rjd@linus.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) (02/12/85)
Hi. Any of you out there got any particular tales to tell about . . .
M A I L O R D E R A U D I O ! ! !
Aside from price quotes, I've only dealt with the following three companies:
International Hi-Fi (the reputable expensive guys)
Electronics World (cheap, but maybe used products)
Stereo Corporation (weak but necessary customer service)
DAK (alluring, mindless copy -- competitive pricing)
Mom wanted a stereo for christmas. She wanted a "good one." I tried to
convince mom that for casual listening (stereo in the living room, mom in
the kitchen) she could get a "nice" system CHEAP, through mail order.
Sis and I got her the tape deck, a TEAC V500X (~$135 total), from
Electronics World. It's O.K. More features than mom + dad (42 + 45) will
ever need or want. Mom herself paid for the turntable and receiver (and
antenna). They were Technics SL-J2 (~$135 total), Audio-Technica cartridge
($60), and Sony STR-VX350 (30 Watts for $135). They already had a twenty
year old pair of Jensen speakers in beautiful wooden boxes that they
liked just fine. (Their previous system was a ~25 W/ch Scott integrated amp
with a MONO FM tuner and a fancy (but broken) Shure turntable.)
On to my tale. Electronics World delivered the turntable and tape deck in
about three and a half weeks. That was o.k. Mom was in no great rush.
Stereo Corporation took much longer, about 6 weeks, to deliver the Sony
receiver. About the same time I ordered a JVC RX500B receiver for myself.
This was in the first week of January. It still hasn't arrived, I'm getting
a little antsy. Why? Well, I called up International Hi-Fi, they SAID they
have a "meet-or-beat" price policy for (and get this) LEGITIMATE COMPETITIVE
PRICES. I told them that Stereo Corporation quoted me $402 ($390+$12 shipping)
for the JVC. They said they'd have it to my door within 72 hours for $450.
Well, hey I said, I'm in "no rush", I don't even have speakers yet! Why pay
an extra $50 bucks to get a component quickly when I have no use for it yet.
They refused to meet Stereo Corps price UNLESS under the same conditions --
i.e., indefinite delivery date. Then International Hi-Fi started to imply
that anyone can quote any price they want if they never deliver AND that it's
worth their while cause they
can collect interest on your money while you wait. Hmmmm. Then I worried.
I called SCA (Stero Corps of America is their full name). I said I was
contemplating cancelling my order. They said I'd need the invoice number.
It's at home, so I said I'd call back later. I figured, what the heck, I'll
wait another week. I called them again (their ever-busy customer service
line) and said "I've lost my invoice number, can you look it up for me?"
They asked what I'd ordered, I said a JVC RX500B. We were disconnected. I
haven't been able to get through since (for the past 2 hours). Fishy, no?
A word about DAK. For a while I thought it might be nice to get their $149
(plus $8 shipping) EQUALIZER. Seemed like a good deal. So I did. I tried
it out on a friend's system and decided there were better ways to spend $157.
So I returned it. It took almost 30 days for them to credit my VISA. In
the interim I called their ever-busy customer service and seemed to be
getting the runaround. I was surprised to suddenly find the credit on my
VISA. Recently, they said they "just discovered" that their ever-busy
customer service was ever-busy and they issued an apology AND a code phrase
(ACUS maybe?) that will allow one a $10 credit on your next purchase.
Another Kid Learning The Hard Way from,
Robert DeBenedictis
P.S. Speaker recommendations welcome. I've heard the net say nice things
about JSE-1's and MGIIIB's but for starters, I'd only like to spend
$359-$400. Eventually I think I'd like a pair of dbx SoundField One's.
In fact, I'm going over to Hanscom Air Force Base (to an IEEE Lincoln
Labs event) to see a demo of them this evening. It'll be accompanied
by MIT Professor Searle giving a lecture, maybe about phased arrays.