Thread: Viking Acoustics - buyer beware!

I hope the mods leave this post up since there have been a few people who have reached out to me about Viking Acoustics products since I owned 3 different pairs over ~7 years and had good experiences. When I placed an order for my 4th pair everything went wrong. This was roughly a half cash and half trade-in credit with my current pair. I paid the cash in Aug 2019 and sent my trade-in speakers shortly after that. To make a long story short there were some setbacks (original speakers painted wrong color), some changes of plans for various reasons (could not source good wood), and by the time things got on track COVID-19 hit. I was extremely forgiving of the situation due to what was happening in the world. Every few months I would try to check in but there was never any sort of firm ETA. In the spring of 2021 I started to doubt whether I would ever receive these speakers. I was now at the 20 month mark with no audio (shipped my trade-in pair in 2019) so I placed an order with another manufacturer. Of course as soon as I did this my Viking's were ready to ship...

Before the speakers even arrived Viking apologized for the poor packaging (this is important later). When the speakers arrived I was shocked they were not destroyed and even emailed Viking this. From my memory they were shipped in cheap Home Depot moving boxes (edit: Viking corrected me they were from "Bubbles and Boxes") which were barely big enough to hold each speaker. The delicate wood horns stick up above the top of the cabinet and were very close to the box with essentially zero protection. There was very little packaging inside the boxes, just some scraps of foam and whatnot that looked leftover from something else. The first stand I pulled from the box had a big ding in the wood. This was obviously shipped to me this way because the box had no damage and it was the center pillar of the stand which would have been impossible to hit once in the box. I then pulled the speakers out and saw the finish of the black painted cabinets was cracking all over. Also, none of the imperfections of the ply were filled prior to painting so there were voids and divots all over. Extremely amateur looking for a retail $15k speaker! I asked Viking about why these were shipped to me like this and their response was "it gives it character". The other issue was I use a specific set of speaker cables with a certain size spade and also a ground lead. I made it clear from the start that I needed the binding posts and ground lug to fit these cables. I even drew a nice schematic of it in Visio and sent it to Viking at the start. I was assured this would be taken care of and I reminded them at least a couple times long the way. Despite all my effort they paid no attention to it and my cables would not fit.

Viking refused to take the speakers back despite all the issues. They said I could ship them back, they would refinish them, then list them on their site for sale. They made it clear that I still own them. So, I re-packaged them back into the same boxes, using the same scraps of packing material, and shipped them back. Of course on the way back one of the horns gets destroyed and Viking blames me. They make a new horn for it and get it listed on the website for sale sometime in the late spring or early summer of 2021. In Dec 2021 I finally see the status change to SOLD on their site so I ask where my money is. Viking says they are not sold but will send back some of my money. After prodding them a second time for my money they sent a check for 90% of my cash payment, as in I am still out 10% cash plus the trade-in value of my original speakers. A few months later after more excuses and lies I became aware that a WBF member purchased these speakers and indeed his check was cashed in Dec 2021. I confronted Viking on this who still continued to say they were not sold yet. When I pressed harder on where the rest of my money is Viking would respond with cryptic one sentence emails like "we're in the middle of a major hiccup" and "we're in the middle of re-organizing". They would not answer my direct question of "why are you not returning my money?".

In the end I am out X thousands of dollars, went without audio for almost 2 years, was delivered a laughable product, and have wasted so much time dealing with this company and their lies. There are many great speakers out there and trustworthy companies to deal with. Save yourself a major headache.

I would also like to say Viking is now accusing me of dropping the speakers before sending them back. OUTRIGHT LIE. They are doing everything possible to try and discredit me. They have lied over and over again during this ordeal.

Some examples of what I received. In the post on audiogon Viking says this is a "beautiful product" and I am the one who is the problem.

Thank you for posting these pictures, they are truly worth 1000 words. It's clear from what you posted that these are manufacturing issues and not just poor shipping.

Originally Posted by mep

How much money are you claiming the company owes you?

$5800 (edited to reflect actual number)

Originally Posted by jeff1225

Thank you for posting these pictures, they are truly worth 1000 words. It's clear from what you posted that these are manufacturing issues and not just poor shipping.

Yes, clearly not what one should expect of a speaker at this price or really any new speaker.

And again I’m not saying Viking cannot make a quality speaker but in this case they failed miserably and are trying to pin all this blame on me with outright lies. The day I received these speakers I told David it was unacceptable and wanted to return them. He apologized and blamed it all on his “employee” who he said he fired over this for not inspecting them before they went out the door. I have a hard time believing this story. These speakers were finished in his shop for many months before they shipped. They were only waiting for the horns to be installed. I’m sure David saw these speakers daily and of course he installed the horns on them. He still thought it was a good idea to send this totally unacceptable product to a customer who had been waiting 18 months.

David also sent an email 4 days ago saying he refunded my money to my CC. He doesn’t even have my CC number. Then he said he mailed a check and two days after that he said he’s not refunding any more money because of my forum posts. There is never a consistent story with Viking. Endless circle of misinformation and lies including to the new customer who bought my speakers.

Originally Posted by mep

Where are those emails?

Are you asking him to post the emails on this forum?

Well those pictures are pretty conclusive.
ThatÂ’s not shipping damage but manufacturing defects.

