Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Langston Holland

Langston Holland

Sophomore
Jan 13, 2011
222
0
16
Pensacola
I'm afraid this is a whine...

In about 4 months Yamaha is going to provide a free PA (pretty nice - NEXO line array and a console) to an event I used to provide for in Alabama. This will be the second year in a row that they've taken this gig from me. The promoter apparently is friendly with someone in Yamaha. I'm sure Yamaha doesn't realize they're hurting one of their customers (me) and I just ignored it last year, but now that they're going to do it again I'm rather annoyed to say the least.

I love Yamaha stuff, have (3) M7's, (5) AD8HR's, (2) SB168's, (2) SP2000's, and various other things from that great mfg.

Cease and desist. Please.
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Langston Holland said:
I'm afraid this is a whine...

In about 4 months Yamaha is going to provide a free PA (pretty nice - NEXO line array and a console) to an event I used to provide for in Alabama. This will be the second year in a row that they've taken this gig from me. The promoter apparently is friendly with someone in Yamaha. I'm sure Yamaha doesn't realize they're hurting one of their customers (me) and I just ignored it last year, but now that they're going to do it again I'm rather annoyed to say the least.

I love Yamaha stuff, have (3) M7's, (5) AD8HR's, (2) SB168's, (2) SP2000's, and various other things from that great mfg.

Cease and desist. Please.
Click to expand...

Hello Langston,

I would definitely contact the U.S. Yamaha sales office and let them know that as a customer, you're not happy with them allowing someone to make money off of their Demo Gear.

Hammer
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Charlie Zureki said:
Hello Langston,

I would definitely contact the U.S. Yamaha sales office and let them know that as a customer, you're not happy with them allowing someone to make money off of their Demo Gear.

Hammer
Click to expand...

Sad this is your only recourse because they already have your money. I would start looking at other competitive options out there for future gear purchasing decisions.
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Surely this PA is not going to hang and operate itself, if this is the case you should at least negotiate providing your expertise/labour on the day. I've seen manufacturers do this in the past but usually through the original provider to showcase new product.

They are messing with provider/customer relationships!
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Brent Venter said:
Surely this PA is not going to hang and operate itself, if this is the case you should at least negotiate providing your expertise/labour on the day

They are messing with provider/customer relationships!
Click to expand...



Hmmm....

I think there's more going on here than some may understand. According to Langton, this is an annual event... and, that Yamaha has provided someone with a free system...for the last two years..

Now, either some Rep from Yamaha is giving the system to a buddy, that normally doesn't do gigs of this caliber (for whatever reason) and this "buddy" can now make a few bucks because he doesn't own or rent the gear.... (profitting from the system "rental" and labor) or... the Yamaha rep is the one renting the system using a Straw Man...and making the profit off of the gear's rental (or the whole rental & labor)..

In either case... Yamaha should be made aware that they're "in competition" with their own actual customer's business.

Yeah, Manufacturers do often allow their distributors/end users to "borrow" a piece of gear for demo, or even actual combat usage, but, supplying a Speaker rig and Console, etc, ....and on the SAME show two years in a row? Sounds like someone's playin'.... and someone's making money without an investment.

Hammer
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Langston Holland said:
I'm afraid this is a whine...

In about 4 months Yamaha is going to provide a free PA (pretty nice - NEXO line array and a console) to an event I used to provide for in Alabama. This will be the second year in a row that they've taken this gig from me. The promoter apparently is friendly with someone in Yamaha. I'm sure Yamaha doesn't realize they're hurting one of their customers (me) and I just ignored it last year, but now that they're going to do it again I'm rather annoyed to say the least.

I love Yamaha stuff, have (3) M7's, (5) AD8HR's, (2) SB168's, (2) SP2000's, and various other things from that great mfg.

Cease and desist. Please.
Click to expand...

The policy USE to be different.

A number of years ago I took PM1D training. We had a local concert (4 straight days) that we (as the install company) were providing all the sound/labor etc for free. It was part of a ministry event.

We already owned another brand of digital console-but I asked the Yamaha guys at training if it would be possible to borrow a console for the festival. Figuring it would be good exposure for them (like they really needed it) but it would give me a good hands on experience for 4 days straight.

They said they don't do that, since it would knock a rental of a console out of a guy who had bought one and that would not be fair. Totally understood. HOWEVER-when I told them that we already owned a digital console ( a competing brand that we HAD to buy as a demo unit-that is a whole 'nother ugly story-$45,000 down the toilet on that one-any body wanna buy a ------?) and were planning on using it-so we were not going to rent a PM1D anyway-they agreed to send us one.

All went well.

That is until you want to talk about the whole "registering of sales" thing and "minimum sales price" that Yamaha likes to play on some dealers-but lets other dealers get away with breaking the rules- and the explanation is "well you gotta understand------" BULL CRAP!!!!!! If we broke the rules our dealership would be taken away. But if some other big dealership breaks the rules-it is OK??????????

