Questions about (and problem with) Genz Benz NeoX-210T cab

Hi, I'm frustrated; any input is appreciated. First some
background. Roughly a year ago I purchased a used
Genz Benz NeoX-210T cab from what appeared to be
a reliable person on a bass forum. I'd been using a pair
of Genz Benz LS115Bs for a long time. I liked them well
enough that I wanted to stick with the GB brand, but I
also wanted something that would fit into my smaller
car. I chose the 210T over the 212T based on size and
weight.

I'd also changed my amp from my old Genz GBE to a
Neo-Pak 3.5 that I bought new from an ebay seller
claiming to be an authorized dealer. More about that
later.

With the Neo-Pak at 350w @ 4 ohms and the cab
being 4 ohms and rated at 450w, I felt it should be
a good matching. I play classic rock, small rooms
mostly. I'm an old guy, don't push things too hard,
and pay attention to amp settings regarding clipping.

The few gigs I did play with the combo I thought
sounded pretty good. Much more lively than one or
two of the 15 cabs and certainly easier to load in/out.
We don't play that often so the cab sat most of the
winter until I started prepping for this upcoming gig
we have. I noticed that the cab had a buzzing sound.
I went though all the usual: cable, different bass,
checked the ground lift, etc. I found that I could
reproduce the problem with my son's GK head, so
it looked like the cabinet itself. I could get it to lessen
by turning the tweeter all the way off but then the
cab lost much of it's "zest" of course. So I wanted to
get it looked at by a proper repair shop.

I brought it to the only authorized GB repair place in
my area. They claimed that both speakers were gone.
I told them that I could not afford to replace them out
of pocket and please get me an estimate. They then
told me they have a pair of speakers coming from GB.
I said oh, are they covering it under warranty (I'd called
GB and they said the cab had a 3 year warranty, but I
had my concerns since I was not the original purchaser).
The repair shop said they didn't know, but GB would not
send speakers until they sent them the bad ones first.

End result, they said come pick up the cabinet, your
bill is $382, parts and labor. I said I could not afford
that, they said we will sell your stuff. I had brought
them the Neo-Pak as well so that they could easily
reproduce the problem, so they had over a grand's worth
of my stuff and I didn't want to lose that over $382.
I had to sell one of my basses to cover the cost, so I
really felt like I lost out on the deal.

Then to add insult to injury, they charged me a bench
fee on the Neo Pak!! They said there was nothing wrong
with it; I know that it was only there for their convenience.
Again, pay it or lose your stuff. My total cost was $465.
I gave them the receipt from the dealer I got the
Neo Pak from and they said "hey if we honored every
claim made from some ebay jerk, we would never get
paid". So I got stuck with that bench charge as well, for
a brand new amp that was under warranty, had no
problem, and was left for their convenience.

Now to my question: was my initial pairing of amp
and cabinet somehow incorrect? Should I be able to
play small-room gigs at moderate volumes (amp
never goes above half-way volume/gain) without
blowing up both speakers in a NeoX-210T cab? The
cab is back to sounding good, but I am now afraid
to use it for anything. If that model of cabinet is only
suitable as a practice amp, what should I get in it's
place for small gigs?

I can go back to lugging my old 15's around, of course,
but it was so nice to have a smaller cab that I could fit in
the car. To go along with my smaller-sized Neo amp; kinda
silly to have a nice portable amp and huge cabs that necessitate
using a van to haul them. I read a lot about
Schroeder cabs, would that be a better choice if the smaller
GB cab is fragile?

Hi, thanks for the discussion so far. I'll admit that it
took me a few days to calm down enough to even be
able to write this up.

First, the repair shop is easy to locate, their being the
only one listed on the GB site for my state of
Massaschusetts. As noted, when they first called to tell
me that both drivers were "gone", I said I wanted an
estimate before proceeding further. Next thing I know,
there are speakers enroute. They claim that they sent
the originals back and presumably GB declined to
warranty the parts. There was no explanation for this,
just that they had to send the old ones back first and
because of that I could not just stop work.

They charged me $150 each for the drivers.

The serial number of the cab is 75022, if that helps
identify the age of the cabinet.

I think at this point I would be extremely gunshy
about buying any used speaker cabinet, no matter
how good the seller's reputation, or how close to
new it may be. Once your stuff is in the hands of a
pirate like this shop, you are literally helpless. They
have you by the short hairs, and they know it.

I would also like to know how they can justify charging
me the (non-necessary) bench charge for the amp
itself? I made it clear I only left it for their use in
demonstrating the problem with the cabinet (stupid
me I guess). I bought it new at the end of '07 and
presented them with my receipt for purchase.

I am quite sure that I was not over-driving the cabinet.
I pay close attention to the clipping light, and I don't
over-EQ bass. I play a passive P bass mostly, fingerstyle.
Therefore I have to consider that either it was not the right
cabinet for the amp, was abused by the previous owner,
or was somehow defective.

If this was some fly-by-night place, I guess I could
accept this reaming easier (although I tend to avoid
places that look shaky). This was the authorized factory
repair facility, and they screwed me like drywall.

I have to stop now, my blood pressure is rising again
just thinking about this.