But hey why not post the emails?

I posted the summary of the emails for the past 6 months. I guess you can see those on WBF still. The emails I got the other day are not posted. I will summarize those:

Viking 5/25 - we plan on refunding you less shipping and repairs but if you don’t remove the forum posts we’re calling it even.

Me 5/25 - you’re untrustworthy and have stolen my money

Viking 5/25 - check your CC account I’ve returned your money. You are due the value less repairs and shipping.

Me 5/25 - you don’t have my CC number

Viking 5/25 - I’ve sent you a check

Keep in mind this is 5/25/22 and the speakers were sold to the new owner and check cashed by Viking back in mid Dec 2021.

And again despite all the drama over the 2.5 years of this ordeal it comes down to only one thing. Viking shipped speakers that anyone would find unacceptable. They say they are beautiful. There will never be a meeting of the minds because of that. Look at the pictures yourself and see if you’d be happy with that.

You should read my initial post. All that is mentioned. There is nothing to hide. Not sure what you are talking about, I was paid in full in fall 2019.

Originally Posted by mep

I read your OP and I see no mention that you originally ordered a pair of Viking Tube Master speakers and after they were built, you changed your mind and ordered a pair of Berlin MKII speakers.

Let me break my original post down for you...

"I paid the cash in Aug 2019 and sent my trade-in speakers shortly after that. To make a long story short there were some setbacks (original speakers painted wrong color), some changes of plans for various reasons (could not source good wood), and by the time things got on track COVID-19 hit."

Actually, David is incorrect and I am surprised he didn't mention this on audiogon. There were 3 different models in this saga. Original order was for a speaker called Berlin 1887. This started the ball rolling. Invoiced by Viking on 8/1/19 and paid by me on 8/2/19. This invoice was for $4400 + my trade in speakers. I also then paid another $262.50 on 10/2/19 for "upgraded paint". Those speakers were painted the wrong color. For whatever reason David did not want to just repaint them basic black and we transitioned to the TubeMaster which was a brand new speaker for him. I stated up front I wanted "clear" cherry baffles (as in no blonde streaks or crazy grain patterns)as I was looking for a uniform appearance. David said he could do this. Speakers were made but did not look this way. David acknowledged and said "it's difficult to get good wood these days". Totally understand! HE suggested Berlin MK3 because the baffles are shorter and it would be easier to get a uniform look to the wood (as in not see the 3 planks each baffle is made from). He also suggested doing them in clear maple. I agreed. Up to this point everything is totally cool on both sides. David is making this sound as though I was hard to work with a changing my mind. Totally false. It was a collaborative effort on both sides to get to this point. HE was even kind of pushing the TubeMaster because he knows the amp I have and the music I like and said this would be best.

My trade-in speakers were shipped to him somewhere around mid Oct 2019 as a guess. FedEx ship history doesn't go back far enough for me to get the exact date. These were soon after listed on the Viking website for sale and sold.

Why are you posting saying I owed Viking more money? Please answer.

Originally Posted by mep

So you went from trying to purchase one pair of Viking speakers to a total of 3. Your story keeps unfolding and its not clear that when you made the deal on the first pair which you said was roughly 50% cash and 50% trade that you ever covered the additional money for the price difference from the first pair to the third pair.

The bottom line is your story has more variables than when it was originally told by you. What were you going to do after the Berlin MKII speakers arrived if they were in perfect condition after you had already purchased another pair of speakers?

No I did not trying to purchase 3 pairs of speakers. I tried to and successfully purchased 1 pair of speakers. There is nothing unfolding, all mentioned up front. I'm sorry you cannot grasp it. There was no price increase from 1st to 3rd pair. Why do you think there is a price increase?

You keep on saying Berlin Mk2 but that was never part of this saga. I was going to keep the Mk3. That would have been two very different speakers. I know what you are trying to imply, again totally false. LOL you are making stuff up that not even Viking is accusing me of.

These are the speakers I traded in. At this point I have given these to Viking for free plus a little extra cash too.

Originally Posted by mep

So, I asked you in post #4 how much you were claiming Viking owed you and your answer was $4,000. You went on WBF today and claimed $5,800. Now you come back to AS to change your answer to $5,800.

Yup, changed it to the full amount I paid. I was giving Viking a break at $4k and call it even but they continually keep posting misinformation and blaming me.

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

MEP it looks like you are trying too hard to find a hole, his story made sense to me as I read it. Did Viking ever dispute painting the wrong color or promising a baffle they couldn't achieve? Seems this is something a manufacturer should know, their capabilities and what a customer ordered. The person in charge is responsible and should make things right when there is a screw up.

If it was me I wouldn't have sent my speakers until the new ones were done. But I guess no one expected it to take as long as it did.

In hindsight I agree but you have to understand I had a great relationship with Viking up to this point so I never thought things would end up like this. Of course nobody could have predicted Covid-19 either.

May 25th Viking said they refunded my CC. However, Viking doesn’t even have my CC number. Then they said they mailed a refund check. Nothing has been received by me.

Thanks Jerome. Unfortunately the thread on WBF was closed last night after Viking went on there making up more lies and blaming me for all this. They said a 42% refund is all I’m getting.