I purchased this item from a Marketplace vendor for nearly $1000.00 less than new retail price. The vendor represented that the item was new, in its original boxes, and never opened. Vendor was an individual, not a business, and voluntarily opened direct communications with me, both by email and phone.
I received the product exactly as represented. It would be impossible to wrap the amplifier in its plastic sleeve exactly as originally packaged--you can tell by the folds--nor remove the tape sealing the plastic sleeve without distorting or tearing the plastic. The outer box had Monster logos on it, and the amp box inside was obviously original. They had the original Monster shipping tape on the seams.
The amp looked and smelled new. The only problem was, it wouldn't turn on except by a trigger; the front on/off switch, LED status indicators and meters were dead. The amp section worked, all three channels.
Upon checking the warranty information I learned that Monster does not extend their warranty beyond the original purchaser, and this amp has a two-year warranty. I contacted the vendor to see when the amp was purchased--it turned out he purchased it in 2006, making it out of warranty even for him.
Fortunately for me, this person was a real jewel--conscientious, honest, and diligent. He stayed in contact and tried to help me through the difficulty. He used his prior contacts through his previous employment as an electronics salesman to contact Monster and work out an arrangement for me. The Monster supervisor in these negotiations had some initial difficulty with that, but mentioning that this amp did not work out of the box, brand new, irrespective of how long it had been in that box, that it was one of their high-end (i.e., expensive) products, that their reputation was on the line, and that I was a good customer, having purchased a number of their expensive components, seemed to persuade the supervisor to negotiate.
The arrangement was for me to ship the amp directly to Monster at my expense, and they would send me one of their B Stock amps along with a 90-day warranty. That would take the vendor out of the loop and allow me to deal directly with Monster. Under the circumstances this arrangement seemed to be the best deal for me, and I agreed.
The Monster supervisor assured me that B Stock items are essentially new--returns from vendors who want to clear their inventory of unsold items. No floor models, demos, or open box items. Monster technicians open the box, check out the product visually, mechanically and electrically/electronically before they ship. He said that Monster has no facilities in Brisbane to repair or refurbish their products. All their warranty work is done by authorized third-party repair facilities off site, and customers deal directly with the repair facility.
I received this amp about three weeks later. It looked new--no scratches, abrasions or dents. It also worked. For about two weeks. Then the right channel just quit working.
I am now in the process of shipping this amp back to Monster and this whole process is being repeated again, except that Monster is picking up the shipping costs this time. The previous amp cost me $144.00 to ship to Brisbane, CA, from San Diego, CA, about $400.00 miles. This amp does weigh about 100 lbs., and I insured it for its original cost.
So now I am back to using my old Yamaha DSP A-1 receiver, using its three front channel amps to drive the signal from my processor to my speakers. (You might like to know that I can hear a real difference between the Monster amp and the Yamaha amp--the Monster amp is definitly better, giving my speakers the solid authoritative control necessary to produce great sound.)
I have a number of Monster products, of both the Monster Power and Monster Cable kinds. I have an AVS 2000SS Voltage Regulator, an HTPS 7000SS PowerCenter and an HTP 5100SS PowerCenter, and an HTUPS 500 battery backup for my rear-projection monitor (to run the cooling fans if the power goes out). I have had these products for four years with not even a hint of a problem. Based on my prior experiences with Monster products it seemed to me that Monster made bullet-proof power products, and that gave me some reasonable confidence that their 3-channel amps would be the same way.
I would think that an amp is a pretty straight-forward item with no prissy-pricey components inside, and one that weighs 100 lbs would certainly have enough heft and solid construction to withstand reasonable rigors. I would never have considered buying a sensitive component like a DVD player or preamp/processor under these circumstances. So, what are the odds that I would strike out two times in a row with this product?
Well, I tried to save a little money on this product, and I'm definitely paying the price at the other end. I'm on this roller coaster ride now--I've paid my money--and now I must just hang on and go along for the ride. We'll see how it ends up.
I'm not saying don't buy Monster products, but in the long run it is probably better to buy new, so you get the full warranty to cover you if and when a problem arises, and allows you to deal directly with the company instead of through a third-party vendor. Something to think about--I sure will from now on when I'm tempted to buy from a Marketplace vendor in order to save a few bucks. You know, time and hassle also have a dollar value, too.
Also, I realize, and you should realize, that Monster extended a courtesy to me based on the total circumstances involved; it was totally their call, and I was at their mercy. In defense of Monster, don't expect your experiences with Monster to be the same as mine--they have a right to warranty their products however they want, and as long as Monster honors their warranties you should not expect more from them than their warranties specify. Anything more would be a case-by-case decision on their part with no assurance of prevailing.
Before considering a third party vendor, determine if he is an individual or a dealer (if an individual, you may not find one as honest and forthright as the one I had), ask the vendor if they are an authorized dealer of the product they are selling, when they purchased the product, how long the manufacturer's warranty is and is its coverage transferable.
If the vendor won't ID himself, or only gives limited contact info, don't deal with him, no matter how good the deal is. Even with Amazon's A-to-Z guarantee, if a problem develops it takes a couple of months to resolve.
Hope this helps.
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