It’s the day your surround system that you purchased online is to arrive, “somewhere between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.” At 5:30, the delivery guy finally drops your system off and bolts, leaving you to find the box cutter. As you begin unpacking, you ponder where to best place your speakers and how on earth you are going to hide the speaker wires that run from each speaker to the receiver. A little overwhelmed, you open the last box and are shocked to find the subwoofer is punctured.
Did you read the return and service policy from your online retailer? Who is going to pay to ship this 95-pound behemoth back to the manufacturer, and who will pay to have a new one shipped to you?
Using a reputable independent retailer or custom installer allows you to sidestep all these headaches and more. Here, you’ll find our top reasons to buy from a brick-and-mortar retailer like Wilshire Home Entertainment versus an online electronics retailer.
See. Feel. Touch.
Walking into Wilshire’s showroom, you instantly “get it,”—seeing all of the components in one place—eliminating the uncertainty of what an A/V experience might be like. Shopping online doesn’t offer the true demonstration experience you should have before deciding on what products to buy for your space. For example, with an independent A/V retailer, you can compare TVs firsthand, demo a speaker system, or decide which projector you like best. You wouldn’t purchase a car without a test drive; why should it be any different for an electronics purchase?
Leave the research to the experts
If you have ever shopped online, you know that a considerable amount of time goes into making sure you are purchasing the “right” product. You’ll spend hours surfing the web, browsing different websites and publications to figure out what products are supposed to be good, then even more time making sure that you are purchasing from a reputable online vendor.
On the other hand, a custom installer or independent retailer like Wilshire Home Entertainment undergoes considerable manufacturer training so that they know the ins and outs of every product they sell. They’ll be able to advise you on what will work best in your own home, and will even come out to your home to ascertain your room conditions.
Installation is our business
We constantly have customers come into our store asking us to install a product they purchased online. Indeed, the most obvious benefit of a custom installer/independent retailer is that we offer installation services, including everything from hiding wires, to finding correct placement, to programming your universal remote control. This also means that you will be able to leverage the Wilshire’s expertise to create a system that lives up to its potential. Do it yourself, and you may not be getting every last bit of performance out of your investment.
When something goes wrong, call us
We’re all about building relationships that will last a lifetime. If your control system is not working properly, call us, and we’ll troubleshoot it or come out and fix the problem before your big Super Bowl party. However, when buying something online, make sure you read the fine print first. Most online retailers have limited, if any, service contracts, leaving the consumer to his own devices. Return policies also vary wildly on the Internet, so if you aren’t careful, you could get stuck with a lemon.
We give you more choices
Electronics manufacturers are wary of price erosion online as Internet retailers compete for Internet shoppers. As such, there are many highly respected brands that you simply will not find online. According to market research company NPD’s “E-commerce and Consumer Electronics: Online Shopping & Purchasing Report,” the result is a “badly skewed online sales mix that relies heavily on a narrow range of products that doesn’t adequately address some of the more exciting growth opportunities.” Indeed, the independent retailer is set up to show cutting-edge products, allowing the consumer to see exciting technologies before they are widely adopted by the market.
So whether you are buying a TV or a control system, we highly recommend that you contact us before taking your chances online. We pledge that we’ll have a better product mix, competitive prices, and a much deeper breadth of knowledge, services, and support than you will find anywher