Hi-Fi Shops/Outlets with Unpleasant Service

ryder, why not try out the linear tracking hehe, mcm senang je

azri wrote:ryder, why not try out the linear tracking hehe, mcm senang je

thats what u think ....

nmpk senang, kalo susah > abandon ship!!

Just wanted to share experience in Absolute Hifi in Taman Megah. They're not arrogant, but I didn't want to start another thread so decided to post in this one instead.

Went in the other day for a quick listen to their Neat Motive 1 speakers. Last time I was in that shop was about 10 years ago, and it still looks exactly the same with the same hifi racks and same sofa. Just a few less Naim equipment, that's all. 10 years ago it already looked like nothing had changed in that shop for 20 years, so I guess it's been like this for the last 30 years.

It's really like stepping back in time when you step into that shop. Even the amp they used to demo the speakers is a 15 year old Naim integrated. But you know what... the sound wasn't bad at all. It was a deja vu demo experience... with the same statement that they had no audiophile CDs, and the same choice of music (rock) to demo. They have always been into their PRAT and that has not changed either.

All in all, a good experience with the people there (although I wish they would spruce up that place a bit). Their CD player had just been sold and the guy opened up a new Esoteric CD player to do the speaker demo for me, even though I asked him not to bother doing that.

my first post in here after reading so much and sourcing for 2nd hand gear, maybe not hifi related but happen last week with the flea market seller in Amcorp Mall (yes, going there for hifi gear to be exact ), asking the price of a football tshirt for my kid, then the guy asking what size do i need, well as usual may i know how much is it, that guy really don't like of giving me the price instead mumbling or whatever you may call saying, giving price also no point of no size....MEANING I FOUND THE SIZE YOU MUST BUY COZ DON'T WANT TO WASTE MY TIME...sighhhhh

relax, kdnfz, there are anal people everywhere, not just in audio ...

Laming wrote:My first new item i bought for 'home entertainment' is marantz AVR sr-7500 from at highway laser SS2 2-3 years ago(not really remember)... even the price quite expensive for peasant like me.. the sales guy name 'scotty' (don't know what is real name) treat me really well, explain and tell me the pro and con of the equipments.
since i a newbie on AVR (and my appearance doesn't look like a rich people too hehehe..... restlessly he explain to me..which one to invest money, which one is not...make me more interested in AV...

Until today, after spending quite a amount of money for htheater base on his opinion, i realized and notice what he said is true and really helpful... unfortunately, he was not at highway laser anymore when i bought a dvd player last year...
so guys (saleperson), if you good and honest to customer, you can gain too...
just my little bit of experience
kudos to him...scotty of highway laser....

Haha I think I know who ur talking about... he is now working as sales for Linn and I happen to know him and also met him at KLIAV 2011, very knowledgeable and helpful... if u wanna look back for him he's active in forum low yat under the username scotty.

1.
Was planing to get a primaluna, anyway the dealer at Gurney Plaza Penang don't even want to demo it.
2. Bought a tube amp from a dealer in Sg Petani, start to have problem after 2 week, but took 2 week to rectify. Within 3 week it start to have problem again and this time they won't even pick up my call.

sari wrote:1.
Was planing to get a primaluna, anyway the dealer at Gurney Plaza Penang don't even want to demo it.
2. Bought a tube amp from a dealer in Sg Petani, start to have problem after 2 week, but took 2 week to rectify. Within 3 week it start to have problem again and this time they won't even pick up my call.

hi bro, mind to tell which dealer?

Ha..ha..think i know both ..bought items from them with no problem ..

mofaz wrote:Ha..ha..think i know both ..bought items from them with no problem ..

Buying sure no problem.

Latest update as of 19 Jan 2012. No calls from A&L were made to me for the follow up on

1) PJ has a yellow cast
2) AV 7005 has a L/R balance issue

Desmond (the salesman) from A&L is too “busy” to resolve my problems, I should have seen this coming as complains made to his superior Ah Hong (I think) has fallen on deaf ears as well. As the Chinese saying goes, head also no good, how to expect the tail to be good?

To balance the scale, Kenny from Highway Laser was a great help to assist me to resolve item 1 and 2. Kenny requested the tech from Optoma distributors to assist and boy did they assist. 2 trips to my house and they manage to diagnose the problem. Yellow cast should be resolve after CNY holidays

The AV processor got sent to Kenny on Monday and today (thurs) ,I got it back in perfect working order.

KENNY YOU ARE THE MAN….too bad the ATC and AYRE amps aren’t to my cup of tea, if there were, you are welcome to swipe my poor credit card or cards….

This man, KENNY did not even bill me for ADMIN charges....charges which I am more than willing to pay.

KENNY please fill you poison needle “cukup cukup” when you have new toys. You have a waiting customer here….a little discount should be able to KILL ME DEAD nicely….

