HELP Electrocompaniet stole Christmas

From what i can see SO FAR:

Ernie made clear to the individual that was going to do the work that the unit was purchased second-hand and did have a serial number. From that point on, it was up to the individual doing the labor to do their homework to verify if the unit was eligible for said service / upgrades under their specific policies PRIOR to Ernie making arrangements to have said unit delivered. As far as Ernie is concerned, he did what was within his power and knowledge to produce what should have been an easy-going transaction.

FS Audio was a dealer that got stuck in the middle of a transaction that lacked good communications. No fault or blame should be put on them for anything and i don't think that anybody has pointed fingers at them at this point in time. Their offer to try and work with Ernie is quite valiant given the fact that they are now fully aware of the up-hill battle that they face.

The distributor of EC or "Alan" as Ernie referred to him lacks customer skills and is a "jag". He did not follow through on the information that was presented to him, HIGHLY inconvenienced an owner of the product from the company that he represents and gave said customer nothing but grief. As such, he is a poor company representative and quite lacking as a "human". If all EC products are delivered, guaranteed and upgraded via "Alan" within the USA, i would avoid buying an EC product in the future. That is, so long as Alan is involved with the transaction and maintains the same attitude towards customer support. This is sad though, as i personally like and have recommended the EC player to several others. I will stop doing so immediately.

With all of the above in mind, Ernie has yet to contact EC directly and should do so immediately. I would NOT take the "vocal" approach as this would put EC on the defensive. Ernie should contact EC and explain that he owns one of their products that he purchased second hand. I would tell them that you were basically happy with the unit but were looking for ways to improve the performance of your system. As such, you had found out that there was an upgrade that could be done to this unit and you would like to do so. At the same time, you might want to mention that you had no reason to purchase another product from another company so long as EC was willing to offer good customer and product support. Doing such would allow you as a customer to continue to support a company and product that you had been quite happy with in the past. You should ask them how you can go about having the upgrade installed and who to contact. If they mention Alan, it is time to explain the situation while highlighting the fact that he was a truly poor representative of their company and that you simply wanted to continue to enjoy your EC product in upgraded form and he left you hanging. That is the high and low of the situation in a nutshell.

If EC truly is a "good company", it should not matter where the product was purchased if one of their customers is willing to pay for service and / or upgrades. Things would be different if it were a stolen item or the work was being submitted under the guise of a warranty claim, but since that does not come into the equation and the US distributor has already confirmed that the unit is not stolen, they should be able to make arrangements with a US dealer to satisfy Ernie's desires.

Needless to say, I will be curious to see where this goes. Sean
>

As a side note here, for as much as i have "bad-mouthed" Bryston amps, i have to state that their warranty and customer service under ANY circumstances are quite excellent. Too bad other companies can't / won't / don't follow their lead. Sean
>

SOS's responses are, to be quite frank, bullshit.

We are not talking about ANYBODY losing ANYTHING out of pocket or raising their cost of operating expenses. This is NOT warranty work. The cost of the upgrade is a set price. Ernie offered to pay full price. Ernie also made special arrangements to deliver said unit and Alan knew that he would have to go well out of his way to do so. Ernie was never asked to supply the serial number, so he didn't. He was simply asked if the unit had a serial number and responded accordingly.

As far as i can see, Alan is a schmuck, did NOT obtain all of the pertinent information prior to agreeing to do the work, inconvenienced a customer to GREAT extent and now wants to charge said customer double for his own idiocy.

As far as i'm concerned, this IS a reflection on EC and is directly related to company policy, customer support and product viability. This SHOULD affect EC directly as it affects anyone thinking about buying an EC product. After all, it could be ANY of us that becomes the "exception" as to how / why they won't work on their own product ( in this case, EC ) regardless of the point of purchase. I could understand if it was a "bootleg" i.e. NOT a "real" EC product but a clone or knock-off under another brand name, but this is NOT the case.

Alan / EC have opened a MAJOR can of worms here. There is only ONE way to make this right. They know it, we know it and they better do something about it if they want to save face.

