Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Eclipse Customer Service?

Ok I was going to buy a new eclipse CD8454 and the gentlemen in the top post who is giving very good deals to CEG quoted me a fair price, however his assessment of Eclipse as a company is not very high.

He explained it like this.
"Ok, have you ever had a eclipse before? I'll give you a little CEG'r to CEG'r heads up. I just thought you should know a few things about eclipse. The reason that they are cheaper is because eclipse doesnt make any radios
with detachable face. We have also had a bunch of problems with them recently, and their service flat out sucks. They will only honor a warrantee on their products if they are installed by a certified eclipse dealer, and you can verify the installation. Otherwise your are SOL with
ever getting anything fixed on it."

Its not that I don't believe him or anything, I just wanted to see if any of you guys had the same type of problems or same assessment of Eclipse. I always thought they were a leader in the industry.

I am especially concerned with the idea that it HAS to be installed by a certified eclipse dealer, is this true?

Thanks in advance.

A few things on Eclipse. I used to be a Installer of Eclipse.

#1 Eclipse is one of the 2 best brands for headunits on the market the other being Alpine.
#2 Yes if you want the 3yr warranty then it has to be installed at the place you purchased it. Otherwise you get the basic 1 yr warranty. I would Put Eclipse also in the top 3 of decks with the least amount of problems. The Other 2 would be Alpine and Pioneer. JVC, Panisonic, Sony being the 3 worst when you talk about decks with the most problems.
#3 The detachable face thing isnt a big deal if a some wants a radio there gonna take it with a face or without. With an eclipse you have to have the key CD or know who registered it with Eclipse to unlock it.
#4 I have owned 5 Eclipse Decks and never had a problem at all with any of them. My Friend has a 5441 i think is the model # he got it when he got his Cavilier. he got the car in 1996. The thing still works like its bran new!

What was the price he gave you? I can still get discounts on some units. My suggestion if the unit you want is a Current model year i would wait till the new ones come out and then they will be greatly Discounted.

I got my latest Eclipse 5442 brand new for $217. Thats with my discount but i can still get some discounts on some units.

SteedaSVT

all the info I gave you was second hand from my manager who has been doing car stereo for the last 14 years, Ive only been here for about 2 months so I'm just learning the specifics of brands..
Problems do occur, with radios, with any brands. Its just that in the last few months we've had a few problems with eclipse. The problem with eclipse is that they require you to register your radio including the ESN (electronic serial #) for you to get the the 1 year theft or 1 year service warrantee. if you get it installed at a certified eclipse dealer you get the 3 year service warrantee.
The problem we've had is with the service warantee, and with the slow service department at eclipse. We've had customers send there 1 month old troubled units in only to not have a radio at all for a month and a half to 3 months while they fix the unit. What kind of a service warrantee is it if you spend 1/4 of your warrantee time without a radio?? If it were just about any other brand I would be able to just swap it out and give you a new radio myself. But the Eclipse brand is so protected.
As for the theft warrantee, we have seen about 3 cases this month where a thief has made a non-detachable eclipse into a detachable face, leaving the chassis in the dash. For the 1 year theft warrantee, Eclipse requires that the entire unit be stolen for them to replace it. In all 3 cases it was a total loss to the insured and they had to pay for a new unit out of their insurance deductable.
Listen, Eclipse does make good units, they are just a pain to order (they require you to order multiple units), a pain to ship (trans-shipping), and a pain to deal with (listed above)
Also keep in mind that I am not making any $$ off of this CEG thing I am doing. The prices I quote are the prices that I am allowed to sell at from our sister distributing company on a monthly basis. the prices change from month to month, and quite often there are very sweet deals floating around (sometimes even at cost). A couple of people have asked for quotes from me only to come back and say they found it on the internet for cheaper. And some of the prices people have given me are below multi-unit dealer cost. But just remember that my company will fully stand behind warrantees. I am only doing it to help out CEG. Ask anyone on the boards and they tell you I am a person of honest advice who will always answer questions. Heck, one CEG'r was asking me for a price quote and I actually sent him to etronics becaue I knew they were having a big sale on the item and I couldnt match their price.
I was actually in the process of having my manager order one for you when he gave me all the info. So I thought I would do the CEG'r to CEG'r thing and tell you what he said for a heads up.

What he stated is true but i wouldn't let it change your mind about getting one. THe company has taken a little dip in quality they used to be better as a whole than Alpine now there Even with or alpine has Exceeded them.

About the leaving the chassis we(My former place of employment, I don't wanna say who) Used to just take it out and throw it away and say it was stolen. Eclipse is Extremly picky about whats returned and what not. There service has dropped off but is about the same as pioneer depending on where you purchase it.

I haven't worked at a eclipse dealer since the new models came out so i can't comment on hwo well they hold up. But the 02-03 model lineup was one of the best lineups i had ever seen from every aspect. Quality, Reliablitly, Everything just top notch...

I didn't mean to offend you in any way...I just wanted to get other peoples opinion on the subject to help me decide whether I should go with the new Alpine 9833 or the Eclipse Cd8454.

I had an alpine, love them, but the preouts on the eclipse are much higher than the alpine and reading reviews online the sound quality is higher than the alpine units. Plus with one theft already under my belt, having the theft warranty was a selling point as well.

Now I am even more confused, can't it be a clear cut decision.

Here's a clear cut answer, BUY THE ECLIPSE!!!! I've owned 2 eclipse HU's and they were both great. I've also heard some negative opinions about their customer service but fortunately I've never had to use it.

Oh I'm not offended very easily, so this certainly didn't offend me I just thought It would be a good place to educate the masses as well as get some other opinions

I have an Eclipse 5442 and could not be happier with the HU in terms of SQ. My only beef is that its very picky on what CDs it will play, much more so than any other HU I've had (JVC, Pioneer, Sony). I only delt with their customer servic once, trying to figure out why my Key CD thing wouldn't work and they were not very helpful (still haven't got it to work).

Ive never had a problem my Key CD was a Crystal Method Vegas on my 5442 and it was cracked stepped on ect and still took it.

My one issue i ever had with an eclipse was i was Installing one in a Tahoe and i connected it then set evertyhign key cd and such. then Disconnected teh battery for like 35mins came back and it never asked for the CD. Just turned on like it never lost power.

I haved talked to them once or twice for customers but every customer service is ass clowns! Kenwood is the worst i think. hes like did you hook up the constant to the amp? My Exact words "I'm a MECP First class installer and have been installing for over 5 years. YOUR amp is bad!" NO sir its brand new it can't be try again and call after one as we are on lunch between 12 and 1 and its like 11:58.

I could Rant on 99% of car audio companies but that how bussinesses are run. Cerwin Vega was horrbile about 2 years ago. YOu would ship somehting back and not see it for months. Then you would all of a sudden have like 50 brand new speakers in one shipment like WTF is this [censored]!

I would get either one of your choices they both seem very good. SQ is probably better on the Eclipse but i highly doubt you will noice anything. Go with which one you think fits you better. my next deck will probably be a alpine. I've had my Pioneer AVH-6500 for almost a week now. It gets annoying that i can't watch movies. Maybe i just need new toys or something.

Not to hijack the post, but SteedaSVT, did you ever have a problem with your 5442 reading CDs? I've had brand new CDs not be able to play sometimes, any suggestions?