In my search for a company to custom install several home systems (home theater, structured wiring, security alarm, central vac, etc.) in my new-construction home, I went to several companies. For a fee + cost of material/equipment, each will assist in the design of each of these systems and will install them. It was the policy/tactic of each of these companies, however, to force me to purchase the equipment from them -- at full MSRP. They all claim that they make so little profit on the components that they can't afford to discount them at all. They say that a benefit of purchasing their components is that they will come back out any number of times for additional tweaking or to assist me in other areas, upgrading, etc. They further tell me that if I purchase my equipment/components elsewhere, they will do the initial installation, but they will be reluctant to return for tweaking or if something doesn't work properly.
I ended up selecting a company which doesn't carry the speakers I want and the owner agreed to "allow" me to purchase the speakers elsewhere. However, he insists that I purchase my receiver, DVD player, etc. from him. He is an authorized dealer for the brands that I'm interested in.
I am loathe to pay full price for some of these components when I can get them elsewhere for 10 - 15% less, but as a newbie, I may need their help later on down the road.
Questions:
1) Is this a usual and customary business practice of home theater installers?
2) Once my home theater system is installed, how likely is it that I will need additional help from the installer?
3) Do you think that the 10 - 15% premium I pay to this installer for the components is worth the peace of mind it will buy?
I wasn't sure how to conduct a search for previous strings with this topic and wasn't sure where to post it. Administrator - feel free to re-post this elsewhere.
I ended up selecting a company which doesn't carry the speakers I want and the owner agreed to "allow" me to purchase the speakers elsewhere. However, he insists that I purchase my receiver, DVD player, etc. from him. He is an authorized dealer for the brands that I'm interested in.
I am loathe to pay full price for some of these components when I can get them elsewhere for 10 - 15% less, but as a newbie, I may need their help later on down the road.
Questions:
1) Is this a usual and customary business practice of home theater installers?
2) Once my home theater system is installed, how likely is it that I will need additional help from the installer?
3) Do you think that the 10 - 15% premium I pay to this installer for the components is worth the peace of mind it will buy?
I wasn't sure how to conduct a search for previous strings with this topic and wasn't sure where to post it. Administrator - feel free to re-post this elsewhere.