Last week I bought the Focal Vestia No2 speakers, but they arrived with scratches. So I returned them and went for the Focal Aria Evo X No3 instead. Unfortunately, these also have scratches, this time on the bass ports, which really bothers me considering the price of these speakers.
Has anyone else had similar experiences with Focal? I purchased them from a reputable store, and to be honest, I’m not looking forward to having to return them yet again, but I’m afraid I’ll have to…
I’m not telling you that you are wrong to demand the product be in proper new condition - you paid for a new, undamaged product and should get what you paid for.
That said, I don’t think I would bother going back at this point either. Not because they don’t owe it to you to make it right (they do), but because it won’t be worth the effort to make them do it. Maybe send in that photo and request a replacement port insert?
Personally, with these scratches that appear to be on only the plastic port insert, I would give some thought to how I could possibly refinish the surface to my own satisfaction - vinyl scratch remover, or start with abrasives in the 1200 grit vicinity and go finer from there before a vinyl paint - the port insert should be relatively easily removeable, which would make refinishing it easy to do without risking the finish on the rest of the speaker.
I know it’s ridiculous to have to refinish a brand new product, but I love to tinker anyway, so if these scratches were really bothering me the way they seem to bother you, then that’s how I would handle them.
Same thing i was thinking of.
Those being so minor marks that i would not want the trouble of packing and delivering. Unless the seller company would do it for me.
What i might do is file a complaint and try to settle a extra discount or small money back.
One time we did just this when a friend wanted new speakers and we had a listening session in store and everything was fine. They already were in discount price.
I noticed few similar and minor scratches. Friend got a better discount and he took the speakers.
Once they are placed like 10ft / 3m away, you cannot see any of them.
Thanks for your answers @MadGman and @Dzaw . That’s what I was thinking as well. It’s such a hassle to pack them up, bring them to the store, and get replacements again.
I also noticed severe scratching inside the bass ports (probably happened while placing them). That makes me question Focal’s quality control, especially since this has happened twice already. I do want to exchange them, but I’m not willing to go through the same process a third time, just hoping it will finally be right.
Having very mixed feelings about this and I’m wasting so much time with it too.
I would bet money that those ports are one of the cheapest ones.
Better ones might have bolts or nicer coating / paint or even added flow control.
Since some scratches wont change sound characteristics they pass any quality control these days. Probably in the past those might be failures…?
Cheaper parts, less quality control (still being good with their policies) = better profits.