Solutions Center

By Stefan Happe – Customer Service Manager

The customer service experience in the luxury audio market of the past was defined as a unique relationship between the dealer and the luxury audio enthusiast. New product investments and simple troubleshooting of issues were discussed directly between the local specialist and the customer. As the supplier of the products, we were only consulted if the issue was too complex and needed to be escalated, or if something needed to be repaired. This process worked very well, and changes affected this market segment only marginally and slowly.

Over the last couple years however, the world changed. The global pandemic kickstarted a new way of business in the luxury world. The very personal local business of the past moved more and more online for convenience and safety. In addition, the technology moved forward, too. In the past, very classic amplifier designs and local source players were the staple of the luxury audio market. Now the move is to fresher amplifier innovations, like digital or Class G. Source players now include streaming and larger home networks with dedicated audio servers. With luxury home cinema products these new influences go even further, adding many new audio and video formats which makes updating a receiver more and more complex. This increased complexity puts the local store owner at a disadvantage most of the time, creating a shift in demand on the manufacturer to provide quicker and easier access to elevated customer support and service.

We are happy to announce that HARMAN has made a substantial investment into the Customer Service for Luxury Audio, and the first change you as our partner and user will encounter is our new 1st Level Support Team. We didn’t reinvent the wheel here with this additional level of support. We looked at the successful steps and best practices our Consumer Division used to improve their accessibility and have incorporated these into our new process. Starting on Monday, May 23rd, we will be live with a new team of phone support agents taking your calls, guiding you through the basic fault finding, updating you on your parts orders or checking on a repair status.

Q: How much will the way I contact you change?
A: Not much at all.

You will be able to contact Customer Support via the same phone numbers as you do now.
+44 1707 668 012 for the EMEA based line
1-888-691-4171 for the Americas based line
or via email at luxurysupport@harman.com
From 10am UK Time to 4pm Pacific Time

Here is a high-level view of the new process:

And a quick overview of the process if a call is received:

We know that you will agree that these are positive steps forward in the customer service process for HARMAN and there will more exciting improvements to follow. Later this year we will introduce a new web resource for all things Luxury Audio Customer Service. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!