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Is good customer service about dead?

I’d like to know from other members of Audiogon how they find customer service today. Not the resellers so much as the manufacturers themselves. I had a bad experience with a really late delivery. I also have a tone arm I bought in a first production run when a setup manual was not yet available – the manufacturer will not respond to my emails. I wanted to audition a rather expensive pair of speakers that were not available in my area. I contacted the manufacturer (from his own website) to ask where I could go to audition and purchase these – but no response. I have however had amazing support from the good folks at VAC and Jeff Rowland.
So I am now searching for new speakers but customer service is my first criteria and everything else is second. I'll be looking in the 5K-10K price range. I’d be very interested in other people’s experiences.
dat1

Showing 3 responses by ghasley

ghasley
2,534 posts
 
Amazing! With the deletion of the old thread, I was mistakenly comforted that there had been a resolution between JPL and Vapor/Luvs2listen/Aire. Apparently not.

Now its out there alleging that Vapor cant afford to provide a refund due to lack of funds, which I hope for the sake of all in the queue awaiting their speaker delivery following submission of their deposits is a misunderstanding. The bad PR is mounting (people alleging missing amps, scheduled reviews vaporizing, etc) and how unfortunate.

As I stated in the previously deleted thread, excellent customer service is paramount and the cost of NOT providing it is crippling. Again, I look forward to seeing how this all ends.
ghasley
2,534 posts
 
luvs2listen/Vapor, why don't you just take care of this situation? Imagine if you had rectified this problem over a month ago and then you had spent that time to fullfill your stated order backlog.

I also find your cheerleading/shilling in another thread a put-off as you are talking about all of these new models you are working on and yet, you can't seem to solve a simple customer service issue nor can you seem to compress the timeframe for deliveries to those who already have deposits placed. At one point, I simply thought that you guys were in the middle of a steep learning curve, now I believe your issues are likely more serious and potentially detrimental.
ghasley
2,534 posts
 
In general, I believe excellent customer service to be on the rise. Limiting the discussion strictly to audio, I find that today's successful audio retailers have the common trait of terrific customer service. Those of us old enough to remember, the audio shops of yesteryear were hit and miss, sometimes depending on whether the proprietor liked the customer. Today, successful audio retailers have formalized it to an art. Manufacturers dealing direct with the customer must understand in advance that cutting out a dealer network requires the adoption and formalization of customer service protocol and problem resolution standardization. Those who execute that well will thrive, those that do not......

Vapor, what is the definition of a full refund? I would define it as a reversal of the transaction, not the introduction of a third party, a fourth if you count an escrow company. It is your responsibility to refund the money. Does the third party you are trying to "broker" the speakers to understand that they are basically used speakers? Again, the distrust imbedded in this transaction appears to run deep.

Vapor and Luvs2listen have allowed this transaction to become a comedy of errors. If I had a pair of your speakers on order, with my deposit in your possession, I might be worried with your ability to deliver a completed pair of speakers in a satisfactory manner. Repeated missed delivery schedules combined with an unwillingness/inability to provide the full refund proposed by you in the earlier thread are worrisome signs. I hope thats not the case but if it walks like a duck.......
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