Hello Billy.

Do not be afraid. Bang & Olufsen UK will live on 😁 The UK is an important market for B&O. However the operation might shrink a bit.

It is the same in all markets.

KHN, the newly appointed CEO of Bang and successor of TBS, has introduced a new strategy to get the company back on track so to speak.

B&O is undergoing some serious restructuring to cope with the changes in turnover and to increase efficency, i.e. more frequent product releases, stay ahead technologically etc.

Several lesser functions that existed in every single regional market before will now be centralised in Denmark and Spain.

The regional branches will continue to exist of course because of the local differences in each market.

It is very exciting times for B&O and you can expect to see the results of the new strategy this year already.

Regards

Alex

I couldn't believe that all UK repairs would be sent back to Denmark. This would be totally impractical for repairing, say, a BV7 (their most popular TV). The transport costs alone, to and from the customer, would make it more worthwhile simply to replace the TV.

When a TV has to go back for major repair, it's a serious issue. If it had to be returned to Denmark, the cost would be immense. Worse, it would add serious transport time to/from the customer.

I think our B&O experience would quickly detiorate if this was the case. Already my local dealer seems far more sales focused. That's fine, but it's not all about selling goods to new customers. Old customers are, traditionally, are easier to convince to spend again, especially if they receive an excellent support experience.

B&O are just trimming the numbers and 'streamlining' like any business should in a recession!

Lee

🙂

I am not convinced this is going to be the case. Why should they stop repairing in the UK?

I can really only speak for Central Europe at the moment, but there are dozens of B&O-licenced repair shops around.

Those will hardly close because B&O is implementing a new strategy. Maybe your dealer is just feeling the economic downturn, moxxey.

I can't speak for other dealers, or for B&O UK, but in the North West, there will be little or no change to most customers experience of service - in fact, it will more than likely improve.

There will still be local (where they currently exist), regional and national service facilities, as far as I am aware - shipping back to Denmark isn't going to happen any more than it has in the past - the freight costs would be prohibitive.

The changes in the UK are "back-office" changes, and shouldn't impact on customers. 

I think.

The idea is to centralise knowledge. The technology has moved on faster in the last 5 years than in the 20 years before it, and in order to keep up, it's vitally important that B&O builds a 'centralised' knowledge base, which is essentially what they're doing.

Less convinced myself. I have seen the loss of proper service centres where almost anything could be fixed at a component level replaced by a module replacement scheme. Now anything which does not suit being repaired from a suitcase would seem to be sent away. It is not only the loss of local servicing , it is the loss of the skills associated. With that also goes some of the understanding and the ability to think around a problem rather than relying on a flow chart. The same is now seen in medicine - nurses are given protocols to follow with a step by step approach. In the past, you would see a doctor who could draw on experience and having been taught how to think logically through a differential diagnosis.

I am sure in the B&O case, it will have the same apparent advantage of being outwardly cheaper - I just hope it does not turn out to be more expensive in the long run in terms of customer satisfaction.

In Aus the B&O service centre shutdown some time ago. It is now a seperate contracted business run by those that worked for B&O before.  I hope there remains enough work for the service guys to keep their businesses and this service model going. I also hope that B&O offer the same or better levels of training and support in this model to keep these contracted businesses going...

Beoaus.

I called B&O to ask about the situation and was told that my nearest dealer (now 80 miles away) would service my out of guarantee products "at his discretion" and any guarantee work may well need to be sent to Denmark. They did'nt seem sure of the in's and out's at all. It was suggested that as I bought my TV's from another (now defunct) dealer I may need to take them to the dealer or pay for collection ! When I think how much I paid for them I cant believe I'm looking at Littlewoods catalogue type of service. I realise a dealer going bust is "unusual circumstances" but I would have thought a Top Dollar company would know how to cope. They certainly know how to charge!!!