Towne TV-Audio & Appliance

unknown

unknown

unknown

I have to give a big F to the company overall.   Unfortunately too, as Mickey, the owner, was in fact as helpful as he could be, but it was his employee that really screwed up.
I spoke on the phone with the guy and mentioned all that we needed done and asked that I get someone who knew the NuVo system.   First warning was he said he was the expert on it.
He gave me a quote of about $200, possibly $250.
Once there,  it was obvious he knew nothing about the Nuvo system and spent the entire time he charged me for, on the phone with the Nuvo people.
He ended with saying that they said I had something wrong with my receiver.   I know for a fact that was not true.
I finally sat down, as I had done once before a couple of years ago when a guest had screwed up our tuning system (wall units)  and fixed it myself.
It took a long time for me to do it, but I did.
Anyway, giving him the benefit of the doubt, let's say he was correct.
He talked me into this fabulous, super, etc.  remote control that they sold for $300.
It was my own fault that I chose to buy it, but, that is not my complaint about the money.   Of $700 that we spent,  it was the $400 that he charged that was ridiculous.
Town's quote was $200 to $250 on phone.   Once the guy knew he was clearly in over his head re: the Nuvo system, he should have just stopped.   Instead,  I get charged $200 over his quote for him to make a phone call.
THEN, the same guy had to return to our home  THREE times because he kept screwing up the Remote Control that I bought (the $300 one).
He had excuses upon excuses and NONE of them were his fault of course.   
Then,  when our DVD player was not working properly because our Wifi router was too far away,   Towne says they will come back out for $600  to install a wire from the DVD,  through the cellar ceiling, to the router in the other room so the DVD would be hard wired.
I asked if that was the only option,  telling them I knew nothing about this electronic stuff,  they said YES.
Well, not having $600 burning a hole in my pocket I just decided to do some research  (my own fault for not doing it before).
Turns out there are Wiifi extenders  and also plug in electrical gadgets (at Best Buy,  Walmart, etc).    that do this job that Towne was saying there was "no other way" but to hard wire the DVD player.
These wifi extenders and plug in amp extenders  start at  $20  and can go up to about  $200!
I bought one that was about $179  and it works  GREAT!
I feel that, not only did Towne send an incompetent person to my house  (3 times)  they also do not come anywhere NEAR to their quotes and the WORST of all...they try to convince you that you need them to do costly procedures that can be taken care of, in this day and age,  but talking to one of the 21 year old employees at Best Buy.    I have to say, the best buy guy knew more about what to do then the so-called expert from Towne who had to come to our house THREE times JUST to program a remote control.
Did Towne offer ANY kind of discount or  money back after I explained my issues?  NO.   They just came up with a so-called solution to charge us $600 more while telling us there was  nothing else we could do.
$179 and a conversation with the Best Buy people  was time and money well spent by us.
I think Towne mislead us re: money, re: their alleged know-how and re: options.
Lastly,  when I called to say the remote batteries died after ONE and a half weeks in our $300 remote,  the same "expert" who had to come to our home three times because he did not know how to program the remote  said,   "That's what they send us."   I said, "Who?"  and he said,  "the company, the batteries were probably just bad."
I said, if we spent $300 on a Remote Control from Towne, perhaps there was some way Towne could anticipate this problem.   He then said there was really nothing they could do  (God forbid to just buy new batteries if the company is giving them bad ones, that did not seem to dawn on him).
So, he said good batteries should last about 6 weeks in the remote.  SIX weeks.   Not a real bargain.
We are keeping the remote because we are just tired of dealing with Towne but, the batteries do run out quicker than six weeks.
So, after all this money and after all of the extra visits Town had to make to fix their mistakes,  about a month later I received a small pack of double AA batteries in the mail from Towne.
I would have laughed if I had not WAY overpaid them for their visit!  Overall, very disappointed with the staff.

It went very well.  The serviceman was very knowledgeable and efficient. Resolved the problem and took time to explain the system.

unknown

Towne TV did a superb job completing a number of tasks I needed done to my home entertainment system. Keep in mind it is not easy for anyone to come into an existing setup and finish a job - you may inherit a huge problem. Many vendors won't even touch a job they don't begin. | |That said, the representative from Towne TV, who looked at my project, did an excellent job of understanding my needs and accessing what was already in place to give a realistic practical quote. | |Tasks: Ran higher end speaker wire in a finished basement for a 5.1 setup (swaped the TV/Seating positions from previous setup). Plasma TV was affixed to the wall with HDMI, infrared,and Cat5 cable run to it from the Entertainment Rack. Moved Home Theatre Receiver, Time Warner cable box, and Blue Ray Disk Player into Entertainment Rack with proper rack shelves, blanks, and cabling. Set up infrared unit for universal remote. | |It's great feeling when your expectations are exceeded! From one audiophile to another, I highly recommend TowneTV for any Audio Video projects you may have around the house.

Towne TV's technicians clearly know what they are doing, however their services come at what seems to me to be a pretty steep price. My quarrel may be more with the complexity of the technology in my home theater system rather than with the work performed itself. I was impressed with both the professionalism and responsiveness of the organization as a whole but given the cost involved, I can't rate their pricing more than fair.

I was very satisfied with their service.

We research purchases ahead of time as well as price comparable items at a variety of places. Towne TV is always offers good pricing. Both sales staff and installers know their business. Any lingering questions after installation are answered quickly even if it is as confusing as figuring out the remote control!