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Was I expecting too much?

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upgrader

pfm Member
I recently bought a 9mtr pair of Nac A5 speaker cables from a dealer on these very forums, there was a nice big photo showing Naim plugs at one end and banana plugs at the other.

I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that the black double pronged Naim plugs would be for connection to my Naim amp, and the banana's for the speaker end, but when they arrived I quickly realised that this was not the case and they were in fact terminated the opposite way round.
These were of no use to me in this configuration so I phoned the dealer and explained the situation who's response was "just cut the plugs off and re-terminate them yourself " or "don't you have a friend with a soldering iron" or "just take them to your nearest Naim dealer as I'm sure they will help you out" He also told me that he did not have the facility to re-terminate the cables himself.
I explained that none of his suggestions were practical for me without incuring considerable extra expense so he eventually agreed to have the cables back.

I paid £10 on top of the purchase price to have the cables sent out to me and discovered that it was going to cost me nearly £17 (with insurance) to send the cables back, so I rang the dealer again to ask if he would refund my original postage cost if I paid for the return. I thought this to be a fair proposal considering I did'nt feel entirely to blame for this mistake, anyway he agreed to this so you could say that we reached a gentleman's agreement and all would work out fine in the end.

2 days after he received the cables back I was sent this email.....


I have not refunded you the outgoing postage. As this was ordered in
error I am not legally obliged to and I am afraid that on a week where I
have been messed around by dozens of suppliers and buyers, I have my
business head firmly in place and don't see why I should give out gifts
of money for free. The naim right handed speaker connectors are just
that, loudspeaker connectors, and they are nearly always fitted to the
ends of NACA5 rather than the other way round so clearly the onus was on
you to understand and check this before you purchased.


Needless to say that I was not expecting this type of reply!


So what do you think, WAS I EXPECTING TOO MUCH?
 
upgrader said:
I recently bought a 9mtr pair of Nac A5 speaker cables from a dealer on these very forums, there was a nice big photo showing Naim plugs at one end and banana plugs at the other.

I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that the black double pronged Naim plugs would be for connection to my Naim amp, and the banana's for the speaker end, but when they arrived I quickly realised that this was not the case and they were in fact terminated the opposite way round.
These were of no use to me in this configuration so I phoned the dealer and explained the situation who's response was "just cut the plugs off and re-terminate them yourself " or "don't you have a friend with a soldering iron" or "just take them to your nearest Naim dealer as I'm sure they will help you out" He also told me that he did not have the facility to re-terminate the cables himself.
I explained that none of his suggestions were practical for me without incuring considerable extra expense so he eventually agreed to have the cables back.

I paid £10 on top of the purchase price to have the cables sent out to me and discovered that it was going to cost me nearly £17 (with insurance) to send the cables back, so I rang the dealer again to ask if he would refund my original postage cost if I paid for the return. I thought this to be a fair proposal considering I did'nt feel entirely to blame for this mistake, anyway he agreed to this so you could say that we reached a gentleman's agreement and all would work out fine in the end.

2 days after he received the cables back I was sent this email.....


I have not refunded you the outgoing postage. As this was ordered in
error I am not legally obliged to and I am afraid that on a week where I
have been messed around by dozens of suppliers and buyers, I have my
business head firmly in place and don't see why I should give out gifts
of money for free. The naim right handed speaker connectors are just
that, loudspeaker connectors, and they are nearly always fitted to the
ends of NACA5 rather than the other way round so clearly the onus was on
you to understand and check this before you purchased.


Needless to say that I was not expecting this type of reply!


So what do you think, WAS I EXPECTING TOO MUCH?
Click to expand...

the dealer sounds like a twat
 
Do the naim terminated plugs fit the speakers and the banana plugs fit the amp?

If so, no problem.

If not, try the naim forum if this was from a naim dealer...

If not from a naim dealer, there is a thread in the classifieds for "bad guys".
 
I would have fitted Naim's plugs at the amp end and bananas at the speaker end, unless the customer has Naim speakers, when I would fit Naim plugs at both ends.

I usually explain to the customer what is to be fitted as the Naim plugs are quite expensive.

If the dealer has made the mistake, he needs to bite the bullet and do the job FOC.
 
