My Experience Yesterday With Audiocomproup

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

Hi guys,

Want to share this with you, and ask if any of you have ever been down to the shop on Rama 3.

I initially tried to make contact with Audiocom around 2 weeks ago to audition 3 models of Usher loudspeakers. One of the numbers on the website is dead, and no-one answered the other number, so I kept ringing over a period of days and never received an answer.

So, I got the personal mobile number for K.Pichat (proprietor) from a guy in Amarin Plaza.

I tried ringing his mobile number several times... no answer.

So, I asked my Thai g/f to try ringing his mobile number (btw she is no idiot, she is the PA to the Chairman of the Board of a very well known Thai media company that make TV shows, movies, publish magazines/comics etc)

She finally got an answer and managed to speak to K. Pichat, who was very rude and couldn't be bothered speaking to her, so he passed the phone over to his wife to speak to my gf. My gf explained that I would like to go down to their shop to audition the Usher Dancer 1 and Dancer 2 floorstanding loudspeakers.

My gf told K.Pichat's wife that I would be going to the shop on 23rd Nov, Tuesday afternoon around 2.00pm. K. Pichat's wife told my gf that I can go down any time, and that they have the Dancer 1 and 2 in stock and can audition them whenever I want.

So, yesterday morning, my gf rang K.Pichat again, to remind him that I was going there at 2pm. He told her 2.00pm was too early as they needed time to set-up the loudspeakers for demo, he said 3pm would be better.

He told my gf that I should get a taxi to Central Rama III, and then I should call him and let him give directions to the taxi driver to get to the shop from Central Rama III.

Again, he was very rude to my gf. She told me "don't ever ask me to call that guy again", then she added "tell him from me: <deleted> you". Of course she didn't really mean the 2nd part, but she was really angry with the way K.Pichat had spoken to her again.

So I arrived at Central Rama III yesterday at 3pm and phoned his mobile. No amswer. Tried again and again and again. Also tried the shop number on the website. No answer. I was bitterly disappointed and we headed back up to town from Rama III. I called my gf from the taxi to explain what had happened.

So, she called K.Pichat again... guess what, he answered the phone. he told her that they had all been upstairs setting the equipment up and had left their phones downstairs and didn't hear my call. So, I got the taxi driver to do a u-turn and go back down to Central Rama III. I rang K.Pichat again from the taxi and finally he picked up, so I passed the phone to the taxi driver so K.Pichat could give him directions to the shop.

We finally found the shop, it's very difficult to find. We went inside and were greeted by a room full of boxes and then were shown into a room on the right where the equipment was setup (so there goes the bullsh*t story about setting up the equipment upstairs).

There was one pair of loudspeakers: The Usher Dancer 1. I had asked specifically to listen to the Dancer 2. I reminded K.Pichat that he had previously told me that he had 3 models for me to demo, the stand mounted Ushers, and the Dancer 1 and 2 floorstanders. I was bitterly disappointed, frustrated and angry. I had travelled all that way, gone through all the hassle, upset my gf, been told one thing and then found out when I got there that they only had the Dancer 1's in stock.

The demo room was a joke, you could tell they'd just hastily thrown everything together. It was filthy. Certainly not a good environent in which to audition hi-fi.

I was so angry, I went outside for a cigarette to calm down. I went back inside and listened to the Dancer 1's for 10 minutes or so, but I wasn't in the mood any more so I left.

On the way out I told K.Pichat that I would never buy anything from him, and I also said I was disgusted with the way he had spoken to my gf. I told him I would be contacting Usher directly to inform them that their distributor in Thailand is terrible and that they should make it a matter of urgency to appoint another distributor in Thailand. He just smirked and said "you do that".

[stgrhe]

Thank you for sharing this bad experience with us. It appears, however, that most dealers and distributors here in Thailand are quite good and the Usher dealer is apparently the rotten apple that has fallen of the tree.

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

I'm definitely inclined to agree with you stgrhe. Over the past couple of months I've visited several hi-fi dealers in BK. They've all been enthusiastic about their products, very accommodating, and most importantly honest.

It's such a shame because (imho) the Usher's are very good loudspeakers. Personally, I much preferred the Dancer 1's to the ProAc D18's for example. K. Pichat said he would be receiving new stock from Taiwan in about 2 weeks, and I'm still very interested in the Dancer 2's, but there's no way I'm going down there again.

[CarlBkk]

I'm sorry to hear that, and I can completely imagine that happening. Same type of thing has happened to me with suppliers being rude to gf but then nicely fake with me (to get a sale). It doesn't work that way. Pichet is very Chinese. What I mean is he's raw business...not customer service, so I'd imagine he acted quickly to get the dist. license to make money without trying hard. I only talked with him once I knew I couldn't take a liking to him as I could with several of the enthusiasts I met in Amarin or Fortune. There are some dealers who use you and you have to use them....and that means know what you want to buy, and if you can screw them down to the lowest price then you're happy and they're happy with minimum of niceties.

If you want the better customer experience you have to bypass these dealers at the first sign of rudeness, but I understand ther is NO other place to demo Ushers without going to Malaysia or Singapore...where in actual fact, the trip might well be worth it: often cheaper and you can carry back as luggage allowance!

I'd love to know exactly what words he used with your gf though. I highly recommend you follow through with your threat of contacting Usher after that, and copy a letter to him too just to prove that you, as a foreign customer, don't take that bull and that you expect basic professionalim and manners. There are other dealers here who would make a far better job with Usher. It may just make him stop and think before he speaks rudely and dismisses customers before he sees them.

