Warranty...good,bad and the ugly


A few months ago I bought a Mac 402 new and had it shipped,Mac voided the warranty because of their policy on buying over the phone and having it shipped,I posted that info several months ago with lots of comments.I now see that there are several having issues with Wilson finishes and warranty stipulations..I had a Pass amp which was bought used over this site about 2 years ago,it developed an issue and even though I wasnt the original owner they still covered the warranty and even paid shipping on the repair(amp had about 6 months left on the original 3 year warranty)..Why dont all companies operate this way and just simply cover their gear from the time it was intially purchased reguardless of how many owners it has had,where it was purchased,who set it up etc etc..Seems rather silly and bad business...any ideas????
missioncoonery
I bought a few Mac pieces new over the years, and always thought it was -absurd- that they cover their products for all of one year. Now, I never had a problem with mine, so they are well enough made, but why not stand behind your product?
Lets try it another way..Im interested in overall opinions on gear and the warranty they have or dont have and why companies do or dont stand behind these high priced purchases ,not really on my situation with a void warranty because my amp wasnt purcashed at the store...General opinions on warranty or lack of ....
It'd be great if each company honored their warranties regardless of how or when a product was purchased, but the fact is each company has its own warranty policy based on a business decision they've made.

We can debate it, but what's the end game? Nothing is going to change as a result.

The companies with excellent and liberal product support are well documented in these threads.
Yep, they are well documented but that does not mean we cannot document that again. I was interested in a Pass amp and have no dealers in my area. I asked them if they could work through a local dealer but they said no, they would try and support their established dealers. They did offer to bend over backwards for me to arrange a demo unit, help me find a dealer and pretty much do whatever it took to make me happy. I was not only impressed by what I hear of thier customer support but this is also very impressive dealer support. I am currently looking at saving a little more and going with the xa line or VTL mono blocks when the time arrives.
I spent 25 years (years ago) in the stereo business.Mac is trying to protect their dealers by protecting their dealers profit margins.Bluntly - their aim is give you a powerful disincentive to not buy from anyone except your local dealer and also give their dealers the confidence to try and make each sale of Mac equipment profitable.
How you as a consumer feel about this says something about your retail showroom experiences over the years - maybe no one ever turned you onto a really musical piece of gear as part of the shopping experience or maybe (like a lot of folks) the pleasure of buying great sounding stuff is incomplete unless you also got the worlds cheapest price?
The problem is that brick and mortar retailers need to make a profit and more of a profit than folks who only ship stuff out and maintain no showroom facilities.
Do you like to listen before you buy? Is the experience and reputation of your local dealers of any importance to you? I also understand that it's pretty late in this game - most likely only a few major cities will be able to support a "hi-fi" shop - a lot of music oriented dealers aren't going to make it thru the current downturn.
Personally - never have owned any Mac gear. Have always respected the build quality.