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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
waltersalas's avatar
waltersalas
952 posts
 

There are two separate issues here, as I see it. One is EC's policy on so-called "grey market" units, and how to deal with owners who may have purchased them "innocently." While it is ideal to buy from a dealer, many people here, myself included, buy used gear because it is the best way to get the most bang for your buck. You can be as careful as possible in buying from the classifieds and still be snookered. Due to the general trustworthiness of audiophiles, most elect to take that risk. Too, it is the ONLY way to audition gear in your system without taking a major loss in resell. Almost all of us do it, so let's put aside after-the-fact moralizing and deal with the issue, which is how a company treats owners of its products and deals, at the same time, with the grey market. There are valid points on both sides, but refusing to work on these units as a matter of policy is probably short-sighted and bad for business, as many posters have already noted.

But this is a separate issue that EC needs to resolve apart from Ernie's situation.

In this situation, Alan appears to have made a mistake in agreeing to do the upgrade, then reneging once he discovered the unit was grey market. I would have assumed, as Ernie did, that once he was asked about the serial number on the phone and gave an answer, the matter was settled. It is unconscionable to question an owner, agree to perform a service, then back out later because YOU overlooked a central question.

EC should decide what it will charge to do the upgrade for grey market owners and in the process let any other EMC owners who may unwittingly have grey market units know how to make them "legit," then credit Ernie for his time and trouble, deducting that from the cost of the upgrade. In other words, Alan should take responsibility for his mistake and make this right with Ernie.

EC and any other company and/or dealer has a right to protect its market, and it is clearly reasonable to expect those who do benefit from buying used to pay more for service and/or upgrades. But is it really wise to PUNISH people who own your products in order to make a point? Isn't there some acceptable middle ground?

If so, EC had better find it, and fast. Hats off to F&S Audio for trying to find a solution. Nothing worse than being stuck in the middle.
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Mike @ FS, despite your emotional response, you seem to be an upstanding dealer. One that I would recommend people patronize. I wish your business prosperity in the new year. Our hobby needs more dealers like you.

My relationship with Alan WAS in the face to face. My opinion of Alan Warshaw is what it is. Like it or not.

Opinions of people developed IN THE REAL WORLD as opposed to how we interact over the internet hold a lot more water to me. Things don't get more real. As a person providing him service, I felt he treated me as if I was beneath him. I do not forget that.

Perhaps all of this is not important, but I view ALL people as being worthy of a high level of respect and dignity. When I interact with a person helping me, I treat them the way I would appreciate being treated if the roles were reversed. Everyone is entitled to conduct themselves as they see fit.

No, in speaking with him, I did not tell him that I found his demeanor not to be to my liking. As someone providing him service, my goal was to help him and do my best to make him a satisfied customer, not antogonize. If I behaved otherwise, my boss would have had good reason to hold my behavior offensive. I would be in the wrong.

Now, that I am no longer someone waiting on him, I would have no qualms letting him know my feelings if he came off in the same manner.

Your relationship with him is that you are his customer. Maybe he will interact with you differently than someone where the relationship is reversed. Do you find him to be a down to earth, likable person? I truly hope you feel that way. Far be it for me to complain over how you view him, you have as much right to your opinion as I do mine. As I stated, I hold out hope he is a good person and that my impression of him is a minority viewpoint.

I admire him for taking on Hales in their most desperate moments, in fact I laud him for it. I admire and laud him for representing a brand such as Electrocompaniet. I told him so. In this situation, it appears as if he is not supporting a customer who purchased a product through an authorized dealer. Is he worthy of my praise now?

My hope is that this story has a happy ending.
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
I agree with you Mike that we need to be civil and realize that human beings have feelings and make mistakes at times.
Mr.Warshaw should have, without any doubt, in my mind performed the agreed upon work. (This would have been the honorable/just/human thing to do given the circumstances involved.) I personally find it very disturbing that the mods to Ernie's CDP could be done but now at the escalated price of $1600! Mr. Warshaw had an opportunity to realize his errors and diffuse the situation by doing right. I'm not a business savvy person but I find it hard to believe that one would risk one's reputation for customer service over 10 "grey-market" units! Policy should have already been in place to handle such a situation (especially since a problem was known for sometime.) I have no doubt the EC products are world-class competitors but such an incidence would give me hesitation in a future purchase. Please do change my perception with the correct/just actions.
fs_audio
148 posts
 
Sean,

I believe your post is directed at Father & Son Audio, not SoS, correct? Just want to make sure Stewart of SoS is not skewered for something I said.

My comments in regards to what Joe stated about Alan have to do with the method of delivery, NOT about Joe himself. Keep in mind that Joe's thoughts are ONE person's opinions of another and very personal in nature. This is just NOT the place for such things. Whether these things are true or not, they have NOTHING to do with this specific situation. I don't even know Joe, I am only speaking of this specific situation. I am sure he took no offense from my statement, nor should he. Let's stay professional, eh?

I think everyone just needs to calm down, take a deep breath, and give Alan (and myself) a chance to rectify the situation to the satisfaction of all involved.

I will refrain from posting again until the situation is resolved, at least I will try ;-)

Best Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio
sean
6,231 posts
 
Sorry for the confusion and i do apologize to Sos for my "second round" of attacks.

Fs: yes, my comments were directed to you and in response to your last post. I'm sorry if you find them inappropriate, but that is how i feel. I am not good at hiding my thoughts / feelings, so i simply go with the flow. This has gotten me into trouble before and i'm sure that it will in the future. Then again, it has allowed me to "cut to the chase" many times and saved a lot of hassles along the way for everyone involved.

As to Joe's comments, they are applicable as it seems to demonstrate that Alan is consistent in his dealings / public relations / attitudes in dealing with people. Ernie presented the situation and one was left with the idea that Alan was not easy to work with, lacked customer skills and was not very "people friendly". Joe's past experience and comments basically confirm what Ernie's "one sided story" laid out for us. As such, i've just heard from two members that i both respect as individuals and as audiophiles that have shared relatively common experiences with the same "jerk".

The bottom line is still the same: will EC support the products that they manufacture and market ? Whether or not they do is the prime consideration. The situation with Alan is secondary at best. Ernie ( and others judging by previous posts ) simply wants his EC product upgraded. I don't think he'd care if Alan or a monkey did the work so long as it was done "right", the actual work performed and parts installed had a warranty and the total experience was "reasonably priced". He's really not asking for much. Sean
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