Hey guys, I have been lurking around since I bought my 1980 240d back in January. I call him Kingsley.



*I just finished power washing the motor No radiator trouble. You can see my ladys rusty 300td in the background.


Ok, so I found a cherry Becker Europa 2 in a salvage yard, and was all to happy to get rid of the low end Pioneer that came with the car. I called Becker to get the aux cable, and ouch $50, but to make it worse they wanted $12 to ship the cable.

I just want to say, I have been dealing on ebay/craigslist and have sent hundreds of packages. I know what things cost to ship. I asked the guy why so much, he said its shipping/handling and they send it priority with delivery conformation, the works. What can you do, so I ordered it. I was leaving on a road trip from MD to South Carolina, then hopefully off to Texas to help with tornado relief. Knowing this was a Wednesday and Becker was in NJ, it would be at my house Friday if it was priority. Well saturday morning, no cable.

I had to make the drive with just radio, and I wasn't happy about it. I called on Monday and they said it would be there the following day. This was unacceptable, and the guy was less then helpful. I spoke to a guy named Ed, and he was just plain rude. I thought it unfair for there rep to mislead me, charge me $12 for shipping, and for them to send it first class mail ($2). I told them I wanted a shipping refund as I was going to have to have it shipped to SC.

Well that was 3 weeks ago, and I just got an $8 refund. I was very calm and collected with my communications, and all I received was attitude. This was the last email I received:

I refunded $8 to your credit card this morning. I hope this helps to end our communications and brings this topic to an end J

Becker AutoSound, LLC
Attn: Ed Ebel in Service
170 North Fifth Street
Saddle Brook, NJ 07663

201-773-0976




This will be the last time I deal with Becker.

I found them pretty good over the phone. They offered to completely retool my cassette and radio for my 81 300SD for $50. But the shipping was another $50 and I decided not to spend the money.

I don't know if your experience was normal or not. All I can say is my experiences have been good. I bought a new radio/cd machine from them several years ago and was very happy with them and their service. I have met Ed several times and he was always friendly and helpful. I guess you got him at a bad time.

I had my Europa II rebuilt by them and it went smooth as silk. Sounds like you may have ruffled some feathers by questioning the shipping charges. I have found that most places charge way to much for shipping/handling anyway.

__________________
"Life is tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne


Dave
Pawleys Island, SC

'79 300CD

Have to agree these guys are great (Eddie). Shiopping is annoying for sure but a sideshow for the most part.

Generally, it's shipping AND HANDLING, so the fee doesn't have to equal the true shipping cost.

When they quote outrageous "shipping and handling", send an e-mail and tell them you're not buying their product.

If enough folks do it, they'll change their behavior.

If enough folks pay it, they'll probably raise the shipping and handling fees.

In the case of the OP, he has no option, therefore the entire thread is somewhat moot. He must buy the cable from Becker, no matter the shipping charge. He states that he won't buy from them again, but he has no alternative other than getting a new HU.

Personally, I've found every Becker HU to be a complete POS and wouldn't invest a penny into them. But, that's just me.

Other option is to open the HU and solder an AUX cable from Radio Smack directly to the connector pins. Total cost probably under $10.