ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I really wonder what is going on with B&O in the USA. I just called tech support and ended up talking with someone in Denmark. I asked them what happened to their technical support center in Chicago and I was told it was closed down and all calls now get routed to Denmark.
So now this in addition to closing flagship stores in major markets - it really makes me wonder if B&O is abandoning the USA . I really love the brand but I am starting to lose faith!
Tifoso48:it really makes me wonder if B&O is abandoning the USA . I really love the brand but I am starting to lose faith!
I don't think it is unique to North America, the situation is similar in the UK.
Regards Keith....
One could argue that it is sensible as they have a large set up in Struer and most equipment is now made elsewhere. Having the service advice line there is quite logical. Especially as the products now all rely on module replacement.
Peter
Tifoso48: I really wonder what is going on with B&O in the USA. I just called tech support and ended up talking with someone in Denmark. I asked them what happened to their technical support center in Chicago and I was told it was closed down and all calls now get routed to Denmark. So now this in addition to closing flagship stores in major markets - it really makes me wonder if B&O is abandoning the USA . I really love the brand but I am starting to lose faith!
It's probably just as well. In my experience people in Denmark speak better English than most 'native English' speakers, including North Americans
They are not (!) giving up the USA.
Maybe in the end you guys are better off with service from Struer - you've got the direct line, then!
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
My dealer told me about this a couple of days ago. Note that there will only be TWO tech support people in Denmark taking these calls. The dealer said it was due to "budgetary constraints." This truly does make me worry. I tried for over an hour and was unable to get through to the tech support. At least we have BeoWorld!
BTW, related to my earlier thread about changes in shipping procedures: it took over 3 weeks and I still had not received my 2nd BeoSound Moment. My dealer was furious with B&O corporate and had no explanation. Fortunately, he took matters into his own hands and overnighted to me the only Moment in stock anywhere in the U.S. I just received it today.
The new shipping delays and now the closure of the U.S. tech support have me very concerned.
Millemissen: Tifoso48: I really wonder what is going on with B&O in the USA. I just called tech support and ended up talking with someone in Denmark. I asked them what happened to their technical support center in Chicago and I was told it was closed down and all calls now get routed to Denmark. So now this in addition to closing flagship stores in major markets - it really makes me wonder if B&O is abandoning the USA . I really love the brand but I am starting to lose faith! They are not (!) giving up the USA. Maybe in the end you guys are better off with service from Struer - you've got the direct line, then! MM
MM, What makes you think B&O is not leaving North America? There is much more evidence to suggest they are leaving. At the rate they have been closing stores, it appears they will be gone in less than a year.
I can understand the frustrations of the remaining dealers. I checked Amazon for the Besound 2. Amazon not only has it but also has two day delivery.
The good news is that, according to the latest quarterly report, B and O revenue is up, Beoplay revenue is up, North American revenue is up, and over 300 third party dealers have been added in North America.
Beolab 28s Beolab 9s Beolab 12-3s Beolab 1s Beolab 6000s 2 pairs Beolab 4000s Beovision 7-55 Beovision 10-40 Beoplay V1 32 inch Beovision Avant 32 inch Beosound 1 (CD player) Beosound 3000 Beosound 5 Core Essence MKII Beoplay M5
Not so concerned with tech support being out of Denmark, as long as they account for the time difference and have sufficient resources. To be frank in all my time owning B&O I have relied on the dealer for support, or the extensive manuals, or this fourm - i did not even know there was a general number. My bigger concern is the diminishing number of dealers, and the level of knowledge maintained at the dealers. My former dealer (store closed) was quite good in getting the issues resolved. But now with only one store in New York, this may be more problematic. And who knows how long the store will be there - I have walked in and walked by many times, and it is usually empty.
BV11-55, BS9000, BL1, BL19, Transmitter 1, Beo4, Beocom 6000, BeoTalk1 200, Sennheiser HD600, McIntosh MHA100
The Beointegration site lists the pro partners. 15 or 16 in the New York area.
Razlaw: The Beointegration site lists the pro partners. 15 or 16 in the New York area.
