authorized dealers vs. non-authorized + MACK?

[patnshan]

Hello,
I am looking at the Yamaha RXV-650. This would be my third yamaha receiver, and have always had excellent luck (ie: no repairs needed ever). The unit is about $500 from an authorized dealer. I can get it under $400 from a highly rated, but unauthorized dealer. These non-authorized dealers offer a 3 yr. MACK warranty in that under $400 price. Has anyone had experience with these warranties? With MACK?
Do you think the extra $100 is worth it from an authorized dealer? I know Yamaha will not honor the factory warranty on purchases from unauthorized dealers. I guess they like to keep their prices high, huh?
Thanks for any response,
Pat

 

[Beegowl]

Warranty Work

IMHO, you take a chance when you purchase from an unauthorized dealer over the internet that the product will not be defective and that you won't need warranty work on it. It is much less expensive initially, although the separate warranty purchase lessens the percentage of discount considerably, and chances are that the product won't need warranty work. However, I always consider my time and effort worth something, and if I have to re-box the component, haul it to the shipper, pay the shipping, wait for repairs, etc, etc, then the money I saved is whittled away through my own time and effort. Even if the warranty that I paid for is iron clad and pays off without a hassle, I'm still out my time and component while it's being shipped and evaluated and then I wait until someone from the repair unit contacts me, or I wait on hold after negotiating a seemingly endless maze of telephone menus. Again, chances are it won't happen, but that's why you buy the warranty. It's a gamble against a defective product.

If I purchase from an authorized dealer in my city, it will cost more initially. Sometimes I can get a decent discount, sometimes I can't, but I always get good service because they want my repeat business. They have a well stocked store with several listening areas, all well appointed. The sales staff is helpful and, most of the time, knowledgeable. The overhead must be tremendous. I go in and listen to speakers and poke and prod components and b.s. with the staff. They are always patient. I can't do that with an internet seller. Sure, I'd like to save the money and spend it on upgrading other components or whatever, but I think the tradeoff in hassle is worth it.

I'm not a rampant capitalist, and certainly don't think the current trend to hand the country over to Big Business interests is in everyone's best interest. But, I don't mind seeing a legitimate business who attempts to win customers with good service and honest pricing make money when they sell me something, as long as I don't feel poked in the eye. The internet vendors don't take care of you like you're hometown guys do and that's worth something.

 

[sjdgpt]

IMHO, you take a chance when you purchase from an unauthorized dealer over the internet that the product will not be defective and that you won't need warranty work on it. It is much less expensive initially, although the separate warranty purchase lessens the percentage of discount considerably, and chances are that the product won't need warranty work. However, I always consider my time and effort worth something, and if I have to re-box the component, haul it to the shipper, pay the shipping, wait for repairs, etc, etc, then the money I saved is whittled away through my own time and effort. Even if the warranty that I paid for is iron clad and pays off without a hassle, I'm still out my time and component while it's being shipped and evaluated and then I wait until someone from the repair unit contacts me, or I wait on hold after negotiating a seemingly endless maze of telephone menus. Again, chances are it won't happen, but that's why you buy the warranty. It's a gamble against a defective product.

If I purchase from an authorized dealer in my city, it will cost more initially. Sometimes I can get a decent discount, sometimes I can't, but I always get good service because they want my repeat business. They have a well stocked store with several listening areas, all well appointed. The sales staff is helpful and, most of the time, knowledgeable. The overhead must be tremendous. I go in and listen to speakers and poke and prod components and b.s. with the staff. They are always patient. I can't do that with an internet seller. Sure, I'd like to save the money and spend it on upgrading other components or whatever, but I think the tradeoff in hassle is worth it.

I'm not a rampant capitalist, and certainly don't think the current trend to hand the country over to Big Business interests is in everyone's best interest. But, I don't mind seeing a legitimate business who attempts to win customers with good service and honest pricing make money when they sell me something, as long as I don't feel poked in the eye. The internet vendors don't take care of you like you're hometown guys do and that's worth something.

I love ya.

From every storefront small business owner in every city, you are welcome to come and spend awhile just sucking down our air conditioning without having to spend a single dollar.


PS: The dreaded dead out of the box syndrom is easily solved with a local vendor.... just swap it out with another unit and you are back in business without a lot of hassle.

