Do you have the patience to order hardware?

I agree, 2 weeks isn't long at all. I have waited much longer, it's not fun, but part of the deal. My problem is the way some of these businesses present the fact that items are not in stock. For example, when called and asked, the dealer replies by saying "yes, we carry Rotel products". Well, when I drive down to the store I find out the dealer doesn't "carry" anything. Everything on the floor has to be ordered, not just the $700 cd player, I mean everything. They are not out-of-stock, there wasn't any stock at all. I fully understand the costs of inventory (I deal with well over $1mil daily). Not having any stock on hand can kill a business pretty quick, no impulse buys at all.

Please don't take this the wrong way because I think every point you have made has been 100% correct. But you can't "carry" any product line without having product to sell. So advertising the fact that you "carry the following brands" in the Yellow Pages is pretty misleading, especially if you claim to be a "High End Audio Store" in the same ad. All I ask is that I be told upfront, as soon as I express any interest in an item, that it has to be ordered. I can wait, no problem. Tell me that after giving me an hour long sales pitch, the first thing that comes to mind is "Well it's going to take 2 weeks, thinking about for another day isn't going to make much difference". At this point, the sale is pretty much lost.

 

EricF,

Sounds like you have a bad Rotel dealer. Not stocking a $700 CD player is one thing, but your dealer should have plenty of product to "grab-n-go". Rotel even keeps tabs on these things by monitoring order points and such. If they are truely being that bad about keeping products in stock, they won't be a Rotel dealer for too long. There's lots of other dealers that would gladly keep more product in stock for the shot at offering the Rotel/B&W line.

 

Likewise, like Sam says, if I find two dealers in town carrying the same brand, and one has stock and the other doesn't, which one's going to get my business? I don't mind if a dealer is honest and confident in their supply, and says it will take two weeks to get it in. But it's annoying to call back, week after week, getting the same excuse: "Well, it didn't come in this week's shipment, but maybe it should be here by next week." Having worked in distribution, this could mean a couple of things: 1) the manufacturer really is behind; 2) the store has poor ordering controls (nobody in the store telling the purchasing agent they need to order something to fill a customer sale), or; 3) the store is on credit hold and can't place an order until they pay the distributor or manufacturer. I've seen all three happen all too often. And since I used to be a distributor (working as a middleman between the manufacturer and other distributors), I'd get all the blame.

 

When I bought my Thiels, I pretty much knew the store didn't have a few pair lying around in the back room. I kinda like the anticipation before getting new hardware. Missing a delivery or recieving damaged goods by UPS is another story.

 

I'll second this. I used to be like Grant but I later learned to take advantage of the floor guys, for clothing, shoes and home items.

But I'm like Grant regarding important things such as gear. Maybe I'll have the opportunity in the future to unlearn that too.

 

I'm done complaining. After further homework I decided on the NAD c542. Went down to the local NAD dealer and he had a few in stock. Actually, he had just about every product on the floor in stock except for a few ultra expensive pieces. I have purchased NAD gear from him in the past and he has always been great on service and price. At the end it was a toss up between the Arcam, Rotel, and the NAD. I know that I would have been perfectly happy with any of them. I feel even happier to be able to support a first class dealer who obviously has more invested in his business than someone who can't afford to stock even entry level product unless I pay upfront. I didn't get insulted and got a better price than I could find on the net and I didn't even ask . If anyone is interested in doing business with a first class guy, let me know. There is still enough demand for cd players and other 2 channel gear for him to keep product in stock. By the way, I love the cd player.

 

Enjoy your new player, Eric