Factory Direct

This place is either a hit or a miss. You sometimes find great items at low prices and they work well without any problems. Other times, you find expensive items that don’t even work properly. This is worsened by the store’s poor return policy. My recommendation is to stick to sealed items that have a brand. These are usually the best.

Last week I went into Factory Direct and I saw a new set of speakers on the shelf. I noticed it had a Guitar jack and I have been looking for a Guitar amp. It also had a USB port a SD/​MMC port, 2 Mic ports and built in Radio and equalizer. I asked Salesman about it and he said it was a really good set and the sound was very good. After a few more questions I was sold on them. I bought the set and the extended Warranty and brought them home. Once I had them unpacked I went looking for the Owners manual so I could read about all the features and how to use them. I was very surprised to find a 3 page 5×7 inch Instruction /​Owners Manual. Even more surprised that a lot of explanation and features were not even mentioned, for example, there was nothing about tuning in the Radio and setting up default channels? I hooked them up and started using the features in the manual and then tried to figure out other features that were not mentioned. I had a few problems that could not figure out and some of the features didn’t seem to work properly. When I turned on the Equalizer it cut the sound in half? I had no other Equalizer work this way. No matter what the settings were the volume always went up once the equalizer was turned on? I was able to tune stations on the radio but was not able to figure out how to lock the Stations to a default button, still don’t know. So I called Factory Direct, which is the One on Donald Street in Ottawa. I told them I was having problems and didn’t think the speakers were working properly. I asked if they had any left that I could exchange for, I was speaking to Jason, and he said they did have another set. So I packed everything back up and drove to the store. I asked if they had a hand cart so I could bring it in because I was just getting over a bout of Food Poisoning and I was still feeling very weak and still a little sick. So there Tech guy ended up bring the Box in and he was also the guy that was going to check the unit over for the problems I was having. As he is talking it out of the box he smashes the two speakers together and just shrugs it off. He claims that’s wht the styrofoam is there, knowing all the long he never hit the styrofoam but hit the speakers front on front leaving a mark in the wood. All the time this guy is checking the unit over he is telling me I got what I paid for? This is not a name brand unit it is no name? i said but it says KROSS on them and KROSS puts out a lot of Electronics. He said KROSS is a no name brand and not known for their Quality. So I have one guy selling them to me telling me they are great and after the sale the other guy checking them out telling me it’s pretty much garbage? And it’s a pretty good system they have set up because they also will not refund them if I decide I don’t want them. As long as their tech guy says it works fine, even if I disagree then they won’t lift a finger for you. He did notice that when your smart phone is hooked up the sound does garble every now and then but he explains that is the quality of the unit? I also asked why it takes so long and even sometimes will not connect Blue Tooth to my iPhone at times. He said he knew nothing about Apple but he got someone who was suppose to be an apple expert. This guy went away for 30 seconds and came back and said Apple admits to having a problem with Blue Tooth and that I cold call them and they may help me fix the problem? I said I never saw any bulletins from Apple and he int erupted me and said listen, do you want my advise or not? I heard him talking to another Customer like that earlier and when the Customer disagreed with him he just walked away. So I said nothing else. So I told this tech guy I was not happy with this unit and I would prefer just to exchange it for a new one. He said he would have to talk to the Manager. While he was gone I noticed the Demo unit that I first looked at was gone from the Shelf. I realized now that they only had the two units, the Demo and the one I bought. So when I spoke to this Jason guy on the phone he went and re-​packed the Demo unit and if I exchanged it he was going to give me the Demo as a brand new unit! A pretty Slimy thing to do without telling the Customer. So this tech guy comes back and said I spoke to the Assistant Manager and he said no exchange. I was surprised and I asked if I could speak with him. A minute or so later this guy comes out of the Warehouse looks at me and says «What’s the problem»? I assumed this was the Assistant Manager, but ever introduced himself. I said I would really be more comfortable if I could exchange this unit for another one, I will even take the Demo Unit that you re-​packaged off the shelf. I also said «you know, Satisfy the Customer» He was very arrogant and made me feel like he was talking down to me. He said but my tech found nothing wrong with the unit and I said well your tech and I disagree. I asked him if the equalizer was suppose to cut the sound in half w