Perhaps worth pointing out that the electrons are oblivious to the arrows painted on the cable...

... turn them around and be happy! :)
 
hammeredklavier said:
Perhaps worth pointing out that the electrons are oblivious to the arrows painted on the cable...

... turn them around and be happy! :)
Click to expand...

Blasphemy!

The dealer might have been more polite, of course, but I don't see that he did anything really bad. And certainly nothing intentional. He could not know for sure that you have a Naim amp and non-Naim speakers, rather than vice-versa, although he could have asked. If it had happened to me I would have either just used them as they are "reversed", or de-soldered and re-soldered. Which, by the way, is impossible with any "human" soldering iron, I ended up using a gas ring in the kitchen.
I don't think the dealer committed a crime serious enough to raise hell about. Were they new, made to order for you, or second-hand?
If new and bespoke you have a case, if second-hand not really.
 
I think the thing is if they've agreed to cover the postage cost and then say they won't once they've received it back then that's ultimately the problem. However do you have anything in writing about this agreement or was it just something mentioned on the phone.

I'd probably just take it on the chin and steer well clear of them in the future. A bit of customer relations can go a long long way in my experience and for the sake of £10 they may of lost a potential lifetime customer!
 
Hi, looks like the dealer changed his mind because he had a bad day.
It's all too easy to agree on the phone but then renege on the deal once the goods are back in his possession.

Name and shame and never go back, this hobby often relies on trust of the dealer/customer.:)
 
I did have a quick look through to see which dealer had recently sold 9m of NAC A5 cable but couldn't find any. :-s
 
Hmmm, these last few weeks I've ordered stuff off people on eBay who have the disclaimer that buyer pays for postage on returned items on their auction/sales pages. In one case the item was broken and I had to return it, in the other the seller sent the wrong item. In the first case the seller refunded me full postage and insurance costs (over £10 each way) as well as the original cost of the item. In the second the seller told me to keep the wrongly sent item and has also send me the correct item, admittedly the actual cost was only £6 but jolly decent of him I'd say and I can sell the wrongly sent item myself making this purchase essentially a freebie!

Now that's what I call good service and it's what I expect from anyone decent.

I'd love to know the name of the dealer in question because I'd be sure to avoid them including for mail order/internet purchases - go on tell us who it was, you'll be doing us a favour as well as making yourself feel better!
 
Sorry chaps, I am not willing to name the dealer but it should'nt be to difficult for the sherlock's amongst you to find out, especially as the cables are still for sale on this forum.
 
I have tried and failed to hear the directionality on NAC A5, I would just have used them the wrong was round. Even those who claim to have heard directionality say the effect is very small indeed.

Nic P
 
upgrader said:
So what do you think, WAS I EXPECTING TOO MUCH?
Click to expand...

I think you should have just reversed the cable - problem solved in about 10 seconds. NACA5 is not directional.

However, the dealer should have humoured you and offered to swap the plugs over out of courtesy to the customer, and paid the postage.


spacey said:
Is NACA5 directional?
Click to expand...

The arrows and print are directional ;)
 
Nic P said:
I have tried and failed to hear the directionality on NAC A5, I would just have used them the wrong was round. Even those who claim to have heard directionality say the effect is very small indeed.

Nic P
Click to expand...

That may well be the case but if I know that everything is as it should be and still sounds not quite right then I know to look elswhere for any possible weakness.

But that's not the issue here, it's the dealers principles, or lack of.
 
Robert said:
I think you should have just reversed the cable - problem solved in about 10 seconds. NACA5 is not directional.

However, the dealer should have humoured you and offered to swap the plugs over out of courtesy to the customer.
Click to expand...

Nac A5 is not directional???
 
No it isn't.
It is just two runs of thick copper stranded wire and like all other unshielded audio cables it cannot be directional.

Directionality only applies in certain specific cases where shielding is applied and this is electrically terminated at one end only. Most often with interconnects.
 
Robert said:
No it isn't.
It is just two runs of thick copper stranded wire and like all other unshielded audio cables it cannot be directional.

Directionality only applies in certain specific cases where shielding is applied and this is electrically terminated at one end only. Most often with interconnects.
Click to expand...

We`ll have none of that engineering based common sense here, thank you.
 
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