Level of service .. Poor / Good

pa990

What is the general feeling towards the level of service that Richer Sounds provides ?


I have been looking out for a particular item, I feel that i have made all reasonable attempts to contact RS, but i don't get any response.

I have e-mailed them -Not received any reply (i do accept that they get a lot of mails)

I have Phoned them - Not received any response to a voice message i left

I have posted in this forum - Not received any response.


At this stage i wonder is it worth my while, Yes i do realise that i will save a few bob, but at what cost?
Generally people fall over themselves to get your money, and then when it comes to after-sales they may be less than enthusiastic.. But in my case they don't seem to be too interested in even making a sale.


Anyway, does anyone else have anything positive/negative to highlight

JoeA3

I think the issue is you're on the lookout for a Sony W4500, which RS just don't have in stock, with no definite incoming date - there's a 4/5 page thread further down in this forum on that very subject!

I also wanted one of these, but in the end my patience got the better of me and I bought it locally! They are in very very short supply everywhere though, not just RS. Can't be got for love nor money anywhere in the UK at the moment, and the Sony Center where I got mine weren't due any more till mid Feb at the earliest.

Other than that, I've found JohnMc extremely helpful, I didn't spend a cent with him and he did his best to answer my queries. I hope to get back to him sometime soon down the line for an AVR!

Fidelis

I didn't receive a response to an e-mail and my phone calls to the Belfast store during the week were re-directed to the voice mail on 3 seperate ocassions throughout the day. I was phoning to reserve a TV, so when I couldn't get through to them, I went elsewhere.

On the other hand, John answered one of my questions here on the forum recently, so it's a bit hit and miss.

pa990

JoeA3 wrote: »

I think the issue is you're on the lookout for a Sony W4500, which RS just don't have in stock, with no definite incoming date - there's a 4/5 page thread further down in this forum on that very subject!

I also wanted one of these, but in the end my patience got the better of me and I bought it locally! They are in very very short supply everywhere though, not just RS. Can't be got for love nor money anywhere in the UK at the moment, and the Sony Center where I got mine weren't due any more till mid Feb at the earliest.

Other than that, I've found JohnMc extremely helpful, I didn't spend a cent with him and he did his best to answer my queries. I hope to get back to him sometime soon down the line for an AVR!

Point taken re: availability and other thread, but i'm just disappointed about not receiving a call back or email reply.

Not everyone uses boards and isn't aware of stock levels or availability.

I'm not trying to badmouth them.. i'm only highlighting my experience, so far and i am curious about others experiance

Richersounds.ie: John

pa990 wrote: »

What is the general feeling towards the level of service that Richer Sounds provides ?


I have been looking out for a particular item, I feel that i have made all reasonable attempts to contact RS, but i don't get any response.

I have e-mailed them -Not received any reply (i do accept that they get a lot of mails)

I have Phoned them - Not received any response to a voice message i left

I have posted in this forum - Not received any response.


At this stage i wonder is it worth my while, Yes i do realise that i will save a few bob, but at what cost?
Generally people fall over themselves to get your money, and then when it comes to after-sales they may be less than enthusiastic.. But in my case they don't seem to be too interested in even making a sale.


Anyway, does anyone else have anything positive/negative to highlight

Dear Pa & Boardies,

Thanks for your comments - which of course I am disappointed to receive however I will try to address them as honestly as possible.

We have had severe difficulties over the last month answering all queries either by phone, email or on Boards - this is just down to the sheer volume of enquiries we are receiving daily - we are normally very busy over the Christmas period however as any of you who have visited our store over the Christmas and sale period will agree - we have been exceptionally busy due to the amount of Customers visiting us to take advantage of the currency situation and some exceptional pricing that Richer Sounds have offered over the sale period.

We currently have 4 lines into our Belfast store and on any given day we normally have 6/7 Colleagues - we try to answer queries on a detailed basis, however we also have to serve the Customers in-store, this is not an excuse and we appreciate that not being able to answer every call is not good enough but we honestly have been doing our very best. With regard to email - I appreciate that over the Christmas period we have missed some emails - however over the past several days (as business returns to normal) we have been able to answer 99% of our emails. Many of the emails we receive are detailed queries that can take up to 30 minutes to answer and we regularly receive 100's of emails daily - again as many of you will appreciate, you have received email replies from me personally from 7 in the morning to 12 in the evening - so we are doing our best!

With regard to Boards queries, to be honest we do not check boards every day and on occasions we have missed posts and again I apologise for this.