 

[mcwilson]

My 2 pennies

I agree with the gist of the previous posts regarding the safeness of using your local brick and mortar, authorized dealers. And you do run the risk of having return issues when you deal with some online vendors. But I also think that if you can save significant money by purchasing online, then do it -- with a caveat --RESEARCH THE VENDOR as much as you research your equipment.

My experience has been great. When I built my theatre, I had plenty of time to research equipment, prices, and the vendor. I saved a ton of money (>15K) and was so happy with the vendor that I used them again to buy my son a Yamaha RX-V1500 for X-mas. The Yammie arrived with problems - some front panel display issues. The vendor sent a replacement model ASAP and picked the old one up. No questions asked.

Maybe I just got lucky. And mine's just one story. I think you should just weigh the pros and cons before you come to a decision...

Mark

 

[Mort Corey]

Figure shipping into the equation (times two if there's a problem...maybe) and your preceived savings start to shrink. Not having a decent retailer locally and you'll be stuck with the big box stores as your only alternative in the future.

Mort

 

[mcwilson]

My vendor took care of shipping for the returned product. Also take away local taxes. This offsets shipping at a minimum. Sometimes saves even more.

 

[JeffreyDJ]

I ended up buying from an internet vendor for my RX2500.

My Costs breakdown was as follows:

-$683 Receiver
-$79 Phillips warranty (5 years DOP)
-$32 Shipping DHL Ground
-$794 total (no tax)

Compared to $1099 with tax locally --our sales tax is rate is 9.75% here -- I was able to save $305.

If I had been given a choice to buy it locally for a decent price, I would have. However, the only local shop to sell the RXV2500 was tweeter, a major national retailer who told me they never run the Yammies on sale.

Also, the Phillips warranty is a DOP (date of purchase) warranty. And, they either let you bring it somewhere locally if available, or they will overnight a box to you, wait for you to pack it up, then fix it and ship it back to you ovrnight.

$305~ was worth the risk to me. And luckily, mine arrived within 3 business days of ordering without a problem. However, if I had issues, that would have eaten into the savings I was able to realize. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but for me in my situation it was the only viable choice.

 

[patnshan]

Big difference

I appreciate the feedback. As far as figure in shipping cost and the MACK warranty cost, I did. It is still >$100 difference. Why in the world do the approved sellers have to charge so much? I would LOVE to buy it from BB or CC, but I could use the $100 for speaker wire and cables, right?

Pat

 

[Beegowl]

Internet Vendors

I'm glad you saved money and had a good experience. Everyone looks at these matters differently. I love finding bargains and saving money, more than most, my ex-wives would say (actually, they say cheap), so I applaud those that take the time to research prices and spend their hard earned dollars wisely. For me, though, an intangible that can't be measured in dollars is present when I buy from the local brick and mortar. It costs me more in dollars spent, but it's a personal experience.

I purchase lots of things etail; cds, clothing, audio cables, books. Never have I had a bad experience, though someone did steal my credit card info from somewhere and use it to send money to Armenia (the card co. contacted me immediately because of the anomaly in spending patterns and didn't hold me liable). I'm not THAT sure it was an internet theft. So, I'm not adverse to internet purchasing. I just look at buying from brick and mortar store as payback for my hours of auditioning components and speakers and, as sjdgpt said, sucking in their air conditioned oxygen. I'm a good tipper, too. I figure people that work their tushes off in a business that often involves dealing with cranky, demanding humans deserve a little extra. I've been there.

 

[JeffreyDJ]

I appreciate the feedback. As far as figure in shipping cost and the MACK warranty cost, I did. It is still >$100 difference. Why in the world do the approved sellers have to charge so much? I would LOVE to buy it from BB or CC, but I could use the $100 for speaker wire and cables, right?

Pat

To throw a wrench into it, if it were only $100 bucks, I'd probably buy it locally. Also, I do agree with those saying a Brick and Morter store is a bit more personal and allows for instance enjoyment, as opposed to waiting a few days in route in shipping. That's worth a $100 IMO.

Oh, and I tip well too, but $300 is a bit much.

 

[sjdgpt]

Always remember the dollars you spend locally have the greatest impact to you.

creation of jobs, roads, schools Yada Yada Yada.

Start taking the money out of your community, and go ahead and ask your boss to lay you off.

 

[patnshan]

Always remember the dollars you spend locally have the greatest impact to you.

creation of jobs, roads, schools Yada Yada Yada.

Start taking the money out of your community, and go ahead and ask your boss to lay you off.

