Avoid by all means if you can and have other options. I would give them 0 stars if I could (gosh.. never imagined I would be writing this phrase in my review of any sort). ** Photos contain 2 photos taken on the day of and before dropping off the speaker (One for rear, and another showing top left and rear discussing "no damage visible"). ** All other photos are taken after being damaged by Pro Tech. Short story: I dropped off my speaker for repair as JBL told me Pro Tech is their authorized repair shop. Pro Tech gave me timeline of 3 weeks. But, after 2 full months of waiting and never hearing back from them, I eventually found out the repair was done and finally got my speaker with all these scratches and paint chip offs as shown in the photos. The MSRP on this speaker is $2,000 single piece. I treasure this speaker more than any of my equipment and made a big investment into this after long debate and consideration due to its price tag when I bought it years ago. Nowadays, a lot of ppl have their favorite item of their own, whether it be a car, PC, clothing, etc. And, if you are reading this and are an audio guy/girl, you know what good speakers mean to you. This speaker was it for me. But to see it damaged and uncared for like this by Pro Tech, it really f*ing pisses me off...... ------Full detail------------------------------- When I went to pick up the speaker, they were trying to find my speaker. It took them about 5-10 minutes to find it from piles of stacked speakers. Waiting was no big deal, but now that I look back, I believe the damages could have come from the way they store the speakers. If you look at the scratches in the photos, these are not just micro-scratches from ordinary wear/tear from normal handling. These are paint chips caused mostly from bumping the speaker into another hard object. Before taking this speaker to the shop, the exterior was in pristine or like-new condition as shown in the photo. Whether it was the repair tech or other employee handling this speaker for storage, they clearly did not care for it properly. On the bottom surface of the speaker, this unit does not come with rubber footing or anything by default. The bottom surface is just flat wood exterior surface. In other words, this bottom surface is prone to scratches. When I have to move or use the speaker at the studio, I always put a rubber pad for acoustic result and protection sake. Examining at the damages at the bottom surface, they must've dragged it on a floor or workbench with bunch of sharp objects underneath. I believe this could've been easily avoided if they had used common sense and used some kind of protective mat or cushion. On the rear side of the speaker, there is paint chips on all sides. I am not even sure how they even manage to damage it all around (literally left, top, right and bottom sides). I'm so upset at them for causing these damages and myself for not examining more closely before leaving the shop. In my defense, the speaker is full black and the damaged portions were also black. They were not readily visible until I realized them at home for the first time, then examining thoroughly, and flipping over the speaker to check the bottom side. I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do with this situation. I spoke with one of the guys at the Pro Tech. He sounded like he was the owner. He offered me $25 store credits, but that doesn't do justice for me. In his defense, he was polite, was willing to help, and asked me to bring the speaker back to the shop. He also has been friendly thruout the whole proces from beginning to the end. I also had not shown him these exterior damages to him person to person at the time of pick-up unfortunately, so he was not fully aware of my side of view when he offered me the credits. However, whoever caused this damage at Pro Tech, he surely knew he has caused the unintended damage. He put some kind of black finish over the damaged area on top. That's the stuff on the tissue/photo. I noticed these damages while trying to wipe some dusts off before putting back into the studio at home (then was like.. wtf is this black stuff?). Pro Tech told me the speaker came with the damage, so they tried to fix it for me. But, that damage was never there as in the photo before drop off. If they did extra service for me by fixing pre-existing damage, why didn't they even mention it to me and credit themselves? Why tell me when I start questioning? Shady. JBL says they don't cover exterior damages under warranty and told me to talk to Pro Tech about it. WTF? This was caused within their authorized shop. This is not about being covered and whether this is under warranty or not. I still got few months left and 30 days guarantee from Pro Tech... but I don't trust them now. I am also going to think twice on my future purchases on JBL for their handling of this issue. If you need repair, RUN. Go visit other shops. Please read more