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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
dancub OP
50 posts
 
Rello - I did tell the Bryston tech that it was struck by lightening, just waited until he'd had a chance to see it. It seemed like it made it a more interesting job for him.

Happen to me with the iPod that was also on the same circuit . . . the repair guys called me back and asked WTF happened? They said it started smoking when they plugged it in. Said they'd never seen one do that . . . and could they keep it? "So cool" they said.

You forget that our trivals often are the highlight of their day, at least with real repair techs . . . not with the ones who are just taught enough to sway parts but the ones who love gear as much as we do.
dancub OP
50 posts
 
Actually, I've got another one...about Thiel. Called them when my son tipped over my 1.5s and caused a tiny chip in the black paint.

I called Thiel hopeing to get a paint color number that I could go match. The nice young gal who answered, hearing my story, asked "Could we send you some of the actual paint?" Uh, sure.

When the box arrived (free), they had included a brush. Geeeeewhizzzzz!
rello
308 posts
 
You told him after he mentioned there was something unusual about the piece but not before when you sent it in. The entire point of this thread is about companies that do great customer service things and its all good…My point with you is…its seems you might have been trying to take advantage of that good nature by just not mentioning it and seeing what they would do. In the end they fixed it anyway so good for you. So your saying you did not mention it because you thought it would make it more interesting for them? really? Wouldn't have more sense to mention it upfront to same him time.? To get to heart of the problem and get fixed?
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
801 posts
 
Times have changed but there are still some companies where you interact with people and not corporate policies. These are the companies I interact and buy from. I also think this is why it is imperative to go to the regional audio conventions. Meet the principals and designers of the products.

Synergistic Research was been the audio company that has meet and exceeded all my expectations. They have spent considerable time on the phone discussing my system. Products needing repair have been done expeditiously. Their descriptions on how their products sound have been accurate and helpful.
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