From the perspective of a dealer (though not of Mac), I understand their policy. They want and expect their dealers to sell face to face, not by mail order, not over the Internet. Quite a few manufacturers and distributors have this rule and in fact forbid their dealers from advertising on the Internet and on certain websites (ahem).
In this case the dealer violated the understanding with the manufacturer, possibly backed by a written agreement, by selling over the phone, effectively mail order. In any event what he did was unethical.
Presumably the customer was not informed of the manufacturer's policy about warranty coverage prior to the sale, so presumably the purchase was made in good faith, but it can't be proven. Meanwhile the manufacturer's policy is clear. So in this case I'd say the customer is out of luck, no thanks to the shady dealer who made the sale and didn't keep up his end of the bargain. The manufacturer chooses to stick to their policy in order to thwart such sales from occurring.
Maybe McIntosh should honor the warranty but demand payment from the dealer of a certain percentage of the cost of the component. It would be an expensive lesson to the dealer. If the dealer refuses or delays payment he should lose the line.
There's a lesson for everyone in this.
In this case the dealer violated the understanding with the manufacturer, possibly backed by a written agreement, by selling over the phone, effectively mail order. In any event what he did was unethical.
Presumably the customer was not informed of the manufacturer's policy about warranty coverage prior to the sale, so presumably the purchase was made in good faith, but it can't be proven. Meanwhile the manufacturer's policy is clear. So in this case I'd say the customer is out of luck, no thanks to the shady dealer who made the sale and didn't keep up his end of the bargain. The manufacturer chooses to stick to their policy in order to thwart such sales from occurring.
Maybe McIntosh should honor the warranty but demand payment from the dealer of a certain percentage of the cost of the component. It would be an expensive lesson to the dealer. If the dealer refuses or delays payment he should lose the line.
There's a lesson for everyone in this.