Audiovisualworld Avis 

I've never had the displeasure of dealing with a company so incompetent and disreputable in equal measure.

This is my experience of AVW so far:
1. I ordered over £2k of audio equipment from AVW
2. The items arrived 14 days later in a heavily battered box with a large hole in it (no packing material used whatsoever, just a bunch of expensive equipment bouncing around inside)
3. One of the items was not as described (they sent a 2-way speaker set instead of a 3-way speaker set)
4. Upon ringing them, the chap on the phone didn't know what to do, got confused and asked me to write them an email instead.
5. They responded to my email by saying they would be happy to exchange for the 3-way item if I paid the difference and that the description was due to "a typo"
6. After some back and forth, including them accusing me of knowing the item I ordered wasn't a 3-way set even though it was described as such, I ultimately decided to rejected the offer for exchange and requested they paid for return postage given the item was misdescribed.
7. Their response was "Because we supplied you with the correct model number we are not liable for your return cost." - despite admitting the item description was incorrect.
8. Upon receiving the returned item they initially claimed "At no point did we agree to accept them back." and "They will be sent back to you"
9. Upon referring them to the email where they told me to return the item, they now claim the item was opened (it wasn't) and "this class it as not in brand new condition so unsellable"

The conversation is still ongoing.

Frankly, the £7 it cost me to return the item is not worth my time pursuing and I would have dropped it but given their frankly disgusting attitude and complete disregard for consumer rights it is now a matter of principle.

I ordered a replacement remote control for my DAB+ radio as my original one had stopped working what fantastic service before I ordered I gave them a call to ask about which battery I needed to get and was told it actually came with the battery so I placed my order online and what service it was delivered within 24 hours i would highly recommend it was delivered within 24 hours

Date of experience: 18 July 2024

Always tricky to leave an objective review when you're really angry and irritated with a company, but here's my experience with AVW, as factual as I can make it:

1. I ordered some car speakers, and they were duly shipped out to me. As soon as they arrived, turned out they'd sent the wrong item
2. I was on a deadline for a customer project, so I asked them if they'd send the right item out on trust, on the basis that I'd return the incorrect item as soon as I could. They initially confirmed they'd be happy to, but then after checking a day later, I established that they were waiting for my returned item to be sent out.
3. No matter, I thought. My deadline was approaching, so I sourced the correct speakers from another retailer, informed AVW that I didn't need the correct item any more, and sent the incorrect item back, with tracked postage at my cost.

All of this was documented in very clear, straightforward terms on email, but the responses I was getting from "Jodie" and others (?) at AVW were a little ambigious and contradictory.

Long story short, I waited over a week for the initial refund, but am still waiting for the return postage costs to be refunded, as per distance selling regulations for companies sending out incorrect items.

AVW initially asked for my bank details to process the refund, sat on that for a week, then said "sales department doesn't have access to refunds for returned carriage charges" then claimed that "refunds are subject to purchasing the replacement model", then claimed "our agreement was not honored" and then - unsurprisingly - just stopped responding.

I wish I'd read the other reviews here before ordering. In short, I'd avoid this company like the plague. Purely out of principle, I'm also pursuing the refund via a Trading Standards case, and will continue to chase.

Excellent purchase and company. Just bought a
Norstone AV rack that was difficult to find in the UK and was reduced by £100 to £599. After I bought it I read the TrustPilot negative reviews and was worried. However I needn’t have been as it was delivered within 36 hours of placing my order in perfect condition. Will use this company again as a very smooth transaction. Maybe some of the negative reviews are justified but many of them are likely unjustified when I read the buyer’s complaints and the company’s response. All went well for me!

I bought an item advertised online, for a customer.
They had advertised the product even though it was discontinued. Then proceeding to try and upsell the later model, for an extra £200!!

Disgusting practice!!
AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID

Quality goods, great prices and outstanding service. Thank you. Very highly recommended.

i am updating my order experience.

There was an issue to begin, which i wasn’t overly pleased but human error does occur.

Unfortunately there was miscommunication with my bank and so the amounts differed
however it has been adjusted and reflects the correct amount.
So even though they made a mistake they did stand by their word and offer me a discount which was applied, all in all worked out well, delivery was fine, item perfect.

Ordered some Sanus Sonos stands cheapest i could find on the net and arrived within 2 days - very happy.

In a world of 'online stores' it's rare to find a company that has a phone number let alone answers it. Got great advice, and even had a kit put together for me over the phone - allowing me to fit a touch screen double din head unit into an older car and still retain all steering wheel controls. Not to mention rushing the order through for me so it made the slot for next-day delivery. Couldn't believe it arrived so quickly. Did I pay a little more than eBay, realistically yes, was it worth it for the advice, items in stock and shipping...100% yes! Thanks again.

DO NOT USE!!!

