Whilst I can understand the view of people believing that installation should be included I also believe that there should be a charge.

Times have changed, in the days of the Avant it was pretty much just plug and play, now with various obscure set top boxes, networking, wall mounting, cables needing to be chased etc there is more work to do and what can seem like a simple install can still take time. I used to work in a London B&O store (2008-2011) and in the most the sales staff would be the people doing the install and that presented it's own problems - after all they were hired on their ability to sell not install product. We also had a team of two guys which we sub-contracted out to which were very professional and were able to carry out all work including wall mounting and chasing of cables, even providing power to active speakers. I now work for a custom install company in London and I can tell you there are no freebies and people don't expect there to be. Customers understand that we need to pay for vans and properly trained staff to get the job done properly and to the standard they expect. To be able for us to pay for that we have to charge for it and we don't have the fancy high street premises to have to pay rent on. Whilst B&O is obviously a higher margined product than the Panasonic's and Samsung's that we mainly sell even the B&O margins are falling.

Rant over! 🙂

Many thanks to you all for your considered advice.  And the speed at which you gave it!

I accept that there are things that I should be happy to pay for because they are over and above the act of installing a new BV11.  For example attaching the TV to the wall and wiring up the (free) speakers and integrating the non-B&O devices (Apple TV and Panasonic Bluray).

So in the meantime I have had a "chat" with the dealer and we have agreed a much more reasonable amount. He has already installed my old B&O audio system in the main room and the work was of very high quality so I am rather pleased to continue this relationship with the local B&O dealer in my new town.

He also gave me some money to take my old BV7 in part-exchange so that is off my hands.

Moreover it seems that he can get me my new system delivered in the next couple of weeks!  Santa has come early this year.

Cheers, Mike

Indeed, set up may have a cost... but when you spend 10000 euros for a TV set ( around 6 or 7 Panasonic or a Samsung TV) you may expect another kind of delivery. Moreover, the Beovision 11 is a connected TV, which doesn't require any special tool to set it up.

Time for one of my quarterly contributions!

I think that everyone's a little right here from my standpoint as a dealer. We've tried to deal with the increasing complexity (and time & expertise involved) by breaking down the services to "installation" and "setup." Setup is free and involves delivering, unloading, plugging in, and just a basic setup. This is something that a salesperson might do or an installer might do. It does not involve breaching walls, electrical work, network configuration, etc. Those things are very time consuming and, more importantly, require expertise to really do them right. For that we charge, but will sometimes negotiate this rate as well. 

I think that for Bang & Olufsen to maintain its position as a luxury retailer and not just another cool electronics it has to consider a high level of service as "built in" to the overall margin structure. In the US (and probably elsewhere) this is what Apple offers in their stores. Being able to get nearly unlimited technical help and advice, often for free, is a major factor in brand loyalty. Of course they're corporate stores and their cost structure is different, but the customer doesn't really care about my business model. They care that they're paying a premium for a premium product and there's more to it than what's in the box. It's up to me to provide my bit and stay solvent. 

So I can't speak to specifics, but dealers like myself respond to loyalty and honest dealings. Always talk to your dealer and be honest about your concerns and intentions and you'll usually get a great result.

Well put Trip. I think for a TV at the price paid 'setup' should definitely be free, and 'installation' to be a cost..

TripEnglish wrote:

 

So I can't speak to specifics, but dealers like myself respond to loyalty and honest dealings. Always talk to your dealer and be honest about your concerns and intentions and you'll usually get a great result.

+1 🤒

MM

Marco6474 wrote:

I've been told the 2.1 Beolab 14 offer had a cost for the dealer, who seems to try to get it back...

To my knowledge the dealer pays half of the cost of the Beolab 14-2.

+2, 🙂

Trip,

Thanks for letting us buy with confidence.

I'd like to add the US dealers I met are quite willing to provide you with the better solution and try to make a good deal for both parties. My recent European experience was quite not similar and some dealers seem have forgotten they should provide a premium service.

Marc.