Ultimate Sounds — Local services in Wilmington

AVOID THIS SHOP! FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

I felt I needed to share my experience with Ultimate Sounds to try and save others from having to go through what I did. I bought my wife a Nissan 350Z Convertible as a Christmas Present and as a audio enthusiast, I wanted to put a nice sound system in it. We were down in Wilmington for a vacation and I looked around for car stereo installation shops. I found Ultimate Sounds and it seemed like a good option. That is a decision I have come to regret.

I went in and talked with them and decided on a Kenwood DVD/Bluetooth head unit. My wife liked to play music from her iPhone and this unit had the ability to link to her iPhone via bluetooth. I also wanted to improve the bass so I bought a JBL amp and a Rockford Fosgate sub to replace the stock Bose sub behind the drivers seat. The total came to about $1000. For some folks, that is a lot for a head unit and sub upgrade, but years ago I used to compete in car audio and knew what I wanted to get.

The install took a little longer than planned but I have gotten used to that. When they took me back, the first thing I noticed was that the dash was horribly scratched all around the head unit. They weren't going to mention anything to me and I looked at them in disbelief. So you have some background, this car was pristine. My wife kept it immaculate and the dash was like new. What was left after the install was incomprehensible. And them not bringing it up immediately was truly mind boggling, as if I would miss something like this. I only wish I could post a picture of it, you wouldn't believe it. In any event, I told them they were going to have to fix it. Honestly, I could have done a better job myself buying the stuff from Crutchfield and installing it myself. It literally looked like this was the first time they had done this and used a screwdriver to pry the dash off.

I walked into the shop and had them write up a promissory note to me saying they would fix it which I still have. I have worked with enough install shops to know that once you leave the shop it is over. The new dash kit is $300 which I certainly don't want to pay for but it can't stay like this, it looks awful.

To make matters worse, about 1 week after the install, the subwoofer failed. When I took it to a reputable audio place in Raleigh, they indicated that the install was just atrocious. The sub was not sealed in the box and had blown because of the install and that it wouldn't be covered under the manufacturers warranty because of the install. At this point, all I wanted was my dash back. I wasn't about to buy another sub from Ultimate Sounds so I went ahead and bought one in Raleigh and had them install it. Another $400 out of pocket, but at least it was done right.

So to make a long story shorter, I have spent the last year (yep, a year) trying to get them to replace the dash including two separate trips to Wilmington when they said they would have it in, only to mysteriously say it wasn't there when I arrived. I even offered to have them just ship it to Raleigh, which is about a 3 hours drive away so I could have it installed locally. No dice there either.

At first, I had a real good feeling that they would take care of it. The owner had talked to me and seemed like a stand up guy and said they would make sure I got it taken care of. Unfortunately, over time, he stopped responding to my emails and I knew it wasn't going to end well.

So to say I had a bad experience with Ultimate Sounds is an understatement. I hope this review helps you choose somewhere...anywhere else to get your car audio done. I think of myself as reasonable but this situation was beyond belief. Save yourself the headache and the cost and avoid...

DO NOT TAKE YOUR VEHICLE HERE.

No matter what the other people on this page say- Plain and simple, do not take anything here that you would like to have returned in working order. If you want details, read below.

Story (in numbers, because the whole story would be a novel series)

NO SENSE OF TIME- Had an appointment to put in two speakers at 11am. Left the vehicles there for 3 hours until we called to see how it was going. They hadn't even started. Told us that it would be 30 minutes or so. So we waited another hourvand then decided to drive by. It's 4pm now and we drive up and both the vehicles are sitting in the exact spot we left them. Only after waiting 5 hours and having to prod them do they begin on our vehicles' simple speaker installations.

BROKE MULTIPLE THINGS- First, we had one of the vehicles returned and we noticed that the remote unlock/lock wasn't working. They tried to tell us that it was like that before- which was an outright lie. So, after a useless discussion, the workers brought that vehicle back into the shop to try and show us that they hooked everything back up. "Wasn't our fault"- basically. Returned the vehicle to us afterwards. After it was returned, EVEN MORE THINGS STOPPED WORKING including the windows, power mirrors, and others. After a heated and admittedly over the top disscussion, they brought it back in to show us AGAIN that "it wasnt our fault". And yet, once everything was back together- it now all magically worked like it was supposed to. Even the remote unlock. So, yes they tried to push the blame on us when it was proven that it was entirely their faults.

Not only that was broken but the other vehicle involved was left with the antenna not plugged back into the radio! As well as the installation job on the box speakers did not allow for the soft top to be lowered anymore. Both of these had to be redone after leaving the terrible place 8 hours later!

MANAGEMENT UNREACHABLE- Specifically the owner. After all of this, obviously we were expecting to be able to get some sort of refund for the ridiculousness we were out through. After being denied any type of refund I requested to speak to the owner. The workers said multiple times "We can't ever reach him/her on the phone". With staff that are constantly screwing things like this up- YOU NEED TO ANSWER YOUR PHONE.

TERRIBLE ACCOMMODATIONS- If you're going to make your customers sit and wait for 8 hours while you fix your screw ups- the least you could do is to give them a better room/area to sit in. Ever seen the inside of crackhouse? Me neither- but I expect it to look just like Ultimate Sounds'...

I wish i could give this place a negative rating. Ultimate Sounds is the absolute worst shop in Wilmington. The two guys that work there seem to know zero about car audio. Even going as far to call my crossfire amp a "no name" amp. LOL. Really???? They have the highest prices around and seem to make them up as they feel the need. Called and got a quote on a part and then went there and then was quoted $10 more. The first price was almost double what I could get it for anywhere else. They don't try and work with you on anything. I asked about a certain head unit and was quoted $329. I informed them that the same head unit sold at Best Buy for $229 and was the same at a shop in Jacksonville. He instructed me that I should go get it there then.....LOL. I said I would and promptly let them know I would never spend a dime there again. Also was charged $25 for a PAC bass knob and was told what a deal they where giving me and that they usually sell for $30-$35 dollars. They actually sell for around $13-$15 at the most. If you have money to waste then by all means go see them and let them destroy your car with their shitty install work and high ass prices. They don't even use a ddm or multimeter to tune or check anything. Certainly don't have or use a o-scope. Good thing because they probably wouldn't know how to use any of them anyway. Please don't support these hacks. This is the worst place around for car audio. I've been doing this for a long time and took my ride there to just get checked out and was told some of the most ridiculous stuff I've ever heard. I guess because I'm a little older he thought I wouldn't know any better. They did nothing....didn't pull a sub....didn't check the amp settings....did nothing but play with the head unit which I had to show him how. Then gave me a bunch of bullshit reasons why I was having the issue I was having. Needless to say a friend actually helped me figure it out and it was something so simple I felt stupid but these guys couldn't figure it out. More than likely didn't feel like it or truely don't know anything about what their doing. I Would never waste my money there again and dont suggest anyone else does either. Took me for $35 bucks for doing absolutely noting......you've...