Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems New firmware now available

The dealers who post regularly on this forum are wheat and the general advice to contact them if you are having trouble with the update is the way to go.

This an interesting insight into current audio business practices. Having manage high end audio stores in the past, I believe the following is in order:

1) For an upgrade that costs the dealer $0, reasonable time and materials charges should apply. I would consider the dealer's normal shop rates would be reasonable at 1 hr, plus transit time and/or mileage if the transit time is over 15 min each way. Additional charges might apply, if the gear proves recalcitrant during the upgrade (my G68 took about an hour as the load seemed very sensitive to how the packaged file was unzipped - took the installer and I quite a bit of time to figure out that was the issue).

2) A dealer charging more if you purchased your kit elsewhere, is looking to lose business. However, charging a non-customer a reasonable fee while providing the service at no charge is acceptable as long as the kit is out of warranty.

I believe Meridian are trying to reduce their own support costs while encouraging dealers to establish client relationships. I can imagine how much time was lost to the company in the past while dealing with failed upgrades.

One would hope that future Meridian gear [Sooloos does already] would feature network capabilities which would enable auto-update firmware a la Oppo, Apple, or other electronics vendors. Time will tell.

But Meridian say they are doing this so the dealer gets to meet local owners and starts to build a relationship with them, there should not be a charge, the dealer should think of it as an advertising cost.

I agree that if the customer brings it to the shop there should be no cost. I see this as a way to build a solid relationship with a customer. This is really an excellent marketing opportunity! Bring in your processor, let us show you some new items while you're here, and we'll apply the upgrade for free.

However, if the dealer has to travel to a customer's home, I think the customer should pay something "reasonable" to cover travel expenses, time, etc. Clearly, after reading some of these posts, some unscrupulous dealers are looking to rip off customers. I think this is a great way to sort the good dealers from the bad. We should vote with our wallets and not patronize these bad dealers for future purchases.

John

warning -- rant on///

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

http://shouldiworkforfree.com/

I'm not picking on gIzzE per se, but it's obviously an easy quote with which to make my point (i.e. my rant)

Those of you who seem to expect this to be done for free in exchange for some vague nebulous hint of future purchases...

Really!?

You have no idea how hard it is to stay in business in an industry that is eating itself, where everything has become a profitless commodity.

Your frustration & anger should be directed at Meridian, not the dealer. Unless the dealer is charging truly exorbitant prices, in which case by all means let your feet & wallet do the walking.

Meridian should be subsidizing these upgrades by paying their dealers $50-$100 per piece, which I am reasonably sure they are not.

And those of you who are saying (in essence) that's it's only a few minutes work -- really?!

Everyone here knows that updating Meridian gear can be time consuming, and one can certainly brick a piece through no fault of their own.

Aaaargh!

The sense of entitlement from customers who (in all probability) wouldn't be purchasing anything other than used Meridian in the near future is sometimes staggering.

LOL -- and I haven't even been a Meridian dealer for some time, and it still (obviously) drives me nuts.

I bought a used G61 on e-Bay a few days ago, and I'll be sending it to Marc Koval shortly to proactively replace the POS power supply. I also will ask him to update the firmware.

Marc and I go back over 20 years -- not bosom buddies or anything, but we have a relationship.

I look forward to paying him to do this, because with service (just like most other things), you get what you pay for.

///rant off///

Yes, it does only take a few minutes. If all things go ok. Now, if the dealer bricks something, obviously that's a different story and for that, I can understand a charge and possibly a disclaimer.

For me to get a quote from a dealer for $600 to come about 60 miles to me or $200 if I lug the speakers in, I think that's somewhat unreasonable. While the idea that you may never see the person again and/or sell him anything may be true, there is something said about trying to build a relationship, IMO.

Do you honestly think if I had a dealer come to my house (for a fair price) and he advised me on how he could make my system a better one, I wouldn't consider purchasing from him? Of course I would. On top of my 6000's which needed updating I have a 24/96 5000C that needs uping from 4001. If I find someone great, if not, oh well.

g

I would agree with the above rant, to an extent, were it not for the fact that this is a complete change to the previous relationship and expectations of a long-standing customer base, combined with a reduction in quality of service and reliability on the part of the manufacturer. It may be a necessary business strategy, but you can't expect people to like it when they've been used to something else. The blame certainly lies with Meridian though.

Re Meridian should pay dealer something - +1.

Hi all,

I load software daily into modules for preproduction experimental cars for G.M. for testing. This is the digital age, if I run into a problem loading a software calibration or I don't have it and the software engineer does have it I can turn my laptop over to him and he can load the software remotely into the car!!!. Have any of you ever turned your computer over to get something repaired online? It would be no problem for a dealer or M to be able to do this upgrade remotely if the owner of the item to be upgraded has a modem and also a WiFi connection. If you have the USB Keyspan to Serial converter with the serial cable I believe this upgrade and future upgrades can be done remotely. I know everyone may not have these items but thinking ahead this could be done in this way.

What do you think?

Highrez,

It's not gonna happen because it's based on a very old architecure. If they could upgrade everything through the COMS that might make more sense.

You need someone on the other end, powering devices off and on, moving the serial cable around etc.

Some day perhaps. Many devices today are on the Network full time and poll a server and upgrade themselves with no human on either end. TIVO, Cell Phones, etc.

The old model Meridian had was smoother and getting more humans involved is a step backwards.

I think HighRez is referring to you - the owner - sitting at home with your own laptop connected to your Meridian kit - as "Meridian" connect / take control of your laptop remotely whilst still sitting comfortably in HQ.... That way they can still control their software distribution & the installation. However, imagine how many people they'd need & the time it would take !

The next level is "self-sufficient" online updating, which of course Sooloos already does / has.

I guess it's not a sweeping generalisation to assume everyone thinks the download-and-DIY approach was surely the best....

Oh, and HighRez, I sympathise - I've spent many dozens of hours doing exactly the same job as you for another Automotive OEM....!

Don't want to hijack the thread, it's already pretty long. Does anyone knows what is the exact change with DSP3100? I use three of them with an old 561.