Donald, as a professional with skin in the game should have read his post and considered how it would be read before hitting ‘post’.
Any sensible dealer should and will try to help customers with all Naim stuff. A customer who buys something from eBay and asks the dealer for help could be tomorrow’s £10,000 sale. On the other hand, the customer who uses the dealer’s dem facilities, takes their advice, drinks their coffee and then buys from eBay is a right git and should expect short shrift.
Dealers sometimes just have to bow to demand. I worked for a decent dealer and there were plenty of brands we liked but didn’t stock because they just didn’t sell well. Some brands we were not fond of much and did sell because they sold well or satisfied a niche against other brands to give customers a realisic alternative.
I’ve edited this thread a bit - removing the ad hominem name-calling. Some of you have been on here long enough to know better, and might also consider a pause of consideration before making a knee-jerk posting. Thank you.
To the OP, please find a new dealer.
As a Brit I used to find the contributions of ‘trade member’ (?) David Dever interesting and useful when he posted here. I have no idea how he was linked to Naim professionally.
Chris, Dave was a part of the old US distributor, NANA (Naim Audio North America).
Thanks Richard. I didn’t know. He seemed one of the good guys.
FWIW, while Donald’s post may come without any sugar coating, I read it as informative and to the point and certainly not in any way rude. Also it’s worth noting that there’s nothing new here - as far as I’m aware, no dealer, (either in the US or UK), is under any obligation to provide warranty service or support for an item that they did not supply themselves. It is purely down to their own discretion. This makes sense as they’re the ones on point who can make the best decision - I’d imagine that the customer who comes for demos but only buys online or elsewhere might eventually test a dealer’s patience and good will when it comes to support. Let’s not forget that the dealer is a business and part of their margin on sales is to cover their support time. However, a good customer who maybe buys a s/h piece from a friend or couldn’t pass up a particular opportunity, or is new in the area and coming with a system kit they’ve owned for a while but bought elsewhere, well they may feel a bit awkward, but as a dealer you may well be inclined to provide support for that item should they need it. It’s a judgment call, and one that only the dealer themselves can make.
Agree 100%. The response from @Duckster is very poor. He really needs to go on a customer service or at least public relations training course. I was quite shocked to read it.
Great customer service is one of the ingredients that makes Naim a top brand and I’m sure they will help resolve this issue.
My concern was largely with tone rather than what was said, except for Donald’s first point. To use a dealer to audition expensive equipment which you then buy more cheaply, perhaps second hand, elsewhere is highly immoral and to be condemned. But as far as I could see all posters agreed with this view and the OP himself said he did not do this. I felt that by making it his first point Donald called into question the OP’s behaviour. This seems to me to come close to accusing him of lying and the “3 sides to the story” point reinforced that impression. This is what motivated me to post. If this was not Donald’s intention, I apologise, but I still think the same points could have been made much less aggressively and especially without pointing a finger at the OP on public forum.
Roger
Roger, from what I can see the first paragraph was directed towards the OP. The rest said as general info for everyone else.
Donald acknowledges that the OP has had a bad experience. We don’t know the details of it and we don’t know the dealer. The gist of the thread though does ask whether this is something that is applicable to all US dealers. Donald makes an important point that it cannot and does not apply to all dealers.
The points raised by Richard.Dane are well taken, but unfortunately suggest somewhat consumer-unfriendly practices by Naim (IMHO).
I’m not clear if Donald, as brand manager for Naim in North America, is an employee of Naim, the manufacturer, or of Naim-Focal, the U.S. importer. If aligned with the US importer, then I’m not sure his non-sugar-coated, to-the-point statements reflect Naim’s (manufacturer) actual policy. If he, in fact, does reflect Naim’s corporate policy, then this hard-line policy is disheartening to someone who has been a proponent and customer of Naim gear for over 30 years.
As a consumer, my preference is to deal with companies that prioritize its customers’ interests. What Donald has communicated suggests that Naim values its dealers above all else. While it may be “nothing new” it would better have been left unsaid; that statement does nothing positive for Naim’s PR efforts or customer goodwill.
Some manufacturers, such as PS Audio (not a plug since I do not own any of their equipment) operate on the principle that its customers are “like family” and consequently the company has very consumer-friendly policies. Naim gives its dealers wide latitude; consumers are the dealer’s customers and dealers are Naim’s customers. This is bass-ackwards - but I guess it’s probably the way the majority of high-end manufacturers operate. Too bad!
a different way to handle the OP would have been an offer of advice or help
Just to clear this up a bit, the “distributor” is the Company that has the exclusive contract with the manufacturer to distribute the brand in a certain territory (eg North America). Most such companies are distributors for many brands - otherwise it’s hard to sustain a business.
To shed some light on what’s going on in North America – which is not TOTALLY transparent – I have read that the former distributor, Audio Plus Services, has been purchased by the parent company of Naim and Focal - Vervent. So whilst it is a bit inaccurate to say that the Donald works for Naim, it appears (with the proviso of Richard’s comment that at least implies things may be in flux in N.A.) he works for “Focal Naim America” which again is owned by Vervent and distributes Focal and Naim products in the States.
Audio Plus distributed many brands, and I don’t know who distributes those now. E.g. Rega. I doubt it’s Focal Naim America!
That’s why I suggested some training as it definitely came across to me as you describe. A better approach would have been to ask the OP to contact Donald privately to resolve the issue.
Whilst a retailer is under no obligation, going the extra mile is a useful way to win future sales. If the OP received excellent service then he may well have posted about it here and other readers may have been encouraged to buy from that dealer. A good reputation is never a bad thing for a business.
I would go even so far to say that good reputation is essential for any successful business in the long run and the right type of communication is one of the building blocks. Unfortunately the example seen in this thread is not really working as one.