|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
198.54.202.250
In Reply to: It was ME!!! But let's look at facts and some of your earlier posts posted by Kevin Deal on February 14, 2007 at 18:43:18:
I can't beleive you actually posted this , it puts you in such a poor light and basically proves the original posters point about his mistreatment. Seems the customer never screwed you over ever , unless buying from you in 98 and not agian falls into that class. Yet you told him to go jump when he , within his rights and within his mandate to minimise costs, made an enquiry. It would have cost you nothing to be polite and gained you everything.
I quote and do samples and attend to all customers , not everyone buys the product from me but I would never dream of telling them to FOAD if they did find a similar product cheaper. Thats what Im in business for , to serve the customer and by merely serving them does not mean they are obliged to purchase from me , I win some , I lose some. Thats business!!
Rodney Gold
Follow Ups:
have been made known. The contents and nature of the original post and Kevin choosing to only refer to Asylum posts tells me there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye.
side with a fellow dealer and justify it by assuming there is something more negative about the potential customer left unsaid. I'm not jumping on Kevin. In fact I've been buying NOS tubes from Upscale over the net for years, and I've always received good service and good product. In this case I think his attitude/behavior makes little sense.Does he "carry" that ONE pair of speakers - and keep them boxed - solely in case a customer who's bought several items from him *recently* walks into the store and says "I'll take them." without an audition? Don't know about your customers, Bruce, but when I bought my speakers from a dealer I sure as hell wanted to hear how they compared to other speakers that dealer carried that were near my price point. Had the dealer told me "Well, they're boxed up and I don't want to bother setting them up." I'd have wondered why the hell he claimed to carry that model.
Are we to think that Kevin had read the posts of the potential customer *before* talking to him, and recognized it was the same person? If not, then why provide links to those posts now?
Automatically disqualifying potential customers because they've bought items on-line and/or haven't purchased anything from you in 8 years would certainly disqualify a lot of us. The one obvious advantage B&M dealers have over net sales is providing face to face help/service/knowledge and *auditioning*. Dispense with those advantages - as Kevin apparently did - and there is no reason to buy from B&M dealers. I understand the frustration dealers must feel when people just use their time/space as a free audition and then buy from the cheapest on-line seller. But in this net age I think the onus is on the B&M dealer to attract/keep customers by displaying and emphasizing the advantages a B&M store has. Kevin did not do that.
I've never had a problem with Upscale, and I expect to continue buying excellent tubes from Kevin. I think he screwed up with this guy though.
"Automatically disqualifying potential customers because they've bought items on-line and/or haven't purchased anything from you in 8 years would certainly disqualify a lot of us."That was the biggest mistake he made, indeed.
I referred to it as "bizaare customer profiling".
I just opined that all the facts aren't on the table. I'd bet the farm on it. I've only met Kevin once (at CES) so I don't know him. He has a great reputation, though.I do not dispute that there are rude people out there, both in and out of audio, and both customer and seller. There's just something about what I've read here that doesn't click.
"It's said that 'The customer is always right' but usually the customer is always wrong, you just can't let him know."Over the decades I've taught dozens of guys the necessity of being a better customer, how to develop "a friend in the castle", how to get invited to parties etc. etc. (Thirty years ago a local dealer took me into the shed out back and lit up a j. That set me thinking... he must like me! What did I do?)
Still, withall, I think the advice I first offered below would have disappeared any controversy: "You should have called him right back and nipped the antagonism in the bud."
.
I do believe Rodney (and even Presto, below: "Here is what I would do") have nailed the dealer's attitude and mistakes. I have been on the receiving end of very similar treatment from KD, this when he knew NOTHING about me, I had not been a previous customer, I live way too far away to waste his time auditioning, etc. When I read the OP before it had any replies, it was glaringly obvious who it was, and this BEFORE reading the reference to show gear, later in the post.Posts like this pop up about him from time to time. Each time, he will appear late into the thread, not unlike some avenging dragon, and attempt to vilify the poster by glorifying himself in a churlish way (cash flow and strong backs, indeed). Having a lot of inventory does NOT make you a hero. Buying cheap from manufacturers and then selling with normal or near-normal discounts does NOT make you a champion of the impecunious. I took a little time to review the demo/specials/used page. Didn't find any screaming bargains there, I'm sorry.
Further: in addition to some phrases that some might deem unprofessional ("roachy used pieces", like all audio gear is roachy once used), there seem to be some instances of him making his own rules, esp re the English language. Consider this example, edited for brevity: " ...like new condition, not even fully broken in ... Originally purchased from us then customer decided to go with separates. Retail with cap upgrade is about $xxxx. Call to discuss. This is not a used unit, so don't expect a used price tag. "
So what is it if not a used unit? A store demo? Didn't the purchaser open and use it (implied in "not even fully broken in")? That makes it USED, dude. I know it's not a car, but you do know that old chestnut about "drive a car off the dealer's lot, it loses $xxx grand"? Audio seems to work the same way IME. Go check out all the Audiogon ads where the item is only a few weeks old, and selling for USED prices, roaches NOT included.
No doubt KD will be back to "rip me a new one". Kinda appropriate, coming from him.
Speaking from personal experience I bought some tubes from Kevin and they were noisy, especially considering they were his top rated grade. When I called to question him about it all I got was some rant about his thorough testing process and how great his tubes are and how great his customers think he is and it must be my equipment....you get the point. He refused to take them back.On the contrary Andy from VTS sold me a nosiy pair of Sylvania 6SN7W tubes and when I inquired he immediately offered me a refund, no questions asked.
I'm sure a lot of people have pleasant stories to tell about Kevin and that is fine. However, it amazes me as to the nmumber of horror stories like this I hear or read about him. More than a couple of these stories is too many IMO for any dealer. This is the fourth one on Kevin that I can recall.
A local friend told me the almost identical story re tubes from KD! Seems this sort of bullying and intimidation is his MO.I too purchased some tubes recently (from TTS though), one of which was bad. Got an instant refund on the pair, no questions asked. Have not had the, um, pleasure of doing so from KD, and never will.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: