Survey Info: Colonel Audio Video


Colonel Audio Video
Business: 10765 Kingspoint Rd., Houston, TX 77075
Retail: 10765 Kingspoint Rd., Houston, TX
Retail: 1355 West Bay Area Blvd. at I-45, Houston, TX
Retail: 2433 South Post Oak Blvd. at Westheimer, Houston, TX
Phone: 1-800-423-8277
WWW: http://www.phoenix.net/~colonel/
E-Mail: colonel@phoenix.net Customer Comments:
Saturday June 27, 1998

Bought the Pioneer DVL909 from Russ(?) when it just came out 3 months ago. He also offered to advance order it from another state for $849 shipped. A rep. called when unit was shipped. Came in after 2 weeks with fitting foam tightly packed. Box resealed, but unit upon inspection looks unused. Functions fine so far. Saw it at Price-Costco at CA for around the same price after tax last week. Recent magazine review says DVD is excellent but LD a notch below the old model. I did notice the difference a bit, as I have a 704 before.
Monday June 8 , 1998

I believe I spoke to Kirk. I quoted a price I'd seen on USENET of $780 shipped for Pioneer DVL-909; he seemed quite happy to give me that price, Shipping was UPS ground, took about 6 days (to be expected: TX -> Boston). No hassles of any sort, and they did a good job double boxing the shipment.
Saturday May 2 , 1998

I called Colonel Audio and Video wanting to purchase the Panasonic A110 DVD player. Most mail order company's were out of stock and I was relieved to find out that Colonel had it. The Salesman "Russ" offered to save me state sales tax by shipping my player to another company which I believe was in N. Carolina, and they would then ship it to me. I called Colonel about a week later and was told that the player definitely had been shipped to the 2nd company, and that he would call me back in a "couple minutes" after checking with them to find out if they had shipped it to me. I waited for 2 hours, they didn't call me. Another week passed and I called again and was told the same thing, that he would call me back in a "couple minutes" after he found out what was going on. I confirmed my phone # with him and waited 40 minutes. No call. I called back and was put on hold, when he returned he told me that *MY* player had been given to another customer of that 2nd company and that they didn't expect my player to go out for another 4 days. That was enough for me so I canceled the order.
Sunday April 26, 1998

I could not beat their prices on an XA7ES. 37% off MSRP. I would buy from them again.
Sunday April 26, 1998

Ordered a PSB subwoofer from Russ. They shipped quickly but did not double box because Russ said they "didn't have a big enough second container". Speaker was not in the finish I ordered and was damaged in transit (and may have been defective as well). Russ sent out a new sub but charged me the full amount again even though I never received a credit for the first one. When I informed him of this, he credited my account only partially, saying that I had to pay shipping again because they are not responsible for the shipping costs of a new unit to replace a defective one. He told me "to read the fine print" regarding manufacturer's warranties and defective merchandise. He didn't seem to grasp the fact that "defective" was not the issue but rather, the fact that Colonel sent me something I didn't order. We are "in dispute" currently with the hope that Colonel learns a little flexibility goes a long way in customer relations and word-of-mouth recommendations. This place does give ! some VERY competitive prices with different salespeople quoting varying prices. If you want to deal with them, ask for Kirk. As always, "buyer beware".
Monday April 13, 1998

Ordered a Sony DVD player late Wednesday night, and got it on Monday morning. Jesse was very helpful, was not pushy at all and knew the differences b/t the different models. The package was double-boxed, and the shipping required a signature. I was extremely satisfied (this is my first mail order experience), and would recommend them to everyone.
Thursday April 2 , 1998

Andy was very helpful, honest, and I got my VCR on the day it was promised. Very clean and hassle-free transaction. He even called me to let me know that my CC statement would show a different company, since they were going through a supplier.
Thursday February 26, 1998

Purchased $6500.00 in Sony ES Audio and Sony XBR TV gear from Colonel. I submitted my request for a competative bid via E-mail. Andy Goff responded. Blew the competition out of the water price wise! Service was excellent. Received everything in perfect condition and as promised.
Thursday February 12, 1998

Ordered a toshiba 3107 dvd player from them (Jesse). Shipped the same day (as promised), and arrived a week later. No problems. Anybody ordering from them should be aware that their pricing can change each time you call, and depending on who you talk to. They will also dicker, and match other places prices without hassle.
Monday December 22, 1997

I ordered a Sony SDP-EP9ES DD decoder from Andy. I knew that it was a constrained item but also wanted a very competitive price. I told Andy that I was willing to wait up to two months to receive the decoder as long as the price was right. He gave me an excellent price and the decoder ended up shipping only 4 weeks later. My credit card was charged when shipped and everything showed up as expected. One thing I really liked was the fact that they the shipment was double boxed.
Friday December 19, 1997

On 11 Dec 1997 I ordered a Sony Satellite system SAS-AD3 from a saleman named Ron. He said it was in stock and would ship out that day or next.

