Is it acceptable for the vendor to charge for a technician’s hours if you purchase a high-end stereo system costing over $30,000?
No.
Find another dealer.
Not in the U.K. Where do you live…….you mention dollars, if U.S perhaps @ChrisBell can offer some advice?
I would personally never accept that.
What a simple and loaded question. Perhaps you should give a full account of your purchase and you’ll get a proper response.
Indeed. You may be in the same town, or many hours and an expensive journey away. Without knowledge of the full situation it’s impossible to give a view.
Naim and some other brands used to make it very clear that they expected their dealers to install their equipment in the customers home, and ensure that it was functioning properly, and that the customer understood how to use it and was happy with it’s sound quality. This was very much part of the service included in the premium prices charged for these products, and not something offered as a special favour or at an additional cost.
If your treament by a dealer is different from this, I suggest that you contact the manufacturer and ask them what they believe is reasonable.
Obviously this level of service may, for some brands, be considered an additional service for which you should pay even if that isn’t the case with Naim. Perhaps if the dealer has to travel a particularly long distance they may feel the need to charge you.
For real?
I remember when I bought my first Naim kit (CD3/72/180) and the dealer not only installed the system, they were required to do this as part of the sale. This was the magic of Naim in the 1990’s, it was the dealer’s job to make sure the system was setup properly and sounding good. Typically the visiting employee had been factory trained and shared a wealth of knowledge on how to make the best sound. To this day I often “fix” friends systems based on what I learned. With Naim setup is key and everything matters.
I’ve been vocal about the demise of dealer training and after-sale customer support on this Forum. A poor business decision in my opinion.
I have always installed my own gear, and never considered otherwise, however if I were to spend a very large sum like the OP on a complete system as a package, or if for some reason it was very complicated, I would be pleased if the dealer were to offer to set up, which I would accept if no charge, or if more than maybe an hour or so’s journey from me I would feel I should offer to pay travel expenses, and accommodation if it meant an overnight stop.
I believe that word is in common usage in Britain, though most commonly perhaps in relation to property sales. I’ve no idea about other countries such as wherever the OP is based. As for the OP only posting once, only 3 hours or so have passed!
Okay, maybe fair.
Installation is part of the dealer-Naim agreement. Delivery and installation should be free of charge within a reasonable radius from where they are. Certainly when you register a new Naim product, until recently (I’ve not bought anything in the past few years) one of the questions is checking on who your dealer is (to make sure they are authorised) and another question is whether they delivered and set it up for you.
Obviously if you live 100 miles away, I think things can be different.
Naim no longer have dealers.
They have retailers.
The OP has a vendor.
I don’t think this is correct. At least outside the UK. I’ve installed almost all of my Naim gear myself. It’s a bit of a myth really, those days are long gone, as is a lot of the old Naim customer service.
As to the OP’s question, we would need more context. Was there a discount on the sale in lui of a free install. At the end of the day, you pay for an install anyway - either through the sale price, or separately if required.
I’d you were to buy Naim in NZ now, you wouldn’t get a shop demo, let alone a home trial, let alone an install.
You seem bitter Mike
Ha ha, I was just being factual and a typical blunt Kiwi
The UK folk think the rest of the world enjoys the same service with Naim that they get.
They don’t.
From Naims point of view, surely it doesn’t look good if a technician is required to connect two or three boxes together.
I was going to say something similar. If you need a technician to install your hi-fi, maybe that product isn’t for you.