Service After the Sale

My dealer was great to work with when buying. Very knowledgeable with no pressure to buy. Spent over 50k. Was good at getting back to me with a few questions. The one thing that bothered me a lot that I consider good customer service is he never emailed or called me to ask how the system sounded. I might not return just for that.

Whaatt?? He didn’t even call you to check how everything sounded?? And you even referred to him as "my dealer" sounding a bit possessive there almost early in the relationship?? Heartbreaker indeed, but, don’t worry, the right dealer for you will show up one day! 😁

In my case I have purchased products from companies that have a "direct to consumer" distribution model; but I definitely researched their pre-sales support and their repair models.

+++1 for Alvin Chee and Vinshine Audio (Denafrips distributor in the US). Before I ever bought any Denafrips equipment, I reached out to Alvin to ask a bunch of questions about different products. He answered every single email within 24 hours even though he is in Singapore, and they were well thought out, answered my questions directly, and gave me honest feedback on which products were worth the extra cost....and even which ones were not. I now own Denafrips: Iris DDC, Pontus II DAC, Hades pre-amp, and Thallo amplifier.....and could not be happier with my decisions. Denafrips has a US based repair center in Texas, so no need to ship faulty equipment to China.....though I've never had to use that service.

I'll also add Buchardt Audio in that category. Before I purchased their speakers (I own a pair of Buchardt Audio S400 MkII speakers), I sent emails to Buchardt asking questions about service and repair and asking advice on speaker choices. I received several responses from Buchardt, including a couple directly from Mads Buchardt himself. Each response was received within 12 hours (even one over the weekend), and I felt were honest and direct. PS: Buchardt speakers punch WAY above their price point IMO. They have a 45 day trial period, but I knew I was keeping those speakers within a couple of hours of having them set up.

Since I am willing to use a direct to consumer distributors, the pre and post sales are extremely important. I have also not purchased from some distributors, because I could never get a response...even after several emails. I'm dealing with such an issue right now. I'm interested in purchasing an audiophile quality passive switch box (2 amplifiers in, 3 speakers out), and found what I think is the perfect product. So far no response to 3 emails over a 2 week period of time. Crickets

@vthokie83  pretty amazing isn’t it.  You have to wonder how some of these guys stay in business. Then again many do not.  But then again you have to wonder why  many of these same dealers piss and moan about how the online dealers are taking their business away.  Duh, wake up and smell the roses.  It’s called customer service.

Hopefully some of the vendors that fall into the “improvement needed” category will read this thread and learn something.  But on the other hand why would they, it’s easier just to trudge along in their set ways and continue to complain about it.

and many online dealers offer no support either...my worst was a Nuprime transport dying under warranty and no assistance from Nuprime or Audio Advisor...