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 1 response by kbarkamian

There still are some companies who truly understand great customer service. Unfortunately, there are also those who don't care. Then again, perhaps they're following the trends of most consumers (not us here for the most part) - buy as cheaply as possible, regardless of who's selling it.

A lot of the manufacturers on Audio Circle are in tune with customer service and will bend over backwards to ensure their customers are happy. I owned Bryston before I started looking at Audio Circle, but James Tanner has really helped his customers over there. People have posted about buying new gear and are all excited about it, James will ask which dealer it was sold by, and he'll personally double check the order and try his best to fast track it. He's also caught a few dealer order mistakes. I've called the Canada service department a few times, and Mike Pickett has always been great and easy to understand.

Bryston isn't the only one like this.

I own Audio Physic speakers. I've had nothing but bad experiences with their distributor - not responding to emails, giving me the run around on the phone, not giving me a complete list of dealers in my area, etc. but I love my speakers and will never let them go.

I hear Vandersteen, DeVore, and Shahinian have great customer service, among a few others. Never owned either of them, nor tried to contact them. One of these days when/if I need new speakers, I'll be sure to give them a shot.