Problems with Ayre's Company???

Tvad,

I appreciate your comments and understand your point. I guess it is just frustrating seeing good quality dealers who really care about their products and customers being pushed aside for the latest marketing scheme to sell high numbers of products. I just can't justify turning a cold shoulder to the very people that helped solidify Ayre's name in the industry.

How many of you guys have supported your local dealer by paying retail for a new Ayre product?

My local dealer was basically forced out of the product line for unimaginable reasons.

Okay, try us, what were these unimaginable reasons? I'm not saying companies don't sometimes put stress on dealers to sell things in ways that don't make both parties happy, but dealers have been known, from time to time, to be not totally forthright in why they stopped carrying a brand. I mean, there are certain dealers in NY (and I'm sure in other places) that will talk up a brand to you like it's the holy grail, but then badmouth it and recommend you change the minute they stop carrying it (this is from experience).

Also, Tvad makes a point. True, some companies are more aggressive in marketing and selling their products (MuFi comes to mind!) but I would'nt be worried about sourcing parts or an authorized repairer if I owned a TriVista right now. What is Ayre doing that's so underhanded?

Mimberman,

Thank you for your input. I do not want to get into too many of the specifics of the "unimaginable reasons". The local dealer I speak of would never say anything bad about the quality of Ayre products. He truly has a passion for his work and takes great pride in product selection. He has a long history selling Ayre products and runs a very honest business. Also I don't think that "underhanded" is the right description. We are not talking about anything illegal. It was more like a slap in the face to a reputable dealer. Like you said, forcing them to sell certain things in certain ways.

Zieman,

Interesting point. It is true that many of us buy used Ayre products and this can be seen as a lack of support to the local dealer. The flip side is that many of us also learn a great deal about high end equipment from local dealers which greatly influences our decisions. In addition, many times buying a piece of equipment used serves as a gateway to future new purchases once you discover how great a product line is. Regardless, it is obvious that if you only buy used products and never purchase anything from your local dealers then you would have little concern with this matter anyway.

I've dealt with Ayre for several yrs as a consumer & have had three of their products. Their factory support is some of the best in the industry & I see no signs of that changing, especially since I just visited while picking up my amp after having the e upgrade & some cosmetic fixes. I believe if a company were having problems, they would manifest themselves in other areas of the company

Each dealer and manufacturer operates differently & I wouldn't read anything into a dealer dropping a line or a manufacturer dropping a dealer. That's not to say there aren't extenuating circumstances but unless you know all of the details, it's just speculation.

I would caution against suggesting there is a problem with Ayre or any other company that you are concerned about as a consumer unless you know every single detail about the business practices between said participants.

Note-I am not a representative of Ayre or any company representing Ayre products.

I don't believe that Ayre has done anything wrong here from the information provided. Ayre is in the audio business. That means that Ayre has engineered a line of products that meets the designers interpretation of the best audio reproduction that they can acheive in a given market. The motive for any company is to produce these products and sell them at a profit, while maintaining the quality and service standards set by that company.
The dealer that was quote "basically forced" to drop the line could have been guilty of any number of infractions. 1)he may have been discounting on the internet into another dealers market area. In that case Ayre is displaying a strong support of it's dealers. 2)the dealer may have not sold much or ordered much Ayre product in the past year or so. This would drive Ayre to the conclusion that this dealer either a) doesn't want to sell the product or b) the dealer doesn't have the client base that supports the product. In the case of the latter, they did the dealer a favor. It seems that as long as I have been involved with this, hobby/passion call it what you will, I have seen product franchises shift from dealer to dealer in the same market area. The reasons are never clear, because I only get the losing dealer's and new dealer's side of the story.
And I believe there are 3 sides to every story, yours-mine and the truth. Regardless of the reasons it has never been indicative of a problem with a manufacturer. I have a local Ayre dealer and he has nothing but good to say about Ayre. I personnaly am considering the new universal player and will base my decision on the sound quality, build quality and quality of service I have witnessed from Ayre.
The fact that they want to sell as much product as they can only raises my confidence in the company as long as quality doesn't diminish with quantity. All of course just my opinion.

Thanks to all of you for the strong response. Lets be clear that I agree Ayre is a good company with solid customer support and products. The specific problem relates to a new sales manager. I would like to know if any of you have heard complaints from your local Ayre dealers?

Theo,

My dealer was not guilty of the infractions you mentioned.

Driver,

In response to suggesting problems with companies or practices and using caution... that is why I posted on this forum; to see if other consumers have heard similar things from their dealers.

Tvad,

I personally have used the "gateway" method and purchased many things from my local dealer.

Chetiar, when you begin a post with "problems with Ayre's company" in the subject line, what point are you trying to get across? If all somebody does is read the header w/o the content, they can come away from a quick visit to this site with the seed planted.

Sometimes folks scan the subject line to see what's of interest in the same fashion someone might scan the newspaper. When a quick scan remains just that, down the road the subject line might become a bit blurred & the person now only remembers there's a problem with that particular company.

It simply sounds like conjecture & the beginnings of a rumor factory when I read posts like this.

Nuff said.

Driver, my compliments to you for the way you responded to this post. Although I can understand Chetair's concern for his dealer. I have a good relationship with the dealer that I do the bulk of my business as well. But from what I have heard fromthat dealer, what I have read about Ayre, and the impression they made on me at an open house, I can only conclude that they are a "pillar of the audio community". I have been a McIntosh customer for years and have always been treated like their best customer, and I believ that Ayre is in that catagory. I am sure that Chetair's underlying motive was not to do harm to Ayre but could easily get out of control and do that. I live in Colorado and I have seen many so called "controlled burns" turn in to full fledged forest fires. I think as members of this audio community here at AudioGon your advise should strike each ear as sound advice for guidelines in posting herein. Again it is just my opinion.

Thanks to all who have replied. I will use better care in the wording I use to post future questions. I did not mean to offend anyone. I understand your concerns from the casual reader who might not dive into the topic and only come away with the header. I admire the audiogon community and assumed that even the casual reader on this site would have more insight than to judge a company on a single line question? I guess there are people like that. At the same time I don't think these are the type of customers that are looking at Ayre equipment (obviously an opinion). Regardless, in summary, as Theo said, I was concerned about my dealer who I hold a great deal of respect for and I wanted to see if other people had heard anything from there dealers about problems with the "new sales manager". I truly believe that Ayre's products are top notch and agree that Ayre is a "pillar of the audio community". Thanks again for the responses!

Tvad,

I agree that change can be a good thing but not always. Time will tell...

the most prominent reasons a manufacturer or distributer drops a retailer is 1.paying really slowly and 2. they are doing less business then a kid's paper route. no end company is dropping any on time/decent volume store at this stage of hi end's desent into the great nothing.