Hi-Fi Dealers - Customer Service Experience

Dear Hifi Kakis,

Just want to know how's your experience in buying speakers, amps, tweaks etc on our local shop in Malaysia compared to others.

I just had a very bad or can say the worse experience with one particular place that I will name later. I think will get better service at a mamak stall for a Rm1.50 nescafe tarik.

Ordered a Hifi gear from this shop and getting a simple , transparent answer is so so difficult.

Tomorrow , tomorrow, tomorrow is their ritual tag line when I called to check on the status/ on the item for the last 3 weeks. And the best part, the owner just dont care/bother to return my calls and sms. Call the shop the staff told me again tomorrow, tomorrow he will call you but no call at all. After calling for the last 3 to 4 times a week for the last 3 weeks still same answer .... Tomorrow. Part payment paid for the item and still no news... Maybe they should call this hifi shop "Tomorrow No end High End Hifi"

Please note that the item is an over RM2K gear.

Should I go to consumer right agency/my company lawyers or even to Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri Dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna? or just wait for another tomorrow?

Hi be@d,
I have the similar experience, I have sand a 5KVA UPS stabelizer for repair since 17 April 2009 until now.They claim that no problems for them to repair, no make good no charge require.
I do call them once every week, but they told me wait until Friday, Part not deliver until Friday, just wait until Friday. I have been waiting from Friday to Friday. Every week I get the same Friday answer.
This shop should call Friday Never End Electronic Repair & Services.

i'm agree with brad and all others end user,not all end user doesn't got knowledge in electrical/electronic servicing but we don't have time and let them do it.i'm waiting for 2 week for my amp,which is promise to be finished in 3-4 days.We still have a big problem in Malaysia in customer service.i still remember when in Japan i bought a camera then 1 month later i send it back to the shop and get my money back just to try the camera..hehe.They truly very appriciate customer.In Malaysia semua nak gaduh dulu baru dpt claim.

Hi Br@d, nice to meet u here again since 2 weeks ago.
I really understood that how frustrated u are!!!
As far as Hifi industry in our region, we shall realize that some of
the dealers especially owner was running the show with hi end products,
sometimes is reluctant to sell few grand stuff due to its margin is not
what they are interested ! Ironically, some old audiophile fellow said
that these dealers had categorize customers as :
1. VIP FB -very frequent buyer
2. NB - normal buyer : once in a year
3. WS - window shopper : look for used or won't buy at all
Think about it .

Lavender,
I agree with your statement on VIP FB,NB & WS. Every industry has it own profiling category of customers, good customer (who brings or introduce you 7 other customers who are WS or a NB) or bad customer(who is very picky, never say good things about the shop, skeptical etc ). Thats how successful companies survive for years.

What they do is, coming out with great business plan on how to keep the VIP FB on loyalty program, VIP treatment, next item buy discount etc. And smart business strategies on how to make WS move up to NB and for NB to become VIP. Its not an overnight task. But the rewards are there if one succeed.

Most of the companies fail because they cannot grow consumer base such as NB and WS to move up to VIP. We have to remember that customer experience and word of mouth plays a very important role of building new customer base. Its a consumer market now. So now if one company do not care about NB and WS, do not respond to the need to NB & WS , what will happen to the business?

I'm trying to say here, at any one time for anything we buy, we are of course a WS or a NB at any point of the buying process. The question here is, does the retail shop see the potential of new people buying or seeking service of any offering of a shop. If not, its a making a quick buck business and very seldom continuity of repeat customer & bad word of mouth . If yes the retail shop sees the impotence of these WS and NB, feng shui smiles at that business. Thats the fact of any small of big business around the world

- br@d - wrote:Dear Hifi Kakis,

Just want to know how's your experience in buying speakers, amps, tweaks etc on our local shop in Malaysia compared to others.

I just had a very bad or can say the worse experience with one particular place that I will name later. I think will get better service at a mamak stall for a Rm1.50 nescafe tarik.

Ordered a Hifi gear from this shop and getting a simple , transparent answer is so so difficult.

Tomorrow , tomorrow, tomorrow is their ritual tag line when I called to check on the status/ on the item for the last 3 weeks. And the best part, the owner just dont care/bother to return my calls and sms. Call the shop the staff told me again tomorrow, tomorrow he will call you but no call at all. After calling for the last 3 to 4 times a week for the last 3 weeks still same answer .... Tomorrow. Part payment paid for the item and still no news... Maybe they should call this hifi shop "Tomorrow No end High End Hifi"

Please note that the item is an over RM2K gear.

Should I go to consumer right agency/my company lawyers or even to Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri Dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna? or just wait for another tomorrow?

Sorry to hear your problem.

If they still cannot deliver, you have every right to demand back your deposit paid so far. If they don't want to refund, then u should threaten to lodge a report at the Kementrian and also get the newspapers like The Star to give that shop some bad publicity. Also should say that you will send lawyer letter, which is all well within your rights as a consumer.

