if they weren't we would want to know why.

What tells the good shops from the bad, is how they handle the situation when you take the stuff back. Richers have always been at least very helpful in this respect in all of the shops I have used where this has happened (about 8 shops over the last 15 years), and I've bought about 100 items for various people in this time.

Cheers

 

Can't say the same for Rover 820's though:Lplates: :boughtMF: :laser: :bs: :bs: :chair:

 

Great coffee mugs at RS

I currently have 4 and have never bought anything from them

 

I brought my first system from them as well, and for that I'm grateful. Equally, when I brought a Sony MD player from them, it broke within a month. I took it back, and they sent it off for repair FOC. News came back that it was irrepairable, so they gave me a new and better model at no extra charge.
I think what has happened with me is I've changed and they've stayed the same - some years ago when I first shopped there, I believed what I read in What Hi-Fi, and what salespeople told me. I thought £600 on a system was a lot of money.
Now, I find myself sticking my head around the door of RS's if I pass, but there's never anything that interests me - its not esoteric enough. Equally, in moving with the times they've dropped a lot of Hi-Fi for home cinema because thats what Joe Public want.
Think of it like cars. Your first car might have been a real wreck, brought with all the money you could afford at that point. The car you drive now probably costs five figures - you wouldn't want to go back to your first car, but thats more because your standards have been raised and you've moved the goalposts.
Simon

 

I bought a Compacks DVD5000 for £54.99 at Safeway in the end, its basicaly the same unit as the £120 Cambridge Audio model, but with a lesser transformer, but it still has a much bettter grade transport. I will get my money back on the richers unit tomorrow.

My quarel with RS was that it was a graded repaired unit which must have been tested, but I bet they just tested it with a DVD for a few minutes and classed it as working.

I am also thinking with RS it might depend on the branch, I only ever shop at the Stockport branch which is supposed to be one of the busiest and biggest RS stores, but they still seem to have problems with stocks.

I still prefer RS to Dixons, but maybe I am just starting to out grow RS which is somthing that happens to a lot of us, they don't sell any CD players for example that I would be interested in apart from the higher end Cambridge Audio stuff and even they tend to be differences in opinion.

I think the golden rule with RS is patience and not be disapointed when stuff is not in stock, two things I do not have.

 

I have also got a RS mug. It works perfectly as well not a leak in sight.

 

AT, RS will order a lot things in for you and their "beat it till it hurts" should still stand. When I first considered getting a av processor, I asked if they stocked it. They didn't but the guy told me find the best deal I could on it and then contact them and they'd order it in for me. I didn't follow through because I lacked the "patience" you mentioned. I seen it cheap and wanted it yesterday

As for testing it as it's graded. To be realistic you can't honestly expect MOre than for them to give it a quick run to check it works. As timpy says, the gauge for a good company is how they deal with it when you inform them of the fault.

Did you check if they'll give you a full refund before buying from somewhere else? You may have landed yourself in it there mate. I'd have at least contacted them and told them I had a faulty unit and wished for a refund. You may only be entitled to replacement or store credit.

 

I think amazing trade has hit on something good here.....R.S. are not as good as they were...haven't you noticed in the past year or 2 how little new stock they have had...years ago they used to be great, but now its all the mordaunt shorts and missions all the time, the stock doesn't change much at all now, and they are clamping down on the returns...the official line is if its faulty we will refund, but if not, just swap...this is because they think people are getting stuff for parties and taking back...

my dad got a dvd from there and it doensn't like going via the video scart...gets my blood boiling, as its meant to be for copyright protection or something, and they haven't a new telly, so have to do it this way....for now...they wouln'dt refund, just tried to sell a crappy acoustic solutions instead....they are getting a little dixons like in that respect...

sale of goods act 1979...if something is not as described, fit for its purpose, and it MUST work then you are entitled to a refund, no quibbles...

if something is ok, then a store can do a goodwill gesture of refunding, but it is not entitled to...

BUT...how many know this...a european directive (ohhh nooo..blasted europe!!)

called the distance selling regulations...states anything bought mail order via the internet( I think..may also be mail order) can be returned within 7 days for a refund, even if ok...the rationale is that one hasn't had a chance to examine..feel it, whatever...THIS NEEDS TO BE SEEN AND UNDERSTOOD BY EVERYONE, AS I AM NOT SURE HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW AND MAY GET FOBBED OFF

 

I have to take that faulty DVD player back to RS later. I am not looking foward to it, the only reason I am going to day is my dad can take me, so it saves lumping that peice of shite back on the bus.

This what I replaced it with from safeway



It cost £55

And dosn't it look very similar to this?



I am sure the CA must have somthing difference to justify the fact it cost twice the price.

 

hasn't it got something like PAL progressive and DVD-A playback ? (or is that another CA one )

hope that new Safeway special has more luck in ur household though amazintrade!!

 

This dosn't have DVD-A! but it does progressive scan.

 

They did have Sennheiser HD600 headphones for £99.99 a while back. If that wasnt a bargain I dont know what the hell is. I think they where actually even cheaper in the What HiFi advert. £250 normally...

 

How many did they have in stock though? about 5 for the entire 40 stores? Them kind of offers just cause frustration because you think you can get a bargain and you can't because there is none in stock. I remember a year ago trying to get a Cambridge Audio DAC (the one with the platform and HDCD) for £50 as advertised in What HIFI, this was only days after it came out and I phoned all the north west RS stores not one had any in stock and they one of the branches said that they hadn't seem them a long time and they were defanatly not going to get them in stock in the near future.

My best so called bargain from Richers was probably my Sony cd player, it cost £100 when it sold for £140 in most of the other shops. My old Sen HD495 I got cheap at £30 but in my opinion those headphones were so bad if I paid £60 for them I would have gone to trading standards if they didn't let me have my money back. For £30 I thought they were ok though. My £50 Philips HP890 outperform the Sen's in every way though.

I like their gale speaker cable though, its very good value and sounds good. Apart form the basic 69p a metre stuff, mains cable will probably be just as good.

 

Yep - that's Macrovison and is NO fault of Richers. You want Macrovision disabled, you have to pay for it. Richers' mods won't do this - afaik only Techtronics.com's will - that's why I'll only buy a DVD player from them.

I had one of those cheapy Acoustic Solutions DVD players from Richers last summer - it was easily the biggest POS I've ever had the misfortune to own - allegedly mutili-region but it crashed whenever a Region 1 disc was inserted.

Sorry folks - but you get what you pay for. If you want unreliable DVD, get a cheap one...

That said, my old housemate got a Sony DVD from Richers as cheap stock - it wouldn't work properly so he returned it and they replaced the transport - that's not bad going. However, yep, they have gone downhill in the last few years...

Not quite Dixons yet though