Recent experience with Eight Audio International

kartikay

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I thought of sharing my recent experience with Eight audio regarding a custom cabinet and woofer order I had placed with them. Why I posted this as "experience" and not after sales is that I am yet to receive aforementioned cabinets/woofers even when payment was done in 1st week of June.
At the time of payment I was told that cabinets will be shipped in couple of days, but then ongoing lockdown and Fedex not picking up package for delivery was shared as the reason for delay. For sometime Shravan was responsive over whatsapp (though delay reason didnt change for whole June month). From July onwards no response to calls or whatsapp messages.

I have given up hope of ever receiving those cabinets/woofers but hopefully my experience will be helpful for others while dealing with them.
 
Saw on the website that store is closed till 15th (on the audify.in website, which is part of the same group). I remember someone from the forum saying they had a good experience in the past. Maybe there is some issue which is preventing a response, so maybe keep trying

Of course the past not always a good predictor of the future, and I know that a lot of small businesses are going under / or struggling to stay afloat. many would like to support such businesses, but lack of response and incidents like this do not inspire confidence. This is a cautionary tale for anyone transacting online with a vendor, especially a small one.

As customers, we could insist on transacting through paypal which i think has a delivery guarantee (holds the money escrow or something).

Thank you for sharing anyway. i was looking at picking up some drivers from Audify, but now I am going to be extra careful.
 
I had purchased a few items more than 4 years back when they were a much smaller entity selling some components and basic kits.
My experience was mixed and in couple of purchases when there were issues (one wrong product sent) and the other a partly defective product, the communication was sketchy and the guy whom I was dealing was quite hot headed giving the impression that he was doing a favour.
I refrained after that.
 
I understand we are living in new normal, and thats why I have been patiently waiting. I have also ordered parts from them in past and have faced a delay of few weeks. But this time, discussion about drivers started in Dec 2019, in March I started getting updates about cabinet work starting, May end I was informed that its almost ready and a payment invoice was shared which I paid in June.
I even got piscs of big package kept ready for delivery pick-up, this was in June. But its being 2 months now and still no sign of delivery happening. The owner is avoiding responding to Whatsapp messages from past 1 month, no response to phone calls either. Please see attached screenshot (this is from my friend who was interacting with them as he has worked with Eight audio in past). Guy is reading the messages but choosing not to respond to them, if its due to medical emergency it can be shared, right?
And its not like they are "closed" closed. I see update on their FB page as recent as Aug 1, where pic of Sravanth is posted where he is testing out some drivers for next DIY build. Seeing all this leaves a bad taste in mouth, as if they dont care on fulfilling the order.
 

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I thought of sharing my recent experience with Eight audio regarding a custom cabinet and woofer order I had placed with them. Why I posted this as "experience" and not after sales is that I am yet to receive aforementioned cabinets/woofers even when payment was done in 1st week of June.
At the time of payment I was told that cabinets will be shipped in couple of days, but then ongoing lockdown and Fedex not picking up package for delivery was shared as the reason for delay. For sometime Shravan was responsive over whatsapp (though delay reason didnt change for whole June month). From July onwards no response to calls or whatsapp messages.

I have given up hope of ever receiving those cabinets/woofers but hopefully my experience will be helpful for others while dealing with them.

Hi
I too have recently purchased a pair of SB midwoofers and tweeters from them. The whole process took about a month or more.
There was a lot of delay due to the lockdown and even no response from them for weeks. Then they sent the wrong model of midwoofers and I had to ship them back and get the correct ones.
Eventually, I got the midwoofers that I ordered but didn't get the tweeters. Instead I got very similar ones.
I was informed a couple of days back that their offices are closed and business affected due to some of their employees getting infected by Covid 19. Overall, it was a mixed experience for me. Do try to communicate to them via email also (since I have been seeing no reponse to whatsapp messages or calls)
Hope that you get a response from them soon.

Thanks
 
So making some noise in public space did help and magically my shipment got couriered. Though I am still skeptical.
And point to note here is that the whole delay of 2 months was due to fact that they didn't wanted to ship via any other courier service except Fedex, and now official statement is Fedex is not offered by their portal.
Add on to it the disclaimer that any damages occurring in shipment is not their responsibility. I am seriously done with this vendor..
 

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Very very unprofessional and typical washing off attitude. Wish you all the best.
 
What the hell do they mean by Fedex is not "started in our portal"?
These guys hide behind "COVID-19 conditions" to presume that people will excuse their absolutely unprofessional business ethic [if they had any in the first place]. :mad:
 
It's very true that in between FedEx started and then again stopped functioning due to lack of staff.
Atleast this is true for Mumbai.
Just two days ago they have started pickup and delivery in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, banaglore and delhi I guess
But at the same time delhivery, ecomxpress , ekart, blue dart were working full force
I myself have sent thirty parcels big and small via delhivery and faced no issues .
So FedEx not picking up parcel can't be an excuse
Worst they could have asked 1000 rs extra for shipping if at all it was expensive to shop with other companies.
 
So making some noise in public space did help and magically my shipment got couriered. Though I am still skeptical.
And point to note here is that the whole delay of 2 months was due to fact that they didn't wanted to ship via any other courier service except Fedex, and now official statement is Fedex is not offered by their portal.
Add on to it the disclaimer that any damages occurring in shipment is not their responsibility. I am seriously done with this vendor..

If they are taking money from the customer, they are bound to make sure that the product reaches the customer in perfect shape. Even if they are changing the carrier, they can always insure before sending, right? Its all about money, thats it.. once they get it, its done deal for them.
 
Guys, an update on this. After many back n forth emails, they offered an option for refund which I opted for. Though interestingly when I chose refund they suddenly changed toned and offered complete coverage in case of any mishap in shipping.
But this whole exchange had left me with distrust and I didn't wanted to go through the hassle again.
 
