Bose Acoustic Wave II (17817391207) Shelf System

I purchased a Bose Acoustic Wave 5 disk CD system in October of 2003. I was replacing a much older bookshelf stereo and wanted high-end sound that could be connected to my television. I ordered the system from an advertisement seen in Country Living magazine. Along with a great music system, it promised a one year finance free payment plan. It was priced at over $1,600.00. Yes, quite steep, but a free Wave CD radio was included at a cost that only reflected the upgrade to CD player capability. It arrived within 3 days. This will be important to note later in this review. To begin with the digital display is located on top of the unit and is difficult to read. The remote is laughable and was the first hint of the disappointment that was to come. There is no remote storage and no provision on the remote for presets for the radio. I only use it to adjust the volume or to mute the unit. There is some distortion of the base speakers that is most evident when viewing the television. Some sounds are quite realistic. You have to check to be sure your telephone or doorbell isn't ringing when heard on the television. It does perform better than the old system but the old system was 12 years old and considerably cheaper. The biggest surprise came when I received the first statement. Despite having ordered the system around the 10th of the month, the payment was due around the middle of the first week of the month. Even though I received my system in 3 days, Bose could not process and post my payment for 9 days. As with all credit cards, Retail Services recommends that payment be mailed 10 days prior to the due date. That is difficult for me since I'm only paid once a month and that is on the last day of the month. When I questioned Retail Services about changing the payment due date I was informed that there are only two payment dates available and that it would not be possible for me to change mine. While they removed the 1st $35.00 late payment charge, they refused to remove the second one. I only made 3 payments before paying off the account. The first late payment was literally the first payment that I made and the second late payment was on the third installment. The first time was definitely my fault. I was under the impression that it was due on the fifteenth of the month. The second payment that took Bose 9 days to post was mailed on the 29th of January. They NEVER claimed they did not receive it on time. The only contention of the customer service representative I spoke with was that the statement said that payment should be mailed 10 days prior to the due date. They flatly refused to remove the charge. I forgot to add that I paid 4x more than the minimum payment each time because mental calculation told me it wouldn't be paid off within a year using their required minimum payment. I requested the pay-off balance and paid it off at even additional expense just to be finished with them. It seems the conventional wisdom that says "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," applies to Bose Customer Service and Credit.