The largest maker of in-car Bluetooth components for automotive brands such as Kenwood, Alpine, Pioneer and Clarion has been dragged into the Kenwood Electronics Bluetooth dealer saga after a former Kenwood employee claimed that Kenwood was not alone is supplying “faulty” Bluetooth gear for motor vehicles in Australia.Earlier this week we revealed how Kenwood dealers had taken a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claiming that Kenwood should be compensating them for fitting and removal costs involved in the sale of hundreds of faulty Kenwood, KCA-BT200 and KCA-BT300 Bluetooth devices.
Read: Dodgy Kenwood Car Gear Under Investigation By ACCC Faulty Bluetooth & Sat Nav HERE
According Michael Stephens of Freeway Car Audio in Malvern Victoria, he has replaced over 100 of the faulty Kenwood Bluetooth devices during the past 12 months.
Late last month Freeway Car Audio claimed $8,000 compensation from Kenwood Electronics after Kenwood took back the faulty car parts.
Lawyers acting for Kenwood McPherson & Kelly claim that their client will not pay the $8,000 fitting and removal fees demanded by Freeway Car Audio and that Kenwood Electronics have honoured their contractual warranty obligations. They also claim that Kenwood have also met their obligations under Australian Consumer Laws.
A former employee of Kenwood who recently left the Company said that Parrot, who makes Bluetooth components for Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion and JVC are at fault for the failure of the Kenwood products.
He wrote “Kenwood t were 1st to bring out Bluetooth by Parrot into Australian market and everyone else followed”.
He said that Kenwood and other Bluetooth manufacturers were finding it “hard” to keep up with Bluetooth development inside a motor vehicle.
He said “As phones get smarter and smarter, more and more information has to be transferred to the car radio unit”.
He claims that phone users should turn off their phones at night time to clear the cache memory, believing this will help when pairing a phone inside a car.
He claimed that he symphonised with Freeway Car Audio, saying “I understand I get frustrated when manufactures don’t admit their faults They should be working together with the installer industry”.