Hi Razlaw, Can you please try sending a service request to them to see what happens. I really think that your postings are misguiding people versus helping them solve the issues.
I don't believe I posted one single thing about service. So no, I will not waste my time and B an O 's time with some fabricated service request.
Perhaps you could explain how mentioning the number of locations that sell B and O, as publicly posted on a B and O sites, as well as quarterly report figures that are publicly available on the B and O site as well as countless other sites, is misguiding about service?
Razlaw: I don't believe I posted one single thing about service. So no, I will not waste my time and B an O 's time with some fabricated service request. Perhaps you could explain how mentioning the number of locations that sell B and O, as publicly posted on a B and O sites, as well as quarterly report figures that are publicly available on the B and O site as well as countless other sites, is misguiding about service?
In other words, don't ask questions you don't really want the answers to...better to whistle past the graveyard.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
I merely posted news that I believe to be good news. I do recognize that any positive comments about B and O have become anathema on this forum.
If by graveyard you were referring to B and O, hopefully the double digit revenue increase of last quarter will continue. Also, the adddition of over 300 pro partners in North America in the last quarter alone, bringing the total pro partners in North America to over 1,000, will hopefully be a good thing.
I can attest that I did try to call tech support with a legitimate issue. With repeated calls, I was never able to get through. I kept getting a message that all lines where busy. There was not even an option to hold or to leave a message.
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Revenue is one metric and can be an easily distortable one at that. . How much of that is the residual from Harmon for selling of the rights to automotive, and taking credit for BeoPlay purchaser supplied product sales to distributors who can sell it for peanuts? Learn how to read a balance sheet and a P&L, match it to the % of institutional ownership, and you have a very different picture. Would YOU buy a share of B&O stock?
Outside of the former B&O store employees who have gone out on their own, a pro partner is usually a guy in a truck who went to Cedia and agreed to sell B&O for a lesser margin. In the 1 in a million chance they sell something, they have to order it from Denmark though the dealer network, with no real service network left in the US.
There probably aren't 1000 high-end hifi storefronts in the entire US, so the pro partners are mostly trunk slammers who will use B&O to downsell what every distributor in the US sells. There are 11 B1 stores in The Americas. That's all you need to know.
Why do you get so argumentative and angry over a couple of facts?
You are very funny! Thanks for a good laugh.
Razlaw: Why do you get so argumentative and angry over a couple of facts? You are very funny! Thanks for a good laugh.
Goodness, angry? Me, over a couple of opinions you have? If I were angry I think you'd know it, like with the Incredible Hulk!
There are serious issues with B&O and their longevity, especially in our country, sticking your head in the sand may make you feel confident and happy, but the correlation with reality is suspect. Time will tell, but I hope your partner experience is everything you hope it will be.
Please stop putting words in my mouth.
All I said was "some good news" , commented that there are more pro partners now than before, and expressed hope for the future. Emphasis on the word "hope". Nowhere did I say everything is perfect and the future has no possible problems.
You respond by saying "Learn how to....." So obviously you had to result to a personal attack.
I expressed no opinion of the overall numbers. Merely that revenue is up and that seems to be good news. Obviously any number of things can impact revenue but I do believe up is typically better than down. I have yet to see you point to any specific numbers from the quarterly report, much less numbers that show a deteriorating position. They may be there. They may not. And they may be subject to interpretation.
Also regardless of the type of store selling B and O, typically more locations for a customer to purchase a product would seem to be better than fewer locations.
So again, please stop putting words in my mouth and attributing opinions to me that I clearly did not express.
Well, doesn't take much get you to bow up and see insults where none are intended, bless your little heart Raz. Calm down, it's just a forum on B&O, cripes you act like this is some life and death, sabers at dawn affair of honor! Get a grip man, relax, have a beer, listen to some music, you stress way too much.
Sorry to say it, Jeff - but your re-action/your posting clearly shows, that you also need a beer or two....and perhaps to listen to some music too.
I attended the grand opening of the former manager of the LI B&O store's new Elite Pro partner store.
