[DocHamm]

I recently made an inquiry to a head-fi sponsor about a product and have some concerns and questions.

I initally received a reply but then nothing. I am somewhat surprised about the lack of reply considering I offered to call, on my dime, when it was convienent for them if email was a problem. I am also surprised because it would have been a reasonable sale, or so I thought, for them.

I am concerned because the item(s) I inquired about were used and although I was told they were sold, they still appear available on the web. Now this may be accidential, but since gaining additional information via another head-fi member, it seems, to me, less likely.

What I am hoping to learn here is should I be concerned that this sponsor is only interested in certain sales? Or only interested in dealing with certain people? From what I have read about this sponsor here on head-fi, I was to believe they were not only reputable as a business, but also friendly and helpful on a personal level. From my few and brief emails, this would seem to not be the case and makes me very hesitant to make a purchase from this sponsor, and use caution with other sponsors.

I am not trying to be negative, or take a negative outlook, which is one reason I am not stating the sponsor's name. However, it does not reflect well to me the apparent indifference and opposite interaction I have had according to what I have heard on head-fi. Without going into specifics, does anyone have any advice on this?

 

[Wmcmanus]

It's hard to give advice in these situations without knowing some of the specifics. But I'll try anyway.

Some of Head-Fi's sponsors are very small businesses, like Ken at ALO or Todd the Vinyl Junkie or Larry at Headphile (and several others as well, those were just the first ones that came to mind, and I've used them just for illustrative purposes). With these kinds of businesses, you will normally get outstanding personal service and more often than not it will be nearly immediate. Sometimes you get an email reply within the blink of an eye.

But there are also times that something may have come up that would cause a temporary distraction for a small business owner. Literally with a one man business, they might have to pick up one of their kids at school or perhaps they just had a tooth pulled. On top of that, they may sometimes get totally swamped with orders or can't find the right person to help with the admin stuff. You get the picture.

So the idea is to pick up the phone and give them a call to see what the story is and then follow up with another email. Try to get some sense of what is happening, and if the break down in communication is too severe, just shuffle your money right on down the road to where you think it might be better spent. But some patience may be required, particularly for the small businesses or for those that are doing a lot of (time consuming) custom work.

Other Head-Fi businesses are much larger, such as Headroom which has several employees and thus is less likely to have much time (if any) that would be "uncovered" from a customer service perspective. Others are bigger still, such as Sennheiser and Shure, so it would be even less likely that they wouldn't have someone available to lend assistance.

But in any case, I think it's the same process as a buyer, no matter which business you're dealing with. You give them as much rope as you think they deserve, and if they come to the end of your rope, they simply hand themselves by losing the sale. It's all a matter of perspective, but IMO, being a small town guy myself and always rooting for small business owners, I tend to give them a little guy more rope.

Yet, no matter what, there comes a point where I'll take my business elsewhere. Every dollar that each of us spends is a vote; that's how world economies are shaped and how capital formation occurs. Those who earn it survive and thrive. Those who don't ultimately fail. It doesn't make sense to fuss and whine and carry on about something (and I'm not saying that you are in this case at all) because as a consumer you have the right to vote for someone else with your dollars.

 

[DocHamm]

I certainly understand with regards to small businesses and everyday life. I absolutely have no problem being patient when someone is busy. I myself had a very busy, difficult and depressing past week. That is why I waited two weeks without a reply to throw this question up.

Basically I am confused as to why I would be told something is not available when it still appears available and would there be another reason, other than real life, that my questions and offers to call would go unanswered. I know this may be difficult to answer without specifics, but it's because I understand and do not want to accuse the sponsor of anything unfounded.

So would the recommendations be to wait longer? Forget the items and shop elsewhere? Or be concerned there may be something not so nice going on if the items still appear available?

 

[Wmcmanus]

My opinion only, but I think it's really up to you. Others may have better advice and more specific ways to approach it, but it seems to me that you have done everything you've needed to do as a customer and for whatever reasons you're not getting the kind of response that you should rightfully expect. To my way of thinking, practically nothing that any of our sponsors sells is really "worth" putting yourself through a lot of aggravation. It strikes me that, perhaps more than anything, you're simply puzzled by the lack of response. Based on what you've described, I would be too.

But the thing is, you don't really have an obligation to give them any more rope than you think they deserve. This business hasn't earned your business and thus your dollars should be spent elsewhere unless they come back to you with a good explanation as to why they've dropped the ball. In other words, it's their obligation, not yours. If you think that giving them another couple of weeks will help, then fine. Although I suspect the end result will be that you'll become even more confused and frustrated by the whole situation, so moving on at this point might be a lot easier.

Is it a big dollar item, or something that you can't get elsewhere? Is it being offered at an especially good price? I mean, unless there is something that is really "special" about it (in one way or another), why not just buy it from someone else? If answering these questions would give too much away, then don't worry about it. They're really more for you to think about than anything. Just seems to me that if they don't have any of your money, you don't have much to worry about.

So if the biggest frustration is the lack of communication, I can understand where you're coming from (having been in your shoes many times). At the same time, if that's all it is, then it's only as big of a deal as you make it out to be. If you sit there and worry about them and why they're not answering your requests for information and such, you could instead be shifting your attention to more positive ways of achieving the same result in terms of buying whatever is the object of your affection.

 

[DocHamm]

I appreciate your response and advice. Yes I am confused and a bit frustrated, but primarily it's a harder to find item, especially at the advertised/offered price. That along with their reputation was my reason for choosing the sponsor initially. Due to my difficult week, I'll probably let it go for awhile, then seek an alternate provider.

Your comment "..object of affection.." is interesting as last week my "object" was completely different than this week. Just a bemusing pondering of how quickly things can change.