Re. Meridian customer service, if you hook up with a good dealer and service through them, it can work very well indeed. I also emailed M once, no reply, I eventually got through and they were very apologetic about missing the email.
BUT, don't buy M and expect too much customer service direct from M. I think most of us know this and just buy because it sounds right. I have D600s from 1989, I'm hoping the 8ks outlive me.
No question that having a good dealer is more important than ever with current Meridian. Bad news is, it is not always possible to find a good dealer locally; good news, there are a couple of excellent ones who contribute here.
Also, I must say that here in the US, at least, once one gets the return authorization, the chaps in Atlanta are professional, courteous and most importantly, fast! With my recent PSU isssues with 861v6 (under warranty fortunately) door to door turnaround was one week (5 days of which are in-transit time). OK, you pay a chunk to insure something like this, but still, not too shabby.