Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners disappointed in shipping speed

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with Axiom's shipping speed. I ordered my speakers last thursday and they finally went out today and I'm not supposed to get them until Monday. So much for having a three-day holiday weekend to play around with them and compare them. The Aperion's are due in Friday and the Hsu Sub is here already. I could see if I ordered non-standard finishes, but I did the off-the-shelf Boston (mainly because the website said customs aren't returnable, but found out later they are). Oh well, the wait continues.

Yeah, I don't know what changed in their process or volumes, but they haven't been as quick for me as they used to be. I've almost always gone for A-stock standard vinyl finishes because of my impatience, but now the advantage seems to have diminished.

That shipping time isn't horrible but I see your point since it should of been half that time and its natural to be giddy. At least you will have some speakers and sub to play around with this weekend. Did you go with the new Verus line from Aperion? What models are you comparing?

yes, I went with the verus grand bookshelf and grand center just to make sure I was comparing the same "class" of speaker. Also picked the di-pole/bi-pole selectable surrounds. I'm wondering how the 6-ohms versus the 8-ohms will workout. I have to switch my AVR between the two. For the sub I went with the Hsu VTF-3 MK4. Interested in the different modes you can use (ported, non-ported, etc.)

Hmmm... I ordered a 2nd pair of QS8s and had them in about 4 business days to Iowa. A couple of weeks later, I ordered a VP180, and same situation.. 4 business to my door.

Please to report back your impressions of the various speakers. It is always interesting to read how different product lines compare.

On your AVR leave the impedance switch to the highest ohm setting regardless of the rated impedance of the speaker by the manufacturer. In this case use the 8 ohm setting. Going to the 6 ohm setting or any lower impedance setting will only limit the current and supply less possible power to the speakers. There is an excellent article below that will explain everything to you.

http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/impedance-selector-switch-1

Apparently the Verus line has significant improvements over the Intimus line. They are beautiful looking speakers.

Yeah, the Versus line does look really nice! I guess it's one of the advantages of manufacturing in China, you can have a beautiful wood veneer finish for pretty cheap. I'm looking forward to your comparison.

I've never had a complaint with their shipping, always comes within the week, depending on the day you ordered. Maybe Noreen finally took a diserved vacation. Did you try calling them at all to follow up?

Seriously, dude. You've just purchased a product from a company that does much of its manufacturing on-demand, has free shipping between countries on several hundred pounds of large merchandise, and you're complaining that it's taking a few days? What a world we live in.

Mark, that is a bit longer than has been the norm in the past. I would have thought that it would have been shipped by Monday. Hopefully those Aperions(which are certainly also fine speakers)won't create a mindset over the weekend that they're the standard of excellence.

The point that Blue Jay made about the impedance setting deserves emphasis: the lower setting should never be used, despite the legally required statement in the manual. The lower setting in no way optimizes the receiver for operation at a lower impedance. What it does directly is to limit the voltage output of the power supply section. The consequences that follow(due to Ohm's Law)are that the current is also reduced, as is the power output. Tests show that the maximum power capability is roughly cut in half. The lower current reduces the possibility of overheating, but the power reduction makes this a bad trade-off. To keep the performance capabilities intact leave the impedance setting at the higher number, whether it's 6 or 8 ohms.

Somehow I doubt that stock speakers are "manufactured on-demand". I am only going by what I've read on this forum and on the Axiom website. I ordered the speakers Thursday early afternoon EDT. I am not complaining, just disappointed. You need to understand the difference. Other companies, that want my hard earned money just like Axiom does, fall under the same expectations I have; I'm not picking on Axiom. Those other companies also have free shipping. And it's not "a few days" it's 10 days. And since the delivery requires a signature, I have to request a redirect or hold from FedEx because I work during the hours they deliver. This incurs an additional 1-4 days in the delivery process because they are ground shipments. New FedEx regulations state they have to be delivered to a FedEx retail/drop off location. I can't go to the distro hub which is two miles from my house and pick them up. So it's a day to "attempt" the delivery (which they are also required to do) then a day to re-direct it. I know this is none of Axiom's fault, but it all creates frustration and eats into the 30-days trail.

There is no such thing as free shipping. That's an online shopping world I would love to live in. You pay for it, it's just already built into the price.

Sorry to hear about the delay. I think it will be well worth the wait

The "on-demand" comment is a bit misleading. I took it, based off of years of being around here, that by "on-demand" does not mean that they make each speaker after the order has been placed, but they do not stock pile speakers either. They do product runs and try to plan for the number of sales that they expect before the next run of that product line. For example, when I was looking for a VP180 center on their auction site, I was waiting for a product run on VP180s in hopes of one of them having a small cosmetic blemish so that it could hit the auction site. So they do operate that way.

I obviously do not have visibility to their production schedule or stock, but you may have hit a point when stock was low, or as can happen with any sized company, some shipping issue happened.

Heck, last week here in Iowa, it was so foggy that shipments weren't getting dropped off or picked up at our office for 2 days in a row.

FedEx is a sticky shipping partner for sure. My first speakers from Axiom a few years back were all shipped FedEx. They actually went out for delivery 1 day early, but nobody was home, so they wouldn't leave them without signature. I was lucky enough to call them and reroute it for pickup at the local office (which was about 25 minutes from my house), and I went that route.