Then you can also post that shop's name in the Internet in forums like this so that everyone can boycott that shop with lousy service.

After all, you're spending your hard-earned money and deserve to get "fair treatment" at least.

Br@d,
What a constructive & significant statement !
Should the "Pigeon Eyes Dealer" learn about the lesson here ?
Just for a quick example :-
A doctor went for shopping recently, he came across a used hi end amplifier sound tremendously, he try to ask the price, the seller looked at him, at that time he dressed up casually with a pair of slippers, simply answered him the price and walked away, doesn't seems liked to bother about him. Due to his ignorance, the doctor changed his mind of haggling with him.
From the example we can see the dealer not only failed to sell that used amp to a potential customer, but lost a goodwill as well.

just want to share my experience with some of local and singapore dealers. i will only list out the good friendly dealers i have met. i usually wears casually with cheap pair of slippers when i visit those hifi shops just to test the attitude of the shopkeeper. i will never buy from those who doesn't seems like to bother about me.

Tropical audio (dealer for harbeth)-- Sam is very kind to allow home trial if possible.

CMY Balakong (in particular Issac)-- friendly dealer who is prompt to answer your sms and never tired of demoing their items to you.

AOL (singapore in Aldephi)-- Andy is a informative and knowledgeable guy who has vast experience in this hobby.

Audionote (aldephi)-- they have a few mouth-watering affordable hifi products such as leben cs600, harmonix hifi tuning products, audience speaker cables and interconnect. their main demo system consisting of harmonix reimyo cd player, audionote amp and avantgrade speakers is one the best system i have heard in recent years.

Tong Lee in sg wang-- enthusiastic dealer but the owner is a bit moody sometimes. dont know why they lost their dealership for some items (unison research, transparent cables) but overall is a loss to us as i think the items is fairly priced.

Starbuy (butterworth)-- a newly opened hifi shop in penang. have liason with center circle audio pj. friendly enough to come to your house to help in fine tuning of your audio system and trial of the auralex room tuning devices.

Hi Guys,

I experianced the same treatment from a so called exclusive distributor of Musical Fidelity here in Malaysia. Its so sad to think that we dont only pay a much higher price from this UK product here but the service here is up to the mood of the distributor here. If he doesnt like you, your problems will never be solved.

A few months ago I forked out nearly 38K buying speakers, a new CD Player (Musical FIdelity A1 CD PRO) and a new DAC (Musical Fidelity Trivista 21DAC) from this MF(Musical Fidelity not any other meaning) distributor. After using it for 2 weeks something keeps bothering me. Everytime I open the Top cover of the CD player there is a loud clicking noise coming from my speakers. "Everytime"

After my friends commented on this after auditioning my 38K equipment I cannot tahan already and complain to this MF distirbutor.

After I week I was told that based on feedback from MF UK technician I have discovered a serious design flaw!

Looks like I am the only clown in the world to match a A1 CD PRO with a Trivista 21DAC both manufactured by the same company. But the best thing is that instead of offering me some compensation or solution I was told to

1) Live with it!
2) Disable certain important functions of the CD player!
3) Pay money and upgrade to a front loading CD Player!

I replied in an email that I dont agree to that as its not my fault that MF designed their stuff wrongly and I wont anymore money for any more upgrade after spending 38K.

I was shocked when this MF local agent replied in an email that I am a "cheap skate", "naive", "unfair" and "unreasonable" customer and he forwarded his email to MF UK!

Numerous emails to MF UK and to him has gone unanswered for weeks now except that he has refunded my Trivista DAC money but nothing else. No answer and no replies from anyone.

Luckily I have copies of all the email and would forward it to anybody interested to read. Its so sad to find out what a person is really like when he looks so gentlemanly and polite from the outside.

Looks like we just got to accept this kind of treatment when we buy high end products from Overseas. Be carefull , like this MF agent told me in an email, "I wont lose sleep over this issue"

Below is the email MF UK sent to me regarding the design fault.

From: Tech Help [mailto:tech-help@musicalfidelity.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 27 May, 2009 2:33 PM

Cc: TECH-HELP
Subject: Re: Technical Asssitance - TRI-VISTA 21 DAC

Dear XXXX

This problem is caused by a tiny interruption of the SPDIF signal from the A1 CD Pro when the lid is lifted.

This is because, for safety reasons, the laser in the mech is disabled when the lid is lifted. (this brief interruption is a function of the mech over which I have no control)

I have not been able to find a solution to this, apart from removing the disable laser function permanently, which I would not advise as it is there for safety.

The reason this problem shows up only on 96kHz mode on the Tri 21 DAC is because there are 2 upsampling chips, the first takes the digital signal and upsamples it to 96kHz, the second is only used in 192kHz mode and upsamples the 96kHz to 192kHz.

