a little aggrieved d400

[dkdavid]

Having received an e-mail at the same time as everyone else i suppose, i was shocked to find a new model already to supersede my current model, i don't really complain much but after only buying my 400 some 4 weeks ago , i sort of saw red. 

So i thought that i would contact Devialet and see why the sudden changes, i spoke with a very nice lady at Devialet today for a considerable amount of time, and at length about there marketing strategy, Am i the only one that feels annoyed by this ? I suppose its because i only bought the 400 a few weeks ago, would i have waited for the pro ? yes i would have done but it seem they are tight lipped about any new changes, surely you should shout about a new model from the tree tops, to generate a buzz about a new product, and not just drop it in via a e mail shot?

She assured me that this is a new model that does not supersede the old, but heart of hearts if a newer model of a car comes out what happens to the older one? in my opinion it devalues the product that it runs along the side off.

so if this is correct why have the expert been removed from the Devialet web-site and the pro been put in its place ?

Do i want to get my upgraded, no i cannot see the point as another to spend another £4490.00 on an upgrade having spent quite a lot a few weeks ago, its funny because the retail on my units were £11,000 and if you buy the pro from a retailer they are £11980, so in my mind paying £4490.00 for an upgrade seems excessive.

I am not knocking the sound that comes out of these units, I am knocking the approach to there marketing strategy , and the hush hush approach.

The only thing that i can do is to vote with my feet any takers for a d400 a few weeks old ?

Anyone else unhappy with there approach ( not knocking the units themselves )?

alb
dave

[GuillaumeB]

Having received an e-mail at the same time as everyone else i suppose, i was shocked to find a new model already to supersede my current model, i don't really complain much but after only buying my 400 some 4 weeks ago , i sort of saw red. 

So i thought that i would contact Devialet and see why the sudden changes, i spoke with a very nice lady at Devialet today for a considerable amount of time, and at length about there marketing strategy, Am i the only one that feels annoyed by this ? I suppose its because i only bought the 400 a few weeks ago, would i have waited for the pro ? yes i would have done but it seem they are tight lipped about any new changes, surely you should shout about a new model from the tree tops, to generate a buzz about a new product, and not just drop it in via a e mail shot?

She assured me that this is a new model that does not supersede the old, but heart of hearts if a newer model of a car comes out what happens to the older one? in my opinion it devalues the product that it runs along the side off.

so if this is correct why have the expert been removed from the Devialet web-site and the pro been put in its place ?

Do i want to get my upgraded, no i cannot see the point as another to spend another £4490.00 on an upgrade having spent quite a lot a few weeks ago, its funny because the retail on my units were £11,000 and if you buy the pro from a retailer they are £11980, so in my mind paying £4490.00 for an upgrade seems excessive.

I am not knocking the sound that comes out of these units, I am knocking the approach to there marketing strategy , and the hush hush approach.

The only thing that i can do is to vote with my feet any takers for a d400 a few weeks old ?

Anyone else unhappy with there approach ( not knocking the units themselves )?

alb
dave

Hi Dave, who did you buy your 400 from if you don't mind me asking?

Guillaume

[Confused]

I thought the list price for a D400 was just under £10k now, plus there was a recent discount offer of 15% off. So you should have paid no more than £8500? There was also some talk of a reduced price for the upgrade for those who bought Expert range amplifiers this year, I am not 100% sure on this last point though.

[dkdavid]

I did not pay full retail, but would i have bought one with a new model on the way ? , not knocking the units just the tactics employed by Devialet. As a gesture of good will they should upgrade all that have bought this year for free !

[Confused]

Until about mid July dealers were under non disclosure agreements from Devialet. I did think this was a little immoral, as it put dealers in a position where they could not tell prospective purchasers about the impending arrival of the new product line.

Having said that, I thought the idea was that for those who have recently purchased the current model, the total price to upgrade to the new 'Pro' model would be roughly the discounted new price + upgrade cost.

If it was me, I would much rather be told what was going on, so I had the option to simply wait for the Pro to be released. So yes, I understand your frustration.

[dkdavid]

correct

[Pim]

So David, if you didn't pay full retail, what would the total cost come to if you did upgrade? 

And did you really not get any feeling something was up when you got the discount? Because discounts usually only get given when something is up. For example, I was sent an email by my dealer offering a companion 200 at the 15% discount and I immediately thought there must be something in the air. And I mean air, not AIR 

[Rufus McDufus]

A few years back when I was into Linn gear, I seem to recall they had a period of time when any buyers within (say) a 3 month or so period would automatically get their units upgraded/replaced with the new model when it came out. I don't know if this was Linn policy or dealer discretion though, but it seemed fairly common practice.

[dkdavid]

The upgrade would cost me the same as buying the new pro model, so the discount irrelevant, my gripe is the way they new model was kept from me !

[dkdavid]

A few years back when I was into Linn gear, I seem to recall they had a period of time when any buyers within (say) a 3 month or so period would automatically get their units upgraded/replaced with the new model when it came out. I don't know if this was Linn policy or dealer discretion though, but it seemed fairly common practice.

I spoke with them I cannot see this happening.