No more dealers

[batonwielder]

What are your experiences with dealers like?

Once I complete my upgrade, I no longer wish to continue in this hobby. I have found the dealers in the US to be deceitful at the least and some are bordering on fraudulence.

A dealer from whom I've taken a piece for home demo put up the same unit as a brand new item for sale with warranty on an auction site when he's not even an authorized dealer.

A distributor I've made purchase from refused to take back a defective piece and asked for a fee on warranty work.

Just to name a few...

 

[Tear Drop]

Like all walks of life, hifi dealers are mostly mediocre, some are truly awful, and only a small handful are really good. I've dealt with them all, but I don't think even the worst hifi dealer would make me want to quit hifi.

 

[drummerman]

Tear Drop:Like all walks of life, hifi dealers are mostly mediocre, some are truly awful, and only a small handful are really good. I've dealt with them all, but I don't think even the worst hifi dealer would make me want to quit hifi.

In what way have you dealt with them all?

 

[chebby]

I assumed Tear Drop meant all the 'types' (awful, mediocre, good) rather than all dealers.

 

[Anonymous]

I have actually been pleasantly suprised by the customer service of hi-fi dealers in the UK. Other UK service businesses could learn a thing or two about customer service though.

 

[jaxwired]

What a shame. Sorry you've had that experience. I've actually had a different experience. In fact, I've found Hi-Fi dealers (I'm in the USA also), to be honest and helpful. In particular, spearitsound.com (no personal affiliation), gave me a discount off brand new NAD equipment and allowed me to return a unit I was unhappy with for a full refund. Their service was truly excellent.

There are a lot of internet scammers, but that's true for every business that sells on the internet. Anyone considering buying from a so called "authorized" internet dealer should always check with the manufacturer before purchasing to verify the "authorized" dealer. Otherwise you may not get a warranty.

 

[plastic penguin]

batonwielder:

What are your experiences with dealers like?

Once I complete my upgrade, I no longer wish to continue in this hobby. I have found the dealers in the US to be deceitful at the least and some are bordering on fraudulence.

A dealer from whom I've taken a piece for home demo put up the same unit as a brand new item for sale with warranty on an auction site when he's not even an authorized dealer.

A distributor I've made purchase from refused to take back a defective piece and asked for a fee on warranty work.

Just to name a few...

Sorry to hear that - likewise, my experience of dealers, especially when giving advice, is patchy. They always seem to differ when you ask the same question. I believe there's a two-fold reason: firstly, av industry, as we all know, is so subjective and therefore opinions will always vary. Secondly, they have their own agenda, trying to push the issue as far as possible, making as much profit as possible. You can't blame them, however for us consumers it's frustrating.

I'm so wary of using so-called 'authorized' dealers off the web - so I tend to stick with retailers I know and trust.