V2500 online?

[Mega2000]

Has anyone ever shopped on eTronics.com?

I wanted to get my receiver at Tweeter because it was an authorized dealer but I went in there and asked them what kind of deal they could give me on the v2500 and that I could get it online w/ a 5 year warranty(Philips warranty and not Yamaha) for under $800. They had it on "sale" for $899 and said they couldn't go any lower and pretty much called me an idiot for thinking about buying it online. After thinking about kicking this bastards *** I just walked out.

So, what's is there a big difference between a manufacturer's warranty and that Philips 5 year warranty I would get online.

I see that if I have a problem with it I would just have to ship it to the online place to where if I bought it at Tweeter I could just take it there.

Do Yami's have any history of breaking? The almost $200 extra for an authorized dealer just doesn't seem worth it to me.

 

[sjdgpt]

By the way, I can be quite opinionated.

There are actually several issues involved here.

Why is the unit sold "online" void of a factory warranty?

From my perspective, a seller of a product should be held with such high regard by the manufacturer that any unit sold by that seller would be automatically covered by the manufacturer. Which raises the question... Is it actually a B Stock unit being passed off as A Stock? Is it stolen? Doubtful, but it is a question that must always be raised. Is the unit actually packaged/legal for sale within the US? Why isn't the seller's goods warranted by the manufacturer?


Viewing that particular vendors warranty page....

"Etronics is not an authorized reseller of certain of the products listed for sale on this site."

Why is my question?

Again, their comment....

"To be an authorized reseller, manufacturers may require that Etronics abide by manufacturer’s suggested and minimum selling prices*"

The last time I checked businesses operating in the United States are free to set their own prices. Makes me a bit suspect of this vendor's own statement.

I routinely set prices within my own business that are less than the market price for those products. Sometimes by significant margins. It is my legal right as a business. By the way, my manufacturers have not restricted my allowance of goods, recended my dealership, or threatened legal action. In fact, one of my key manufacturers is owned by a lawyer who's statement to me was to the effect "if you can sell it cheaper... go for it big boy... you sell more and I will buy you a pizza". (Personally, I think he should buy me a BMW but what the heck, I will take the pizza). My Japanese manufacturers are thrilled with our performance.... it's always "what can we do to help you", never withholding warranties from our customers.


Like I said, no manufacturer's warranty makes me very, very suspect.



By the way, warranties are much like insurance. You get what you pay for, and for whom you purchase it from. But then again, why should you have to buy a warranty for a new electronics item that should be warranted by the manufacturer?

 

[Leprkon]

Why isn't the seller's goods warranted by the manufacturer?

By the way, my manufacturers have not restricted my allowance of goods, recended my dealership, or threatened legal action.

SJ has some very lgetimate questions.

unfortunately, the Yamaha website specifically states that

"The RX-V line is typically sold through Yamaha authorized audio/video specialty retailers, and is not available for mail order sales, phone sales, or internet sales"

Yamaha does not, anywhere on the website, explain how a very large number of internet companies are apparently able to gain access to their products. I seriously doubt that the items are grey-market, as the instruction book is actually a book and not a copied piece of junk, is written solely in English, and carries the Yamaha label on it, something no in-US dealer would risk doing on a grey market job.

Will Yamaha honor the warranty ? Probably not since we (yes I bought one from e-tronics myself) didn't go through their local favorite distributors. I plan to ship it back to e-tronics myself if there is a problem within the warranty period. I could do that three or four times and still be money ahead of a local purchase.

To answer SJ's last bullet, Yamaha doesn't seem to be imposing any kind of inventory penalties on internet sellers, as they don't seem to be running out, even at Christmas time... I guess the "integrity" of the RX-V line is in name and "warranty" only.

The only "problem" I had with e-tronics was that they used DHL for shipping and it took about 8 days from my order until it was on my doorstep, but the product was very well packed and has shown no signs of impending failure... I did have a second problem but it was related to keeping the shipping peanuts away from the cat... )

Was it worth the risk ? As of now I would say "yes". Even if it does fail, there's no guarentee it would have been good had I bought it from the local Ultimate Electronics (who strangely enough, carry only the 1500, not the 2500 )

 

[Mega2000]

the guy at tweeter couldn't even tell me what exactly made the manufacturers warranty better. I assume it is because Yamaha actually does the repairs but he didn't even say that.

I am pretty sure I am going to go with eTronics and get the 5 year warranty with it. Which makes it still a good $150+ less than it would be at tweeter with their "sale" price

and thanks for the responses guys.

 

[furrycute]

Anyone bought any 2500 from ebay? There are a couple of sellers selling brand new 2500's for pretty decent prices.

 

[jzac]

eBay...

You should listen to wierd Al Yankovic's Ebay song.... hilarious! Scary on what you might find on ebay sometimes!

http://www.erikasfriends.com/for_net/lj/song_for_you.htm

 

[diggerdave]

I just ordered my v2500 from etronics monday(27th) and am waiting for it to arrive, hopefully tomorrow but probably next week...

I had the same concerns (thanks to this site :^)

I went so far as to call Philips about the warranty and etronics. the person at Philips seemed to recognize the etronics.com store and said I'd have "no problem with them". I took that as a favorable comment and placed my order along with the 2yr philips warranty.

two things about the that warranty. Philips uses a network of service centers. it's my understanding from the philips person that if the unit requires service after the initial warranty runs out (etronics in this case) I most likely will NOT have to ship it anywhere but rather can take it to a local service center being as I live in a rather large metropolitan area. we'll see, hopefully it'll never need service. the other thing about the warranty you may already realize. The 2 yr extended warranty is not a 2yr extension, nor is the 5yr a 5yr extension. I had to read the fine print several times before I realized that. I was assuming that since the extended warranty didn't kick in until the initial warranty expired that a 2yr extended warranty were give me another 2years. it doesn't it only gives me one, and the 5 will only give you 4. When I think about it now it seems obvious... duh...

