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
Don't know if this is the right section or not but: Anyone have news/information with what's going on with North America's corporate division? In Chicago there was one remaining shop-in-shop B2 for the entire metro area. Was like this for many years but worked ok. Over the holidays I found out the B2 shut down just a few weeks ago (supposedly due to disputes between the retailer and BOA). Now, Chicago has zero physical retailers which is kind of BOA's "backyard" market region as corporate in right in the suburbs.
I also needed to inquire about some old cables, so called up BOA, since zero phjysical stores here, and I repeatedly get the "line disconnected" tone. Also found out the local authorized repair center, which also covers the entire Chicago midwest region, shut down a few weeks back, too. What is up here?
I feel like B&O the company is an airliner that's in a medium angle nosedive. At the last second the crew pulls up, saves the plane, but then they drift off again and the nose retips downwards. Repeat again and again...
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
Just verified from out-of-area, calls to 847-590-4900 (and all -49xx numbers, for any individual you once knew there) are busy signals.
(*Where* is your service issue being taken care of? Say, maybe NA distribution has "sought sanctuary" in Canada!-)
trackbeo: Just verified from out-of-area, calls to 847-590-4900 (and all -49xx numbers, for any individual you once knew there) are busy signals. (*Where* is your service issue being taken care of? Say, maybe NA distribution has "sought sanctuary" in Canada!-)
Theyre doing like they do on Halloween...lock the doors, turn the lights out, draw the curtains, take the phones off the hook, and hide behind the couch hoping everyone will think they’re not home and just go away.
It also amazes me that no matter how bad something about B&O is, everything is fine. Whistling past the graveyard. B&O did have a dealer network, until they euthanized them. They are like a kid who kills his parents then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he’s an orphan. The ex dealers I know were both very customer oriented, offered great service and attention to detail, were enthusiastic about the brand, and both were treated very poorly by BOA as a reward for their efforts.
But then perhaps B&O are so Eurocentric they don’t care about the US market, viewing is all as backwards colonials.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Indeed. It's become horrible in the U.S. There is no longer any technical support. Emailing BeoCare gives one the feeling that they treat American customers like the "redheaded stepchildren."
There is still a great B&O store in Cincinnati. Ask for Per. He'll treat you well.
I'm surprised that the Chicago area repair service is gone. They were always very good. I seem to recall them being in Arlington Heights maybe? There is someone authorized for B&O repairs in West Chester, Ohio. His name is Ben at BEC Audio Video Repair. I've been going to him for years.
trackbeo: (*Where* is your service issue being taken care of?
beojeff:I'm surprised that the Chicago area repair service is gone. They were always very good. I seem to recall them being in Arlington Heights maybe?
First my dealer, now my repair center . Having a local, trustworthy repair center always made buying B&O (new and used) a lot easier. I think it's going to be very challenging for me to buy any major B&O without a store or a repair center that I can easily drive to. I guess I've been lucky relative to the rest of the US. They did a lot of work for me last year - fixed my Bs5, BS9000 and BV8 after a lightening strike. The Arlington Heights location closed a few years ago, but one of the principals opened a much smaller space in Evanston (Hermit Labs). It was always very quiet there so I wondered how he survived. I guess he didn't
I thought I read a while ago that they moved the HQ of BOA to NY or somewhere on the east coast. Odd story - we recently reconnected with an old friend of my wife's from high school. Turns out his sister worked at BOA in the early 80s. Odd because I'm probably one of the few people still around with a house full of B&O. She thought they had gone out of business.
Razlaw: trackbeo: (*Where* is your service issue being taken care of? B and O is coming to my home to do the BL20 service.
(*Where* is your service issue being taken care of?
B and O is coming to my home to do the BL20 service.
Do you know where "B and O" is coming from?
What he (& I above) *meant* to say was, "It would be most kind of you, if you could query your service tech how his dispatches work and from whom/where. Oh, and whether all service is done by truck-roll or if there is a depot for walk-in/delivery service? Thank you." (We meant to say, "thank you.")