Working behind the scene, we have MAX from Max Audio, the RM that went to his pocket from my pocket was the BEST $$$ that I spent, BAR NONE.

I would not mind spending more $$$ to buy some more toys from this fella….if it had not being for him pulling all the cables for me, my HT journey in malaysia would have been terrible!!!

To tip the other side of the scale we have DESMOND and AH HONG from A&L (*** SERVICE organization), Really attentive when the invoice is not paid, once paid, it is goodbye FOREVER. These people and the organization are in it for the quick $$$. After sales service does not even crop up in the individuals and their corporation values - values which are the MOST important for individuals and organizations to expand in their respective vertical and horizontal market.

I really can’t add any more comments without resorting to expletive. Only words of vulgarity can express my feeling for this organization (A&L (**** SERVICE)).

To top everything off, we have the hifi4sale ADMINs, question : - why was my original post deleted? Does the admin of hifi4sale has any vested interested in A&L ?

My sincere apologies to ADMIN if I am mistaken….but I am sure I have posted the original post on 10 Jan 2012.

And to the A&L cybercop...I know you are reading this....***** (edited)

A & L = **** SERVICE

KENNY and MAX ---- YOU GUYS ARE THE MAN!!!!!

I am glad your problem was resolved. Do fully agree with you that Kenny of Hiway Laser is an excellent sales adviser with integrity. Just bought an amp from him last month and his before and after sales service was consistent. EXCELLENT. Will not hesitate to recommend my friends to him.

Everyone learns and for the record, the edited word **** does not begin with S or F. A gentleman does not need to resort to vulgarity to express his/her displeasure. The two individuals, Desmond and Ah Hong from A&L will forever be a proletariat if after sales services does not pop into their little minds.

As for the good for nothing Marantz 7055 (IMHO), I have made up my mind to dispose her ASAP. Replacement candidate are - Naim NAP 200 for center, NAP 155xs for the surrounds and NAP 250.5 or 300 (250.5 is the favourite so far) for the L & R. The candidates should be reporting for duty after the CNY break...

As I have slaughtered the whole cow (wallet is thinning out now), I might as well stick in the onions. Naim DAC and HDX or NDX should be reporting for duty soon as well. I just can't decide on the uPnP client..ND5xs, NDS or HDX (the HDX is a bit difficult to swallow but she has the BEST sound among the contenders)

CMY has been very accommodating and helpful in narrowing down my selection. Pricing for CMY for some items are on par with the GBP pricing but for some items, they are MAD!!!! Can't fault them though, excellent service has her price...

Dealt with Kenny of Highway Laser once two years ago. Seems to be a great guy of integrity.

Three Naim power amps for HT duties? Must be able to double up as a good core for 2-channel setup especially with the NAP250.2 or NAP300 serving at the fronts.

ryder, the Naims are there mainly for 2 channel duty HT is just the secondary function...

Crittertoo, noted. I just thought it's a little waste to use Naim for HT since they are not exactly cheap, especially with CMY's pricing. If looking to cut cost, can consider a cheap amp for the rear channel instead of the 155XS, unless one is into multichannel or quality HT.

By the way, what surround preamp/processor will be used for HT? As far as I know Naim amps do not have RCA phono inputs to connect to a preamp other than Naim, unless an RCA-DIN cable is used. Not too sure if it's recommended to mix Naim power amps with preamps from other manufacturers though.

hi ryder, I will be using a Marantz 7005 AV processor

for center channel ==> Marantz 7005==>RCA-DIN ==>NAIM 200.
for surround ==> Marantz 7005 ==> RCA-DIN ==>NAIM 155 XS.
for L & R ==> Marantz 7005 ==>RCA-DIN ==> Naim 202 ==> DIN-DIN ==> Naim 250.5 or Naim 300

Pity Naim does not make AV processor...

Let's hope the above configuration can ROCK my world of stereo and HT

If i am allow to share in this forum, my personal experience with CMY Audio @ Sg. Wang Plaza.

Well you see, i m from Kuching which is very far from KL, and happen to be that when this occasion occurred, i was only a a rookie when it comes to HIFI, and i must admit I am not a veteran now, but at least i have some basic HIFI knowledge which i have accumulated through personal experience round the years.

This incident happen at round the end of 2006 when i was travelling down to Kuala Lumpur with my Uncle, and after some business dealings and meetings, we decided to take a break by strolling at Sg. Wang, at that time i did not appreciate HIFI like i do now, and happen to stumble across CMY Sg. Wang Store, and i told my uncle i wish to enter and check out the store as it is quite nicely set up ( to me at the present time). So my uncle who is involve in Timber business but does not look like one, place his hand on a loudspeaker cabinet (brand of which i do not recall). he was immediately asked to remove his hand and was given the a piece of mind of the store keeper (of whom in recent years i realized it was the boss Mr. John Yew).

