2. misc-audio
  3. 1041348528

HELP Electrocompaniet stole Christmas

What a mess:
After finally deciding that spending money on the latest EMC-1 parts mod, I contacted Electrocompaniet's distributor back in October to arrange to bring my EMC-1 MkII to him directly in PA so as to avoid RT shipping risks and expense for this 50 pounder. All was set for a Christmas week mod, as I was to be in NJ visiting my relatives that last week.
I called on Christmas eve to arrange a drop-off time, and was told that Christmas Day noon would be fine, but that I had to arrange the deal through a dealer! Yikes! So I remembered Fathers & Sons and called them, arranging for the paperwork and profit to be credited through/to them. Fine. So I drove 2 hours through a nasty winter storm to arrive at Warshaw's house, where he said he'd NOT perform the mod if my EMC-1 didn't have a serial number on it, as there was a grey-market guy in New York who sold a few of these this year. I assured him that mine indeed had a serial number, was produced in spring '01, and bought used by me in summer '01. He said OK, and lugged the player into his house, saying he'd call me in a couple of days to pick it up. Great!..............
I returned to NJ and watched the storm intensify....
Two days later I called to arrange a pick-up hour, and Alan told me that he did NOT perform the mod because the player had been originally sold by a Danish dealer, and NOT through him, so he had made a decision to NOT support any players not originally sold thorough him. No warranty repars, parts, nor mods!..............
I was stunned, couldn't convince him to make an exception since he had never asked me to provide a serial number beforehand, and I went through a total of a half-day of driving through a storm to accomplish this mod.
He just told me to come pick it up at my convenience. I glumly arrived on Saturday and retrieved my untouched puppy, where Alan said that unfortunately I had to share the victimization of the gray-market. I asked if I should contact a Danish dealer to see if a board-swap could be done (of course thinking he didn't really know the answer), but he thought that Electrocompaniet wouldn't support my player either! I asked with some incredulity what was going to happen with all the players that people have when they move from one country to another (!), but he said that this policy was the only way they have of penalyzing the gray market.... I suggested that in THIS CASE he should have installed the mod because of his lack of due diligence in assessing the production/sales history of this particular CDP, ESPECIALLY given my enormous effort in delivering it to his doorstep on Christmas Day.... I left sadly but gracefully.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? I contacted the Danish dealer but he's not responded. Should I contact Electrocompaniet directly and try to arrange a board swap or purchase the parts mod "kit" and instakllation directions (I'm pretty familiar with boards and soldering)? Should Alan have acted differently? Isn't the world getting small enough so that internationally-sold products should have protected lives independent of sales point?
PLEASE HELP!
A Happy and safe New Year to all!
Ernie
subaruguru

Showing 5 responses by tok20000

tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
Well I got the upgrade price wrong in the above post:

My above post should say a $650 upgrade will probably cost the distributor about $200-300 max in parts and labor.

Anyways, I feel for you Ernie. If I were in your place I would have blown a gasket by now. And if I were living with your pain, I would probably not be able to see straight.

KF
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
Subaruguru,

I think it is time you give up on that player and Electrocompaniet in general. Any company that has policies such as this is asking for trouble. What is kinda amusing is that I am told in Scandanavian countries Electrocompaniet is really looked down upon as midfi gear.

Anyway, I think there are better players out there that surpass the EMC-1 mk2 that cost significantly less than $5k. I would whole heartedly recommend the Ayre CX-7.

As a company Ayre is one of the best I have ever dealt with. Their support is outstanding. And they warrant their products from original date of purchase no matter who owns them.

The problem with Electro products is that they sell for a lot cheaper retail in Scandinavian countries. I think an EMC-1 mk2 over there sells for around $3k US. A couple of years ago, this player sold for around $2k US over there. This dramatic price difference does nothing for the Electro grey market in the US. The Nemos are even a bigger differential selling for around $9k US over there and close to twice that amount in the US.

One thing I would do is never deal with that Electro dealer again. If they told you they would do the mod if you had a seriel number on your CDP, and you had a seriel number of your CDP, they SHOULD do the mod. Backing out of the deal is... well... bad business as I will probably never do business with them as well.