Vaguely OT: Service for my Asko brand clothes washer (Swedish, but not anymore) was done by a third party service firm; they rep several brands which chose not to employ their own staff in the states. Accordingly, **every** repair is a 2-trip process: the service tech comes out, disassembles & diagnoses the unit, then views a parts diagram while on-site and talks to a central station. He verifies or collects payment for the first visit, and completely reassembles the unit. Later there is a phone call where you approve parts cost (and maybe labor, I forget?). After the parts have been ordered and arrived, another phone call to schedule. On the second visit, they disassemble again and repair. Only the most generic stuff is carried in their vans. This is the opposite of what some people described for in-home B&O technicians, where they arrive with an expected boards complement for your model, which when swapped are sent back in the same service-set box, for rework or destruction, and the service-set is repopulated (as necessary) to be sent out again.
i've spoken w hermit through email but never stopped in. bo carefully selects their authorized service centers and those locations basically get a"monopoly" on that region's potential service dollars. so it's a mystery why one would close. and with no outlined replacement, even stranger.
Stan:Do you know where "B and O" is coming from?
trackbeo:What he (& I above) *meant* to say was, "It would be most kind of you, if you could query your service tech how his dispatches work and from whom/where. Oh, and whether all service is done by truck-roll or if there is a depot for walk-in/delivery service? Thank you."
McRib: i've spoken w hermit through email but never stopped in. bo carefully selects their authorized service centers and those locations basically get a"monopoly" on that region's potential service dollars. so it's a mystery why one would close. and with no outlined replacement, even stranger.
Really not much of a mystery. Here's the explanation from the website: "Thanks to all our customers over the past two years; you've been wonderful, but there simply weren't enough of you!"
Stan: "Thanks to all our customers over the past two years; you've been wonderful, but there simply weren't enough of you!"
And that, in a nutshell, is pretty much it! Their greatest fans on this site will continue to defend the company until the very end but they are falling in number, slowly, steadily, with an almost insidious certainty!
Ban boring signatures!
Denmark shut down all Chicago offices last spring and let go most employees. New York B&O play office became new North American office but mainly marketing and sales. Service and dealer support is all handled from Denmark now. You have to call during Danish business hours. New store opening in New York and all focus is there for the moment. If you want good support call Bang & Olufsen Boston. Only US store that has been in same location since 1988.
Whaaaaa?
expoman:If you want good support call Bang & Olufsen Boston. Only US store that has been in same location since 1988.
Puncher:Their greatest fans on this site will continue to defend the company until the very end but they are falling in number, slowly, steadily, with an almost insidious certainty!
e.g. 'Razlaw'?
MediaBobNY: e.g. 'Razlaw'?
Silly me. I thought this forum was for people who liked B and O. But sadly it has largely become a site to attack B and O and to personally attack individuals who dare to like B and O such as you two have chosen to do. I have said nothing in this thread except for facts and expressed a hope. As you two feel the need to attack fans of B and O generally and more specifically me, here are some more facts. I have been buying B and O for many years. I own a 32 inch Avant, two pairs of Beolab 4000s, Beolab 6000s, 1s, 9s, 12-3s, 20s, V1, 10-40, 7-55, Essence, Core, old BS1, BS2000, BS5, BS3000,phones, answering machine, Beotime, M5. Also at one point had a BV7-40. All products have worked flawlessly with only three exceptions, one problem 20 years ago that was taken care of by B and O, one problem 15 years ago that was taken care of by B and O, and now the known issue in the 20s. There is no other brand that I have purchased that has performed as well or has lasted as long. As for service, I live three hours from Chicago and B and O is sending someone to fix the 20s. As mentioned in another thread, Beosound 5s are no longer connecting to the domain they used.
I contacted B and O customer support Friday night and they have already contacted me twice this weekend. Yes I am sorry that Abt no longer sells B and O. But I still have another dealer three hours away, just in the opposite direction in Iowa.
So yes I like the products, yes they all work well for me, yes I receive very good customer support, yes I find multiple customer service replies on the weekend a good thing, and yes I hope for the best for B and O. I am sorry that somehow that is so offensive to you and makes you feel the need to engage in personal attacks. And with that I will conclude my participation in this thread.
