Naim Dealer Satisfaction (UK)

Mekon did you get my reply ?I posted it Monday!
Oldie

Yup, just emailed you.

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Originally posted by Dave Robb:
Someone has to say it, even though I find myself repeating the same message as I put on the forum a couple of years ago.

Robert Ritchie of Montrose.

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I'll second Dave with a vote for my local dealer, Robert Ritchie of Montrose.

Adventures in HI FI Wigan surely cannot be beaten. They go way beyond the call of duty, even when there is little or no profit to be had (and they know it)
No sales pressure, good advice and lots of time to chat and dem.
Last time I was in they had in amongst other racks Fraim, Quadraspire and Mana who else can boast this?
John

Audio Images in Sheffield have always been very good. I do think you have to bear in mind that some dealers can have off days and there are a lot of time wasters out there! I only see my dealer when I wish some advice with a view to actually buying something - as a result I get an honest response. In the past they have turned down my money if whatever I was enquiring about was not a genuine upgrade.

A third vote for Audio-Republic in Headingley. I wish all retailers of all goods were like him - sadly those days are long gone

Gavin

quote:

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Folk buy from Folk.

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It's also true that the best customers get the best service.

Fact of life unfortunately, and it has nothing to do with spending power.

Andy.

No excuses.

I just thought that I would troll the three " dealer satisfaction" polls one more time to try to increase the vote count.

At present it stands at 148.

68 exceptional
45 good
17 mediocre
18 awful

That is about 75% exceptional/good
or about 25% mediocre/awful

Depends whether you're an optimist or a pessimist !!

VOTE NOW

Cheers

Don

WOT?! Nobody voting for Audio Excellence?
Can't fault (much!) Maurice in Worcester. Ever heard of a dealer abandoning his shop on the busiest day of the week to travel 10 miles to a customer to find out why with new components in his existing Naim system it was intermittentently cutting out on one channel?
Did he complain when eventually it was realised said customer had not properly reconnected a Burndy after insisting on installing the new components himself rather than allowing dealer to do so?
Does he still smile at said customer...?
Seriously, though, I would agree that the person to person relationship is quite necessary and as I have said before, I would not dream of continuing with a dealer who was not willing to let me audition Naim equipment for a week in my own home. It becomes a matter of trust and I believe Naim as a company are still small enough to take a reasonably personal interest in customer's problems/questions.
pcm

The times they are a changin'! In 1983 I bought my LP12/Basik/GraceF9e, an A&R A60 and pair of Celef Domestic IIs from Radlett Audio, when they were Radlett Audio in the High Street. The chap I dealt with then was charming, helpful and a paragon of audiophilic virtue. Sad to see they've not managed to maintain the standard over the ensuing 20 years.
Norman - welcome to the forum !! (is that your real name?)

David

"Beauty is in the eye of the Beer-holder"

Another vote for Maurice and Norm in Worcester!

From my early NAD CD player to my CD5, 112,150, Stageline and Flatcap 2.

Always friendly, always make the time to help you out and good advice.

They both love their Naim!

Gary

My vote goes to the team at Infidelity in Hampton Wick.
Simon their MD came around my house at 7.15pm last night and was there until 10.30pm installing Q4, QS Ref and QS Ref wall shelf then reconnected all my Naim gear up and checked everything was in order before he left.

None of this was charged for it was part of their service of buying the gear from them.....

I will be a customer for the forseable future.

I think it's time to put a vote in for Derek Whitinton, formally of Sound Advice in Loughbrough
Now I'm informed he's at New Audio Frontiers. He's the only person that I know of, who used to do a completly blind Demo, with all the gear set up in a differant room ,so there was no influence
with[If you will excuse the pun] NAMES only the sound that they made .It was derek that set me on the path to the best sound around,25 plus years ago and his advice is still as relevant today, he also introduced me to life long poverty as well.Well done Derek you deserve to still be going strong !!!
Oldie

Derek of New Audio Frontiers. #1.
I have bought many items from Derek going back nearly 20 years when I first bought a Rega Planar 2.
I've subsequently bought a fair ammount of Naim gear from him and his wife Clare, also had great dealings with the past gentlemen Andy (Birmingham) and Stuart when Derek ran Sound Advice.
Derek continues to be pleasant, informative, supportive and as mentioned in previous posts, more than willing for me to take a blind test so that my pre-conceived ideas don't sway me!
Coffee is excellent too and I nearly always find a "new" musical gem during each visit!
Home service is great too - demo's and whatever - even though I moved from Leics to B'ham (UK!).
He can be a bit slow to email though!!! *LOL*

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......

