[Mython]

Is it a cultural thing, in Korea, for companies and staff to be arrogant towards customers?   (I mean that as a genuine question, and I am not referring only to D&A/Calyx).

 

[ohotonge]

Is it a cultural thing, in Korea, for companies and staff to be arrogant towards customers?   (I mean that as a genuine question, and I am not referring only to D&A/Calyx).

Well yes and no.(but more to the no side). Every culture is contradictory, so is Korean culture(as a way of living), they can be humble and caring or arrogant and cruel.
And I think from now on, it's up to you foreign head-fiers to make calyx respond properly, because that's where calyx's ceo are targetting now and the reason he built the M in the first place, splitting the world market share of premium dap from heavy hitters(read iriver=astell and kern).

 

[SilverEars]

  Is it a cultural thing, in Korea, for companies and staff to be arrogant towards customers?   (I mean that as a genuine question, and I am not referring only to D&A/Calyx).

I've been outside USA, and nothing beats customer service in the good O USA that invented the concept of good customer service IMO.  Ignore JHA for a moment. 

  Korean culture usually follow suit to american culture in terms of marketing so I don't see any significant companies proving poor customer service there.  Reason why the electronics industry is booming in Korea is because they make reliable products at low cost. Lets ignore A&K for a moment.

 Like any country, there are the small companies that are inexperienced and will lack the PR department and will struggle with communications.  Lets not make assumptions of culture  based on one company.  
 
The company may not have the funds to invest in a staff that can keep in touch with others.  If they only have the essential staff, they probably would invest more time on what is most important to them in terms of product development.

 

[musicheaven]

Point taken, I would rather want to have them producing a stellar product than show a lovely smile and nothing panning out. However if you are going to say you got yourself a heck of a product, show it, just don't brag empty air about it.

 

[Mython]

  USA that invented the concept of good customer service IMO.  Ignore JHA for a moment. 

 
Thanks

 
 

  Reason why the electronics industry is booming in Korea is because they make reliable products at low cost.  Lets ignore A&K for a moment.

 
 
Thanks

  I try, but dammit... they just keep askin' for more flak, even from their own customers  http://www.head-fi.org/t/718321/brand-spanking-new-a-k-ak120ii-and-ak100ii/210#post_10568552
 
 
 

 
Lets not make assumptions of culture  based on one company

 

•  I agree, but let me be clear that I am not assuming - that's precisely why I asked a sincere question about whether or not it may, or may not, be the case, since we now have some Korean members kindly contributing to this discussion.
• Quote:

  .... not referring only to D&A/Calyx).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Like any country, there are the small companies that are inexperienced and will lack the PR department and will struggle with communications.

 
That's a fair point, but it does not excuse apparently arrogant responses to customer concerns about potential design flaws and about actual product bugs/faults. One man can be polite & sincere or one man can be arrogant & dismissive, or whatever...
 
 

 
 
 
Anyway, I don't want to make a big deal about this, and please don't anyone think I am attempting to stereotype Koreans as all being arrogant - my question (not statement) was purely from a business-to-customer perspective, and I concede that Hidition (an earpiece, rather than electronics, company) appear to be an example of a small Korean company which, until recently, had extremely limited English communication abilities, yet that didn't mean they were impolite or dismissive with their customers.
 
 
I just observe the activities of A&K and D&A with curiosity - they appear to view their customers with disdain, at times, and that perplexes me, so I find myself asking if they are simply short-sighted about the potential damage they may be doing to the long term future of their company, or if there might, perhaps, be some cultural explanation for their apparent disdain of their customers.
 
 
I must admit, though, I also wonder what culture JHA ascribe to, so...

 

[warrior1975]

I've been abused plenty as a consumer in the good old USA. I don't believe, for the most part, that the country matters too much. It stems from the people in power...My job is a great example, I excel at customer service, same company, different store, literally 7 miles away, their customer service is horrible. Same brand, company, etc, just 2 different managers.

 

[SilverEars]

 
Anyway, I don't want to make a big deal about this, and please don't anyone think I am attempting to stereotype Koreans as all being arrogant - my question (not statement) was purely from a business-to-customer perspective, and I concede that Hidition (an earpiece, rather than electronics, company) appear to be an example of a small Korean company which, until recently, had extremely limited English communication abilities, yet that didn't mean they were impolite or dismissive with their customers.
 
 
I just observe the activities of A&K and D&A with curiosity - they appear to view their customers with disdain, at times, and that perplexes me, so I find myself asking if they are simply short-sighted about the potential damage they may be doing to the long term future of their company, or if there might, perhaps, be some cultural explanation for their apparent disdain of their customers.

It's understandable to make a conclusion based on limited experience as we all do, and want to understand the reasoning behind it.
 