Guys, an update on this. After many back n forth emails, they offered an option for refund which I opted for. Though interestingly when I chose refund they suddenly changed toned and offered complete coverage in case of any mishap in shipping.
But this whole exchange had left me with distrust and I didn't wanted to go through the hassle again.
Aat anna deke pucha, rupaiya deke chudvaya!! :D
Figuratively of course.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Please dont support these kind of pathetic customer support. even i had lot of trouble with them before COVID .I ordered a pair of Bookselves and they took 20 days to deliver and that too multiple followups. their Whatsapp response are very minimal and mostly they will ignore the msg's and calls.
 
I have been in customer facing situations my whole professional life. This attitude is unique to India and to the Hifi industry. If I had to guess its probably a rich guys kid, who wants to launch his own business. hence the gen 1 businessman attitude coupled with millennial arrogance. lethal combination. Esp. When it does not cost anything at all to communicate.

In the FMCG industry (at least in the companies I have worked for or led); a simple consumer complaint is taken so seriously. (of course there are bad companies here too, but much fewer, and they dont last).There have been times that complaints have looked frivolous, (eg. a product complaint of non effectiveness after using 3/4th of the product) but each and every complaint is treated with great seriousness, and addressed with a replacement (and pick up of the offending product). The cost redressing the complaints are many multiples of the profit realisation of the original product.

I give this example to illustrate that even in a low margin high volume business; the customer can be king. And for a business such as hifi speakers, with the ticket size of the product, especially given that the reputation is not established, I am guessing that it arrogance that can come of having a lot of money which you have never earned yourself that can lead to a such attitude. Anyone building a business with his own money is likely to be more humble (or at least pretend to be)
 
Guys, an update on this. After many back n forth emails, they offered an option for refund which I opted for. Though interestingly when I chose refund they suddenly changed toned and offered complete coverage in case of any mishap in shipping.
But this whole exchange had left me with distrust and I didn't wanted to go through the hassle again.

Yes. Better not to do business with them.
 
Based on the reports on this thread I made some investigations with Shravanth. I did not get a reply which I thought was strange. He normally responds to my messages quite promptly. Today I have got information that Shravanth, and his entire family (parents and brother) had been hospitalized due to Covid-19. He had been in quarantine for 17 days at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

Due to all of this, Eight Audio was closed until Aug 15th. The staff was not available during this time.
Shravanth has now recovered along with father while his mother and brother are still in hospital.

Can I request the people involved to show a little patience and understanding during this time?
I will try and get as much information as possible including the open issues described here.

Regards


.
 
Based on the reports on this thread I made some investigations with Shravanth. I did not get a reply which I thought was strange. He normally responds to my messages quite promptly. Today I have got information that Shravanth, and his entire family (parents and brother) had been hospitalized due to Covid-19. He had been in quarantine for 17 days at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

Due to all of this, Eight Audio was closed until Aug 15th. The staff was not available during this time.
Shravanth has now recovered along with father while his mother and brother are still in hospital.

Can I request the people involved to show a little patience and understanding during this time?
I will try and get as much information as possible including the open issues described here.

Regards


.
This was posted on their FB page on Aug 1, maybe pic was taken earlier before he went into quarantine.
1597750341850.png

But let me clear something here, as I checked with my friend. Payment for drivers were made in Dec 2019, in March my friend paid for cabinets to start the work, which supposedly got completed in May, and rest of story is in the comments. I am not saying that times are normal, but communication is very least one can do even in difficult times.
 
Based on the reports on this thread I made some investigations with Shravanth. I did not get a reply which I thought was strange. He normally responds to my messages quite promptly. Today I have got information that Shravanth, and his entire family (parents and brother) had been hospitalized due to Covid-19. He had been in quarantine for 17 days at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

Due to all of this, Eight Audio was closed until Aug 15th. The staff was not available during this time.
Shravanth has now recovered along with father while his mother and brother are still in hospital.

Can I request the people involved to show a little patience and understanding during this time?
I will try and get as much information as possible including the open issues described here.

Regards


.

Hi Nikhil, that's what I had thought (and posted) initially. It may even be true. But if you see what OP wrote, for a person to have enough energy to read all whatsapps, but not enough to type a 3 word reply is a bit odd. Also odd, communication with OP started once his post here got traction.

If he was infected, that is sad and hope for a speedy and healthy recovery for him and his family. But other posts indicate that issues predate the onset of COVID in the country. And it would be even sadder if he were using this as an excuse. If he is willing to share his COVID status with you to post on the forum, surely he could have shared it with his customers whose money he has taken. I am sure @kartikay would have been more understanding knowing that.

SB acoustics is a great company with outstanding products and it would be a great service to both the DIY community and fledgling speaker companies in India if they had a committed dealer here.
 
Hi Nikhil, that's what I had thought (and posted) initially. It may even be true. But if you see what OP wrote, for a person to have enough energy to read all whatsapps, but not enough to type a 3 word reply is a bit odd. Also odd, communication with OP started once his post here got traction.

If those comments were in August then Shravanth was in hospital at that time.


SB acoustics is a great company with outstanding products and it would be a great service to both the DIY community and fledgling speaker companies in India if they had a committed dealer here.

When asked about the issues raised here - he informed that 390 shipments were made of which 3 complaints arose.
I'm guessing 2 of those are the ones on here. Will get more details as and when I get more info.


.
 
I also run a small company. When I fall ill, it doesn't mean that my entire company stops communicating with or servicing customer orders. Just saying.....
A company that needs the owner to be present 24x7 even for basic communication doesn't bode well.
Whatever the circumstances, unfortunately, these sort of incidents are likely to cause significant damage to the company's reputation, and people would think twice.
 
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