So Arcam no longer manufacture in the UK either now ?

[bigboss]

I'd rather see a British company shift its manufacturing base to China than close down. Pioneer made the best TVs on the planet, but refused to manufacture outside Japan. It lost money on every TV it made, while Samsung & LG made obscene amounts of money despite costing half that of Pioneer with inferior quality. The result? No more Pioneer TVs while Samsung & LG make billions. Sony, & later Panasonic seem to be going the way of Pioneer as well.

 

[whoam1]

I wish Arcam's support department responded as swiftly (at all would be a start) as their PR machine does... :roll:

 

[bigboss]

I wish Arcam's support department responded as swiftly (at all would be a start) as their PR machine does... :roll:

 

[MajorFubar]

I'm still puzzled as to why it matters from a hi-fi perspective, there's clearly no quality issues with foreign made products, so, socio-economic impacts aside, what difference does it make?

Well once upon a time in what now seems a dim and distant past we were encouraged to Buy British: cars, hifi, food, everything, to pump money into British-owned industries whose British workers built/grew their products on British soil. Just like handing over all your unwanted pots and pans for the war effort, doing so gave people a warm glow inside and made them feel they were doing their bit to make their own country prosper. That's the difference it made. Shame that most people now just don't care.

 

[The_Lhc]

I'm still puzzled as to why it matters from a hi-fi perspective, there's clearly no quality issues with foreign made products, so, socio-economic impacts aside, what difference does it make?

Well once upon a time in what now seems a dim and distant past we were encouraged to Buy British: cars, hifi, food, everything, to pump money into British-owned industries whose British workers built/grew their products on British soil. Just like handing over all your unwanted pots and pans for the war effort, doing so gave people a warm glow inside and made them feel they were doing their bit to make their own country prosper. That's the difference it made. Shame that most people now just don't care.

Like I said, APART from the socio-economic impacts, what difference does it make?

 

[mykspence]

Give it up chap, or change your user name to 'eggonface'.

If you don't have anything to contribute but derogatory remarks, why bother at all.

Please tell me that you see the irony in that? Anyway you seem to want to carry on digging your hole, so I'll leave you to it. Have a nice day.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

I wish Arcam's support department responded as swiftly (at all would be a start) as their PR machine does... :roll:

That will be the time difference with the Indian call centre...........

 

[ellisdj]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

 

[The_Lhc]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

 

[ellisdj]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

 

[whoam1]

I wish Arcam's support department responded as swiftly (at all would be a start) as their PR machine does... :roll:

That will be the time difference with the Indian call centre...........

Yup, three weeks and several emails later.

Nothing.

Very poor and I would not buy from them again because of it.

Still, at least some of it is made in the UK. :roll:

 

[scene]

:rant: Glad to see my original post was basically correct (phew!)

I've found their support pretty helpful in the past, but I've used email to contact them, as it's cheaper and less time hanging around on the phone.

I do agree with bb, in that it's better that a British company remains going, albeit manufacturing in china, Korea, wherever, as it still means the profits come to this country and the intellectual expertise designing some damn fine equipment remains here in the UK.

OK, I'll step off my soapbox now... :rant:

 

[peter312]

Whilst I would agree that Arcam need to improve the way they respond to emails (and that is dire), they are excellent to deal with on the phone.

I wasn't aware that Cambridge was now in India, as that is where one rings them

 

[ellisdj]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

My Samsung Fridge Freezer that cost over £1000 has developed a fault in less than a year - its only a fault with digital display but its a fault none the less.

Now hows that for timing to help me prove my point with Samsung Products - their customer service has been good so far I will say - appointment booked for Monday to repair it - will see how that goes

 

[The_Lhc]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

My Samsung Fridge Freezer that cost over £1000 has developed a fault in less than a year - its only a fault with digital display but its a fault none the less.

Now hows that for timing to help me prove my point with Samsung Products - their customer service has been good so far I will say - appointment booked for Monday to repair it - will see how that goes

That's unfortunate and still has no bearing on Chinese manufacturers. One question, if you lost confidence in Samsung a few years ago why did you buy one of their fridges less than a year ago?

 

[whoam1]

Whilst I would agree that Arcam need to improve the way they respond to emails (and that is dire), they are excellent to deal with on the phone.

I wasn't aware that Cambridge was now in India, as that is where one rings them

At least Cambridge repond (very quickly) to any emailed queries.

No more Arcam products for me.

 

[bigboss]

The location of customer service centre has no bearing on the quality & swiftness of support. It depends on the ethos of the company.

 

[ellisdj]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

My Samsung Fridge Freezer that cost over £1000 has developed a fault in less than a year - its only a fault with digital display but its a fault none the less.

Now hows that for timing to help me prove my point with Samsung Products - their customer service has been good so far I will say - appointment booked for Monday to repair it - will see how that goes

That's unfortunate and still has no bearing on Chinese manufacturers. One question, if you lost confidence in Samsung a few years ago why did you buy one of their fridges less than a year ago?

