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Whatever Happened to Home Electronics Service?

Roger Demers, CEO of Sequential Electronics in Campton, New Hampshire, writes:
This complaint is general to the consumer electronic producers and entities that deal with warranty repairs. Let me start by saying I love this site and have an opportunity to express my view as an electronic service center of twenty years with well over 10,000 customers serviced and hopefully satisfied.

I am appalled at the system in general, from the lying sales force who convince buyers that all repairs can be done in the home, to the warranty authorization centers that want companies like mine to spend large fees for upfront parts, software and equipment upgrades.

The thing that consumers do not know is that when Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Circuit City, to name a recent few, overwhelmed the market in electronics it destroyed the small sales/service centers. We were the backbone of the industry and stood for the consumer and made the bad product right even if we had to provide the customer with a new one from inventory.

This was the honest way to do the job. It was thought that antitrust and monopolies were not allowed in the USA -- well, somebody lied. With the distributors going to bed with big industry, the small service dealer died.

So what happens now? I will tell you, some of us are still out there and we care. The big stores are begging for service from the little guy but the terms are foolish. The consumer suffers because the service center suffers. These products are not made in this country and that is America's fault also, we let that go years ago.

I would like to get this message to the public and apologize for not being all we can be as service people, but as long as the bottom line of the big sales industry is more important than the consumer we can expect to suffer and watch the landfills of the country fill up with the junk we purchase. That legacy sucks so change it.

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