Thanks Sundown for having NO customer support

[BassBaller5 2]

I usually dont go out of my way to make these threads but I have to say I am utterly embarrassed by Sundowns lack of ANY customer service.   I have dealt with Jacob directly about 5 years ago when ordering my first Sundown amplifiers and have nothing but great things to say about how he treated me as a customer.  

 

Fast forward 5 years to today and I am a dealer for Sundown.  Im not going to go into how their high shipping costs coupled with their low online pricing makes it IMPOSSIBLE to make a profit on their products and still be competitive.  Rather, I want to bring up how utterly non-existent their customer service is.  

 

We ordered a pair of Nightshade 18" for a customer and were quoted about 2-3 weeks on build time.  No problem.  We paid for them in April.  60 days later we finally receive the subwoofers and one has a shattered basket.  The box looks to be in fine shape but im sure this was likely caused during delivery.  The packing foam inside is broken in multiple positions.  I would have assumed that on a $1000 sub they would use a very durable basket material but perhaps not.   

 

 I attempt to contact Sundown to get this resolved and lo and behold, NO ONE answers their phones.  This is an extremely common occurrence.  I have gone weeks in the past without getting anyone at Sundown to answer their phones.  After further research, I find out that Sundowns staff is all at slamology and they left NO one to answer their phones and handle their customers.  Now I have to call MY customer and explain to them that after waiting 60 days for their sub, it arrives broken and Sundown wont answer their phones.  I sent multiple emails, left multiple voice mails and even communicated through facebook.  Throughout all this, NO ONE has taken the time to get back in touch with me.  How can a company this large have zero concern about their dealers or quality care?  

 

I called back today and FINALLY was able to speak to Brandon Sparks.  Brandon knew instantly who I was (go figure) and tells me that they have to start a FEDex claim before they can deal with the speaker.  He also informs me that the guy who makes the NS's is out of town for a week.  I was able to get zero estimation on when our replacement speaker will arrive giving me zero information to pass along to our customer.    After expressing all of these concerns to Brandon, I tell him that I will do my best to never order another piece of Sundown gear.  His only response. "I wish their was something I could do but it sounds like you have made up your mind."     He gave NO attempt to recover my business or even act as though he gives a care about my small brick and mortar business.  

 

If you are in the market for high quality high output subwoofers, consider a brand that will actually take care of their warranties and will answer the phones when you call them such as Digital Designs.

 

Hopefully this will help start a dialog with Jacob or Brandon so I can get this issue resolved. 

[cehmke 0]

I've never had any dealings with Sundown, but I have been in the situation before. After something like this happens, and its a huge, time consuming deal, that company has forever lost my business. Of course, im sure they will eventually make it right, but it sounds like they could do maybe a bit more to at least start making it right. 

[tprj82 4]

That really sucks man, sorry to hear that

[stevemead08 752]

Been there done that. For me, it us crucial to do business with a company with good CS. As of lately I have great companies I work with and life is much easier.

[pmureika 31]

Sundown usually has good customer service. 

[BassBaller5 2]

Sundown usually has good customer service. 

 

must have not been on ANY of the many (15+) days that I have attempted to call them and received no answer or returned calls.  Or when I email them and wait 7 days for an RA number on products.  Or when I do not get my products back from RA only to call them a month later and them tell me that the products were looked at 2 weeks ago and wont be warrantied. 

[Dangrebel 89]

That sounds so much like a dealer that I know in MS. He gets no support

[ohio45113 24]

I had the same issue awhile back. now I wont even so much as buy used sundown equipment. I'm glad you made this thread. Thanks for the heads up

[patented17 21]

Always two sides to a story, so I'll see how it turns out.

[onebadmonte 235]

What a bummer. All of my dealings with Sundown have ended on positive notes regardless of the situation. I hope your situation works outs positively. Let us know how it goes.

[garychurch84 127]

Jacob is on vacation all this week

[BassBaller5 2]

I dont mind Jacob being on vacation, but when his entire staff takes a vacation to slamology at the exact same time and leaves no one to handle their business, that is a big problem

[puscifer2 27]

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

[garychurch84 127]

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

sure was

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

 

 

Doesn't matter, there is still absolutely no excuse for this.  Even if it was announced, the message they are sending to their dealers is that they don't care about them.  Furthermore, it was mishanlded after the fact of actually making contact.  Whomever answered the phone should have called Jacob or the person who makes the Nightshades and informed them that they need one assembled ASAP and overnighted.  That is the only way to make this right, given the OP's comments are the full truth.

[frogcase2002 393]

Sorry to hear that man. Not only do you got to deal with being frustrated with them but you are looking bad even though its out of your control. . If that's the whole story then I'm sure the will get it taken care of. . . . . Hope it works out man.

This is why I haven't ran anything but SSA in years!