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

Carl, I completely agree with you, he is very old school Chinese, and I think in some respects he's just too old to do the job properly. He doesn't understand that this is 2010 and customer service is extremely important, especially if one is considering spending close to 200,000thb on a pair of loudspeakers! His premises are totally inadequate - just an old dirty Chinese style shop-house.

Anyway, I broached the subject with my gf over dinner last night. She explained to me that it wasn't the actual words he used that upset her, rather his dismissive and patronising manner. First he asked if she was my secretary or my gf, maybe he would've spoken to her more respectfully if she'd said she was my secretary...who knows. As I mentioned in my previous post he just told her that I could go to the shop any time, and that he had all the items in stock that I was interested in, as it transpired this just wasn't the case. We arranged a date and a time, but when the date arrived and we called to confirm that I was on my way down there he was full of excuses and used all the delaying tactics under the sun.

I've already contacted Usher, this is the letter I wrote:

"I am contacting you regarding the terrible customer service I recently received from your distributor in Thailand. Audiocomgroup are unprofessional, dishonest and incompetent. They are incredibly difficult to contact as they never answer the telephone or respond to email enquiries. The proprietor of Audiocomgroup in Thailand (K.Pichat) is extremely rude and completely disinterested in helping potential customers. Their premises are dirty and small, and their demonstration room is a disgrace, it is completely unsuitable for auditioning such high end products as those manufactured by yourselves.

I have dealt with many hi-fi distributors and dealers in Thailand, all of whom are easily contactable, honest and conduct their business in a professional manner, they treat their customers with respect and are more than happy to arrange a demonstration or answer questions regarding items in stock, prices and availability. Not so with K. Pichat and Audiocomgroup.

I am terribly disappointed as I was planning to purchase a pair of Usher loudspeakers, however, as a matter of principle I shall not buy anything from Audiocomgroup in Thailand. I suggest you find a replacement distributor in Thailand as a matter of urgency. You have already lost one customer (myself) due to K. Pichat's terrible attitude.

I would very much appreciate a reply from yourselves. Thankyou in advance."

I received this reply from an Usher customer service representative:

"We are very sorry to cause your unpleasantness. Due to Mini Two Speaker is out of stock and the supply is unable to meet the demand. Therefore, we have delayed the shipping time and it also leads to Mr. Pichet cannot receive the shipment on time. I will pass on your precious opinions to my boss and Mr. Pichet. Thanks again for your suggestions and appreciate for your understanding."

I sent this reply to Usher:

"Many thanks for your quick response.

I completely understand that supply is unable to meet demand. My issue is with Mr Pichet and his attitude to customers. He is very rude on the telephone and didn't tell me the truth regarding items he had in stock.

If Mr. Pichet had been honest with me and explained the situation regarding the Mini Dancer 2 being out of stock I would have accepted the situation and waited until he had the items in stock again. However, he avoided phone calls and made it extremely difficult for me to contact him instead of just answering the phone and explaining the situation in a truthful manner.

Due to being unable to contact anyone on the phone numbers listed on the Audiocom website I eventually managed to get his personal mobile phone number from another hi-fi dealer in Bangkok. When I contacted him I was very surprised at his attitude, he wasn't interested in selling the products or helping me, but nevertheless I arranged a date and time to visit his shop. He knew in advance which Usher models I was interested in and wanted to audition, but when I arrived at the shop I found he had lied to me about the items he had in stock. Unfortunately he doesn't understand how important customer service is, or the concepts of honesty and 'straight talking' when dealing with customers.

I sincerely hope you bring this matter to the attention of your boss, and I sincerely hope you can appoint a more professional and commited (and therefore more suitable) dealer in Thailand for your excellent hi-fi products."

The Usher customer service agent replied again, saying that they would look into the matter.

As you said Carl, there are so many other dealers in Bangkok that could do a much better job with Usher!

Let's hope Usher act on this.

Meanwhile, I think I may take your advice and arrange a quick trip to KL to visit the Usher dealer there, and I can also visit the PMC dealer there, as I'm also very interested in their Fact 8 loudspeakers, which are unfortunately unavailable in Thailand.

Edited December 5, 2010 by naughtybadfurrimunki

[powderpuff]

There was another dealer here who deserves mention.

Golden Sound.

This guy started out in Amarin Plaza, between Wuti & KS World.

Later on he moved to Hi-Fi Center (The old Big C Rajadamri)

I like to browse Hi-Fi shops on a Sunday to keep abreast of the latest technology & new models.

So Golden Sound was the dealer for Cary Audio Designs & Moon audio & Triangle Loudspeakers; among other top brands.

However about the third time I asked this guy the price of something he got all shirty & told me he had quoted me the price already.

I told him an email was going ty Cary concerning his rudeness & piss poor customer interaction.

Did send Cary an email.

They couldn't care less.

This ehole has since pulled back to his house which is a Mooban on Srinakarin somewhere.

Piyanas is now selling Moon.

If you want a great experience head down to Paragon.

Find the KS & Sons showroom.

They deal McIntosh & Sonus Faber. Ask to go back to their listening room.

You will be blown away.

They have been here for 30 years & totally get it. 5 stars.

[astral]

Whilst I understand your frustration with these companies, can we please

dial back on the adverse comments.

Thailand has very strange laws about libel and defamation.

Thanks