Vendor war stories . . . good ones that is . . .


I see lots of bad mouthing of companies but sometimes, these folks building our gear are really amazing. I've worked for a few notable electronic companies and sometimes it was a source of great personal price.

I'd like to tell a few positive ones about the companies who have amazed me with their own pride-of-product . . . and I encourage you to do so yourselves.

Bryston - I own a nice little integrated amp (B60) that I bought used about five years ago. Three years ago, lightning struck a tree outside my house, traveled down the tree into the dog's "invisible collar" wire and into the house. Once into the 4 way electrical outlet, it blew the dog collar transmitter completely apart (imbedded into the opposing wall but not the dog) and took out everything on that outlet, including my Bryston. It goes without saying that the integrated amp was toast.

I sent it to the Vermont service guy Bryston has (I didn't get around to mentioning the lightning) and about a week later got a call from the repair tech. He said - and I quote - "this is really unusual, we don't usually see this sort of failure". Being a good boyscout, I confessed the lightning strike. He said he'd get back to me.

A few days later he called back (notice I'm dealing with a real person here? A person that actually knows what he's talking about . . . not someone with a prewritten script in front of them)? He says, and I quote again, "We don't actually warranty against lightning strikes. So the next time this happens, we won't be doing it under warranty."

Wait, WAIT! "THE NEXT TIME?" THEY ARE FIXING MY AMP UNDER WARRANTY? IT'S AT LEAST 15 YEARS OLD, IT'S BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. JESUS CHRIST, WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS THIS?

Guy said he'd ship it out the next day. Meanwhile, I'm pretty much totally speechless. I say "Thank you." and hand up.

Vendor of choice.
dancub
I had the same experience with EgglestonWorks here in Memphis. A factory tour from Jim Thompson and time in their listening room with their full line of speakers. I bought a pair of their Rosa speakers. They are perfect for my small listening room.
A quick story...I bought a Nakamichi deck that had been modified when new and the owner had added an interchangeable electric cord, by Kimber Kable. The cord had a short in it so I contacted Kimber and they asked me to send it to them and they would determine if it could be repaired. I got a call back from Nate at the Kimber factory who told me that he had not seen one of these, but that it was as good as anything they make today. Anyway, he sent me a replacement without charge. Great customer service! By contrast, imagine calling GM and telling them that your 20-year old Chevy is running rough. Do you think they would offer to replace it without charge. Fat chance!
Great Bryston story . Just not sure why you did not tell them of the lightning strike upfront?
Once I've purchased Sunfire 300 amp for very low price($755 from ebay NIB) and also once I had to service it in 15 years of ownership(Due to 60hz buzz filter caps replaced). Price paid + price of service still justifies vs. presumed same class of Bryston 4B-ST. I also had a number of upgrade attempts(some of them with a/b-ing with my amp), but every time I felt that invested money wouldn't justify and remained and still remaining with my current amp.
Balanced Audio Technology is great. I have returned both a VK-200 and VK-3i for work. Victor Khomenko and Vladimir Shutov did a great job in diagnosing, repairing, testing, and communicating. These were older pieces and out of warranty, but I was happy to pay for their expert, authoritative and fast service. Extending the life of this great gear another 10 to 15 years and refreshing the sound for a few hundred bucks was a no brainer.