[TH.uk]

I have also taken the decision to sell all Bryston gear, based on the warrent and the fact that Bryston has changed the 14B SST (however James Tanner refuses to believe so for some odd reason - maybe he should talk to Chriss Russel about it before posting again).

[jethro]

James:

If somebody loses their bill of sale or inadvertently buys a piece of gear
from a non-authorized re-seller, will Bryston attempt to repair that
item (manufactured after the cutoff date) if the customer pays for the repairs ?

[James Tanner]

Hi jethro,

Losing the bill of sale is not a problem. As long as the customer remembers what store it was purchased from we have a record of which store and which serial number on file at Bryston. We have not discussed how we will handle a non authorized sale at this point when it comes to repair issues.  I assume charging for the repair makes sense. Are some manufactures refusing to service the product out-right?

You know maybe going to a straight 5 year warranty no strings attached is a better option given all the controversy around our new policies.

james

[Phil A]

James perhaps a win-win situation since many dealers hate the 20 yr. warranty too (someone can often buy a used item over at Audiogon for less than dealer cost on a new one) is perhaps a 20 yr. warranty from the date of manuf. for a new or used one when purchased from an authorized dealer and a 5 yr. from the date of manuf. otherwise and furnish the dealer selling a used one a warranty certification (by doing the same and keeping a record of the serial nos. of the used one) to give to the customer.  If someone wanted to upgrade an amp to Bryston or even another brand, this would encourage them to buy from a Bryston dealer which the dealer would like too.  I know people who want to sell them on their own may not like it but 5 yrs. is more of the norm and it would still give someone who has an amp older than that 5 yr. period and not purchased with the 20 yr. warranty the option of going to a Bryston dealer who takes trade-ins and getting the trade-in value for it.  This would give the dealer a benefit of being able to work with Bryston to secure a warranty for the balance of the period from Bryston to sell in the dealer's shop.  So in summary it probably would make customers who purchase from authorized sources happy, authorized dealers happy and whoever elects to sell either an unauthorized product or someone selling on their own a bit less happy.  I know some cos. have a 90 day warranty and if you return the warranty card they make it 5 yrs.  So I'm sure Bryston can do something similar.

[James Tanner]

Hi phil,

Thanks for the input. I guess my concern is that there seems to be a lot of 'policing' and administration required.

I really felt our new policy was 'fair' to everyone in the chain.
It seems so simple: buy our product from a legitimate source and get the worlds best warranty and state of the art performance.

Live and learn I guess.

james

[Phil A]

James, sorry you got the brunt of abuse.  I have no problem with the warranty and understand.  I know some other brands offer warranties on used stuff bought thru an authorized dealer.  My local Bryston dealer (who I know a while) will often bitch about the fact that a customer can buy something used at slightly above or below his cost and get that long warranty.  I've heard that from another dealer as well.  I guess no one likes keeping records (customers or manuf.).  Personally I don't see what the big deal is for a customer.  If you think you might lose the receipt make a copies and staple or tape it to your user manual.  With computers and scanners and back-up CDs and DVDs as well as portable hard drives I don't see what the big deal is about keeping the receipt if you value the warranty and what it will save you if a repair is needed you will get value for it.  I keep my receipts for big purchases important papers and a video of the home contents in a fire proof file cabinet.  I know others who stick that stuff in their safety deposit boxes.  I think it is a question of people not liking a change.  Most, if not all manuf. won't offer a warranty on goods purchased from non-authorized dealers regardless of what the product is.  If it is not worth the time to check out what you're buying, then you should not complain.  Would you buy a car without a title?  If you buy land and it turns out to be worthless swamp land whose fault is it?  If you buy a gray market laser jet printer and the manuf. won't cover it whose fault is that?  Whatever you buy, one should be adult enough to take personal responsibility for making a proper purchase and checking out the buyer instead of expecting someone else to bail them out.  If you're not comfortable with that the purchase is proper, don't buy from the source.  You're buying a luxury item, not a necessity and you can wait until you find a legit source.

[budt]

  If I worked at bryston and the decision was mine I would do as follows
  1) a 20 year warranty to the original owner which would be registered within X amount of days after purchase accompanied by a copy of the original bill of sale.
   2) If the product was second hand then a 5 year warranty from date of man...
 
    In this way almost everyone would want to buy a new bryston product

[Levi]

You can also look at what the current industry policy offers.

1 year limited warranty and only to the original owner.

Bryston's warranty has been very good and fair.  All they asked is to keep the receipt or buy from an authorized dealer.  What is not fair about that?

[Lancelot]

I have owned a large number of Bryston products over the years ( and presently do) and have spokrn to James a number of times. The warranty now in place seems like a reasonable compromise to me ( although, if I understand correctly ,a used Bryston, with all the papers,can only be resold,with warranty, within the country where is was bought so is rather limiting for a small, pop.wise country like Canada).
I ,personally, would strongly prefer the present compromise over a five year warranty UNLESS the following takes place- that is the price, and performance of Bryston products are somewhat compromised by the neccessity of selecting parts etc. partly based on their longevity rather than other factors. If a better performing, less expensive Bryston could be produced by not having to factor in 20 year warranty , a whole new avenue of discussion opens up.
Regardless, I have had nothing but excellent service from both James and the Bryston staff- they are truly a model for any company.

[jethro]

Hi James:

I was asking about pay as you go  repairs on non-bill of sale gear or grey market pieces
because even if you can't get your Bryston gear repaired under warranty, hopefully you can still get it
repaired  for a price which would probably be cheaper than buying new. With a lot of other companies
with high product turnover, if you are out of warranty then you have a new fancy door stop.

I like the 20-year warranty because it tells me that if I have an item which is over twenty years old
then I can still probably get it repaired for a cost because it is important to Bryston to make their
gear repairable and not disposable.

[john1970]

James,

I think your current warranty is fine.  If someone can afford to purchase Bryston equipment they can surely afford a safety deposit box at a local bank and store the original receipt in the box.  I have no problems with a 20 year warranty with a dated proof of purchase from a local (authorized) dealer. '

Best,

John

P.S. Please keep the current warranty.

[bacmsl]

Everybody should get over themselves and quit whining about this warranty issuse. The company implemented this procedure for a good reason. Bryston has been in business for a lot of years and has done their research on how to best implement the warranty. If a person doesn't like the way the warranty is laid out then buy another company's gear. Bryston will continue to be in business and will continue to produce very good affordable products.

BM

[mitcho]

i