Jedi5 Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Just moved into a house with C4 system. Looking to reset from previous owner to my name. I called the dealer who installed this system and they said they no longer work on C4. They suggested I call another C4 dealer to help out but emphasized that I look for a platinum dealer? Does that really matter? I see some platinum dealers in my area but most are gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Labels are by sales volumes which can help you understand some of how much work they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi5 Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 Awesome, thanks! So it is safe to say that platinum tier dealer isn't necessary more knowledgeable than gold tier dealer? I just want someone who know what they are doing and help reset my C4 system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 2 hours ago, Jedi5 said: Awesome, thanks! So it is safe to say that platinum tier dealer isn't necessary more knowledgeable than gold tier dealer? I just want someone who know what they are doing and help reset my C4 system. There are good and bad platinum dealers, gold dealers, non labeled dealers, etc. As mentioned, the labeling is mostly based on sales volume + I believe there is some calculation for how many employees you have on your payroll that have completed certain C4 training classes (I could be wrong there) If most of the hardware is in place, and its just a matter of changing the registration, a good online programmer you can find on this site can handle this task for you. If you are not sure what equipment you have and need someone to walk around your property, any local dealer could do a good job. Maybe post your location and someone would have a referral for a local dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 The problem is that the OP is in a difficult spot. From experience, and from what I see posted on these forums, it is hard to get someone to take over an existing system since they won't make that much money. When your original dealer is gone you are now in a tricky situation where any dealers that are busy will not give you any attention since you are small potatoes compared to new installations where the dealer will get WAY more revenue. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Dealers are also cautious as so many project takeovers need major refit. Neglected, poor design, wrong equipment, wrong expectations, poor communications, under bid…. The first thing we do is figure out what went wrong with the other relationship. And then decide if we want to get involved at all. BXTR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 1 hour ago, zaphod said: The problem is that the OP is in a difficult spot. From experience, and from what I see posted on these forums, it is hard to get someone to take over an existing system since they won't make that much money. When your original dealer is gone you are now in a tricky situation where any dealers that are busy will not give you any attention since you are small potatoes compared to new installations where the dealer will get WAY more revenue. Good luck! A dealer also may have a conversation, see its older equipment and say hey look, I'll get you set up with a new account, but stop by the showroom, see what OS 3 can do. Oh wait, its only controlling a TV in the basement and some lights, have you thought about WHA....oh you just moved in and need 6 TVs and need them mounted, we'll do that too so you don't have to bother with Best Buy and give you a better experience.... A good dealer would listen, and find a potential way to upsell other services to a new home owner - and to be clear, NEEDED/DESIRED services not just snake oil. Yes it is my mindset because I am in sales, but I'll listen to any potential client then gauge if their opportunity is the right fit for my services, it is a 2 way street. RAV, cdcllc and South Africa C4 user 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXTR Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 The level that the dealer is at means very little, it is purely volume in C4 and other Snap house brands We believe in providing the best product for the job so we often source products(racks, network, video distribution speakers) from other vendors which means we aren’t Platinum nor do we care My recommendation would be chatting with a dealer and offering to send pictures of the rack/equipment Be as forthcoming as possible, there’s little joy in a techs heart when he’s told one thing and walks into another, honesty will help build a long term relationship with a new dealer and they will reciprocate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 On 7/18/2022 at 12:48 PM, Jedi5 said: So it is safe to say that platinum tier dealer isn't necessary more knowledgeable than gold tier dealer? Absolutely. One can argue that a platinum or gold dealer is more likely to have more experience than a dealer with no other designation, as they likely have done more setups, but it's still not a guarantee. On 7/19/2022 at 10:45 AM, RAV said: Dealers are also cautious as so many project takeovers need major refit. Neglected, poor design, wrong equipment, wrong expectations, poor communications, under bid…. Yes, we need to be - but most of that caution goes into first having a look at the system, and from there judge if we need to look deeper (and yes, then charge for a closer inspection) or if we can reasonably take on the job - and yes get it done in reasonable time. No issue taking over an existing system as such - but just like the new owner won't want to wait for two weeks before we get there, we can't have existing projects just put on hold because somebody bought a house with a system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 On 7/19/2022 at 8:57 AM, zaphod said: it is hard to get someone to take over an existing system since they won't make that much money Honestly this is non-sense. If