HOMY don't play that game. Apparently the signed dealer agreements are only effective if Yamaha wants them to be.

Sorry for the rant.

I feel your pain-been there-been abused by the same company-different reasons however. I guess not much has changed.
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

It's a weird industry. In order to make it, you have to be the big dogs, rider friendly. But it seems that they don't make money in that portion of their business. The arena/sheds are all about advertising. So they don't care about those customers. As long as their gear is there making a name. Then all the bucks are made at the lower levels where there is so much more quantity.
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

I have a customer who used to be a big Nexo house. One time they were doing an event with 38 rooms. All Nexo.
He had Nexo controllers on 10-12 of the biggest set ups. Two line arrays, break outs to concourses, and then lots of meeting rooms after that.
The Nexo rep came in and told him he needed a Nexo controller on every single system. That he was not allowed to use Nexo speakers with out the controller.
My client told him to fuck off, and started DIY the next week.
 
Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

Langston,

I am sorry to hear this.
I am sure there is a explanation and hopefully you hear from someone on it.

As far as the other peoples comments.
We are a Nexo house and happy to be one
I have never been forced to buy a processor.
However I will never use a Nexo speaker without the processor as this is not how it was intended to work.
This would be like using any other speaker without the correct crossover or processing.

I have never found anyone at Yamaha or Nexo to be unfair or take gigs away from me.
I know that someone mentioned something happening a few years back however that was not the whole story and that person certainly
seemed to have a chip on their shoulder from some other experience.

Everyone has a different viewpoint and experience.
This is mine.

YMMV

Best Regards,
Dan Brown
 
Re: Yamaha (does not) Compete with its Customers

A very encouraging update:

Yamaha figured out the event in question and contacted me the day after I filled out a form on their web site and started this thread (using the same contents for both). According to the promoter, it appears that Yamaha has withdrawn from the event this year. Some lost love with this group as was expected, but I've learned two things from this:

1. I was pretty convinced that Yamaha had no idea they were taking business from one of their customers and now I'm sure of it. It's often popular to side against the big guy, but in my experience I've never seen anything from Yamaha that deviated from professional behavior. I'm very pleased at their response, particularly given how small a company I represent. Serious points here.

2. I'm more of a Yamaha fan than I'd realized. This is a big relief.
 
Re: Yamaha (does not) Compete with its Customers

Langston Holland said:
A very encouraging update:

Yamaha figured out the event in question and contacted me the day after I filled out a form on their web site and started this thread (using the same contents for both). According to the promoter, it appears that Yamaha has withdrawn from the event this year. Some lost love with this group as was expected, but I've learned two things from this:

1. I was pretty convinced that Yamaha had no idea they were taking business from one of their customers and now I'm sure of it. It's often popular to side against the big guy, but in my experience I've never seen anything from Yamaha that deviated from professional behavior. I'm very pleased at their response, particularly given how small a company I represent. Serious points here.

2. I'm more of a Yamaha fan than I'd realized. This is a big relief.
Click to expand...

Lang,

I am glad you heard from someone, also am glad to hear that things have been straightened out
Keep in touch

db
 
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Re: Yamaha Competes with its Customers

AN UPDATE TO MY EARLIER POST

Here is an update to the story I posted above.

Apparently I had been given some wrong information about the console sale. You know how here-say goes-and how the "story gets changed around a bit" from the actual truth sometimes.

Yes we had registered the sale for a NEW console.

But what the customer acutally purchased (at the greater discounted price) was a USED PM1D from a Yamaha dealer. So a couple of things are in play there. First it did not fall under the pricing structure (for new consoles)-and second- the price should have been cheaper-since it was used.

I am sorry for any disinformation that I may have spread with the incorrect information that I had. At the time, we were a little upset-due to the loss of a sale of what would have been our first PM1D sale. Since I was not the one directly involved with the sale-I heard a slightly different story.

That being said-I have been a fan of Yamaha consoles for years. We have installed probably more than a hundred (mostly the smaller ones-but a good bit of the M7's and LS9 lately), and had only a very few issues. We never had a console "go down" and stop a performance/event etc, just little things, that Yamaha has taken care of quickly.

It was the "apparent" business practice that I was upset at (and now apparently wrongly so) not the product.

And since Yamaha has "done right" by the origional post and from Langstons perspective-and I was wrong in my understanding of my particular situation-my respect for them (and the business practices) has completely changed.

I should not have opened my mouth-but that has been an issue that has "bugged" me for years-for no real reason (now). I'm still upset that we lost the sale-but not for the reasons I had origionally thought.

Again-I'm sorry for any confusion or misinformation that may have been construed by my post.
 
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