Mcintosh-Bad customer service?

Just some minor clarifications, Mcintosh will force you to put their non transferable warranty policy on Ebay regardless of how it was purchased, including AUTHORIZED dealers. Their view is, they are protecting second hand buyers. Another view is, they are using previous Mcintosh owners to promote their new products. This is subject to interpretation. Failure to comply will result in your ad being deleted from Ebay and relisting will cause your account to be suspended. If you are comfortable with this practice, then you should no problems dealing with Mcintosh.

Regardless of the MAC warranty policy, since they forced the ebay ad situation, IMO they crossed the line into censorship.

There is an authorized MAC dealer in town & I could buy anything I want & get great customer service, as that's the kind of dealer they are. I've dealt with this particular dealer for over 25 yrs., so know they stand behind their customers. It's not a question of MAC being unfair with their warranty, as they are the manufacturer & can do whatever they want with it but more a question of them stipulating policy where they shouldn't, i.e. the used market.

I know we have some lawyers that frequent AudioGon, I'd appreciate hearing from them regarding Mcintosh's stance on Ebay. It seems absolutely surreal that they can insist you either modify your ad, or they will have your ad pulled. You're a private individual choosing to sell a personal item, in my mind they have absolutely no right sticking their nose in my business. I would be big-time pissed off if a manufacturer tried to tell me how to sell an item that belonged to me. It's none of their damned business.

I've also heard of manufacturers who outright refuse to repair items that were not bought from their dealer network, even when the individual is quite happy to pay for the service. Enough of this stupidity. Folks, vote with your wallets. I know Bryston offers a true 20-year transferable warranty and there are likely others. I suggest that we do not buy a new piece of gear unless the warranty is transferable. Manufacturers are free to set their marketing and support policies any way they would like, we're free to not adhere to their policies and buy from their competition.

I have a McIntosh for years and I have delt with McIntosh service and tech people on several occassions. I couln't find words to give a higher recommendation. They have always been patient, informative and willing to provide me a level of service I don't think you could get from a five start Mercedes dealer. Example I once bought a used MDC4 processor and it had a digital processing glitch when I used it for a convertor. I called and within 10 minutes I had a RA number and they updated it. I told them I bought it used and the response was, "I don't care we built it and we will correct our errors". So don't listen to the folks that expected too much and were dissapointed but rather those expected nothing and received everything. Great Products, Great Service and Great People that describes McIntosh in my book.

I have several McIntosh-amps, but, as you can see from my posts on audioasylum and audiokharma, I had some difficulty getting from McIntosh the service I felt I was entitled to. In the end, I only got because I raised it on audiokharma´s McIntosh-forum, and most fellow McIntosh-addicts took my side in the dispute, so Ron Cornelius finally gave a hand. I think that Bryston is indeed the way to go for the idustry and customers. Note that Danish high end manufacturer Densen has just started to give a lifelong guarantee for their units. I can accept a simple, non-transferable warranty from Sony or Panasonic, for products that cost a few hundred dollars. A Mark Levinson or McIntosh is a premium product, sells for premium prices and should have a premium warranty. In addition, Macs three-year-warraty is not the most generous to begin with. But McIntosh has great product and is on the upwsing with the se glowing reviews in TAS and Stereophile, so they will not change their warranty policy.