Paid for express delivery (24 hours) then they say they didnt have the, had to cancel installation. I expressed that the service is porr and they should not make statements they cannot deliver, to which I was sworn at and called a knobhead.

Called again, 48 hours after order as still no delivery or tracking number, was told to email and they will get to it, once he then new I was the person complaining form the day before and hung up!!

MOST UNPROFESSIONAL BUSINESS EVER!!!!

DO NOT USE, MY ISSUE IS STILL NOT RESOLVED AND NO CHANCE OF REFUND BY SOUNDS OF IT... THIEVES!!

I PAID £10 FOR NEXT DAY DELIVERY!!! TOTAL FRAUDSTERS AND JUST HIDE ONCE MONEY IS TAKEN, GIVEN FAKE TRACKING NUMBER THAT OBVIOULSY ISNT GOING TO WORK!!

RIP OFF

Package finally arrived (2 days late) after paying premium post at a cost of £10, no appology just more abuse from the staff.

Charlie Uniform November Tango

Ordered an item and received an email saying that the manufacturer had estimated a delay. Phone call to company was answered immediately and I asked to cancel the order as I would be out of the country. Agreed on the phone and immediately received email confirmation that no funds had been taken and that order was cancelled.

I noted lots of negative reviews about this seller.
I have to admit I am completely surprised by the negativity.
My experience with audio visual world has been nothing but positive when I ordered multiple car speakers.
I placed my order and received regular updates from the seller and the items were delivered next working day as ordered.
So in summary I had nothing but positive experiences .

SCAM, stay away, dont refund the money they owe us, ignore your emails, and they suddenly the cant find them. below reviews you can tell its the owner trying to hide the honest reviews.

Ordered a Focal Inside kit on the 19th of December for delivery before Christmas. I rang them, used the message system on their website and emailed them, every query was answered promptly and I’m surprised by the comments on here as the Customer service was exceptional and up there with John Lewis and M & S.

AUDIO VISUAL WORLD were amazing and everything was delivered on the 22nd of December. Thank you.

Still waiting more then 10 days for an item. Then ask for a refund and get a reply it will be sent out again. Again, asked for a refund to be told THEY need to recover their losses first. Avoid at all costs!! Still no item or refund in sight!

First thing first, I really want to apologise AVW for impatient. Haven't received tracking number from Royal Mail and I was suspect it is some sort of scam. Also started to panic when I was saw that reviews on trust pilot...

But... My amplifier arrived on second day.

For anyone who reading reviews, do you know that less than 1% of success transaction got positive reviews, and 99% of unsuccessful always get bad review.

As for review.
Great packaging, quick delivery. First class customer service.

I hope more of successful transactions will be positive reviewed.

I ordered the right product, they send a wrong one. When I wrote to them about it, they told me that it would fit our car nonetheless because the two products were compatible.
Well, they are not. When I wrote again they were very rude and would not take it back!

Edit: I did tell within 14 days after receiving it that the product was not the right one, but see what they write now!

I found a TV wall mount online for £74.99, and agreed to pay £9.99 for expedited shipping. My order was placed on Sept 17, and I received an email confrimation

On Sept 22 I received an email asking me to pay £25 so the product could be shipped. After forwarding them my order confirmation I was informed that because my house number was missing from the ship to line they could not ship and the price had since gone up.

Update: the vendor reply below is correct (as noted above) in the point that my house number had been left out of my order. They asserted that they asked me to clarify repeatedly but I have no emails, SMS messages, voice mails or missed calls. When (yesterday) they offered to honour the original price I asked (again) to see any evidence that they in fact reached out to ask for house number before pushing for price increase. Still no evidence has been provided.

Furthermore the company was quite unprofessional in our interactions, at one point referring to me as “keyboard cowboy” when I disagreed with their description of events.

If they want to continue white washing the events in their reply here I am happy to continue providing more transperemcy and detail as I feel this is quite an objective critique.

100% would avoid.
Communication is shocking!
I placed an order and paid special delivery. Nothing came, I emiled a number of times, rang the phone number no end of times.
It took over a month for them to reply saying they only had 1 in stock and was the reason it wasn't seen as I wanted 2.

I would love to know how this is "totally fabricated". I can prove the emails with no replies, and the call log of all the time I rang (59 times).

Still can't decide if you're illiterate or just plan ignorant.

Wasted your time barring me, you won't have any of my business regardless and I'll make sure the guys on the car groups I'm on aware.

I couldn't give zero stars on this company, unfortunately. Order online a TV stand. Once this arrives I open it fixed on my TV but after all this I realised something is rong. The stand didn't hold my tv straight. E-mail the company, get answers same day but they refuse to accept as return and refund for reasons was open and used and now they can't resell to someone else as new. That's not possible. Please whoever reads this review avoid this company.