My VP180 shipment and the QS8 shipment 2 weeks prior were both shipped via FedEx, but did NOT require signatures. Not sure what the deal is there, but I was happy that I didn't have to be home when they arrived.

Hang in there...

I am hanging in there. It's sort of like Christmas as a kid. And seeing how the east coast is going to have a beautiful weekend weather wise, I may just jump on the bike and ride till Monday...lol

Holy voice coil, Batman. I guess things do get better. I just checked the tracking info from Fed Ex and now they are showing delivery of 7 Oct. Awesome. I guess the motorcycle trek is on the back burner for now. Hopefully the tracking and expected delivery date are correct.

I'm with Nick. I have been in Distribution - it is normally the folks that have never had to execute that do the majority of complaining.

hmmmm, imagine that.

Part of my problem is that they spoiled me when I first started ordering my Axioms. I would order at like 10 am on a paycheck day, and they would end up shipping the same day. That's 1 pm their time that they received the order. That was my first several orders. With my last several orders, it has become an exercise in patience in comparison. This is magnified because I'm still used to a fast processing time since I do the majority of my online shopping at Amazon.com. Not everyone who works in distribution needs multiple days to fulfill an order is all I'm saying.

LOL. Thanks for the chuckle.

Yea, it is like sitting up waiting for Santa to arrive hoping that you get some cool Legos and not a box of underwear and socks.

Very exciting while wondering of the possibilities...

I hear you, CV - but Amazon is a distributor - not a manufacturer for the most part. That is how they make their money. You expect service above and beyond or else a crowd like this forum group would gravitate elsewhere.

Axiom is a manufacturer making an excellent product at an affordable price - that is how they make money. Having said that, no one should ever stop striving for continuous improvement.....

I can appreciate this difference, but it still doesn't explain why they used to be faster. I still think the products are worth the wait, but yeah, it's definitely a talking point when mentioning a company to someone else. Turnaround time in order processing and customer service inquiries is a pretty big deal for some people, perhaps magnified when it's an internet-based company.

If I were a guesser... I'd guess that they had to cut costs and whatever they did... caused this extra long wait... I guess.

On the weekends, I do a serious data dump and don't think about distribution! My number one daughter got married last week and that took all my energy.

Congrats!

You are assuming the 30d trial begins from the day you bought the speakers. I would expect Axiom would allow 30d from when they were received. That information is easily provided to Axiom with a tracking slip once the products arrive.

I can't speak for Axiom, but i would be surprised, and personally disappointed, if they didn't honour a 30d trial starting from the day a customer actually received their products.

Chesseroo, you're correct. The 30-day trial begins when the speakers are received by the customer.

Cheers,
Alan

Exactly, this is how bad rumors start.

Good rumours start like this:

I heard Alan's hair is growing back. These days he looks like Fabio.
He needs to change his avatar.

or is it Alan's hair is growing on his back?

Been a lurker here for a while, bought some m22's back in 2007 if my memory is right, the black Friday/cyber Monday sale this year was irresistible to pickup a pair of m3's for the basement system, turning it into a 3.1 with a vp150 centre.

Let's just say this was the fastest shipping I have ever had, and I've shopped online a bunch over the years. Didn't even have time to anticipate their arrival (which is sometimes part of the agonizing fun).

The auction ended late Monday (well after work hours), payment was sent Tuesday morning, and they were shipped later that day. They arrived Wednesday afternoon less then 26 hours after payment was sent - impressive.

Looking forward to ordering more in the future.

Awesome Cliff, and welcome, hope you stick around.

Welcome to the forum and great news.

I have to say , so far i am impressed with shipping. won auction sunday dec 4th , they hit the road monday at 3:15pm and were in Edmonton on thursday Dec 8th at high noon. Should see them monday all things being equal. If fedex delivered weekends i would have them tomorrow. Can't complain about service like that.

Well i spoke to soon. impatiently waiting for my M80's . Seems fedex doesnt come here so im waiting on greyhound. I can get a parcel from my folks in bc on greyhound in 2 days but cant get my speakers in 5 days from edmonton which is closer. Crap i hate waiting .

I think I called that one.....sorry for your wait.

Well, according to this photo that has been making the rounds, all the birds in Whitehorse appear to be waiting for something as well. That bus better hurry up, they look cold.

Very Cool photo.


Link to news story on Photo

Thanks for the link, Andrew. I liked that story.

It's been a while since I read the word 'torpor'. I need to put it into my active vocabulary.

Axiom needs to give us loyal customers a choice in who ships our gear. fedex ships here with greyhound ,still no sign of my M80's and they say maybe tomorrow. 3 days across canada and 8 to get here.BS

Don't worry,be happy! Your going to have a nice holiday with those beauties. They sound awesome, hope you get them soon.

Hang in there, Richard.

just venting, i knw they will be here soon enough. Had a couple bad experiences with canada post yesterday. Something i paid $60. for 2 day shipping and took 6 days to get here and then went to the wrong adress. Stood in line at the parcel place to pick up another package for 30 mins then told it wasnt there, then they magically made it appear.Bad time of the year to be getting impatient. I took a deep breath and im ok now lol.