[puscifer2 27]

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

Doesn't matter, there is still absolutely no excuse for this. Even if it was announced, the message they are sending to their dealers is that they don't care about them. Furthermore, it was mishanlded after the fact of actually making contact. Whomever answered the phone should have called Jacob or the person who makes the Nightshades and informed them that they need one assembled ASAP and overnighted. That is the only way to make this right, given the OP's comments are the full truth.

Agreed. My point was there is a reason for this lapse in c/s ( doesn't make it right ) on the other hand according to the op this isn't the first time c/s has failed.

Hopefully sundown makes it right, can't say that they keep the op as a dealer tho...

[1two3 16]

totaly sucks man.  i totaly agree too.  i dont care how good of a company it is if they got poor CS then im on to the nex one

[chrapladm 0]

I am surprised that the basket was ......crushed. I know when I have ordered from other companies that use foam very sparingly I was shocked. BUT some when ordering expensive heavy woofers will crate the woofer with double cardboard and use OSB or something more durable in their packaging. Either way I am curious what has happened to the basket.

 

Also with Smart phones and everything else is it really that hard to get back with people via email or other?

 

Jacob I knew was on vacation but I am a bit curious why there is no one to help. Things I cant answer without knowing both sides of the story. I hope this gets resolved.

[Godsmack 360]

Mind showing us this crushed speaker? I am interested in how it arrived.

J

[w00tah 5]

 

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

 

 

Doesn't matter, there is still absolutely no excuse for this.  Even if it was announced, the message they are sending to their dealers is that they don't care about them.  Furthermore, it was mishanlded after the fact of actually making contact.  Whomever answered the phone should have called Jacob or the person who makes the Nightshades and informed them that they need one assembled ASAP and overnighted.  That is the only way to make this right, given the OP's comments are the full truth.

 

So, basically, the ONLY way that Sundown can have good CS is to make sure that nothing ever goes wrong.  Furthermore, they have to be at work, at all times, to make sure they can answer the phones, emails, and such, 24/7.  They also have to make sure that things are fixed immediately, including warranty claims.

To me, it sounds like Brandon was trying, by him telling you that they had to file that claim with FedEx, and the NS guy is out for a week as well.  Even had he been there, the claim still has to go through.  For you to just basically be like "Well, that's not good enough, so you know what, eff you and your company", it's no wonder he said what he did.  There's only so much they can do, they are human after all.

[cehmke 0]

 There's only so much they can do, they are human after all.

 

They are also business owners, who I'm sure want to make money with their business ... no one is saying they aren't trying a little bit, but IMO and assuming all the OP's comments are true, Sundown could be doing more ...

[PHATBOi 38]

Always 2 sides to every story. I'd like to hear Sundown's side of the story before blindly passing judgment. Just saying. Sundown is known throughout the basshead community for their top notch customer service. Myself, having personally dealt with Jacob on more than one occasion, can vouch for the validity of that reputation.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

Doesn't matter, there is still absolutely no excuse for this. Even if it was announced, the message they are sending to their dealers is that they don't care about them. Furthermore, it was mishanlded after the fact of actually making contact. Whomever answered the phone should have called Jacob or the person who makes the Nightshades and informed them that they need one assembled ASAP and overnighted. That is the only way to make this right, given the OP's comments are the full truth.

So, basically, the ONLY way that Sundown can have good CS is to make sure that nothing ever goes wrong. Furthermore, they have to be at work, at all times, to make sure they can answer the phones, emails, and such, 24/7. They also have to make sure that things are fixed immediately, including warranty claims.

To me, it sounds like Brandon was trying, by him telling you that they had to file that claim with FedEx, and the NS guy is out for a week as well. Even had he been there, the claim still has to go through. For you to just basically be like "Well, that's not good enough, so you know what, eff you and your company", it's no wonder he said what he did. There's only so much they can do, they are human after all.

No where did I type what you just did. Read what I typed, it's elementary. Plain and simple.

[jcarter1885 994]

 

 

 

Not trying to be an ass, but it was announced before slam that they would be running a skeleton crew for a bit.

Doesn't matter, there is still absolutely no excuse for this. Even if it was announced, the message they are sending to their dealers is that they don't care about them. Furthermore, it was mishanlded after the fact of actually making contact. Whomever answered the phone should have called Jacob or the person who makes the Nightshades and informed them that they need one assembled ASAP and overnighted. That is the only way to make this right, given the OP's comments are the full truth.

 

So, basically, the ONLY way that Sundown can have good CS is to make sure that nothing ever goes wrong. Furthermore, they have to be at work, at all times, to make sure they can answer the phones, emails, and such, 24/7. They also have to make sure that things are fixed immediately, including warranty claims.

To me, it sounds like Brandon was trying, by him telling you that they had to file that claim with FedEx, and the NS guy is out for a week as well. Even had he been there, the claim still has to go through. For you to just basically be like "Well, that's not good enough, so you know what, eff you and your company", it's no wonder he said what he did. There's only so much they can do, they are human after all.

No where did I type what you just did. Read what I typed, it's elementary. Plain and simple.

 

Thats what happens when you type with emotion, disregard everything that was said.