Wonderful. All the usual tech support suspects were there: Dave Zapfel, Curtis and Thomas, along with Pat Divver, who runs the area's B&O support/repair facility. They were, to a man, energized beyond words about the latest direction for B&O.
I'm all in!
Barry
Barry Santini: I attended the grand opening of the former manager of the LI B&O store's new Elite Pro partner store. Wonderful. All the usual tech support suspects were there: Dave Zapfel, Curtis and Thomas, along with Pat Divver, who runs the area's B&O support/repair facility. They were, to a man, energized beyond words about the latest direction for B&O. I'm all in! Barry
Hi Barry, can you please let me know which store that is. I am heading to New York next week and would like to visit a good B&O store. The one in Boston is just boring and most of the folks are not very technical.
Thanks
That is great to hear. I hope their energization is well placed and that there is great future for B and O. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Eclipse and will be visiting my dealer to see both it and the Beolab 50.
Razlaw: I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Eclipse and will be visiting my dealer to see both it and the Beolab 50.
I can tell you about BL 50. Be prepared to be super impressed. I am loving it. Didn't think that it will surpass BL5 in a meaningful way but I was totally wrong. It sounds really smooth like silk. Let us know what you think when you demo.
On the TV, let's compare notes. Not that I disliked the Eclipse but I could not like it either (and particularly at the asking price). I ended up ordering a Loewe BILD 7 from Europe against all the wise advice of not bringing in a TV with no service in the USA and the voltage difference and what not. When I considered all the options, I really could not land on Eclipse 65 inch at almost $ 17K while I am getting the Loewe 77 inch at that price.
Here's the web link for the new store:
http://northshoresounds.business.site/
B
I tried tech support again today. It's impossible to get through. There's just a message that all lines are busy. B&O tech support is essentially dead.
beojeff: I tried tech support again today. It's impossible to get through. There's just a message that all lines are busy. B&O tech support is essentially dead.
But hey, the stock price is up! Can’t have everything.
Jeff: beojeff: I tried tech support again today. It's impossible to get through. There's just a message that all lines are busy. B&O tech support is essentially dead. But hey, the stock price is up! Can’t have everything.
LOL. As I'm not a shareholder, I don't care about the stock price. As an owner of B&O products, I DO care about getting my products to work correctly. It's now impossible to get through to tech support. This was never the case before the support was moved to Denmark. Often, there might be a queue to be on hold to wait for help. However, as it is now, one does not even have the option to hold in a queue. You must keep hitting "redial." Even with "redial" I haven't been able to get through.
beojeff: Jeff: beojeff: I tried tech support again today. It's impossible to get through. There's just a message that all lines are busy. B&O tech support is essentially dead. But hey, the stock price is up! Can’t have everything. LOL. As I'm not a shareholder, I don't care about the stock price. As an owner of B&O products, I DO care about getting my products to work correctly. It's now impossible to get through to tech support. This was never the case before the support was moved to Denmark. Often, there might be a queue to be on hold to wait for help. However, as it is now, one does not even have the option to hold in a queue. You must keep hitting "redial." Even with "redial" I haven't been able to get through.
Agree completely. I wonder if B&O is essentially abandoning the US market? If someone begs us to sell them something we'll let them deal with a pro partner trunk slammer, otherwise tough beans. This is not the kind of support you expect from a "premium" brand is it?
I recently built a house in the Washington DC area and outfitted every square inch of it (inside and out) with primarily B&O equipment, needless to say I'm heavily invested in the brand as a consumer. I have strong concerns about the vanishing US stores and B&O’s plan to use pro partners and offshore technical support.
That said, after having recently completed a very large project with a pro partner, I can say it worked out very favorable for me. In my case, I used a pro partner that chooses B&O first, and other equipment second. With respect to the part of the system that involved B&O equipment, I believe the experience largely echoed what it would have been like to work with a B&O store. That said, because my pro partner was able to integrate non-B&O equipment where B&O had a hole in their product lineup (e.g., outdoor speakers, networking equipment, cameras), using a pro partner actually work out better for me.
