Hi,

Well thanks to Pete and friends - I have decided on the Beyonwiz for my first PVR. But, I never buy on the same day as I look - an old trusted rule (at least for me!)

So I have thought up a little project of sorts. My plan is to visit as many as possible retailers in Metro Sydney over the next 2-3 weeks, and then measure their performance along a set of pre-set criteria. I will then publish the results wherever possible (here, whirlpool etc).

Some of the criteria I thought of is as follows:

- Promptness of customer service
- Initial impressions of customer service interaction
- Display of product (working)
- Knowledge of salesperson about the BW
- Price or willingness to negotiate / pricematch
- Warranty
- "The vibe" - very subjective impression of how I felt on the whole experience

I will use a rating of 1 to 10 for each category, and all store visits will be week days during business hours. I will the return to the highest rated store (even if it costs me a few dollars more) and inform them of my research and reason for separating from my funds with them.

Any other suggestions / thoughts ?

Why waste your time !!! Alot of us here have got the wiz for $1300 plus $100 for 4 years extra insurance.most of the sales guys arnt up to speed on the performance of it anyway.Just get it and enjoy it especially that the new firmware is available.

Really - Its no waste of time - whilst we might all know what we are doing, I am really hoping to point the more ignorant in the right direction. I believe in credit where credit is due

I wish you well on your project. If the sales staff of most stores had any actual product knowledge of the Beyonwiz and had one set up and plugged in, sales would go through the roof.

Some Harvey Norman staff have never even heard of it and want to know who distributes it, so no use asking them any questions.

To be fair you would need to carry out the "project" at the same time/day for as many stores as possible. If you walk into a store at 9.30am, you may get more attention than say mid Saturday afternoon when every man and his dog is in a HT store looking to buy a screen.
Display and knowledge of product will be very hit and miss as already stated.

IME price is a big driving factor in any purchasing decision. No one will pay considerably more for the same product, even if customer service is A1. Maybe a few dollars or 1-2% more, but not $100's.

If you value knowledge/service more, maybe try a specialist Hi-Fi store. If it's price, try one of the bigger megastores (HN, GG, JB etc). You will be trying to find a needle in a haystack if you are trying to find both in the one location. You may luck out, but anyone else that may follow you to the "winning" location ain't guarenteed of getting the same result.

I applaud you Stat.

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