Afew days later I checked with my credit card company and found that Col Video charged $424. I called Col Video to get a UPS tracking number which I got from Kirk and proceeded to check with UPS to find out the shipping status. UPS had no record of this item being shipped. I found out later from the UPS driver that Col Video is using outdated tracking slips that were replaced by UPS in Jan 97. Kirk or Ron didn't tell me this. They are using Delivery Tracking Numbers which been replaced by Ground Tracking numbers. Delivery Tracking can only determine whether or not item was delivered or not. Ground Tracking will be scanned at each location and its location can be determined along its route.

When the package did arrive I noticed that the box was too small to hold a Sony Satellite System. The height was only 9" while a total system box is around 20" sguare. I assume the box contained only the receiver. Since its very difficult to obtain a viable picture without an antenna and LNB I refused shippent and have requested Ron to credit my charge card.

It seems that Col Video pays their sales force via commission so instead of telling the customer that the item is out of stock they will ship the next best thing.

I don't know what would of happened if I had signed for the box and then found out it wasn't what I had paid for.

Needless to say Colonel Video will never get my business again.
Friday December 12, 1997

Helped a friend purchase a Hitachi 60" Ultravision. Price from Colonel was excellent. My Friend paid by cashiers check which they received on a Tuesday with all in agreement that the set would arrive for the weekend. Andy's promise of a Saturday delivery was quickly dashed by a call to the shipping company in which they said they made no Saturday deliverys. We reached Kirk on our next call and on a Thursday afternoon he had the set FED-EXed to Dallas by Friday morning at no additional expense. I would quite happily and without reserve deal with Kirk again.
Friday December 12, 1997

Ordered a 62" Pioneer RPTV. Worked with Kirk. He had to order my unit from Pioneer but was very up front about lead times, etc. Worked out very well and saved lots of $.
Friday December 5 , 1997

I ordered a Sony S3000 and received it in excellent condition and on-time.
Tuesday November 18, 1997

Say something and do something else. Deceptive. different people quote very different prices.
Monday July 28, 1997

I ordered a hitachi 60" rear projection tv, model 60sbx72b. The salesman, phil, took the order including my credit card number, address, and phone number. Someone called my home phone number to confirm the order. A few days later another person called from Colonel Video and Audio to cancel the order giving the reason that the manufacturer would not let them sell this model to me. I don't appreciate being led to believe I had a confirmed order and then it being canceled. I now have to worry about my credit card information being misused.
Thursday July 24, 1997

ordered equipment on a monday evening. received it on thursday morning. was well boxed for shipping. good prices.
Thursday July 24, 1997

If you decide to buy from Colonel, be sure to contact their shipper before you place your order. In response to direct questions from me when I placed mine, Andy told me that the shipper would provide Saturday delivery and through the door delivery. I figured that I could get a couple of friends to come by on Saturday to help get the (400 pound) crate off the truck, so I declined delivery with a liftgate truck ($60 extra).

Here is what happened:

I placed my order on 30 April, charging the purchase to my MasterCard. Colonel shipped the same day. The next day, 1 May, Andy called me with the tracking number and the local Watkins depot telephone number. So far so good.

On Monday morning, 5 May, I called Watkins. They confirmed that the crate is in transit and will be available for delivery the next day. I asked about Saturday delivery and was told that they are closed on Saturday so that is not available. My work schedule being what it was, I had to take delivery the next day or wait over a week. I asked for confirmation of an inside delivery (over the threshold, as Andy had described it) and was told that that was available for an extra ~$42 dollars. Since they don't deliver on Saturday, I ordered a liftgate delivery. After hanging up with Watkins, I immediately called Andy at Colonel. He called me back promptly and I relayed the information I had gotten from Watkins. He told me he would find out what was going on and call me right back.

The next morning, I left work (I get paid by the hour, so this was money out of my pocket) to accept delivery for which I'm paying an additional ~$100.00 cash at this point. While I'm out of the office, Andy calls back, leaving an essentially content free message. Since then I've been in communication with him and his supervisor. Their position seems to be that I should have called them while the driver was at my home. Now this makes no sense for two reasons:

1) I had never been able to reach Andy directly, though he almost always calls back within 1/2 hour.

2) Truck drivers can't make decisions about what to charge. It's not their job.

I paid the driver, as he requested (the invoice required payment in advance) and he and I worked damned hard in the rain for the next 50 minutes getting this huge cardboard box over the threshold, into the family room. BTW, the shipping box is 30.5 inches wide, measure your doors, I had to use an alternate route due to a 28" doorway.

I have no complaints about the services provided by Watkins, though Saturday delivery would have been nice. My problem is with having to pay for them twice. At first Colonel said that since I had already paid Watkins, they could do nothing for me. After a bit of discussion, I was told that if their contract with Watkins specified inside delivery, they would compensate me in some way. I fail to see how the specifics of their contract with Watkins affect the specifics of their contract with me.
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