Best and Worst customer service?

YBA, Oracle, Aragon. All have given me terrific service, including items I've bought used off the 'net. If you have the opportunity to buy any of their products, don't hesitate at all. To maximize your audiophile experience, get a good relationship established with a dependable local dealer, it can go a long way to making sure you remain satisfied.

My best experience has been with Audioquest. Those guye e-mailed me right away, gave me a name & number for future use and even volunteered helpful, related info I didn't even ask for. The worst: SONY by far. Had a camcorder that needed a chip. I could have swam to Japan and back before it arrived at their service center - 6 months!!! And the damn thing broke again after 6 weeks - with the same problem. Never offered a replacement and the thing wasn't even a year old. Sony sucks!

Worst: Sony! I have a Sony DTC 670 DAT deck that has transport problems. I took it to my local Sony authorized service center and after looking at it they told me they weren't authorized to work on DAT's so send it to Sony. I sent it to Sony to be fixed and was told about 6 weeks turnaround. After 2 and 1/2 months I called wanting to know where my deck was. I gave them my name, address,etc. and they said they had nothing with my name on it. I flipped. After 1 hour on the phone, they found my deck sitting on a shelf with no name on it. They lost my info and had no way to contact me. They told me it was fixed and would send it right out. A week later still no deck, called again and was told they hadn't worked on it yet. It would be 2 more weeks. I was furious at this point but figured I could wait 2 more weeks. After 3 weeks I still had not gotten it back. I called again and was told that service would not work on it because it had been opened up by someone before they received it. The only time it was opened up was at my local Sony authorized service center. So they sent my deck back to me UNFIXED and then forgot to refund my $165 that I sent them with the deck. I called and complained and my check was sent OVERNIGHT mail. Afetr this experience I will no longer buy anything Sony.

The worst - don't know, but some years ago it took Nakamichi 4 tries to fix a problem with my cassette deck. The best? No contest here - Bryston, hands down!

Most of the high-end manufacturers I've dealt with have been excellent. These include CAL, Krell and McCormack. But, by far, the one that stands out is VPI. These folks really care about their products and, perhaps, even more so, their customers. They will bend over backwards to accommodate you and make certain you are getting the most from their wonderful products. If you are analog-inclined you cannot do better for yourself than VPI. Creek and Celestion have never answered my emails. I figure they're still peeved at us Yanks for that 1776 thing. Sony shouldn't even be mentioned in this forum! They are a mass producer - perhaps the massest - that only cares about moving product. Their customer service, such as it is, is hideous. Some years ago I swore never to buy another Sony product of any kind and have stuck to it. In the product categories you might found yourself shopping Sony do yourself a favor and go with Panasonic, among others. They are not going to give you "high-end" service but they will help, which is more than Sony is likely to do.