BIC America PL200ii subwoofer not being serviced even in Warranty ! Shame on Pristine Note.

[MusicMadness]

Hi Everyone.
when I bought BIC PL200, I was happy to know that it offers 5 years warranty on Amplifier and 8 years on woofers.
recently my sub amp had issue as fuse keeps blowing even after replacing with new one.
When contacted the authorized service i.e. Pristine Note, I am shocked to here their claim
They are saying due to large warranty claims in INDIA, BIC has decided to honor warranty for only one year it seems.
so even though my sub is in warranty, it cant be replaced with new amp and I am supposed to buy new one from them.
Is this a joke ?
When I bought the sub, I was promised 5 years of warranty. can a company change the rules as it benefits ?
How should I proceed now ??
Does this mean, we should avoid BIC brand going forward in India as company itself is saying their amp's are not designed for voltage fluctuations in India ?

 

[revolty]

Hi Everyone.
when I bought BIC PL200, I was happy to know that it offers 5 years warranty on Amplifier and 8 years on woofers.
recently my sub amp had issue as fuse keeps blowing even after replacing with new one.
When contacted the authorized service i.e. Pristine Note, I am shocked to here their claim
They are saying due to large warranty claims in INDIA, BIC has decided to honor warranty for only one year it seems.
so even though my sub is in warranty, it cant be replaced with new amp and I am supposed to buy new one from them.
Is this a joke ?
When I bought the sub, I was promised 5 years of warranty. can a company change the rules as it benefits ?
How should I proceed now ??
Does this mean, we should avoid BIC brand going forward in India as company itself is saying their amp's are not designed for voltage fluctuations in India ?

Hi,
So, sad to hear this. They should absolutely honour the warranty as per their commitment. In case, if they don't relent; you can directly contact BIC America's main page on social media. Let's hope that the problem gets solved without any further trouble.

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

If you have a printed/written warranty note, please go through the terms & conditions thoroughly and if you are really eligible for warranty claim, re-iterate the same citing the terms mentioned in note.

If they decline again, politely inform them that you're going to file a complaint with consumer forum.

In case, they don't budge with it, I recommend you to really lodge a complaint.

 

[insane79]

Hi Everyone.
when I bought BIC PL200, I was happy to know that it offers 5 years warranty on Amplifier and 8 years on woofers.
recently my sub amp had issue as fuse keeps blowing even after replacing with new one.
When contacted the authorized service i.e. Pristine Note, I am shocked to here their claim
They are saying due to large warranty claims in INDIA, BIC has decided to honor warranty for only one year it seems.
so even though my sub is in warranty, it cant be replaced with new amp and I am supposed to buy new one from them.
Is this a joke ?
When I bought the sub, I was promised 5 years of warranty. can a company change the rules as it benefits ?
How should I proceed now ??
Does this mean, we should avoid BIC brand going forward in India as company itself is saying their amp's are not designed for voltage fluctuations in India ?

When did you buy the subwoofer? Could be it was bought when BIC had another Distributor in India?
If so then the new Distributor must be creating this hassle. Email BIC customer support & see what they say.
That's your only way really, opening a thread here & bitching about BIC presence in India , will make a zero difference really.

My 2 cents.

 

[revolty]

Hi Everyone.
when I bought BIC PL200, I was happy to know that it offers 5 years warranty on Amplifier and 8 years on woofers.
recently my sub amp had issue as fuse keeps blowing even after replacing with new one.
When contacted the authorized service i.e. Pristine Note, I am shocked to here their claim
They are saying due to large warranty claims in INDIA, BIC has decided to honor warranty for only one year it seems.
so even though my sub is in warranty, it cant be replaced with new amp and I am supposed to buy new one from them.
Is this a joke ?
When I bought the sub, I was promised 5 years of warranty. can a company change the rules as it benefits ?
How should I proceed now ??
Does this mean, we should avoid BIC brand going forward in India as company itself is saying their amp's are not designed for voltage fluctuations in India ?

Hi,
Did you recieve any further response? Is there any further update?

 

[MusicMadness]

I wrote to BIC over email and also raised a ticket with them. But no response from them.

 

[MusicMadness]

When did you buy the subwoofer? Could be it was bought when BIC had another Distributor in India?
If so then the new Distributor must be creating this hassle. Email BIC customer support & see what they say.
That's your only way really, opening a thread here & bitching about BIC presence in India , will make a zero difference really.

My 2 cents.

I have bought 3 years back from Jamsticks, Bangalore. He asked me to check with Pristine Note as they are official BIC service guys. I dont think the dealer has changed, bcz i noticed same issues reported my our forum people with Pristine in past years.

 

[vizeta]

Thats really unfortunate, specially when product is still covered under warranty.
Some of these niche brand offer good performance for the price but not that great when it comes to after sales support.

I faced similar issue with another Subwoofer brand Velodyne.
I bought it from an authorised seller in Bangalore. It worked well and I was happy with the performance. It stopped working suddenly after 3 years. I opened the back plate and found the AMP board "E230194" is completely fried.

I look it up on the internet and could see its a very common problem reported in AVSforum. It seems there is a big quality or design issue with this model!

I wrote to India dealer and Velodyne/Accoustic-arts but never received any response from any of them.

I decided to never buy any products from these brands.

 

[revolty]

Thats really unfortunate, specially when product is still covered under warranty.
Some of these niche brand offer good performance for the price but not that great when it comes to after sales support.