So my advice is: Start demoing other CDPs starting with the Ayre CX-7. If you do not have an Ayre dealer in your area, I can suggest one that is good to work with that I bought my player from.

I know you love the EMC-1 mk2, but there is a time that you have to let go of a product because the manufacturer of that product is not supporting you.

Always remember that there is close to a 75% markup on all Electro gear RETAIL from the retail price they sell it in Scandanavian countries. This is why there are not too many Electro dealers in the US. The markup from parts to retail on Electro products in the US is far more than most Hi Fi products in the US market.

If you wanted to push the issue, you could try to email Electro directly, and email more dealers in the US. I am willing to bet one would do the mod for you. However, in my eyes, a manufacturer is only as good as his distributors and retailers.

Sincerely,

KF
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
All I have to say is this is an upgrade.

The dealer is really, really, REALLY stupid for not perfoming the work because his profit margin has to be amazingly high. I know this because I have friends in Scandanavia and EMC gear is consistantly 50% to 70% of what it costs retail in the US.

Electro really needs a way to remedy this disparity in price. Electro (and Electro distributors) should punish dealers that sell grey market and NOT customers.

Electro and it's distributors should realize that it is not the distributors or dealers that keep them in business, but it is ultimately the customers that do.

You piss off one customer and have the possibility of the effect snow balling. And boy is this one snow balling!

I do agree, however, that Alan was well within his rights to not perform the upgrade. Heck, up until not too many years ago, many retail stores (of all types) did not allow returns on merchandise. And it is well within the rights of stores not to allow returns. HOWEVER, very few retail stores today do not have return policy (at least for cash). Heck Costco, a superstore warehouse, will let you return things INDEFINITELY if you have the receipt for any reason at all. These return policies GET CUSTOMER BUSINESS.

The ELectro's distributor's policy stinks (though it is in his legal rights), so WE DO NOT HAVE TO BUY ELECTRO GEAR.

Pardon me Sos, but here are my thoughts about Electro gear:
1 - It is way overpriced in the US.
2 - Their equipment is middle of the road in hi-end audio at best.
3 - If you think the newest Electro CDP is any good at all for $5500 or so, please try the Ayre CX-7 or GamuT CDP or Musical Fidelty CDP (both sell for $3k in the US new). You will wonder why the Electro costs so much.
4 - Electro amps are powerful, but dark. There are many other amps that are LOTS HIGHER SOUND QUALITY. The list goes on and on.... starting with Ayre, GamuT, Monarchy, Audio Research, McCormick, Bel Canto... too many amp brands to list.
5 - Electro preamps are a joke. Just ask someone who has lived with one a while.

In the Hifi world there are so many choices of electronics. Dealers and distributors need to be almost extra sensative to customers needs. ESPECIALLY WHEN A CUSTOMER WILL PAY GOOD MONEY ($800) TO DO AN UPGRADE THAT I IMAGINE HAS A PART AND LABOR COST OF MAYBE $300 to $400 MAX.

But hey, it is the Distributors perogative.

It is our perogative to buy or not buy Electro gear.

KF
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
I think there are good reasons why some companies products continue to do well on the used and new market.

Companies such as Ayre, Krell, Mark Levinson, Magnapan, Sonic Frontiers/Anthem, Pass, Plinius and GamuT (these I (and friends) have had wonderful dealings with) really stand behind their products. Many times they will even stand behind products that are out of warranty and not even owned by the original owner. I have several stories that I may tell later in this thread.

It is such a better business decision to support your products wherether they be new, used, or even grey market. The manufacturer made the product and they should offer the various upgrades and product support to anyone who owns their products. The grey market issue is a problem best resolved at the manufacturer and dealer level. Most of the time it is not that terribly hard to fix.

As Audiophiles we should support companies that stand behind all of their products. And not companies/distributors that play games with their customers. The world is becoming a global economy. Companies need to rethink their pricing strategy to accomodate the global economy.

KF
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1041706030&openusid&zzTok20000&4&5#Tok20000

Ernie, I think you have a soul mate.

KF
More to discover