 

[Mega2000]

thanks digger dave

i think i am going to purchace it later today. my only concern is that I will order it and then i will get an e-mail next week saying they are out of stock. I have read this on some of the reviews on pricegrabber.

 

[jzac]

Phillips?

diggerdave, are you sure you called Phillip about the v2500, or is that a typo? V2500 is a Yamaha receiver... make sure you got the info right or else !

 

[RLA]

Hopefully It works and is an "A" stock and it never needs repair
I wont eloborate but some research on other sites may be of use to you before you make your decision. I can tell you for a fact that you will get no warranty from Yamaha and if you do need repair. It would be advised to send it to a Authorized Yamaha repair center instead of a OEM repair center that fixes microwaves and clock radio's
Ray

 

[diggerdave]

yup Phillips. They evidently are in the extended warranty business. Mack is another outfit that offers extended warranties. The first time I heard about Phillips extended warranties was at Best Buy when I was looking at the Sharp LCD's. I thought the salesman either mis-spoke or I heard him wrong.

yeah it's definetely a risk to buy without warranty....or only the seller's warranty for all the reason RLA states...

 

[BMXTRIX]

Yamaha's V & Z series receivers are only authorized by Yamaha to be sold direct to consumers through stores. This enables Yamaha to give the sales staff at those stores some training and to limit distribution so as to not dilute their brand. Since the higher end Yamaha product can be somewhat tricky, they want to make sure that purchasers receiver not just the product, but the value that is added through a personal experience through the retail store.

For some, this is obviously crap and they just want to get the receiver... But, there are so many people that will rape stores that have properly trained personel, go in and ask them 100 questions about a product, then go online to get the best price AFTER getting all that great knowledge for free. They screw over the retail store and the store loses out because the Internet can operate without brick and mortar expenses.

So, Yamaha gives warranties only to product sold through it's authorized retail stores. The product is likely brand new no matter where it comes from, but Yamaha is not supporting retail stores if the stores have to try to compete with online shops. Also, the Yamaha warranty is typically good at any of the stores that sell the product, so if you have a problem, you can drop your receiver off right at the store you bought it at and it will be covered under warranty.

Hopefully the Phillips warranty will never be needed, but if you have to ship your product, wait for repair, and hope they did as good of a job as Yamaha would have done, then that is something I am not sure that I would be willing to deal with.

 

[furrycute]

You should listen to wierd Al Yankovic's Ebay song.... hilarious! Scary on what you might find on ebay sometimes!

http://www.erikasfriends.com/for_net/lj/song_for_you.htm

That's it, I am going to list my old socks on ebay!

 

[Leprkon]

For some, this is obviously crap and they just want to get the receiver... But, there are so many people that will rape stores that have properly trained personel, go in and ask them 100 questions about a product, then go online to get the best price AFTER getting all that great knowledge for free. They screw over the retail store and the store loses out because the Internet can operate without brick and mortar expenses.

"Rape" works both ways......

this argument only has value if and where "properly trained personel" exist. I have yet to enter a store (whether high end or Best Buy) where the people knew a damn thing about what made each product in a given line different other than a count of watts and they sometimes had to look at the display model to figure that much out....

most sales people are trained to shear the sheep and get the product (and its buyer) out of the store as fast as possible. they care little about the customer's description of his needs other than the "what's the budget ?".

I have no problem paying people for value, but in the case of electronics, paying for people is a losing proposition. I go look at the store, but if I don't intend to buy, I don't bother the people (mostly in the hope they won't bother me).

if it wasn't for places like AudioHolics, I have no idea how people could get accurate information..

 

[zumbo]

Yamaha's V & Z series receivers are only authorized by Yamaha to be sold direct to consumers through stores. This enables Yamaha to give the sales staff at those stores some training and to limit distribution so as to not dilute their brand. Since the higher end Yamaha product can be somewhat tricky, they want to make sure that purchasers receiver not just the product, but the value that is added through a personal experience through the retail store.

For some, this is obviously crap and they just want to get the receiver... But, there are so many people that will rape stores that have properly trained personel, go in and ask them 100 questions about a product, then go online to get the best price AFTER getting all that great knowledge for free. They screw over the retail store and the store loses out because the Internet can operate without brick and mortar expenses.

So, Yamaha gives warranties only to product sold through it's authorized retail stores. The product is likely brand new no matter where it comes from, but Yamaha is not supporting retail stores if the stores have to try to compete with online shops. Also, the Yamaha warranty is typically good at any of the stores that sell the product, so if you have a problem, you can drop your receiver off right at the store you bought it at and it will be covered under warranty.

Hopefully the Phillips warranty will never be needed, but if you have to ship your product, wait for repair, and hope they did as good of a job as Yamaha would have done, then that is something I am not sure that I would be willing to deal with.

Well said!

 

[Mega2000]

with the little research i have done in the past few weeks I knew more than the two salesmen I talked to at tweeter. the last guy basically just said that the Pioneer Elite 54tx, Denon 2805 and the v2500 were all basically the same just with different looking knobs.

I was looking for some insight on the receivers he was selling but all he realy said was they were all good.

just curious, if you get the receiver through an unauthorized seller will yamaha refuse to work on it at all even if you want to pay for them to fix it?

 

[sjdgpt]

just curious, if you get the receiver through an unauthorized seller will yamaha refuse to work on it at all even if you want to pay for them to fix it?

Legally? Yes.