Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Wits End with Meridian and their Support

Meridian are not alone in their distancing themselves from their customers.

In my experience, Quad equally ignore direct contact with their customers, as do Audiolab (same parent company).

Conversely, in my experience, Linn and Naim are more than happy to directly engage with potential/customers.

Just read through all the replies and firstly I think I need to apologise (just a bit though) as I had the distinct impression that both M and the dealer in question had thrown the towel in and decided that my problem was unfixable. Cue massive rant, table banging, threats of consumer advice etc. etc. Since then, I have had another dealer contacting me on here offering to help and also M have again been in touch and apologised over the misunderstanding. We are now currently working towards an alternative solution, namely a change of boxes, but I'm still proper pi$$ed off on how long this has taken to get to this point and what seemingly little effort has been put into solving the problem during that time. You would have thought that after 5 years, M would have developed a work around. But no, and I've said this before, in the grand scheme of things my system is probably on the lower scale of financial outlay and I seriously started to feel that for M, my problem wasn't worth the effort and I should go away like a good little consumer and stop complaining.

However, there were other factors to contend with as well: I know lockdown had a massive impact on everyone's life plus the dealer was left in the dark somewhat as the original salesman didn't exactly chase things and subsequently left. But, as pointed out here, there is a real barrier when you have to solely communicate with dealers and not the manufacturers. In my experience, this only works if the items are still in warranty AND you bought them from said dealer. I buy a lot of Stihl products and over the last few years, it's become a nightmare as they have the same customer support setup. As with M, it's unfortunately down to the dealers to spend time and effort trying to solve problems, and more often and not for very little recompense. But it seems it's the way of the world now and just something we'll all have to put up with. I do pity the dealers though.

The other factor is that M have seemingly decided that AV processing is no longer their future. The 861 isnt even on their website anymore so I suspect the G65 will be removed before long. I appear to have walked into a perfect storm of problems where the unit doesn't work properly and M are moving away from them anyway! 271 anyone?

The decision I have now is to whether stick with Meridian products or move away to something altogether different such as Anthem. Watch this space.

Glad there seems to be an end in sight and I hope that you finally get things sorted to your satisfaction.

I would like to think that whatever you spent would have no bearing on the level of support you received but since I live in the real world I think your suspicions might have some legs to them. Especially when Meridian have seemingly taken the viewpoint that problems are just another touchpoint for a dealer to make further sales.

I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve had very good interaction with Quad recently over issues with both a 405.2 and a 99 power amp.

One of the key reasons that I have consolidated onto Meridian is the shockingly offhand way in which I have been treated by Naim when they decided to abandon the Naimnet system, leaving owners with a closed system and little, if any support, and thus very expensive boat anchors once the software develops issues. I have vowed never to spend a red cent with Naim again. (I was going to say spend a penny, but that could be misinterpreted, not least as I could argue that I have micturated away several thousand pounds buying their products.)

Similar experience. I used to have 11 boxes of the stuff including av2/175. When that was discontinued, it was almost as if it hadnt actually existed! but your comments made me chuckle. Imagine if Naim did a catheter.. NACSack?

Hi

I've had similar issues and have sent you a PM as I am very interested in any fixes / work arounds.

Regards
Bob

No PM received but happy to share.

My reply was to the originator not yourself Peter (I hope!)

Bob

Bob

Apologies.

P

Your efforts on this forum along with another few dealers (Cough Rick) I am sure have not only been noticed but are much appreciated by many including me.

I've known of Meridian's approach to their end users for many years and whilst some condone it I don't think it's acceptable. OK, make the PP the first port of call; fine. But if an end user contacts you (Meridian) through an active line of communication (probably an email) then to ignore it is basically bad manners.

To me, an upmarket person isn't just somebody with a lot of money who buys expensive things; it's also about good manners, thought for others, being well spoken, appropriately dressed etc. In the same way, Meridian sets itself out as a 'high end' hi-fi manufacturer, but 'high end' isn't just about making and selling expensive bits of equipment, it's also about providing a great end-to-end service that makes your customers feel wanted, appreciated & making them want to remain loyal to you and to come back for more products in the future. But that's the dealer's job? Fine, but don't drop the ball by ignoring emails or calls from end users who have spent thousands with you (quite possibly tens of thousands) and who can go off the whole idea if you aren't careful.

"Dear X, thanks for your email. We've found that the best way for us to support you is through our PPs who have all the product knowledge and experience to provide you with a first class service. I see from your postcode that your nearest PP is Audio Images in Sheffield so I've copied them into this email & I'm sure that Rick or one of his colleagues be in touch soon to help you to resolve your recent issues". Is it really too much to ask for Meridian to have a version of that they can copy & paste with only minor adjustments? Presumably it is.

*sighs*.

Hi All,

Just to clear up how to get in Contact with Meridian.

Please ONLY use the Contact Us form on their website:
Meridian Audio "Contact Us" form

Attempting to send an email to any previously advertised email addresses are unlikely to even get through to Meridian, hence the lack of a reply.

Rick