Charge for TT setup?

Given the typical disposition of us audiogon forum goers, "years of enjoyment" is much more likely to be: "days of bliss, followed by months of tepid satisfaction, giving into doubt, followed by days of increasing upgrade urges, finally culminating in a new 'what should I buy' thread" ;)

03-11-14: Mulveling
Given the typical disposition of us audiogon forum goers, "years of enjoyment" is much more likely to be: "days of bliss, followed by months of tepid satisfaction, giving into doubt, followed by days of increasing upgrade urges, finally culminating in a new 'what should I buy' thread" ;)

LOL! I see that we are all cut from the same cloth. ;^)

finally culminating in a new 'what should I buy' thread

Which is exactly why the dealer should provide a high level of service.

I purchased a table from my dealer and they sent their set up tech over to my home to install it and set it up. He took his time and did a great job. A year or two later I purchased a new cartridge and they handle it the came way. In both cases, I chose to compensated the tech what I thought was pretty well, but I was never charged by the dealer for the "service". Which in my opinion is the very definition of the word.

In my world its simple. If someone does something for me I always insist on paying something for it. Even when the other party does not feel it is necessary. My logic is, we all need to make a living, I think people will almost always do a better job if their time is shown to be valuable and lastly, if I don't pay this time, I cannot feel good about going back for a similar "service"

I think the dealer's position is foolish and short sighted, but that is just one opinion.

Dont buy the $12k table, setup is $200 for that one. LOL, this is ridiculous.

This does not sound like a good dealer, but you might be dealing with someone new or junior to the company who knows that the fee for "cartridge setup" is normally $100, but might not know that the fee is waived for guys buying a new deck. If they want to get you into the deck they should make it easy for you to transition. Give them the benefit of doubt, talk to someone who has been there for a while I am sure he will see it your way.