Is good customer service about dead?


I’d like to know from other members of Audiogon how they find customer service today. Not the resellers so much as the manufacturers themselves. I had a bad experience with a really late delivery. I also have a tone arm I bought in a first production run when a setup manual was not yet available – the manufacturer will not respond to my emails. I wanted to audition a rather expensive pair of speakers that were not available in my area. I contacted the manufacturer (from his own website) to ask where I could go to audition and purchase these – but no response. I have however had amazing support from the good folks at VAC and Jeff Rowland.
So I am now searching for new speakers but customer service is my first criteria and everything else is second. I'll be looking in the 5K-10K price range. I’d be very interested in other people’s experiences.
dat1
Sprks, JP1208 would have received ALL his money back, minus the shipping charges he would have incurred in returning them to us for inspection. That was offered and refused.

Mtruong34, giving a full refund on items that we hadn't inspected first would be the height of foolishness. If anyone else were to buy that set of speakers, they'd be remiss if they didn't do the same.

Finally, Sprks, sometimes, the customer just can't be pleased, no matter what you do. The fact remains that he was offered a full refund, but refused the terms. His part in the entire process would have been limited to packing them up and shipping them back.

Stringreen makes the case for sticking with the larger companies that charge you for their advertising, distribution, sales force, etc. That's fine. But if you don't mind working with a new and growing company here in America that eschews all that extra overhead in order to offer you a superior product for a lower price, well, that's the customer we're looking for.
Stringreen makes the case for sticking with the larger companies that charge you for their advertising, distribution, sales force, etc. That's fine. But if you don't mind working with a new and growing company here in America that eschews all that extra overhead in order to offer you a superior product for a lower price, well, that's the customer we're looking for.

I was this customer so how do you figure my 6k pair of Cirrus speakers are superior? You shipped them with a 1 1/2" gouge down one side that you were well aware of and purposely left this side of the speaker out of the pictures you sent before payment and shipping. Is this the American way to you? It's not the first time Vapor Audio has done this either. It actually saddens me to see you using the word America in your marketing.

Would anyone want to know about a known flaw before purchasing? When I place an ad for them here am I required to disclose this flaw?

Vapor Audio now wants me to trust them AGAIN! LOL

Dat1 started this thread and owned these same speakers in which he sold shortly after.
luvs2listen/Vapor, why don't you just take care of this situation? Imagine if you had rectified this problem over a month ago and then you had spent that time to fullfill your stated order backlog.

I also find your cheerleading/shilling in another thread a put-off as you are talking about all of these new models you are working on and yet, you can't seem to solve a simple customer service issue nor can you seem to compress the timeframe for deliveries to those who already have deposits placed. At one point, I simply thought that you guys were in the middle of a steep learning curve, now I believe your issues are likely more serious and potentially detrimental.
(((Stringreen makes the case for supporting well known larger companies that charge you for their advertising, distribution, sales force, etc. That's fine. But if you don't mind working with a new and growing company here in America that eschews all that extra overhead in order to offer you a superior product for a lower price, well, that's the customer we're looking for.))

What Stringgreen is pointing out is for the customer to have some facts.
With successful dealer distribution it will cost the customer less.
The experienced manufacturer can then count on consistency with sales allowing purchases of loftier parts in larger quantity equals less costly runs equals Superior product.

Example a garage tech would have to charge 125K
to build a Rav 4 where Toyota can do for 24K
Lets look at the Parts, technology in a Vandersteen 2CE Sig 2 with 4 lofty drivers and compare to a well painted,Veneered 2 way box
with all the money in the veneer,paint job whats left over to spend for drivers etc
Which speaker do you thinks gonna be playing music besides jingle bells at the end of the day?
Cheers JohnnyR
JohnnyR, you never fail to get a plug in for your product that you sell, without mentioning that you are a dealer for Vandersteen. But that is besides the point, as your whole post is ass backwards. Successful distribution will cost the customer less? Wrong, everyone knows customers are going to pay a big mark up . In other words the lucky customer will pay 8 grand or more for the Cirrus though a dealer.
Next you plug the four lofty drivers in the 2ce Sigs, eluding that after a company such as Vapor has spent all their money on veneer, paint etc., that you are going to get lesser drivers. Wrong again. Vapor puts a lot of labor into the cabinets, and they chose some, if not the best drivers in the world,and a world class crossover that can be customized to each client. Vapor's customers are purposely buying direct from the company to save thousands so they can cut out the dealer, advertising, distribution , and sales force. Don't swear it Johnny , Vapor is not aiming it's speakers at your 2ce's , but rather YG Acoustic and Magico.