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What do you think about this cable company?

In this thread I am going to withhold the names to protect the guilty. However, everything I state is true, and I have documented in correspondance I have had with a certain cable company's distributor.

About a month ago I posted a brief comment on an Audiogon thread where I offered to do a review of a rather inexpensive cable,

Here is the link to that thread:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1034463095&openusid&zzTok20000&4&5#Tok20000

Anyway, I receive an email from a distributor of a different cable company that sells expensive hi end interconnects. This distributor offered me the cables for 30 days with no strings attached for review. I thought to myself that this would be be a great chance to demo some of the finest cables made in the world, and possibly get them at a good discount if I really liked them. I would in turn tell the truth in my review since I really did not have anything to loose or gain by doing this review.

So we (myself and the cable distributor) emailed back and forth about 14 or so times discussing the agreement, and about 3 weeks ago he ordered the cables. He did not have XLR cables in stock and he had to order them which takes approx 2 weeks.

During this time, I decide to buy a reference turntable/tonearm combo (Rega P9 w/RB1000 tonearm) to better help me in the review. I also buy several albums that are particularly good recordings that I know many audiophiles have. I also start really spending a lot of time getting a good handle on my system's sound with the Nordost QF IC and SPM speaker cable. My system really does sound good with this combination. I spend easily 20 hours getting prepared to do this review...

I then am informed by the distributor that the cables have arrived and that he is going to put them on a cable cooker for a few days. Sure thing I think.

About 5 days go by and I do not hear anything from the distributor. I send him a few emails to no reply. Finally he emails me with the following news:

The manufacturer has changed their policy to only let distributors send out cables to people who prepay for the cables. Thus, if you want the cables you are going to have to pay for them before I can send them to you.

I have put a lot of time and effort into getting ready to do this review, and the manufacturer wants me to send the distributor money after the distributor proposed to let me use the cables for 30 days with no strings attached to do a review of their cables.......

I then sent an email stating that I could not afford the cables unless I sold my Nordost QF and SPM which I would be judging the cables against. I asked the distributor that he talk to the manufacturer to make an exception.

Low and behold, I find out there are NO EXCEPTIONS.

What do you think folks? I think it is sad that a manufacturer will not back up their distributor.

Would anyone buy cables from a company that pulled stunts like this? Or maybe I am being too hard on the company and the distributor? I was pretty upset about the last developments, and I have sunk way too much time into this review endeavor.

Let me know what you think.

KF
128x128tok20000
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drubin
3,275 posts
 
The manufacturer's policy is not unreasonable, and the distributor may have overstepped his authority in extending the offer to you.

What boggles me about this whole story is the notion of manufacturers approaching us Audiogoners and asking us to write reviews of their products. Is this a sea change in the way the high end works the media? (Are we the media?)

Hey guys, over here! I'll review your products!
fpeel
455 posts
 
Like Kinsekd I think the best thing to do is name names and let God (and the rest of us) sort them out. To be fair, both the distributor and manufacturer should be sent the link to this discussion so they may "defend" themselves if warranted.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,256 posts
 
If you get free use of the product with the expectation of being able to buy them at a deep discount, then you definitely have a financial interest in the product. If you had gone ahead and actually evaluated the cables you wouldn't being doing a review, but instead a paid endorsement. If this type of arrangement is the norm, then the whole A'gon review feature is suspect.
unsound
7,333 posts
 
Funny how in this case it's not the bait but the switch that stinks.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
I think Ohlala had this right the first time around. Your return in this misadventure would have been worth exactly what you invested in it - had you not gone off the deep end and upgraded, as you would have us believe, soley for the proposed 'review'. FWIW, your beef is with the distributor, not the manufacturer, whom I consider to be acting ethically and trying to get their distributor to do the same. Enjoy your new TT and albums, and hang on to your day job. :-)
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