Mcintosh-Bad customer service?


I was preparing to buy a new pair Mcintosh MC501's from an authorized Mac dealer. I have been doing some research and found some incriminating threads on Audio Asylum about Mcintosh. One very lengthy thread was about a seller on E-bay who was forced to pull his ad by a Mcintosh lawyer. Another was about a frustrated buyer who couldn't get support in Russia. There are always isolated instances, but I am very concerned now. One of my main concerns is that Mcintosh will not honor any warranties after you sell it. That means if I later try to sell my amps on audiogon, the buyer gets no warranty! What are your thoughts! I am used to unbelievable service from Pass labs, and even Krell. I refuse to spend that kind of money to a company that treats me poorly after the sale. Should I be concerned?
noonan

Showing 1 response by bemopti123

Most of the companies that are in high end do not honor or do "transfer" warranties to the new owner. The very few that used to do it, no longer do so. You have to look at the McIntosh case of not willing to honor a warranty for someone beyond the original purchasing honor as a fact in the industry. One cannot but wonder why companies that stopped going the extra length for their after sales support to be considered outstanding. When it comes to it, there might be a couple of reason behind this. For one, that a company cannot afford to upkeep their products to the full satisfaction of the warranty or the time of the warranty, because of economic considerations. All companies that are in high end are corporation or work like one. A corporation is driven for profits, and God save that corporation that has not bettered their last year's or last quarter profits, for they risk massive or excessive punishment of their stock shares. In this light, they cannot afford to fix items and send them back (at their expense) no longer....The best of the high end items are ridiculously overbuilt, making this shipping back costly and very open to damage (AKA: UPS or any handling service.) I guess even we are to blame for this, because most Americans look into profits and bottom line when it comes down to our portfolios or stocks...so, we pay the price. Now, another reasoning behind this is the abuse that a very generous warranty or for that matter return policy would attract...for example, have you heard the news of those customers that have been "blacklisted" from several stores because they are notorious for their manipulation and abuse of return policies?

In the other hand, I have heard of some people who did get outstanding service from Mcintosh, for things like having it fixed for free without the need to digging up ownership records etc....But it seems to me that that was something that no longer might hold true. I remember reading about this about 2-3 years ago on a webzine or site.

We live in a world where people feel a sense of entitlement that this "entitlement" often leads to abuse, which has the sad after effect of spoiling the priviledges of those that did not take advantage of it.