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Not impressed, in dealing with Kitsune HiFi, distributor for HoloMay DACs

Here’s an exchange with Kitsune after I emailed them, frustrated by using their website several times. I have a thick skin, being in sales, and have to deal with cranky people often, and have (if I do say so) strong diplomatic skills for a peddler. Now I admit that I was a wee bit cranky (though I did say "sorry" twice!) and in a hurry in my first email, after being frustrated on several occasions with their website, but that was a test for him--to overcome that and see how he could help. He wasn’t interested. -PD

--- >>> (ME, 1st email):

Hi,
I have tried to shop gear at your website several times, most recently looking at HOLO DACs.
Your website is terrible! Sorry, but one can’t sort by product, brand etc easily at all. It’s so frustrating that I won’t come back. Sorry. ~Pat D

>> REPLY from them:

May 27, 2021, 12:43 AM PDT

"Patrick, you are the very first to say this.
Take care and good luck finding a product and website that meets your standards.
Best,-Tim"
KitsuneHiFi and HoloAudioUSA Tim Connor (Kitsunehifi) <support@kitsunehifi.zendesk.com>

>> My reply back to him:

Tim,
I am in sales and I know about customer service. I also use a LOT of websites, both retailers and manufacturers, so I am not an idiot or inexperienced. Yours isn’t user friendly when looking for a specific thing, like the Holo May, or for navigation in general.

The ideal reply would have been something like this:

"I’m sorry you’re having difficulty navigating our site. How can I help? Can I call "

Instead, what I hear/read is:

"I don’t give a crap. Take your business elsewhere."

Pretty pathetic. Don’t worry, I’ve found another DAC. Alvin from Sunshine Audio (sole distributor of Denafrips) is extremely helpful personally, and his site works fine.

Pat"

addendum:

" Seriously, that was such a polite "F off" you gave me. I might just have to post this on Audiogon to see if others have had a similar experience."

------------------------------

I know the HoloMay is an amazing DAC, but I am also interested in customer service. I will extrapolate and guess it wouldn’t be good if I had a problem with one of their products. I’ll pass. I have had excellent customer service from places like Music Direct and Audio Advisor, and the brick and mortar retailers I’ve dealt with, like my current Vandersteen dealer in Tacoma WA (shout out to Advanced Audio and Victor/Bob). I know retail customers can be a PITA, but it comes with the territory.
128x128patrickdowns
patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns OP
515 posts
 
re " Patrick...Take care and good luck finding a product and website that meets your standards.
Best,-Tim"

This reply was nothing more than a polite "Piss off." Maybe he was as annoyed by my email as I am by their CLUNKY website (bad on computer, worse on phone). That said, in sales, as a CR or sales person, I go out of my way to deal with cranky customers (in this case, maybe like me!) to calm them down and find out how I can help. He wasn't interested.

>>> MODERATOR: Feel free to delete this post/thread. Maybe Tim and I had a bad day and got off on the wrong "foot". There is no intent to disparage their product, but the shopping experience via their website could be more user friendly. Here is an example of an excellent retail website: https://www.musicdirect.com/
facten
2,882 posts
 
Like others, I didn’t find it difficult to get through their website after seeing your original post. Also, as easy as it is to deal with as musicdirect  , there are times when I have googled a particular product to see what dealers might sell it, MD will come up but after clicking on the link the webpage comes up and states that they no longer carry it . To me if you don’t carry the product anymore the link should be taken down ; but it doesn’t stop me from going back to their website. Point is, their website isn't perfect either.
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,634 posts
 
Or go to Magna. Rob &His there are super for most of the same products. I will say that I did order something from Kitsune that I wished to return on my dime.. After numerous attempts to obtain an RMA I resorted to a PayPal dispute.
That got his attention and I received a timely refund on a courteous note. He’ll email with you before the sale but after just use the website. I’ve seen worse.
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,523 posts
 
Your email said; You website sucks, I'm not buying from you. Well don't let the door hit you in the butt! Maybe you both were having a bad day? 


patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns OP
515 posts
 
UPDATE: I got a nice email reply from Tim Connor, owner of Kitsune, and asked if I could call him, and I did.

We had a great discussion, and he’s a very pleasant guy. I apologized for my crankiness and frustration, and he didn’t disagree when I said his website could be more user-friendly. His response was fair: Websites are very expensive to re-design, and he’s a one man band mostly (he may have some employees, don’t know). He spends 6-8 hours a day answering emails alone, so God bless him for his endurance.

He has been happy and a bit overwhelmed by the success of the Holo May DAC, for which he had some part in development as the US partner for Holo. There will be a new Spring DAC coming out soon, the Spring 3, which he says will be excellent. They have a new preamp which he is very excited about and pairs well with the May. He answered all my questions about his DACs and then some. I can tell he’s a passionate audio guy, and carving out his niche in the market is a lot of work. Before we hung up, I apologized a few more times for being grouchy and maybe reading more into his first reply than he intended.

MODERATOR: Please take this thread down. It's sorted out, and I was too quick on the trigger to complain.

PD
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