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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
duanegoosen
355 posts
 
Sean's response to Sos's first post seems perfectly on target to me. The warranty verbage is completely moot. This problem exists primarily because one arm of EC wants to make sure that their cut of the profit stays as big as possible above all else. It looks like they've run into and tested the boundries in this instance.
I don't know Sos, but he might try to employ better critical thinking skills when posting in a contentious environment. Analogy is the weakest form of epistemology, and the Covrette comparison he used is as flawed and poorly thought out as any I've seen on this site. The EC unit in question here is not a used Corvette and there is no warranty issue. There is also nothing remotely analagous to a rolled back odometer in this case.
Generally, dealers and distributors do not design or build components, they have value when they can make intelligent observations, offer sound advice, or make a product available. In short, the real worth of a middleman in this industry is predicated on the quality of service he provides. So far it doesn't look like Ernie has received anything resembling good service. Hope raising the body count can help EC get this right.
tok20000's avatar
tok20000
608 posts
 
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1041706030&openusid&zzTok20000&4&5#Tok20000

Ernie, I think you have a soul mate.

KF
ljgj
955 posts
 
When my amp went down after three weeks it was sent to Alan. It took six months to get it back. It didn't work - sent it back - it took three months to get it back - it didn't work. I took it down the road to a local amp fix-it guy and had it back in one day. Alan's excuse was trying to get a technician and then he said he had no excuse. He said he would send me some cones to compensate me but never did. In that time I emailed EC in Denmark and they replied that they have the utmost faith in their dealers and distributor. So what does that mean? I still had no amp for almost a year. I asked the dealer for a new amp - he said no but if I sold my amp on Audiogon he would help get me another brand like Gamut at a good price. How do you sell a broken amp? Good luck with Father and Son - they may be your only help or sell it and buy a new one. It will cost you a fortune to do that. The used market on EC compared to the new price is quite a difference. I emailed Father and Son and asked for their best price on a EC DAC and they responded around 1750 shipped. They will sell you one for 1500. He harped when I asked for 20% off. Another dealer offered one to me for 1550 when I just asked for his best price. That may be your cheapest route for the upgrade and flexibility on future transports. I called Alan to check on the 1550 dealer being legit and was reminded of why I didn't want to go in this direction. I had emailed Alan earlier asking for a break on price on the DAC as compensation for not having my amp for so long - he did not respond at all. This is why the high end is in the shape it is in. It will self destruct as many companies will and have, Competition is a no-no in the industry and the customer should be happy with you as a dealer and not the reverse in too many cases. I have probably said too much in this case but I hate when someone gets the shaft. I hope everyone comes out for the better in the end!
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
I have read this ENTIRE thread (phew!):

1) Thanks for everyone's REAL experience dealing with Alan. It is necessary in order to confirm Ernie's side of the story (since SOS said there were apparently two different stories being told).

2) Alan is royally F-ing up. EC and Alan have a chance to turn this into a good situation, by publically and quickly finding a solution to this specific mess, and then to come up with sensible policies that deal with grey market players.

3) Completely agree with Sean, Zaikesman... thanks for being bold and eloquent guys. This is downright bad service, and reflects poorly on EC. If EC doesn't come up with a solution for Ernie and others with these players, than it just confirms EC as a company that doesn't value it's customers, is out to make a buck, only wants to protect it's dealers/distributors at the expense of customers, may not support other products it carries, etc, etc.

4) There are SO MANY other options besides this CD player! When you're spending an arm and a leg for electronics, you better get great customer service.

5) I have a used VAC 70/70 MKIII that has had some intermittent hum issues: Kevin Hayes has ALWAYS taken my call, spent WHATEVER time necessary to talk me through the "next step" in solving the problem, and has ASKED that I KEEP HIM INFORMED and to CALL BACK with WHATEVER I may need, and offered to take the amp back to look at it at my convenience!!, even though I told him I bought it for over 60% below list price! After having this kind of service, I realize that this IS HOW IT SHOULD BE!

Good luck Ernie. I hope you get in touch with EC and that they see this thread. And yes, I believe that this should be reference on AA. The more public the mess, the more pressure. Manufacturers/Distributors must realize that there is a STEEP price to pay for less-than-STELLAR customer service.
tweety
41 posts
 
After reading all these threads where is Alans reply to all this? He seems that his mouth and actions work okay when dealing with the innocent people who bought his product and not giving them the courtesy , and service they deserve. I am sorry I have a Electrocompaniet product now. It is time for a Change and for the Company and Dealers to get there heads out of the sand. Is the all mighty dollar your only concern? Treating people with compassion who have invested in your product is the right thing to do, just wait until your sales start to fall on Electrocompaniet products than it will be to late.
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