Razlaw, I'm not sure the negative feelings are, or were, expressed directly at you personally.
You've clearly been treated well, have had great service from your products, and have also had great service from the B&O Dealers you've come into contact with. Good things happen to good people, so clearly you're a good person!
As regards everyone being 'on a downer' about B&O, why would you think that was? Nobody complains when they're happy with a product or service - they just (on the whole) say nothing, or give the odd bit of praise when it's called for. It's a sad fact that the vast majority of people become vocal (and take to social media and forums) when they are unhappy, or displeased at least.
Nobody, unless deluded, would say that Bang & Olufsen as a company are on an upward trajectory when it comes to product range and customer support. Dealers are closing, service centres are closing, the brand portfolio is shrinking, and technology is moving forward so rapidly even products purchased less than 5 years ago for thousands of Pounds/Dollars/Euros are becoming defunct and not supported. Bound to leave a sour taste? Hell yeah. And these are the people who are vocal on here.
I'm very much a realist. I love the brand, and I understand that a combination of arrogance (internal) and the furious pace of new technology (external) has really caught B&O out. There are some great people who are simply firefighting at Head Offices around the world. Staff number have been slashed and their workload has quadrupled. Also, from experience, a B&O enquiry isn't just a 30 second phone call. One issue can rumble on for days or weeks - it's never simple.
So, Razlaw, keep being upbeat. This reflects your experiences - and that's a good thing. Conversely, be understanding of the people who are having negative experiences. They are on here as B&O fans at the end of the day - otherwise they'd just delete their account, buy an LG and some Sonos, and never come back.
Lee
MediaBobNY: Puncher:Their greatest fans on this site will continue to defend the company until the very end but they are falling in number, slowly, steadily, with an almost insidious certainty! e.g. 'Razlaw'?
What I find interesting is that for some reason, Raz claims to get a level of service no one else does. We hear story after story of Beocare and other issues, no one answers the phone, nonexistent response, a don’t care attitude if you do manage to get thru, service centers closed, no support, yet they’re sending people to,his house to solve his problems. Does that pass the smell test to anyone? Seems disingenuous to me, if it was coming from someone who's said good and bad things and not been both unwavering in saying everything is fine and more tolerant of the poor schlubs who have different experiences I’d find it more believable. As it is it definitely has an Alice Thru The Looking Glass quality.
beojeff:There is still a great B&O store in Cincinnati. Ask for Per. He'll treat you well.
+1 here for Per.
Never been to the store in person, but he has helped me out over the phone a couple of times.
Beo4 'til I die!
Razlaw:I live three hours from Chicago and B and O is sending someone to fix the 20s.
Razlaw:But I still have another dealer three hours away, just in the opposite direction in Iowa.
Razlaw:And with that I will conclude my participation in this thread.
Sandyb:Wow, talk about throwing your toys out if the pram. I must have been imagining all the horrific problems I had with my Moment and BV14. And my dealer must have also been imagining all the returned TV sets.
I must have been imagining all the horrific problems I had with my Moment and BV14.
And my dealer must have also been imagining all the returned TV sets.
I hear the service guys are also bringing him a pony and a puppy too.
Jeff: MediaBobNY: Puncher:Their greatest fans on this site will continue to defend the company until the very end but they are falling in number, slowly, steadily, with an almost insidious certainty! e.g. 'Razlaw'? What I find interesting is that for some reason, Raz claims to get a level of service no one else does. We hear story after story of Beocare and other issues, no one answers the phone, nonexistent response, a don’t care attitude if you do manage to get thru, service centers closed, no support, yet they’re sending people to,his house to solve his problems. Does that pass the smell test to anyone? Seems disingenuous to me, if it was coming from someone who's said good and bad things and not been both unwavering in saying everything is fine and more tolerant of the poor schlubs who have different experiences I’d find it more believable. As it is it definitely has an Alice Thru The Looking Glass quality.
Jeff, should someone offer you at-home service from 3 hours away, don't answer the door.
Multiple new support numbers on B and O web site, including North America, specifically the USA, available 24 hours a day.
https://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/support/contact