Viva, no longer a fan


Viva as a company has decided to abandon the audiophiles who engage in the used market.  I heard that the had implemented new transformers in there amps.  I emailed them directly 3 times over a 2 week period with no reply.  Finally I called and the knew who I was by name, surprised I was then told that the US importer would be contacting me.  Here is the mail exchange:

From: John Krupa
Date: September 21, 2016 at 7:04:52 PM EDT
To: support@vivaaudio
Subject: Fwd: Viva Audio

Totally what I did not expect!!! I was primarily looking to upgrade them to the new Quattro status as I understand there was an big transformer upgrade that I was willing do in addition to the voltage change. After the Bob Clarke email I was taken back and responded how I felt. I really am no longer interested in Viva as a company to do business with if that is the case and will blog the copy of this email to the various sites.


From: John Krupa 
Date: September 21, 2016 at 2:08:37 AM EDT
To: Bob Clarke
Subject: Re: Viva Audio

The Verona's are at my Girlfriends house in Manchester. I heard there was a new Transformer upgrade in the Quattro series, hence my interest. I have over $300k invested in my system and I have Sola CVS transformers providing both voltages hence it was only for convenience sake. Upgrades are and have been part of this industry that I have been a part of for over 40 years since I started in this hobby. Name the manufacturer and it hasn't been a problem. Upgrading from. Mk1 to a Mk2 or an SE upgrade. Weather it be BAT, YG, Plinius, Ayre, the list goes on and on, It's a shame that a manufacturer acts in such a petty way. I will make sure that I share this email on all the sites that I am a part of! It's funny but this I believe reduces the brands appeal and will drive down its resale valve hence the initial desire to purchase in the first place. This is an email I would have expected from a "name deleted" type. Now I guess Viva! No longer a fan!


On Sep 20, 2016, at 12:02 PM, Bob Clarke wrote:

Dear Mr. Krupa,

Viva Audio has asked me to respond to your request regarding voltage changes and upgrades for Viva Verona amplifiers and Linea linestage. Viva no longer services equipment purchased on the used market from anyone that is not an authorized Viva dealer. They do not make voltage changes, in order to discourage grey-market international sales. I would recommend using a high-quality, high-current step-down transformer, which, besides allowing the use of a European voltage product, will also have the beneficial effects that isolation transformers provide.

Best regards,
Bob Clarke
Profundo


Ag insider logo xs@2xvip428
I don’t get the philosophy, or the business model, that supports the idea that a ’professional’ manufacturing company can refuse to support any of its previous year ( or for that matter current year) gear....simply because it was bought from a non-representative! If this faulty business tactic was applied to car manufacturer’s, can one imagine the issues that would crop up if one bought a used car from a non-dealer! Never mind the legal issues???
There is plenty of money to be made by the manufacturer in supporting their old product. On top of that, the ’good will’ that the customer will experience will most likely lead to some loyalty to the brand. Sure, the local dealer wants to control the sale, but in this day and age of worldwide markets....that’s truly expecting a lot, IMHO.

@michaela : perhaps that is true. I don’t know enough of the facts here since the OP does have a piece of gear that is ex-US. I’ll give you one example. Years ago, I bought a piece of consumer electronics (video) from a dealer in the States and it had problems. The dealer was useless. I contacted the manufacturer- they said, "oh, he’s not an authorized dealer, so we have no obligation." I sent them a copy of a print advertisement from the dealer that appeared in a major electronics magazine (yeah, this was some time ago), claiming that the dealer was authorized to sell the brand. The ad even included the manufacturer’s logo and the words "authorized dealer." I suggested to the manufacturer that they ought do a better job policing this. They agreed, and sent some techs to my house, along with a new unit. But, this doesn’t sound like that situation.
Sometimes, the issue of grey market isn’t always so murky and doesn’t involve any overt misrepresentations (although who knows- dealers can sometimes be a little too slick, right?). However, there are times when a consumer knows that they are purchasing something outside of the authorized system and in that case, I think the consumer bears the risk. For any high priced piece of gear, used, I would probably insist on the serial number and contact the manufacturer to verify its origin and service history before I bought. (I don’t know how much this happens in hi-fi, but I know in the case of other luxuries goods, some have turned out to be stolen!- Not suggesting that is the case here at all, just that you can never be too careful when laying out substantial funds).
Having said all that, please note that the original statement from the US distributor (contained in the original post that started this thread) did strike me as overbroad-- in refusing service for any equipment not bought from an authorized dealer. This would exclude the used market, even if the gear was originally "authorized" to be sold within the territory, i.e, not grey market. See my post above at 09-25-2016 9:57am.

I’m reluctant to paint this with a broad brush-- it really depends on the facts. I don’t believe a consumer who knowingly buys out of market goods can expect or should the support, for the several reasons mentioned in another post of mine above.
But, I’m not the arbiter of this, and your view is certainly as valid as mine. To the extent that there is a cost to be borne, it is usually the consumer that pays it, one way or the other.
Davey- the car market may be a good example. At least it was, back when I was buying exotics. Cars sold in the States have to meet all kinds of regulatory standards-- from crash-worthiness to EPA standards. There were many instances where a very cool model was never brought into the States officially- it could be privately homologated by a certified shop, but I doubt any US dealer would get near it. (Some of these are now antiques, so can get in through other exemptions).
I believe that a lot of major manufacturers of all types of products adhere to these kinds of policies for grey goods, because apart from protecting their territorial distributorships and dealers (which cost more than buying out of network), there are in some instances, material differences in the products themselves, which raise legal compliance/liability issues. The manufacturer will, for very good reasons, want to avoid condoning the sale of such products in a territory where they don’t comply with applicable safety, health or other laws or regulations.
I think you have to consider the many sides to this- as well as the facts of the specific situation before you can reach a conclusion as to whether extending or denying service in a particular instance is fair or reasonable.
If you aren't talking about grey goods, but products originally authorized for sale in the territory, I agree that support should be provided, see my previous postings.

Grey market support has been decided by the Federal courts, and been all the way to the Supreme Court.

As a manufacturer, you’re not required to support a product that is "materially different" than what is intended to be sold in that market. 

But you CANNOT refuse to support a product simply because of the sales channel(s) it traveled.

http://www.law360.com/articles/7193/supreme-court-refuses-gray-market-case
Aesthetix is another company that does this. They will not support their used equipment purchased overseas. Even if you are the original owner migrating to a country with a different voltage, they will refuse to change the transformers. They will not even supply schematics to the authorised tech of their distributer in another country. They expect the tech to tell them the issue and debug the issue over the phone with them remotely. Bloody ridiculous.