Business Ethics in the Audio Industry

dancole

Do you consider this a fair business practice on the part of Schiit? I feel like it’s a bait-and-switch ...

No, I do not consider this a fair practice and it has more than a whiff of "bait-and-switch," even if it was inadvertent. If the company really wanted to do the right thing by you, it would have honored the price it quoted you.

I’d walk away from any business that works this way, even though the behavior really doesn’t rise to the level of fraud, imo.

I understand what you are saying about the delay and all.  Not a Schitt fanboy but do think they are a honest company.

Truthfully, if it was me I would be glad it all happened as it did and would order the new freya + for the extra money.  But that's just the way I look at it, no reason you should agree.

I believe they actually acted more ethically than is typical. Let me take the conversation a step further to explain why. First of all, they don't owe you anything upfront and they refunded your money promptly. That could have been the end of it. But what if they had shipped you the original Freya on the day you ordered it on or about April 15 and then announced on May 28 a new and upgraded version. How would you feel today? Would you have felt like your new preamp came with it the implicit promise of being a current model in their product line for a period of time? Who decides that?

While I have no idea whatsoever your original desires for a preamp spec wise but let's say, for the sake of argument, that you only wanted the Freya for the balanced ins/outs and for the jfet and passive stages and did not care at all about the tube stage. Would you have been torqued over the fact that the new Freya S would have saved you $100? In my opinion, they did you a huge favor and they actually saved you money in the event you would have chosen to upgrade to the new Freya + model and left you to sell your 45 day old Freya. 

I don't know you and you don't know me so I'm not trying to impose my beliefs of value and fairness on you but you may be over-reacting ever so slightly. People throw around the term "unethical" when that can really harm someone. Think about it for a moment. They chose NOT to take your money when they sure could have and shipped you a product that was about to be discontinued/replaced in the lineup. They did so promptly and without prompting or you having to ask. They couldn't very well tell you why because, short of an enforceable non-disclosure agreement, your silence couldn't be guaranteed. It was a $750ish product that is now either $600 or $900. You get to choose how you want to go forward...where is the harm to you?

a couple of scenarios.

1) If they had a Freya in stock in April they would have sold it to you. Done.  In May they released the Freya Mk2 . That would have pissed me off but they have no obligation to tell anyone that although it would be a nice thing to do.
So now in a matter of 30 days, my original Freya would have depreciated a good 40% with the release of the Mk2

2) Schitt wasn't quite sure in April that the MK2 would be released in May so yes, they strung you along as they probably would need to order parts for yours and other orders in case the release of the Mk2 was delayed

Could it be that Schitt felt that they were  not only working in their own best interest but also the consumers?

They should have given you the new model at the same price of the discontinued one! A small price for them for the inconvenience they caused you!