Manufacturers Need To Start Taking Responsibility

By Isaac Goren -- TWICE, 8/22/2005

Is the custom specialty car audio retailer in jeopardy of following the dinosaurs into extinction? It probably won't happen very soon, but there are some ugly trends that are raising concerns.

First, according to an article in the May 23 issue of TWICE, sales of mobile electronics products were $3.316 billion in 2004. The figure sounds good; however, a little scratch of the surface will show that mobile electronics specialty stores accounted for only 7.6 percent of the total. The biggest percentage of the market went to electronics/appliance stores (65 percent) and mass merchants (21.6 percent).

Second, some retailers are complaining that they are not getting the support they once did from their vendors. My store, Sounds Good Audio, Security & Marine, Woodland Hills, Calif., has been in business for more than 27 years. We carry major brands such as Alpine, Eclipse, MB Quart, JL Audio, Rockford Fosgate, Morel, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Scosche, etc.

I have found that manufacturers have not been taking responsibility for bad products under warranty, and are letting the retailer absorb all the additional costs.

Here is an example. A customer enters my shop looking for a recommendation on how to upgrade his car audio. My staff suggests a system and we install it — properly. In short order, the customer returns to the store complaining that the right front speaker is sounding distorted. We test the system and discover the amplifier is bad. The process takes more than one hour of labor time.

If we replace the bad amplifier with a new one from stock, it will cost me two additional hours of labor and leave my inventory short an amplifier until the manufacturer repairs the bad one. To that, add the cost of shipping the amplifier, plus the cost of selling the fixed amplifier as used goods rather than new.

This scenario is happening with many 12-volt after-market products, including speakers, radios, crossovers, processors and more.

I strongly believe that the retailer should no longer take all the responsibility. In the case above, the manufacturer should send a replacement product via next day shipping and pick up the cost of shipping, plus offer a $50 credit for R&R on each unit.

Back-Ordered Product

Back-order happens. What is not excusable, however, is that many manufacturers do not tell their dealers that there is a back-order problem.

We order products and expect them to arrive at the store within a couple of days or so, and, in reality, the manufacturer hasn't even sent them out. Manufacturers need to communicate immediately to their dealers.

Products Not Working Properly

Often times, manufacturers know that there is a problem with a product, a computer glitch or a software problem, and they just don't tell their dealers. So we recommend and sell the products to our customers and install them into their cars, only to have them returned. We look like fools.

Proper Field Testing

Manufacturers are also releasing new products before they have been properly field tested. Often time a glitch or problem appears and dealers have started to inform the manufacturer about the malfunction. However, manufacturers refuse to pass on the information to other dealers.

In the past, manufacturers thoroughly tested their products.

It should be understood that if the specialty retail store ultimately becomes extinct, its demise can be placed on the policies of the manufacturers they represent.

And such a scenario will impact manufacturers adversely. We, the specialist, have to take responsibility for issues that concern our customers. It is not unreasonable to expect that manufacturers take responsibility for issues that concern their dealers. After all, we are their customers!