The key for me was using a pro partner that was primarily a B&O guy. I chose to work with Torsten Severtson of ampersand AV (ampersandav.com). He either worked at and/or managed a B&O store in the Washington DC area before it closed and has a solid relationship with B&O, B&O’s installers in the area (solutionsbyswat.com), and B&O’s local repair person (esc-website.net). He definitely provided, and continues to provide, a very B&O experience. The only area where the experience could have fallen short, was the lack of a showroom to view/experience the products being recommended. However, that was not an issue for me because I knew exactly what I wanted. That said, I can see it being an issue for others. I believe he is aware of that, which is why has recently teamed up with BoConcept in Georgetown to add B&O products to their showroom which now effectively doubles as a B&O showroom.
Anyone in the Washington DC area thinking of adding B&O to their home should give Torsten of ampersand AV serious consideration. I didn’t set out to make this such a strong plug for Torsten of ampersand AV, but wanted to give an example of a positive experience of working with a pro partner. Although since I’m giving plugs, I should also give a recommendation for Neil Parikh at the B&O store at ABT Electronics in the Chicago area.
With respect to technical support being moved offshore, I’m actually having an issue with this now. One of my Avant Mk1s is having an issue with the sound that, despite every board having been replaced, the problem persists and my repairman is having difficulty contacting B&O to come up with a solution. I know that US technical support just stopped as of October 1, so hopefully the difficulty reaching technical support is just a temporary issue that needs to be ironed out instead of the new norm.
Jeff, I wholly agree with you that this is not the type of support we should expect from a premium brand. I've always been very impressive with the quality of the U.S. tech support. I knew those guys by name. What I don't quite understand is how B&O could "cut corners" (as my dealer said) by consolidating the tech support with that in Denmark. My dealer said that there are only two people in tech support in Denmark now. The U.S. tech support aways seemed quite busy. It was expected to need to wait in a queue for someone to be available to help. I'm perfectly fine with waiting patiently in a queue. However, now we can't even get into the queue. The call just doesn't even go through.
beojeff: Jeff, I wholly agree with you that this is not the type of support we should expect from a premium brand. I've always been very impressive with the quality of the U.S. tech support. I knew those guys by name. What I don't quite understand is how B&O could "cut corners" (as my dealer said) by consolidating the tech support with that in Denmark. My dealer said that there are only two people in tech support in Denmark now. The U.S. tech support aways seemed quite busy. It was expected to need to wait in a queue for someone to be available to help. I'm perfectly fine with waiting patiently in a queue. However, now we can't even get into the queue. The call just doesn't even go through.
Just wondering what it says when you know the tech support guys by name... Hopefully not from problems but from trying to integrate a complicated setup that needed support to figure out how to implement the options available. From what I've seen B&O things like the NL and MLGW are not all that straightforward or simple to implement, with a large number of capabilities and options comes complexity.
beojeff: I've always been very impressive with the quality of the U.S. tech support. I knew those guys by name. What I don't quite understand is how B&O could "cut corners" (as my dealer said) by consolidating the tech support with that in Denmark.
The B&O America Corporate Hdqtrs is in the process of being moved from IL to NYC. Quite possibly the tech support people (BeoCare) didn't want to make the move and therefore B&O decided to farm the function out to Denmark rather than replacing them (I'd imagine they'd be difficult to replace).
'Quite surprised to hear that the Manhasset store's former manager is essentially reopening in Little Neck, Queens, of all places (tho with a few other brands - he mentioned Samsung). 'Suppose the rent there does not compare to what he was paying in Manhasset's Miracle Mile (yes, the one mentioned in Billy Joel's It's Still Rock and Roll to Me)
Not directly related to the thread, but....
interesting anyway — — at least for some:
https://www.cepro.com/article/bang_olufsen_professional_custom_install_channel_program
Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing! Reminds me of a phone call I received several months ago from someone who had previously met. He wanted to let me know he had a new business,and was there for me if I ever needed any technical assistance, repairs, or products. Reading this article I now understand much better what he was doing.