I faced similar issue with another Subwoofer brand Velodyne.
I bought it from an authorised seller in Bangalore. It worked well and I was happy with the performance. It stopped working suddenly after 3 years. I opened the back plate and found the AMP board "E230194" is completely fried.

I look it up on the internet and could see its a very common problem reported in AVSforum. It seems there is a big quality or design issue with this model!

I wrote to India dealer and Velodyne/Accoustic-arts but never received any response from any of them.

I decided to never buy any products from these brands.

Oh my God. Such kind of behaviour from the reputed Brands is totally unbelievable. Is it only in India that we are taken for granted by the dealers of such brands?

 

[MusicMadness]

Received following reply from BIC. In short looks like they dont care.

Hi Akhilesh,

and sorry to hear about your sub having some fuse issues. It needs repair.

To be clear, the PL 200ii sub does come with a 5 year warranty on the amp and 8 years for the woofer, the best warranty in the U.S. However, it is a U.S. warranty service.

All other countries that import BIC products through distributors for each country, then have their own warranty and terms of such for repairs and replacements if needed, in their respective countries. Each such country then has its own warranty program.

I suggest you ask your dealer where you bought your BIC product, who the BIC Distributor is in India, and call them regarding the warranty. It may be the same as that of the U.S. or, could be different. I would not know for sure since such agreements are handled by the home office.

I wish I could be of more help to you, and hope you can talk to the distributor there in India to get what you need.

Thanks!

Phil @ BIC Tech Support
___

 

[pradski]

I had bought PL 200 from Jamsticks Bangalore in 2019, other day when I tried to remove the cable from the sub in the female jack broke. I contacted pristine note of pro audio service. So far they have commented on this.

 

[revolty]

I had bought PL 200 from Jamsticks Bangalore in 2019, other day when I tried to remove the cable from the sub in the female jack broke. I contacted pristine note of pro audio service. So far they have commented on this.

Hi,
Is pristine note and Pro audio same? I have been trying to get in touch with Pro Audio of Mumbai since last one week for PL 200 ii demo, but did not received proper response from them.
They said that its a sealed pack and not available for demo. Therefore, I am little hesitant to buy it.

 

[Rajatphile]

I had bought PL 200 from Jamsticks Bangalore in 2019, other day when I tried to remove the cable from the sub in the female jack broke. I contacted pristine note of pro audio service. So far they have commented on this.

It shouldn't be difficult to open the amp and change the socket if you know someone who can fix it.

 

[MusicMadness]

You can contact Pristine Note, Bombay on +91 8655611833.
In my case, I have got the sub repaired from local tecnician named Anil from Sarjapur.
He is reputed guy and very humble. call him on 9845006909.
Thanks.

 

[MusicMadness]

Hi,
Is pristine note and Pro audio same? I have been trying to get in touch with Pro Audio of Mumbai since last one week for PL 200 ii demo, but did not received proper response from them.
They said that its a sealed pack and not available for demo. Therefore, I am little hesitant to buy it.

Pls refrain BIc brand.
They themselves are saying lot of issues since amplifier and power board are integrated on same board. and rejecting claims even in warranty.
They are many other good brands.

 

[revolty]

Pls refrain BIc brand.
They themselves are saying lot of issues since amplifier and power board are integrated on same board. and rejecting claims even in warranty.
They are many other good brands.

Thank you for sharing this. I was able to talk to them last week and they themselves told me the same thing.
The BICs are not made for indian voltage conditions and it depends upon usage by the Owner and luck of the Owner as long as it works. Therefore, I have altogether given up on the plan of buying BICs sub.

 

[pradski]

Finally I contacted the service center they asked me I have to pay 15k for the new amplifier. warranty and didn't apply. finally giving back the old amp i got it for 12.5k. I connected back to sub and its working ok.

It shouldn't be difficult to open the amp and change the socket if you know someone who can fix it.

I opened up and saw the socket is made in such a way, you literally cant separate from the board. Wish I had taken a photo. Finally I contacted the service center and they asked to pay 15k for amp no warranty was valid. Though it had four years warranty. Giving back the old amp they gave it for 12.5k. I fixed it back and its working. Thank you

 

[annapl]

i was told 5 years for amp and 8years for drive by Pristine Note one of my sub made rattling noise when i contacted them they are telling stories and want me to pay 3000-5000

 

[manek]

Looks like everyone in the chain is putting their hands up or pointing to another entity.

This only means it will happen again.

Once the money is in the bank they dont know you, my friend. I don't believe that the principal company cant help out if they want to.

Get out of that brand and the whole chain and stay out.

 

[efernand1]

This is indeed a sad experience faced by our FMs. I never had an issue with the BIC H100 ii which was my first sub from BIC. Sold it after 3 years of use and it is still being used by the buyer who is now become my good friend. Its more than 7 years now.

I had traded up to the BIC PL 200 and used it for a good 4 years till I upgraded to a SVS SB1000. The BIC PL 200 is still running strong, infact I had the same warranty 5 years on Amp and 8 years on Woofer Driver which I replaced once before I sold the sub. When I purchased the sub way back I ensured that Pristine put their stamp and sign with date on the papers with clear warranty details mentioned.

I also took a mail confirmation from them on the same quoting the model and serial number of the subwoofer. This way I ensured that all documentation was available from a warranty standpoint.

I am a bit shocked with the way Pristine is handling this. Things change with time I guess and after CV19, things have never been the same for everyone!