I see what you mean and the point of your example, but I will NEVER get laid off in my line of work.
Somebody had to put those low priced Yami's in a box and ship them to me, right? Somebody has to maintain that bargain basement store's website, right? There are always people who either make the conscious decision to buy from brick and mortar places or who don't know there are cheaper ways to do it. I think they will prevent lay-offs. Do you see those lines going into CC and BB around X-mas and during sales? Doubt any layoffs will happen anytime soon.

Pat

 

[markw]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a MACK warranty?

sorry for butting in...

 

[JeffreyDJ]

What is a mack warranty ...

One of several companies to offer extended warranties on componets you may buy.

Also, to address the local job creation. There is much more to local job creation then retail stores, especially when large national chains are involved. But, it's all a trade-off one way or the other.

The thing we've failed to mention is that it's the companies insistence on only allowing MSRP prices at "authorized" dealers that causes the problem. Unfortunately for those same local dealers that are losing sales to internet and/or mail order, the manufacturers of the equipment are fully aware and in some cases encouraging "non-authorized" sellers. The word "Un-Authorized" is misleading -- it basically means the Denons, Yamahas, etc. sell to some dealers more cheaply based on the fact they won't have to honor the warranty. (All products have a certain percentage of profit-margin built in to cover expenses, such as warranties).

So, instead of looking down on those that purchase from other routes, perhaps we should be looking at the policy of charging certain dealers more to stock a product so they can be "Authorized" (a close to 33% difference --or more -- in some cases).

 

[Beegowl]

Oh, and I tip well too, but $300 is a bit much.

Gotta agree with you, there.

 

[WilliO]

I got my RX-V2500 through an "un-authorized" internet dealer without any additional warranty. The unit arrived defective so I sent back and got a replacement unit which has been working fine.

$750 vs. $1100 for me is worth the risk and the fun of getting the best bargain. Yeah, the unit may die the next day beyond the 14 day refund period but I guess that is the price I pay for that much fun.

I am however resentful of Yamaha's tactic of selling different lines of products. There are many customers who don't need the extra services (and conditioned air) from the brick and mortar stores but they are forced to buy from them to get the manufacturer's warranties. That does not serve the consumers very well.

 

[patnshan]

I agree

I got my RX-V2500 through an "un-authorized" internet dealer without any additional warranty. The unit arrived defective so I sent back and got a replacement unit which has been working fine.

$750 vs. $1100 for me is worth the risk and the fun of getting the best bargain. Yeah, the unit may die the next day beyond the 14 day refund period but I guess that is the price I pay for that much fun.

I am however resentful of Yamaha's tactic of selling different lines of products. There are many customers who don't need the extra services (and conditioned air) from the brick and mortar stores but they are forced to buy from them to get the manufacturer's warranties. That does not serve the consumers very well.

That is the problem I have with this type of thing and the original reason for my post. I may jusy take my chances with unauthorized plus a non-factory warranty for $100 plus discount off of authorized prices.
Thanks,
Pat

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I'm going to have to side with the e-commerce side. Saving $100 means a lot to me, every penny counts. That $100 I save for the receiver is $100 more I can spend on my subwoofer. Heck, if I can even save just $50 over a brick-and-mortar store then I'm going e-commerce every time.

The B&M stores serve one purpose and that's they allow me to audition the equipment in person. (But even that is changing with more online only companies.) Otherwise, because of overhead, middle-men, sales commissions, etc. etc. etc. it is far too expensive to buy the system I want in a real store.

I've had electronic equipment in various forms for over 30 years and my stuff has rarely, if ever, needed servicing and honestly, you can take it to any repair store anyway. Why worry about authorized vs. unauthorized?

 

[WooHoo]

I've spent the entire weekend deciding whether or not to take a chance of buying a RX V2500 from an un-authorized dealer. Sub $700 pricing is really tempting. One site will not allow me to buy it at the $666 price. When I add it to the cart it automatically adds the Mack warranty!

I have no problem buying e-commerce if I believe I can trust that I will get my product, but I believe the majority of those sites are a big risk at best. Look at the feedback most of them get. 20% negative comments and they are "highly" rated by shopping.com, etc.?

A fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[JeffreyDJ]

Two things, I'm not sure where you ordered, but my experience was fine.

Secondly, remember, a person is more likely to post negative comments then positive. (i.e. more likely to post if they had an issue than not).

I can PM you where I ordered mine, but don't want to post it publicly, lest I get accused of advertising for them