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In Reply to: RE: Before You Buy a SimAudio Product posted by Lance_O on October 21, 2014 at 08:10:47
Clearly, you do not subscribe to a fundamental principle, "...its YOUR machine, you paid for it, you may do whatever you wish with it". In short, you should be able to have any capable person you wish repair it.
Simaudio isn't stopping you from taking it to an independent repair technician, they are just not going to lend their support to the person you chose.
You seem to think that Simaudio has an obligation to provide their support and intellectual property (i.e. schematics, bias settings, troubleshooting procedures, etc.) to third parties who might wish to service their products, like the auto industry does. But the auto repair industry contains 100000+ businesses employing on the order of a million people, and the major auto makers employ on the order of 100000 people each with revenues in the $100B/year range.
Simaudio is a small high end audio company which employs something like 50 or 60 people and they don't have the need or the staff to manage a network of authorized service centers. They probably feel that the only way they can ensure the quality of repair work is to do it themselves, and it's probably justified.
What I don't understand is why you would WANT to send it anywhere else? What exactly do you find objectionable about sending it to Simaudio vs. sending it to some other company?
Follow Ups:
I have several objections:
Sole-source...It is done to maximize profits, there is no altruistic component whatsoever. The premiss that it would be an onerous undertaking for the manufacturer to provide information to other repair shops is hogwash. Since I started this thread I have spoken to three of the techs I have done business with in the past. Two have read some of the comments and were absolutely astounded by how little most seem to know about the electronics repair business. Shops don't get there schematics and specification books from the electronics ferry; THEY PAY FOR THEM! The proprietary parts they must get from the manufacturer, but unless they are needed for a warranty repair, are PAID FOR by the shop (and subsequently by you, the consumer). There is nothing, whatsoever, benevolent about a manufacturer setting up a network of repair facilities. They do it because their customers demand it and the repair shops are willing to pay for the parts/information because they see a profit in it. One tech told me all he needs to get documentation and parts (from most manufacturers) is a telephone and a credit card. It isn't altruistic, it's business! Sim Audio doesn't do this because their customers don't demand it and it is very profitable to compel owners to send everything home to Montreal...PERIOD.
Send...I would rather "take" and look the repairman in the eye and convey my concerns and description of the problem so that I may leave him to his work knowing he understands the nature of my problem.
One of my Simaudio amps failed and I also need to get it serviced. But as long as Simaudio is able to provide service, there is no way I would want to send it anywhere else. I believe the manufacturer is best equipped to service their own products. I've also had several bad experiences with independent "authorized" repair shops:
One shop took 6 months to repair my Pioneer Kuro TV because they didn't investigate the root cause of the problem and instead they just ordered one part after another until they had replaced every LRU in the set, and only then asked Pioneer for help. They also lost the remote. Thankfully, it was a warranty job so I didn't pay for all those boards.
I've had two pieces of equipment which were in excellent condition when I sent them but returned with cosmetic damage. In one case, the damage was significant and obvious so I couldn't believe they tried to get away with it.
I had a CD/DVD/universal player returned to me (twice!) without fixing the problem but claiming they had. Same for a VCR.
I once sent an amp for repair, and they threw away the original box and packaging I sent it with, and returned it in an oversized box with only peanuts for protection.
I think it's great that Simaudio is willing to service their legacy products. This is one of the benefits you get when you buy audio equipment from a reputable high end manufacturer, that you generally don't get with mass market oriented manufacturers. You should take advantage of it rather than complain about it.
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