Billy Vee, Lewisham (first Naim system just purchased)
Infidelity, Hampton Wick (no purchase, very helpful on phone)
Hi-Fi Experience, Tottenham court Road (2 bad dems, fried ears, most definitely no purchase)
Cornflake Co, Tottenham Court Road (good chat, helpful to stranger off the street)

Seth
Is Naim the only way forward?
Ahh, Ahh! I'm burning!!

Cymbiosis superb.

Peter, Simon and the team are always a pleasure (if costly:-) ) to do business with. One thing that stuck in memory there was there willing ness to dem active linn speakers for me, even though it meant doing cross over removal while I waited (no quick job in a keilidh. Honest advice, the ability to diagnose and then prescribe is somewhat refreshing compared to some other dealers.

I have to echo someone elses comments that Musical Images in Covent Garden really are tragic. Richer sounds adds more value to the purchase than they do.
David

100% service from Rayleigh Hi Fi at Chelmsford and at Southend. Amongst other things I’ve had a dem with no appointment at Southend, an excellent dem (pre booked) at Chelmsford, competitively priced second hand items, out of hours home visits and fast service.

Graham.

Not a lad any longer and not from London!

The best dealer I have found in the north is Moorgate Acoustics in Sheffield. The owner Paul is a music and Hifi fan and is happy to talk even if you don't buy anything.

My vote goes to Sevenoaks at Exeter.I've been going there since 1987 and have been looked after very well which is a complete contrast to Audio Excellence in Exeter!!!! .

Trevor.

As Mr Darwin says the UK dealership network is so diverse it is extremely difficult to maintain standards across the board.

I currently work for a speaker manufacturer and know just how difficult it can be mainatin standards.

The problem is as usual often personal opinion. If you happen to get the staff member that likes Naim kit that's half the battle. if you happen to get an MF lover for example, it is often harder to get the your dem needs met. I know service should just be good service but hi fi is a vey emotive industry and I believe many struggle to to to be a salesman without being biased.

I personally loved the service that i got from Phonography in Ringwood (who is someone i have not dealt with on a professional basis)I think that this was mostly due to a similar view/taste in music. This was followed up by a very helpful and patient service.

Whilst i'm sure there are a few who are just not very good I think that in most cases it going to be a case of finding the right place for you.

In the case for most Namies I suspect the same few names will come up as being good.
e.g. in London Grahams and Infidelity should do consistently well.

Which is why this type of forum should pay dividends - it is very easy for us all to find out the likely candidates in our area from recommendation.

Happy New Year to everyone

Martin

Audio file in Bishops Stortford are very good, the guy in their spent a lot of time and effort one afternoon with me and displayed enthusiasm and courteuosy.

Anselm

all art is contemporary; it is the way we look at it that changes...

quote:

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Originally posted by PR:
Here is my rate list from some recent and old experiences

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Studio 99 (London) 3/10: OH! is that all you do?

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i would tend to agree with your score for studio 99. when i took my old 250 to grahams hifi for repair after a lightning strike a long time ago, grahams told me that my 250 had been "repaired" previously with wrong valued - non-naim components. the only dealer who had taken in my 250 for "service" prior to that was studio 99, after they had failed dismally to set up my LP12/ARO.

wot? as much as 3/10?? the saving grace is that i liked and got on very well with the guy i was dealing with there -- i think his name was david.

i gather studio 99 are no more...

subsequent to studio 99 i dealt briefly with RPM in clapham (very good indeed, especially on lp12 setup, but sadly no more) and then grahams from whom i bought A LOT of my naim kit. more recently, i have been dealing with infidelity in kingston - i know simon from the old sound org days.

one dealer i am really sad stopped trading was colin welford from sonet lumiere in tot ct rd. a real enthusiast.


enjoy

ken

The nice chaps at Audience in Bath deserve a mention. I've pestered Andrew (Craske) a few times on different subjects lately and he remains knowledgeable and happy to advise/talk/demo/lend Naim at all times.

His assistant Shane is a nice fella too with good skills in service.

Plus Andrew is Welsh, which is always a bonus...

Cheers,

Rich.

Rich -

Andy Craske is a very great man indeed. He used to work at Infidelity in Kingston and in a few short years there managed to sell me two Planar 3s, a Nait 3, 72/HC/140, 82/180, CD2, LP12, SBLs, 135s, CDS2 and Scap.

I hope he still makes as much money for Naim and others...

Tim

I agree with London Lad -I have only had positive experiences at Rayleigh Hi-Fi (Chelmsford) - Rob and the team know me quite well now , and they are willing to spend as long as it takes for you to make up your mind . I have had a number of excellent demos there also .

Regards