Is good customer service about dead?


I’d like to know from other members of Audiogon how they find customer service today. Not the resellers so much as the manufacturers themselves. I had a bad experience with a really late delivery. I also have a tone arm I bought in a first production run when a setup manual was not yet available – the manufacturer will not respond to my emails. I wanted to audition a rather expensive pair of speakers that were not available in my area. I contacted the manufacturer (from his own website) to ask where I could go to audition and purchase these – but no response. I have however had amazing support from the good folks at VAC and Jeff Rowland.
So I am now searching for new speakers but customer service is my first criteria and everything else is second. I'll be looking in the 5K-10K price range. I’d be very interested in other people’s experiences.
dat1
This is my last post on this topic.

Paul, you were offered FULL refund and we made it clear that we have a buyer ready now. I always have a list of people wanting a pair immediately.

We try to work with you in private, you misrepresent things in public. With all the options we've given you, any reasonable person would realize we're trying and would communicate until details are agreed upon. Since you're not doing that after the offers we've made, I have to assume you're happy with the speakers.
I had a very good experience with Bel Canto earlier this year where they made a repair to an amp i acquired second hand in a timely and cost effective maner and with good clear ommunications. I was very satisfied.
IMO, going on the forums and saying you are offering a FULL refund when you really mean you will find a buyer for the speakers but you have a buyer now is a misrepresentation. The difference? One is absolute and the other is contingent. Contingent upon the final inspection, contingent upon supposed buyer not backing out at the last minute, etc.
In general, I believe excellent customer service to be on the rise. Limiting the discussion strictly to audio, I find that today's successful audio retailers have the common trait of terrific customer service. Those of us old enough to remember, the audio shops of yesteryear were hit and miss, sometimes depending on whether the proprietor liked the customer. Today, successful audio retailers have formalized it to an art. Manufacturers dealing direct with the customer must understand in advance that cutting out a dealer network requires the adoption and formalization of customer service protocol and problem resolution standardization. Those who execute that well will thrive, those that do not......

Vapor, what is the definition of a full refund? I would define it as a reversal of the transaction, not the introduction of a third party, a fourth if you count an escrow company. It is your responsibility to refund the money. Does the third party you are trying to "broker" the speakers to understand that they are basically used speakers? Again, the distrust imbedded in this transaction appears to run deep.

Vapor and Luvs2listen have allowed this transaction to become a comedy of errors. If I had a pair of your speakers on order, with my deposit in your possession, I might be worried with your ability to deliver a completed pair of speakers in a satisfactory manner. Repeated missed delivery schedules combined with an unwillingness/inability to provide the full refund proposed by you in the earlier thread are worrisome signs. I hope thats not the case but if it walks like a duck.......
I have no dog in this fight but personally I'm weary of the advertising, self promotion, and marketing.

To be fair, I'm equally tired of the whining, crying, and complaining.

Put a sock in it.