robjcooper:
Spike at least you were on the phone to RS, I was in a store and they were desperate to try and sell me anything (even a teac stereo amp although I was looking for a cinema receiver) which, considering what good customer service they usually have, was quite unexpected ! Also, has anyone tried to call their local store and just been re-directed to a call centre ?)
Happy hunting
Rob
I'm not that keen on RS, they are definately developing a bit of an attitude. I find it impossible to speak with my local store on the phone directly (Cardiff - you are named and shamed!), and have been redirected to the unhelpful call centre when they can be bothered or otherwise just disconnected. And this was an afternoon in the middle of the week - how busy can they be at that time (c'mon). The call centre person also couldn't be bothered to be helpful (obviously getting no commission) so I just went somewhere else in the end. The RS website is also pretty rubbish, as everything is "out of stock" or "only available in store" but you then can't get through to check availability. In the end, after some negotiation, I bought my stuff from a very helpful Sony Centre and ended up paying about the same as RS anyway.
By the way if you can live with Silver (which is quite nice), the STR-DA2400ES is available at Play.Com for £349.99 (at that price I would live with the colour)...