It's OK to roll eyes: Top-Loading Bose Wave Radio/CD crapped out on me

Well, I just heard back from Bose via e-mail. Yep, this e-mail is definitely written for the sucker and/or the novice in mind. I might call them, but why bother? Plus, they buried the answer to my question 1/3 of the way through...

Here's what they had to say:

What a crock. They want me to send back my unit which they will ultimately fix and sell for half the cost at their outlet stores, (which is where I bought mine, new, by the way) and want me to pony up the cash for an item that probably costs much less to make.

I've heard lots of great things about the Polk iSonic mini system. For just a just a little bit more, I can get a bang for my buck. I think they're having a sale on Amazon or something...

I'll wait 'till the end of the year to make my decision. My radio portion works just fine and dandy!

 

Huzzah! The marketplace has spoken! I assume we can look forward to you joining us with your unique perspective for another spirited discussion should some other happy shopper have a quandary with their purchase?

 

Why not?

 

Ah, that's a drag. Well, you might haunt eBay and be on the lookout for a used one. They show up all the time there. But I would recommend Cambridge Soundworks as being good overall; so are the comparable Boston Acoustics systems, but I'm not sure if they have a clock radio/CD unit.

 

I think that's exactly right. I have Bose speakers and I have no problem with the sound quality, but I do wish I had bought Cambridge Soundworks. Same size and concept, but much less expensive.

 

Bose designs their products to break on purpose. My Technics CD player was manufactured in Feb. 1986 and it still works perfectly. You've been had

 

I assume you are/were an engineer for the company, or where did you get this inside info?

 

I guess you've never heard of "planned obsolescence" then. It's been a noticeable trend for at least the past 20 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

 

Haha, just kidding.

 

I will have to check that site out.
I assume this applies to all gear made in China as well.

 

I don't think it's necessarily planned. I think it's just the problem of mass-market manufacturing at a very low price point. There's a huge profit margin with the Bose stuff, much more so than with a lot of competing brands, and I think that's to make up for Bose's large advertising budget.

So it's not so much that Bose deliberately designs their products to fail; it's simply that a clock radio built for $27 (that sells for $350) is not gonna last a long time. And the first thing that's gonna break is anything mechanical, like a CD-ROM mechanism. Those have become notoriously cheap and crappy over the last 5-7 years, from all manufacturers.

 

Who is Omar?

 

Ever hear of FixYa?
http://www.fixya.com

 

Fair enough - Amar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar_Bose

 

Bose?...............BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!


Whew! O.k. Hey, CD players can and do crap out. Doesn't matter who makes it.

Just don't buy another one.

 

What bothers audiophiles is that Bose is the greatest "marketing company" on the audio scene. Bose did for audio equipment size and convenience what mp3 did for music delivery.

 

Yes, I would agree. It's Bose's over-the-top marketing that bothers me most. They put far, far more money into advertising than they do in R&D. The Bose stuff isn't horrible -- it's just way over-hyped and over-priced.

 

What bothers me is that most average people think Bose is the best you can buy.

 

On the backburner, still looking at options to getting this fixed. Any suggestions?

 

I laughed too, I owned an Altima.

And I get tempted by the Bose ad (which is on Canadian TV frequently) because of the small footprint.

But the apparently absurd price, the ugly appearance (looks like an air freshener), and the lack of controls on the unit (the ads brag about everything being controlled from a wafer thin remote), scare me.

 

Hmmm, I wonder what the cost of a replacement wafer-thin remote is these days...?

 

OK, now it's really time to roll 'em: I have a [survival] job interview next week for a PT sales person at my local Bose store. Not kidding.

 

Good luck with the job interview - seriously!

The good news is that if you land the job, you could learn how to fix it yourself!

If nothing else, you can probably get some insider info on what your best option for repair is.

 

+1

 

No. It has nothing to do with the country that it's made in. However, it's more than likely that if something's made in China, then the company is cutting costs and also stiffing on the engineering.