HELP Electrocompaniet stole Christmas


What a mess:
After finally deciding that spending money on the latest EMC-1 parts mod, I contacted Electrocompaniet's distributor back in October to arrange to bring my EMC-1 MkII to him directly in PA so as to avoid RT shipping risks and expense for this 50 pounder. All was set for a Christmas week mod, as I was to be in NJ visiting my relatives that last week.
I called on Christmas eve to arrange a drop-off time, and was told that Christmas Day noon would be fine, but that I had to arrange the deal through a dealer! Yikes! So I remembered Fathers & Sons and called them, arranging for the paperwork and profit to be credited through/to them. Fine. So I drove 2 hours through a nasty winter storm to arrive at Warshaw's house, where he said he'd NOT perform the mod if my EMC-1 didn't have a serial number on it, as there was a grey-market guy in New York who sold a few of these this year. I assured him that mine indeed had a serial number, was produced in spring '01, and bought used by me in summer '01. He said OK, and lugged the player into his house, saying he'd call me in a couple of days to pick it up. Great!..............
I returned to NJ and watched the storm intensify....
Two days later I called to arrange a pick-up hour, and Alan told me that he did NOT perform the mod because the player had been originally sold by a Danish dealer, and NOT through him, so he had made a decision to NOT support any players not originally sold thorough him. No warranty repars, parts, nor mods!..............
I was stunned, couldn't convince him to make an exception since he had never asked me to provide a serial number beforehand, and I went through a total of a half-day of driving through a storm to accomplish this mod.
He just told me to come pick it up at my convenience. I glumly arrived on Saturday and retrieved my untouched puppy, where Alan said that unfortunately I had to share the victimization of the gray-market. I asked if I should contact a Danish dealer to see if a board-swap could be done (of course thinking he didn't really know the answer), but he thought that Electrocompaniet wouldn't support my player either! I asked with some incredulity what was going to happen with all the players that people have when they move from one country to another (!), but he said that this policy was the only way they have of penalyzing the gray market.... I suggested that in THIS CASE he should have installed the mod because of his lack of due diligence in assessing the production/sales history of this particular CDP, ESPECIALLY given my enormous effort in delivering it to his doorstep on Christmas Day.... I left sadly but gracefully.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? I contacted the Danish dealer but he's not responded. Should I contact Electrocompaniet directly and try to arrange a board swap or purchase the parts mod "kit" and instakllation directions (I'm pretty familiar with boards and soldering)? Should Alan have acted differently? Isn't the world getting small enough so that internationally-sold products should have protected lives independent of sales point?
PLEASE HELP!
A Happy and safe New Year to all!
Ernie
subaruguru
This does not surprise me much many of the international companies have policies like this- including Accuphase and audio aero. I guess electro. is the same way- its kind of a shame but I can't say I blame them. The way the fellow who was going to do the mods handled things was not very polite, but everyone has bad days. I would try again, through different circles, I have found that being nice often gets you A LOT further then yelling and such- when all else fails point them towards this thread and let them know you can post your story on every audio site, in fact it would be your great pleasure to do so- if you are not taken care of. If they won't help you let the world know about it, sell the player and get something else- there is nothing wrong with the elctro. unit but if your having problems with something small like this- there are other great sounding players in that price range. The Audio Mecca Mephisto II comes to mind :) Good luck!
This is a realy lousy situation, but it is entirely emblematic of how much of the "high end" audio industry operates. I have seen many instances in which an importer massively inflates the retail price of an item compared to its' country of origin. In most cases, the mark-up is difficult or impossible to justify based upon import duties, distribution costs and advertising fees. Certainly, we live in country with a free market, but such "aggressive" pricing policies smack of opportunism and profiteering. I personally have passed on certain brands due to the U.S. importer's high mark-up. It's the only way to fight them. Alas, it's a shame that many importers and companies simply don't understand that the "high end ripoff" drives away many potential customers.

As for the manufacturer, there should be no excuse for not supporting the product, no matter where it was purchased! You might not expect the imported to help you, but the manufacturer should. You should post frequently about this problem here and on other audio sites so that others will learn about how you were treated. I bet that won't help Electrocompanient's sales, and they might look for a new importer.
Keep in mind, Mike, that the US distributor has made cetain that a small group of mostly US purchasers never consider buying from EC. Sadly, stuff like this is what grows into negative rumors of epic proportions.... Furthermore, why would anyone (read: dealers) really want to be associated with a distributor that takes the ABSOLUTE low road when it is not necessary? At worst he could have called and said he would do the work at cost, especially given the huge effort the EC CUSTOMER made to get to him. The point is the customer purchased EC, as such he deserves the full support of EC. If a grey market exists for EC products, then EC is the blame.
EMC and or the distributor should support the product irrespective of its origins.I would not support a compnay that does not support its products. I would sell it and move on. There are other very good players out there from more reputable manufacturers. I cannot imagine being treated like that especially with how well some companies like Conrad Johnson and Thiel support their customers (personnel experience). I was prety serious about buying one of these players at one time; I am glad I didn't. Ernie I hope you get your issue resolved. Maybe we (audiogon community) can give you some support by sending a nasty gram to that distributor

Chuck
Just to be clear, I didn't make the statement that mods are a waste of money. I don't believe that, and make alot of mods myself. That statement can be attributed to another member, not me.