Yes, I've spoken to Hidition many times, and I get a sense that they are very small, but they try to make the process for overseas customers smooth as possible(minus the confusing web layout of course), and most importantly opens up for overseas customers.  I have notified them of the confusing web layout and the ordering process, will need to let them know how to make things more smoothly for customers as they probably don't have a proper marketing department.  It would be beneficial for them to push marketing as I believe their product is ready to be accepted in the audiophile market as it's highly regarded.  I will find out soon enough if their product is stellar as reviewed previously.
 
What gives you the idea that A&K is do such things?  Has they communicated rudely to their customers?  Refuse warranty or repairs?  Or are they hard to get a hold of for problems?  I'm not sure how big iriver is now since they have down sized.  I get a feeling A&K is not what former iriver used to be.  But yeah, I would like to one day find out what is inside that box or their design secret that caused this overpriced product to be purchased by so many.  I wonder how many units has been sold?

 

[kawaivpc1]

I can totally understand.. asking 2500 dollars for a music player is already far from being polite. 
I would never spend more than a thousand dollars for a DAP.

 

[Sauntere]

  I just observe the activities of A&K and D&A with curiosity - they appear to view their customers with disdain, at times, and that perplexes me, so I find myself asking if they are simply short-sighted about the potential damage they may be doing to the long term future of their company, or if there might, perhaps, be some cultural explanation for their apparent disdain of their customers.
I

 
I think some of these comments are taking things too far and really not reflective of the thousands of happy customers that Astell and Kern clearly have. Yes, there are plenty of folks who regard the products as over priced but that is relative to what we are used to as consumers for these types of products. That doesn't mean players with equivalent performance won't be sold for less in the near future. I haven't listened to any Astell and Kern models but who is to say they aren't worth it for their performance. Most owners of the products seem to be happy. In what other regards do Astell and Kern appear to treat their customers with disdain ? You mean by releasing more products which push the performance envelope of their flagship but at a cheaper price... ? Trickle down is a good thing, it happens in all industries all the time and is why we end up with better and cheaper products.
 
As for D&A, well it has been frustrating watching them mishandle the release and development (from our perspective). We have a few posters from Korea here and the story the tell isn't great but i think a large portion of our frustration comes from the lack of communication and our own impatience and expectation. If we had never heard of the Calyx M and it was released in 6 months time with all he bugs and quality control sorted we would probably be praising them. It is just that so many DAP makers use the market as a development tool. Astell and Kern don't seem to do that. 
Their products seem to be refined and ready for their intended use and performance.

 

[Mython]

   
 In what other regards do Astell and Kern appear to treat their customers with disdain ?

 
 
Read the A&K threads. Plenty of customers thoroughly frustrated with the level of customer service.

 

[doublea71]

   
I think some of these comments are taking things too far and really not reflective of the thousands of happy customers that Astell and Kern clearly have. Yes, there are plenty of folks who regard the products as over priced but that is relative to what we are used to as consumers for these types of products. That doesn't mean players with equivalent performance won't be sold for less in the near future. I haven't listened to any Astell and Kern models but who is to say they aren't worth it for their performance. Most owners of the products seem to be happy. In what other regards do Astell and Kern appear to treat their customers with disdain ? You mean by releasing more products which push the performance envelope of their flagship but at a cheaper price... ? Trickle down is a good thing, it happens in all industries all the time and is why we end up with better and cheaper products.
 
As for D&A, well it has been frustrating watching them mishandle the release and development (from our perspective). We have a few posters from Korea here and the story the tell isn't great but i think a large portion of our frustration comes from the lack of communication and our own impatience and expectation. If we had never heard of the Calyx M and it was released in 6 months time with all he bugs and quality control sorted we would probably be praising them. It is just that so many DAP makers use the market as a development tool. Astell and Kern don't seem to do that. 
Their products seem to be refined and ready for their intended use and performance.

Complaining is also a hobby for some. I've already secured the domain 'complain-fi.org', so don't get any ideas....

 

[piercer]

   
 
Read the A&K threads. Plenty of customers thoroughly frustrated with the level of customer service.

 
Wow. I have found their customer service to be excellent. And I think a lot of other people have too.

 

[Bluebear]

So I heard that the actual production models of M are out with the new firmware v0.6. I went to check out if the SQ has changed since I tried the pre-production demo unit with v0.5 some time ago.
 
The SQ seems to have improved a little and less thick based on my memory. This is tested using the new Tralucent Audio's Ref. 1 IEM. The previous time I tried M's pre-production demo unit was with my Tralucent 1plus2. Played back the Hotel California Hell Freezes Over track that comes loaded in its internal memory and I find that even though it is less thick now, the SQ is still not excellent. It lacks the smoothness of AK120 and seems to sound a little grainy. I think the DX90 demo unit with initial firmware v2.0 I tried some time back sounds better. Needless to say the gap between M and AK240 is even larger with M sounding not just grainy, but having a weaker soundstage and instrument separation and that is just from comparing single-ended out. Balanced out on AK240 wins further by a huge margin.
 

 

[kawaivpc1]

looks nice.. when can we buy this in U.S?

 

[musicheaven]

What's the point of having something that looks nice if at best it's performing sub-par to a cheaper player?