How much should I expect with a warranty issue from a large retailer/distributor?

I am empathetic to your situation, but before you get to upset with Crutchfield, you have to consider what exchanging the piece means to them.

Let’s assume Crutchfield were to take the unit back and exchange it for you.

They would then have to send it in for repair and they would pay the $100.00 shipping cost.

When they get the unit back, they can’t sell it as “NEW”. They would have to sell it as “REFURBISHED” piece.

Refurbished equipment is generally sold at a reduced price. Chances are they would have to sell below their cost.

That being the case, they’ve now lost money on selling you a piece of equipment, plus the shipping cost.

The second question is, how long will it sit on a shelf before it sells?

Inventory that sits on a shelf costs a dealer money.

A business can’t lose money on sales and expect to stay in business.

As someone else pointed out, and you stated, you bought the “best price”.

With the best price comes the gamble of service after the sale.

Large corporations like Crutchfield are not going to bend over backward to make it right for you. While $4,500.00 may be a lot of money to you, in the big picture, that $4,500.00 purchase is peanuts to Crutchfield. A quick google search revealed Crutchfield annual income is $120,000,000.00. Your purchase represents .0000375% of that. How much do you really expect them to care.

Good luck.

From my personal experience, little to nothing if you are dealing with a Chinese manufacturer or distributor.

seems fair to me you only have to pay shipping one direction. what are you complaining about that's great service specialty as they have been upfront and actually replying to your emails/calls. I'd be happy with their service, better then so many others. 

one note; they cannot tell if replacing your unit is a viable cost effective repair path until they have the unit and asses the issues. example, could be a bad solder joint at the XLR connector 2 min fix, could be more but they wont know until they have the unit.  

FWIW, I bought a HiFi Rose 250 DAC/Streamer from Crutchfield last year and found that it did not respond to its remote. Crutchfield sent out a new remote, no charge, and we confirmed that it was the streamer, not the remote. I returned the unit & got a full refund -- including shipping both ways.

I realize that anecdotal evidence isn’t worth much, but those who criticize Crutchfield in this conversation could not have had experiences remotely like mine. I’d buy from CF any time, based on the superb service they provided.

By the way, this was an open-box unit that I’d bought at a discount. (That was the reason I didn’t merely exchange my unit -- it was the only one in stock at a discounted price.) So in this case, Crutchfield’s response was even more impressive.

OP here….

I’m not here to complain. I’m new to spending this much money in this hobby. Am just trying to understand what’s customary, and maybe about successes or ideas folks may have had in these situations  The input has been clarifying.

That said, I am disappointed that new gear never worked as designed, but also understand the practical matters of this situation; timing, costs, business models, …

Thanks again for the responses.  Will report back next week.  Interest developments, I think.