Is good customer service about dead?

I have received outstanding customer support from Wyetech, Wyred for Sound, Stealth Cables and Etymotic earphones. If you do your homework and buy top quality components from music-loving designers and manufacturers, you will receive great customer service.

Neal

I have had excellent customer service from a variety of dealers, distributors and manufactures. Rick Milam of A-V Design (ARC, Ayre, B&W, Vandersteen, Focale, etc) and Robert Bruce of Sound FX (Proac, Magnepan, Linn, NAD, etc) in Kansas City are dealers who are superbly knowledgeable and easy to work with. Jeff Catalano of High Water Sound in NY is an excellent purveyor of tubes and vinyl and one of the most helpful and candid audio experts I have encountered who guided me into a superb TW Acustic analog rig. Walter Swanbon of Fidelis AV in New Hampshire distributes Harbeth speakers and Perraux electronics and is one of the most friendly and knowledgeable audio experts I have met. Vinnie Rossi manufactures Red Wine Audio electronics in Connecticut and distributes WLM speakers and is as down to earth as one gets. Kevin Hayes designs and manufactures VAC amplifiers in Florida that are my current reference and he personally responds to all queries quite generously with his time.

The numerous poor customer service folks out there are discouraging but there are excellent suppliers in our audio community who are easy to work with and who will do everything they can to earn your business if you take the time to seek them out.

Hope this short list helps.

Just a plug here for my local dealer. Speaker Shop in Buffalo, NY will do everything in their power to resolve any issues in your favor. Been doing business with them forever.

They do in-home installs and in-home evals (the latter if they know you) They'll ship as well. They tend to stick with the more well-known larger companies in deference to our local market's incessant need for the perception of "value for the dollar" (hence, McIntosh, B&W, Paradigm, KEF, Marantz, Magneplanar, etc). Look 'em up.

I imagine "value for dollar" high-end brands is the bulk of the equipment found in real brick & mortar stores with listening rooms, etc. I get the sense the esoteric stuff tends to be demoed in smaller, more private settings.

I just this week had a problem with one of my Quicksilver V4 amps. After speaking with my dealer, John Rutan at Audio Connection, he offered to come and pick it up or have me drop it by for him to take a look at it. I brought it by and he went straight to work with a phone call to Mike Sanders at Quicksilver. After about 45 minutes I was a happy camper again with the problem solved. This was right before closing time as well.To have the manufacturer answer the phone himself and the dealer do the work himself, all the while really trying to get to the bottom of the problem, with no attitude, is what I call great service!