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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
jcbtubes
400 posts
 
Hi Stewart- Happy New Year!
Thanks for responding. Though I understand Alan's initial position and the points that you've identified, I believe that there must be a better solution to this problem that will be more inclusive rather than exclusive.

For this particular situation, it would appear that Alan never asked for the specific serial number, just whether it had a serial number. It is unfortunate, but this slight oversight on his part is what has led many here to feel that after Ernie's efforts of getting the unit to him, the upgrade should have been performed at the cost of what, $1000? This wasn't warranty work, and I have difficulty believing that there isn't profit in the upgrade charge.

But in terms of the larger picture, as you stated, it would appear that there is a list of the units (serial numbers) that were sold via the Danish dealer into the US. When these units come up for repair or upgrade, Alan could offer a "reinstatement" charge ($500?)that would allow the owners, most by that time will know nothing of the units point of origin (second or third owners), to obtain factory service. EC could then help recoup repair costs from the Danish dealer (if he/she is still an EC dealer) to be paid to Alan. This is just one scenario, and I'm sure that there are others more equitable for all involved.

Lets face it, if the used market for EC is negatively affected through fear of obtaining a "grey market" unit that has no recourse (or even a unit that was legitimately brought into a country other than its original point of sale if I interpret Alan's position correctly, though this is an assumption), it will eventually impact primary sales as well. It would appear that EC and its distributors need to develop some policies to cover global/international service scenarios. It's just a thought.

Thanks again for your response.
sean
6,231 posts
 
Jcbtubes: Much more eloquently stated than what i had to say, but i think that we are thinking along the same lines. Sean
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ljgj
955 posts
 
Call Heinz Preiss - he might be able to do the upgrade.
danheather
108 posts
 
I feel for you Ernie. I disagree, however, with your decision to make another post before F&S has a chance to come up with a reasonable trade-in offer. It seems to me that, by doing this, you are putting pressure on F&S to accomodate your UG request. I don't want to say that it's blackmail, but it certainly does put them in an ackward position.

Think about it. You bought the player on the used market for a substantially lower price than new. Why didn't you buy it from F&S? These are the risks that we take when buying used gear. Why should F&S take back a gray market cdp as a demo? How much re-sale value do you think that'll have. Would you buy a demo model that also happens to be used and, in addition was obtained on the gray market and can't (WON'T) be supported by the manufacturer or their lousy US Distributor? How much is THAT worth?

I'm sorry Ernie...It seems to me that you rolled the dice and, unfortunately, have to live with the outcome.

If you're so in love with the EC, my suggestion would be to put yours on the used market and buy a new upgraded version.

Don't get me wrong. I think that what Alan did was shitty. It seems to me that if you're going to put any pressure on somebody it should be him directly. If you need to contact EC to help you do it, then by all means. I would scream LOUD and LONG until you get the result you're looking for. Don't put F&S in the middle.

That being said...If I were F&S, I would discontinue selling EC immediately and pick up another product line. That shows integrity and puts the hurt where it needs to be...on the manufacturer who won't stand behind their products.

I'm guessing that this thread alone will have made a significant dent in ECs US sales. If nothing else, I'm sure that F&S (or any other EC authorized AudiogoN dealer) will be seeing far fewer EC sales as a result of this thread! Then again...I could be naive.
jond's avatar
jond
6,063 posts
 
I'm having to agree with Sean and Jcbtubes here. The distributor by offering an upgrade that costs $695 is in essence selling a product. I can't imagine that this product, like all other products he sells, doesn't have a decent profit margin built in to it. There is no repair being done, and the warranty obviously doesn't cover the upgrade or it would be free. Hence Alan's decision not to "sell" Ernie his "product" is petty, exclusionary, and very obviously bad public relations. Hang in there Ernie, we'll get through to these guys. Should a link to this thread be posted over at AA? Opinions please.
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