Either the "mute on loss of lock" function is better on the 192kHz chip or more likely the 2 chips together are doing a better job of muting, when there is a brief interruption of signal from the A1 CD Pro..

The only other thing that could be done is to permanently modify the Tri 21 DAC to 192kHz.

As there is no reason to use 96kHz (we now only make dacs with 192kHz upsampling), the correct solution is for the customer to use 192kHz only.


Best Regards Mike

Hi Andy,

At least you are the few lucky ones where the shop refunded you for the DAC. did you manage to get a replacement other brand dac?

Is the sound a "click" or is it a static burst - like a sparking sound?

Hi Guys,

For a MF Design Defect which has been acknowledged by the MF technician themselves the least they can do is refund my money. But I never expected to be ridiculed and called names by the MF agent here for not agreeing to pay extra $$$ to buy another higher costing Front loading Musical Fidelity CD Player!

After getting my refund I purchased a Bel Canto DAC3.

The sound everytime is like a 2 to 3 sharp static burst coming from the speakers. It get irritating especially after being reminded that I paid 38K for this equipment. The best part is that I get called a cheap skate after buying 38K worth of stuff from him.

I demanded an apology or a full redund for all my equipment if he doesnt apologize but unfortunately.... just silence from that MF (distributor)!

What to do? Overseas buyers, nobody to turn to, just accept lah... even no sound or reply from MF UK.

Dear Andy,

Maybe you should post in the forum the name and company of the MF distributor so that all hifikaki is aware of the character.

Hi 123_rocketman,

The MF distributor I am talking about is listed as the EXCLUSIVE distributor in Malaysia in the Musical Fidelity website as well as his HP number. I guess its a soho type of business with no display showroom.

I guess its my fault being giving too much respect to the Musical Fidelity brand name.

I should have said NO when he asked me to bank in the CASH money to his personal account instead of his company account. Best of all the company name stated in the receipt and the company he owns and the bank account name are all different.

My lawyer told me that I still have options which I am still considering.

At present, I am taking it easy and hopefully I can demand an explanation from him as he cant hide from me in the KL AV show this month.

Regards.

i thod the A1 CD PRO is complete CD player with internal DAC, i listen to this player briefly at Singapore dealer, it good standalone CD player. The dealer should have recommend you a dedicate transport instead of CD player...

Hi hifikaki

You listened to the CD player at Alpha Audio?

I would never step into that shop ever again.

tycham wrote:Hi hifikaki

You listened to the CD player at Alpha Audio?

I would never step into that shop ever again.

i think it Alpha audio, it at the adelphi, i went there last month looking for Marantz sa11, then they show me the MF player. I know one of the saleman there very 'kwailan' one.

Hi,

The design defect of the Musical fidelity equipment is only apparent when pairing any Top Loading Musical Fidelity CD Player with the Musical Fidelity Trivista 21 DAC.

If you pair the MF DAC with a Front Loading MF CD Player there won't be any interference.

Its actually not even the distributor fault as this is clearly a design flaw and acknowledged by the MF Technician himself.

But our local Malaysian yellow skin distributor try to show how terror he is by trying to settle this design problem by intimidation and name calling and then sweeping under the carpet and keeping quiet like nothing happened. I guess trying to impress the white folks in the UK.

The mat sallehs must be laughing at us Malaysians on how we handle customer problems.

No wonder no reply to my numerous emails to Musical Fidelity in the UK.

Sometimes I regret trying to support local dealers. Its just better to save money and buy from the internet or overseas.

Cheers! I am going for a cool beer. Enough of this bullshit.

Hi HifiKaki,

The price of the SA11S2 is RM14800 here. How much in Singapore. Thinking about getting another CD Player...

Thanks.

Anything which have a design flaw should be recalled.

Andy wrote:Hi HifiKaki,

The price of the SA11S2 is RM14800 here. How much in Singapore. Thinking about getting another CD Player...

Thanks.

the best price for sa11s2 here in malaysia 11k++. Singapore u can get SGD3.4k. if you plan to go to Singapore to buy the player, make sure you stay more than one day there, the last time i went, all the shop did not kept stock, need to order from agent which will take a least one day to get the player. I was there during weekend so end up with a used sa11s1.

tycham wrote:Anything which have a design flaw should be recalled.

I still remember the MF TriVista SACD player has the transport problem, there are many TriVista SACD player out there only play CD bcos MF cannot find the spare part for the SACD section when it spoil.

Hi Brother tycham,

Anything which have a design flaw should be recalled.

That's correct but it looks like Musical Fidelity in Malaysia and UK sweeps everything under the carpet and hope for the best.

Everything is money and profits. Common Sense and business ethics is only for the VIPs customers.

Where in Malaysia is the Sa11S2 selling for RM11k+?
Thanks for the info.

Regards.

u can try a&l at amcorp mall or centre circle at taman tun.