it's in good working order, it's pure time - which is as if not more profitable than electronics margins, even dealer only product margins. Anyone that ignores a take over for THAT reason needs to learn that a higher bill doesn't equal more profit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXTR Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 16 minutes ago, Cyknight said: Honestly this is non-sense. If it's in good working order, it's pure time - which is as if not more profitable than electronics margins, even dealer only product margins. Anyone that ignores a take over for THAT reason needs to learn that a higher bill doesn't equal more profit... From a business owners perspective if the techs are fully booked with installs which include product, they can bill out $100/hr(just an arbitrary figure) plus gain the margin of the sold product that the tech is installing If I were a greedy, short sighted mofo then I’d much rather be selling and installing a 20k pair of speakers than trying to help someone sort out their 5-15 year old system which may or may not be a disaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 2 hours ago, BXTR said: From a business owners perspective if the techs are fully booked with installs which include product, they can bill out $100/hr(just an arbitrary figure) plus gain the margin of the sold product that the tech is installing If I were a greedy, short sighted mofo then I’d much rather be selling and installing a 20k pair of speakers than trying to help someone sort out their 5-15 year old system which may or may not be a disaster Not just greedy and short sighted, but economically incentivized. I don't know how things are in other cities and for C4 dealers, but here in Toronto it is very hard to get workers to do all sorts of small jobs. Like home renovations. If I have a small job where I need a few things done that cost $10,000 it is hard to get a contractor because that contract has more demand than he can handle due to the labour shortage. So he will focus on much larger jobs that are $100,000+. I had my original dealer install my system 16 years ago. He wasn't a C4 dealer for very long. Then I got someone else but he didn't returned my calls. I tried to get another dealer, but he didn't like customers using Composer HE as he said that it causes too many problems. Or maybe it just reduces revenue. So I know work with an online dealer on this forum. And I don't blame these dealers. If I had my own business and I couldn't keep up with demand then I am going to focus on big ticket new installs, not on trying to sort out an older system. Especially if the customer chokes when you say it will cost a few hundred just to figure out what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekki70 Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 We do take overs all the time, our project manager always goes out and reviews the site and has a discussion with client at no charge, then we send out one of our top techs to look over the system, make recommendations, update if possible and charge for our time. It may not be a huge profit, but it is a client gained and if we can get the system more user friendly and stable its a plus for everyone. We gained a client and hopefully an avenue to gain more clients, word of mouth is our main part of our business. Trust me when we come across these take overs there is always a reason, its either the system is just not done correctly, the install was poor, the programming was terrible, the design was garbage, or the client was a true pain in the ass. Yes there is always a reason. We are a Gold Dealer, We may never be a pinnacle dealer, we dont strive for a label, we strive to make all the clients we have happy, within reason we do what we can. We have 1 dedicated service guy, the rest are techs and if we have to we will pull a tech off an install to take the load off our service tech. Our main servicer is done remotely and then a truck is rolled out if it cant be fixed from our office. The true story of why a dealer and client part ways is no concern of ours, just getting the system functioning properly is. However, if its a totally unruly client, sometimes the headache isnt worth the takeover but we still try. We also need to make the system serviceable so yes we will require a rack to be rewired or parts to be included into the system for our service needs and yes it sucks to tell a client he has to pay again to have us make a rack serviceable because 90% of the problems we come across are from a poorly installed rack, crappy designed system. Like any other field, there are guys, and companies that care about thier work, and thier are guys and companies that care about the $$$ overall. And its just my opinion that C4 should have some sort of accountability to dealers, they should have a way that if they receive so many complaints they should drop those dealers. Its a very good product and should have a way to weed out poor dealerships. OceanDad, cdcllc, RyanE and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 On 7/22/2022 at 12:39 PM, BXTR said: I’d much rather be selling and installing a 20k pair of speakers Extreme example - the margins on TVs, regular receivers, etc etc are so minimal they matter little, even Control4 gear etc don't add up to that much. Plus standard jobs need standard installers and programmers - which you can't charge out the same as a specialized person, which you would be sending to a take over job. Even if it's the same person - you can't charge premium if your electrician is installing speakers. So I disagree, labour only/mostly jobs do NOT have to be less profitable. Add to that, that a take over for a day or two is not a bad thing to have when you're waiting for that next delayed for whatever reason shipment of gear to arrive..... which NEVER happens of course, especially these days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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