Poor Customer Service

Sutherland phono stages - incredible support by Ron Sutherland (answers the phone himeself) who spent over an hour talking about a power supply upgrade for $350 and then guided me through the installation of the board. He said he is honored to have me have his product in my system - unbelievable.

Integrity hifi - answers the phone and tells you exactly what configuration to buy, helps with setting it up, and supports it when you have questions.

VPI - fantastic support of van den Hul cartridges which they have recently started distributing, including setting one up for me at their factory/offices on a competing turntable!

Townshend Audio - Got through to Max Townshend himself who recommended a different capacity product and apologized for their lack of questioning the application and sent me the right one.

Symposium Acoustics - Owner answers the phone himself (Peter) and takes the time to understand the application and budget and makes the recommendation in the humblest way.

Music Direct - I'd buy from them again in a second.

Only bad experiences are from dealers who don't have time for you after you've bought the product and don't see a future purchase on the horizon. Won't mention their names.

I guess I have been really lucky ...
Had my Cary slp98 preamp upgarded and they did extra things for me at no charge and right on time, Had tech questions on my Cary 200ts DAC and responses within 24 hours.  In my office I have Emotiva monoblock xpa1s that were having a few  issues just before the 5 year warranty ran out, not only did Emotiva fix the issues but because  they determined some other things that would eventually fail a long way down the road, they replaced the caps etc all at no cost and within a few days.
I recently purchase a set of Odyssey Kismet amps from Klaus, the left amp came with an issue due to shipping, not only did Klaus replace the left damaged Amp he upgraded it and so it would match replaced the right amp.   That is what I call customer service at its best.   Maybe it's luck, maybe it is picking the right vendors, I don't know but within certain limits I am a tough to please person and all three of these firms have been exceptional in service.  You can argue sound quality, micronuances etc, but service is not subjective it is an actual event and these firms performed above and beyond.

Avalon Acoustics has totally ignored both my Emails and phone calls. I spent many thousands of dollars on a pair of their speakers, which I love. The company, unfortunately, is inaccessible.

That's a shame. One of only a handful of really good sounding speakers I have heard. 

Fortunately, I have had great experiences dealing with numerous companies. My most recent experiences were Pass, Bricasti and McIntosh. All were efficient and superb. Years back I had experience with Bryston and they were rock solid too. I have to say that it's pretty cool that when you call, reach the company and are talking to a principle and you mention your name, he knows what you own.