Norton Stereo — Attraction in West Columbia

I have waited some time before posting this review because I wanted to be fair and give Norton's a chance. This review is based on the installation of 4 door speakers/ subwoofer amp combo done on 06/04- I purchased a new car in April of 2022 and immediately knew I wanted a new system. I visited Nortons in May to discuss my options. I advised I wanted to upgrade my system, wanted quality and more bass in my system but did not want to take alot of space. He showed my Zstat door speakers and an 8 inch pioneer subwoofer/amp combo. He played it in store full blast and of course it sounded impressive. Scheduled install and brough my car in. Getting the stereo installed was a good experience, it was timely and the gentleman who installed did a good job. Of course my stereo sounded much better than the previous one just turning on the radio. I did not get much of a chance to play with it / test it out because I went out of town for a month after the install. When I came home I had more time to test it out, did more driving and listened to all kinds of music. I noticed that the music sounded distorted, i was constantly having to readjust the bass and other settings each time a song changed, and could not find that perfect sound that did not cause distortion or bad "thumping" from the subwoofer. This was extremely frustrating as I had just spent $1200 on the reccomendation of Norton's that the package he advised would be a good fit. I took my car back and explained to him I was having alot of distortion and it was not sounding good.He said "oh i hope you did not blow the sub woofer" and came outside to take a look.He told me to turn my music up and i played the song that was on the radio full volume. It was a hip hop song and he said " you can't play that with the bass turned up" its not made for that - I am pretty sure he assumed I was just riding around bass full blast and did not know what i was doing when it came to adjusting my settings. I explained I was just giving him the example of how it sounded and he said that subwoofer/amp is not meant for bass like that if you want more bass you have to go bigger. I was a little confused considering he blasted the bass when he sold me the system and made it seem like this subwoofer/amp combo would give me the bass I wanted. He kept advising if you want more bass you have to go bigger you can't turn the bass up on that system. I was pretty frustrated after just dropping $1200 and felt there was something wrong and just kept pushing bigger system ,so I left. 3 weeks later brings us to present. My stereo sounds horrible. I cannot turn the bass up AT ALL - the music is not clear and I cannot turn the volume past just less than half. I don't think norton's had any desire to dig a little further to understand when I was advising it sounded distorted and wanted to place the problem on me and how I was listening to my music. I do not ride around bass on full blast trunk rattling, I thought I was getting a quality system that would meet my needs, and am extremely dissapointed Nortons thought or assumed that I was just pushing my system to hard. I have an appointment to take my car somewhere else to have them help me diagnose the issue. I would not reccomend norton's unless you KNOW exactly what you are looking for and need when you walk in. I understand the gentleman who works there has alot of experience and is in "sales" but he can come off kind of condesending and I don't think he is invested in his customers being happy with the results of...

I was a little bit wary of Norton's stereo as the neighborhood they are in is a little sketchy.

But I didn't want to wait the 2 1/2 weeks required to get an appointment with the Geek Squad.

So here we go...

Norton's was outstanding from start to finish.

They work on a first-come, first-serve basis, so getting an appointment is a matter of showing up.

I did go as soon as they opened in the morning on a weekday so I wouldn't have to wait.

The associate was very knowledgeable and laid out complications they may encounter before they ever began the work.

So I understood ahead of time that my dash might end up cracked or otherwise damaged.

Their estimate for the time to do the work was 3 hours. I was driving away in 2 1/2 with not so much as a scratch on my dash.

What impressed me the most, other than just the overall high quality of work, was that they called regularly.

Just to check in a few times and tell me they were on track, time-wise; but, also to get permission to go through the glove box to give me access to a cable on the back of the stereo.

I had visions of the cable just dangling free from under the dash some where.

As I said earlier, there was not a scratch on my dash. Not only were there no scratches, there was no dust or debris left behind in any form.

A brand-new, perfectly functional stereo was the only way I knew they had been in my car.

I can't say enough great things about Norton's.

Yes, they do sell and install top of the line stereo equipment. But they also install older model stereos, bought on Amazon, and they are...

Terrible service, I called for a week straight trying to get my radio put in they kept telling me they were "booked". They put me on hold forever and just sat the phone down, was completely and utterly rude to me and told me they didn't have time to work on my car. Seriously? That's your job! What business tells a customer they don't have time to work on their vehicle. The worst most rude customer service iv'e ever received and i'll never go here or recommend anyone to ever go here again, I got my radio put in by another company the same day within in 30 minutes of when i walked in the door and the guy worked with me and at least tried to get my part. Norton stereo must not want business since they are so utterly rude to their customers. No one wanted to work with me and they acted like it was a favor that i called them. Wouldn't recommend this rude place! not to mention i was quoted 80$ over the phone 60$ for my template and 20$ for labor, then i was told it would be a 140$, Never would i pay for terrible service...