I stand by my statements as both a consumer and as the owner of an electronics sales / service center*. Sean
>

* Non-Audio related

Jcbtubes: Much more eloquently stated than what i had to say, but i think that we are thinking along the same lines. Sean
>

Sos: First of all, the "grey market" products are a point for EC and their distributors to handle. Obviously, the "bad" distributors / dealers that are undermining the other distributors / dealers within the EC ( or any other company's ) network need to be rooted out and disposed of. The fact that customers that own EC products are feeling the brunt of EC's poor management / marketing is evidence that SOMETHING is very wrong. This should not become the customers problem, as they have already placed their confidence in EC by purchasing one of their products. As such, EC's lack of business skill ends up holding what should be happy customers / owners of their products as hostages. A person in Ernie's situation is now a VICTIM of EC's own unscrupulous dealers / distributors !!! The right way to do things would be to satisfy the customer AND correct / remove the source of the problem ( bad dealers / distributors ).

Judging by the fact that Alan handles business the way that he does tells me that EC is either unaware of his actions as one of their company representatives or that they condone such treatment of their customers / owners of their products. Neither looks good on their part. As such, i once again stress that Ernie REALLY needs to contact EC and present his situation to them. As they have the final say in how their products are supported, how their customers are treated and who deals with them, Alan's perspective may mean very little in the grander scheme of things.

The bottom line is that an individual that is happy with an EC unit needs customer service, is willing to pay full retail for it, has gone out of his way to do so and the company / distributor are telling him to take a hike. That is the whole situation cut and dried. If EC / Alan were "good people" and proud of the product, regardless of who sold it and profited from such sale, they would stand behind it and take care of a "cash in hand" customer.

Ernie has been a vocal proponent of the EC player and i imagine that he would continue to do so after the upgrades were performed. Rather than be able to do so, Alan has spit in his face and then told him that he will "help him out" for twice the price after highly inconveniencing the man. As i mentioned, this is not a matter of a warranty claim or a reduced profit transaction. It is simply a matter of customer / product support for what was previously thought to be an "upgright" brand of products.

As a side note, i find it interesting that you chastised Joe aka Trelja for offering his perspective on Alan, how he is as a person and what to expect out of business dealings with him. Given the fact that Alan's attitude and business mannerisms are what brought this whole thread about, i find Joe's comments to be very applicable to the situation. The fact that you called Joe to task and asked if he would repeat such comments to Alan's face while i have stated much worse makes me laugh. Using the "shame on you" routine to try and embarrass / silence someone only works when the person stating their point of view lacks conviction / has no balls. Judging from Joe's prior posts, i would venture to say that he wouldn't have stepped up to the plate without a bat in hand and an eye towards the fence. I don't think razzing from the bleachers is going to distract him one bit or change his point of view. Especially when he's already been up to bat against the pitcher and knows EXACTLY what to expect from them.

Ernie: You have to decide if you like the player / desire the upgrade enough to want to continue further with this. If you do, you need to bypass those that you've been dealing with and talk to the head of the company / front of the horse. Once you've heard things straight from the horse's mouth, you'll know just how influential the other end of the horse really is and if they were following the lead given to them by the head. For your sake, I'm hoping that the scent coming out of one end is a lot more pleasant to deal with than the other. Otherwise, EC will have generated twice as much "product" for potential customers to step into. Sean
>

Sorry for the confusion and i do apologize to Sos for my "second round" of attacks.

Fs: yes, my comments were directed to you and in response to your last post. I'm sorry if you find them inappropriate, but that is how i feel. I am not good at hiding my thoughts / feelings, so i simply go with the flow. This has gotten me into trouble before and i'm sure that it will in the future. Then again, it has allowed me to "cut to the chase" many times and saved a lot of hassles along the way for everyone involved.

As to Joe's comments, they are applicable as it seems to demonstrate that Alan is consistent in his dealings / public relations / attitudes in dealing with people. Ernie presented the situation and one was left with the idea that Alan was not easy to work with, lacked customer skills and was not very "people friendly". Joe's past experience and comments basically confirm what Ernie's "one sided story" laid out for us. As such, i've just heard from two members that i both respect as individuals and as audiophiles that have shared relatively common experiences with the same "jerk".

The bottom line is still the same: will EC support the products that they manufacture and market ? Whether or not they do is the prime consideration. The situation with Alan is secondary at best. Ernie ( and others judging by previous posts ) simply wants his EC product upgraded. I don't think he'd care if Alan or a monkey did the work so long as it was done "right", the actual work performed and parts installed had a warranty and the total experience was "reasonably priced". He's really not asking for much. Sean
>