RE: Slight tarnish upon being in the Naim club... losing sight of the customer

As asked on the other thread, did you call first as advised?

of course I called as advised...

The quotes provided are exerpts from my phone conversation with Naim "experience" personnel.

I received the "we're too busy for you" response.

Oh dear. I think Naim have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

Not that is should matter, but especially in light of the dough this particular customer has dropped on Naim product. I am a little bit surprised. A couple of years ago there had been a small chance that I would be in the Salisbury area and I definitely wanted to put a Naim tour on my itinerary. I would have been quite unhappy had this been my telephonic reception. In fact, if ever I was in London for a few days, I had always thought to arrange a trip down to the area - see Stonehenge and the Naim factory....a pretty worthwhile day by my reckoning.

Does it not occur to Naim that US dealers (which are not plentiful to begin with) are not in the habit or business of setting up these tours? Or is the expectation of a private charter jet to the UK with a handful of Naimees from the States to be able to initiate a tour? (That said tongue in cheek of course.)

Audioneophyte posted:

I share this on the forum, not to speak ill, rather to lower expectations of my fellow enthusiasts.

 

 

As ''club members'' we should not hesitate to voice our opinions whether they be positive or negative. Failing to do so will result in products that don't satisfy our needs, inflated prices and poor(er) customer service.

$170,000 is a lot of money for a ''stereo''. When you consider the markup, a factory tour along with plane ticket and hotel accommodations should be included in the price.

It is not on my to do list I have to say but I'm sure even a non management employee could have been found to show some hospitality to a visitor from another country especially one as far away as the U.S.  Ten years ago you would have been given afternoon tea and a demo.

I did a factory visit circa 2004, with less than 24 hours notice on the very first day they had reopened after the summer break-so it was a little hectic. But not hectic enough that I couldn't  get a several hour tour with RD and a splendid french cuisine lunch with Paul himself courtesy of Naim. A tour of the factory does generate a lot of confidence in the company, fosters loyalty and gives some insight why their products are priced the way they are. In spite of their old-school facade, they area  tweaky company at heart. 

I wonder how things would have turned out had you tried a tour of the Linn factory?

Ron Toolsie posted:

I did a factory visit circa 2004, with less than 24 hours notice on the very first day they had reopened after the summer break-so it was a little hectic. But not hectic enough that I couldn't  get a several hour tour with RD and a splendid french cuisine lunch with Paul himself courtesy of Naim. A tour of the factory does generate a lot of confidence in the company, fosters loyalty and gives some insight why their products are priced the way they are. In spite of their old-school facade, they area  tweaky company at heart. 

I wonder how things would have turned out had you tried a tour of the Linn factory?

My best buddy is from Eaglesham - We were both architecture students and interested in the Linn building. Turned up unannounced and got th full tour...but that was the 1980's.

Ver impressive it was too.

G

Has Richard moved this thread and retitled it?

No, a duplicate thread.  I thought I had closed this one and let the other run.  Anyway, I'll close this one now to avoid any confusion. The other original thread remains open and can be found here.

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...actory-tour-worth-it