To sum up - Apologies, but we do think that we are improving radically over the last few days and as many of you will have noticed I do put my direct line on every post and email - and whilst again, I am not ALWAYS able to answer every call personally as I can be out of the office at times - every call to my office and every message is answered - however I would ask you to try the shop lines in the 1st instance.

Again thnaks for the feedback and we will do our very best to improve,

Best regards,

John Mc

CivilServant

I can definitely understand where some of the boardsies are coming from, but I can also understand the John's point of view too. I left an email and telephoned in the hopes of reserving a telly before I made the trip up to Belfast, both did not receive any replies. But when I actually reached the shop itself, I know why. They were mad busy!!

I had to queue for 15 mins but eventually was served by very friendly and enthusiastic staff. While I was waiting I watched as AV equipment and telly after telly was hauled out. They must have a cavern underneath the shop, because it isn't that big. Anyways keep trying lads, it's definitely worth it.

Dilbert75

My own experience: I attempted to get advice on a surround sound system. In the wake of the last open box sale (when I discovered RS) I pm'd John maybe twice and e-mailed once without reply.

However, when I called and left a message, I got a reply back from Kenny in the shop within an hour. I ordered what I wanted, was promised it would be ordered and would arrive in Belfast by the Friday a week before Christmas. I would then get a call to sort out credit card. The gear would be shipped out and would arrive in Wexford on Christmas Eve. Everything went exactly as promised and my surround sound stuff is now up and running.

Would I use them again? Yes, though it would want to be a good bargain.

Richersounds.ie: John

Boardies,

Thanks both for your criticism and your kind comments - again we are aware of the issues and hopefully any who has tried to call us over the last couple of days will see that the situation is improving and we are now aiming to answer all emails within 24 hours - again please drop me an email or give me a call directly if we are failing you.

01.843.9231 - My office
johnmc@richersounds.ie

Thanks again,

John mc

Macker1

Excellent responses from a Customer Sat point of view. I've been a customer both online and instore when RS where based in Dublin and providing the item I want is in stock I will be making a trip up to Belfast in the near future.

Keep up the good work.:)

Richersounds.ie: John

Thanks again!

Just on that note macker - please do give us a bel or drop us a mail if you are travelling up to Belfast and we will reserve any items you are looking for - we don't want you to have a wasted journey (Ikeas not worth the visit on it's own you know)

Thnaks again and please drop me a mail if I can asssit in any way,

(We have now answered nearly all the mail up to Friday's emails - so things must be getting slightly better!)

Thanks again,

John Mc

Macker1

Sound advice at anytime when making a trip to get something. I will ring ahead before the trip up and get the item reserved if in stock. Maybe you can let me know what the likely availability of the Onkyo TXSR606 in Silver will be going forward.

Thanks for you response

Richersounds.ie: John

Macker,

no problem on 606 stock in Silver at the moment (and we have just had a very few black ones delivered as well!) but Onkyo are putting their prices up from the end of Jan (as well as Marantz & Denon) so I expect they will move very swiftly at the sale pricing - drop me a line if I can help or if you would like one reserved without obligation.

Thanks again,

JohnMc

Lemo

Since they're getting some stick, I thought I'd post my positive experience :-)

Two years ago, I drove to Belfast and bought amp+tuner+speakers. All well until about 6 months later when the tuner developed a display fault. Called and explained and without a quibble they offered to replace with the newer model that had come out since. I posted mine off and they sent the replacement down a few days later. I thought that was brilliant service and I wouldn't hesitate in going back to them.

chemicalfred

In fairness guys: What with the currency issue and Richer Sounds good reputation they are understandably swamped with work at the moment. John Mc himself was answering calls on the mail order line today. How many MD's do you know would 'get stuck in ' like that? The fact that they are swamped at the moment despite the fact that we are in the teeth of a recession says it all. If you can't get through persevere, trust me its worth it

rafared

I have bought from RS several times and I've always found their levels of service to be excellent. John has delt with any question I've asked him quickly and efficiently and has supplied me with the goods at prices that cant be matched. I bought items in both open box sales including an Onkyo 875 which john changed for an 876 AT THE SAME PRICE!!!!!!!:eek: and a 32" Philips Ambilight last week which was a stonker of a deal. I've also found the guys in the shop to be excellent on the phone and it must be remembered that they are working on the shop floor while trying to answer phone calls and emailed questions.
I will be buying from them in the future and they will be my first port of call for any new AV gear.

pa990

As they say.. the proof is in the Pudding

I was in the RS shop over the weekend, and made a quick purchase.

Staff were excellent, Friendly, Knowledgeable, and Good humored.
Top Class service. I WILL be returning to make more purchases.