My uncles was deeply offended by that incident and we left with a sour feeling and my uncle was bitter until this day, vow never to return to the said shop even until this day, but as time moves on, he has bought himself a reference system consisting with a pair of Rockport Loudspeaker, and amplification system consist of Vitus Audio and etc set up nicely by a HONG KONG dealer flown in by him from Hong Kong.

Well you see, in business there is always a Maxim, "the customer is always right" the world is now very much developed, Malaysia was not the Malaysia we used to know 30 years ago, we have gone global and consumer has the spending power, HIFI is no longer something where the enthusiast are able to be numbered, the market has evolved, if the shop we visited are not able to even let us touch the goods they sell, how can we appreciate the value of the things we buy, which i must state the price includes service fees.

If you aren't able to let us touch the products which interests us, how can we appreciate it, and do note you're the dealer, and there is always a type of goods where u sell them at near cost price or some times below cost price and it is called (DEMO) goods and i firmly believe the market for such goods is vast, as long as the tag caveat emptor comes into play to those who ever buys them.

There are alot of People out there who are cash rich, but they do not look wealthy, the old saying of "look maybe deceiving" comes into play perfectly in this point, if CMY were not to give my uncle that type of service, he would have frequented the shop and they would have gotten a huge business, and increase of sales volume to them and a free PR (which i believe is Priceless) especially when rich people gather and talk about their latest hobby aside from properties and cars. As a businessman i believe at the very end of the day, its the dollar and cents that counts and not some unscratched and unscathed, but outdated speakers which either sits at your store room prepared to be sold off cheaply or collecting dust.

Thank You

.....priceless.

I believe that's the word you are asking for. 'Worthless' is the complete opposite.

Thanks for sharing your story.

sorry was too agitated having to remind myself of that incident. Cheers

Finally got round to reading this highly entertaining thread.

Long, long time ago, when I was a wee lad in uni ie scruffy as fook, long hair, tattered jeans etc (actually looking shabby is still me preferred "look" till this day), accompanied a friend to local Linn dealer to audition Linn amps.

Me friend, being an ardent Linn fan, had already paid deposit fer the then new Keilidh speakers (which he bought sight unseen) from the dealer. It was a new model & had yet to arrive.

But when it did come, me friend wanted to see which Linn amp would go nicely with them & he arranged an audition.

We, being a couple of Mat Metal, brought along our Napalm Death, Slayer, Kreator LPs & proceeded to BLAST the system. As in seriously push the amp & speakers (which were me friend's BTW).

Shopkeeper barged into listening room & yelled,"ye blow the damn thing & yer buying it!"

Me mate got up turned off the system, handed over the cash & walked out the door with his speakers. He never again went back to that dealership.

This was in Liverpool, UK (circa early 90s).

Point is wanker dealers are everywhere, not just Malaysia.

Secondly, though we may have been abusing the system somewhat, that was our normal listening levels. And since me friend had already bought an ietm & was seriously ocnsidering the amp, there was no need fer the shopkeeper to be rude to us.

We went to another shop - Brady & Sons.

These fellas CHAMPION.

Happilly allow us to HOME DEMO the sets without any deposit. These were either their used or demo units.

Don't even ask fer ID - "We trust ye. Ye look honest enough."

Me & my friend went on to buy the systems which eventually came back in cargo with us after we graduated.

Good + friendly service - always ensures repeat custom.

Personally, I find Lim from Acoustique in Amcorp to be quite accommodating & friendly.

That old ah pek who runs the hi fi furniture shop across can go suck eggs. He was rude to me old man & brother fer nay apparent reason.

zaku51 and critterto -- totally agree with both of you. these 2 so call big hifi dealers can go suck a''. not only their services are poor, they also mark up item prices too much.

Bought a used AVR from Mr Lim Acoustique System for RM1000. Broke within 5 months using it. Asked for partial refund but was refused. Total rip off.

Good experiences:

- Centre Circle Audio, TTDI: got that very expensive look but nice people. Nelson is superb. Ended up buying amp & preamp.
- Style Laser, Tmn Connought: like pasar malam as they move things fast. Rick very nice sales person. Bought a nice CD player and simple network amp from them.
- A&L Amcorp: Brian is a very nice sales person. Will patiently demo stuff for you.
- CMY, Starling Mall: Mr Chua is nice. Will show a lot when he knows you are really looking for something 
- Tropical Audio: Sam and Ah Ying are great. Spends time with you even when they know you are browsing. Walked out with a Harbeth after 2 visits.

Bad experiences:

- CMY, Starling Mall: one younger sales person. Too arrogant. Make as if I can’t afford anything
- smaller shop in Amcorp Mall: one selling China valve amps. Ask him nicely about his amp, what does it sound like, gave crappy reply

Too bad for the arrogant shops. They are whacking good margins but treat people like crap.

Malaysia lacks good sales people. Too many of of the shops judge you once you walk in. How you dress, what watch you got on ...

It’s sad.