I bought it because of lack of alternatives from the place that fitted our new kitchen, very good finance deal - I would not have bought it otherwise.

I mentioned why I brought up Samsung - I had overlooked that thier Korean manufacturers either way I have lost all confidence in the brand and Korean manufacturing by the looks of things.

 

[BenLaw]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

My Samsung Fridge Freezer that cost over £1000 has developed a fault in less than a year - its only a fault with digital display but its a fault none the less.

Now hows that for timing to help me prove my point with Samsung Products - their customer service has been good so far I will say - appointment booked for Monday to repair it - will see how that goes

That's unfortunate and still has no bearing on Chinese manufacturers. One question, if you lost confidence in Samsung a few years ago why did you buy one of their fridges less than a year ago?

I bought it because of lack of alternatives from the place that fitted our new kitchen, very good finance deal - I would not have bought it otherwise.

I mentioned why I brought up Samsung - I had overlooked that thier Korean manufacturers either way I have lost all confidence in the brand and Korean manufacturing by the looks of things.

Yeah, cos fridges made in other countries never break.

 

[peter312]

Whilst I would agree that Arcam need to improve the way they respond to emails (and that is dire), they are excellent to deal with on the phone.

I wasn't aware that Cambridge was now in India, as that is where one rings them

At least Cambridge repond (very quickly) to any emailed queries.

No more Arcam products for me.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant Cambridge (as in the town Arcam are in) rather than Cambridge the manufacturer.

 

[peter312]

The location of customer service centre has no bearing on the quality & swiftness of support. It depends on the ethos of the company.

I couldn't agree more

 

[ellisdj]

I have always been dubious of manufacturing abroad for quality etc - that fear has been proved right as many times as proved wrong with items going wrong / lasting years

However given the Chinese excellent perfomance in the Olympics at many sports that are not Chinese in any way shape or form goes to show how they are pretty much excellent at a huge variety of things as a nation

So why would manufacturing be any different - time will tell as more stuff is shipped from there ??

I must say I have never been 100% happy with anything I have owned from Samsung and I try and avoid their stuff where possible, the build quality always seems of a much lower standard than expected so maybe there is something in the worry or my expectations are too high - Idont know?

This is with the exception of their early mobile phones that were the best built imo, even if not the most tech advanced

Not sure I understand your point here, Samsung are Korean and, for the minute, still make everything in Korea (I think), so I don't see what bearing that has on Chinese manufacturing?

My point was based at the op, in that there is no reason Chinese manufacturing should be any worse than that in the UK -

I stand by my opinions of Samsung stuff, I dont see why but maybe the manufacturing location / standards has something to do with it - I think its more the volume of their manufacturing

I steer clear where possible now days, I use to buy a lot a Samsung products a few years ago thinking they were premium but I have lost a lot of confidence in the brand.

My Samsung Fridge Freezer that cost over £1000 has developed a fault in less than a year - its only a fault with digital display but its a fault none the less.

Now hows that for timing to help me prove my point with Samsung Products - their customer service has been good so far I will say - appointment booked for Monday to repair it - will see how that goes

That's unfortunate and still has no bearing on Chinese manufacturers. One question, if you lost confidence in Samsung a few years ago why did you buy one of their fridges less than a year ago?

I bought it because of lack of alternatives from the place that fitted our new kitchen, very good finance deal - I would not have bought it otherwise.

I mentioned why I brought up Samsung - I had overlooked that thier Korean manufacturers either way I have lost all confidence in the brand and Korean manufacturing by the looks of things.

Yeah, cos fridges made in other countries never break.

Of course they do - but either way the result is the result I feel let down by the manufacturing of another Samsung Product I have puchased - less than 12 months old and at a cost of over £1000 it has a fault - my Panasonic Washing Machine has worked perfectly for 18 months and the digital display on that is perfect - not faulty and used much more

 

[ellisdj]

Quick Follow on from my compaining about Samsung

I have to add I have received exceptional service from their warranty care team - an engineer has been round within 3 working days and raplaced the faulty part - you cant ask for anymore than that I suppose.

Hats off there

 

[rocketride]

As promised, here's the response from Arcam MD Charlie Brennan:

'the many Hi-fi and AV brands that are British in name only and haven't manufactured in the UK for decades if ever!'

Such as, for instance ....??

Monitor Audio, KEF, Audiolab, Cambridge Audio, ect.

 

[CnoEvil]

As promised, here's the response from Arcam MD Charlie Brennan:

'the many Hi-fi and AV brands that are British in name only and haven't manufactured in the UK for decades if ever!'

Such as, for instance ....??

Monitor Audio, KEF, Audiolab, Cambridge Audio, ect.

Kef make the Reference series in the UK.