I need some email love

[azanon]

I think it was for previous customers. I got the email, but I purchased speakers from them. I dont have the email in front of me to verify my memory. Did you buy speakers from them?

[Derek]

Here it is:

Dear Valued and Prospective Ascend Customers,

It has been said that all good things come in threes. In keeping with that
tradition, we at Ascend Acoustics are proud to announce that Soundstage
Magazine has presented us the 2003 Year End Budget Leader Award, which we
received at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
(http://www.shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/ces2004/award_soundstage.shtml)

Second, due to overwhelming feedback from audiophiles who have made their
valued opinions known to us, we have pursued a partnership with Harman
Kardon and are now a full-line authorized dealer.

Third, and most important, in keeping with our business philosophy of
passing along value to our customers, we want to celebrate these two
landmark events by offering you the following special pricing.

Harman Kardon High Current A/V Receivers:
AVR330 $XXX.XX $12 ground shipping
AVR430 $XXX.XX $14 ground shipping
AVR630 $XXX.XX $16 ground shipping

Harman Kardon High Current 2-channel "stereo" Receiver:
HK3475 $XXX.XX $12 ground shipping

New Ascend/Hsu/Harman Kardon Complete Packages:

System ML1 $XXXX w/ Free ground shipping
5 HTM-200 (front/left/center/rears) + Hsu STF-1 subwoofer + Harmon Kardon
AVR330

System ML2 $XXXX w/ Free ground shipping
CBM-170(fronts) + CMT-340c(center) + HTM-200(rears) + Hsu STF-2 subwoofer +
HK AVR430

These are phone-in orders only and these prices will expire on Monday,
February 16. Please call us at (310) 719-9786 M-F from 9:00am to 6:00pm
PST.

By purchasing your home theater system from this powerhouse trio of
manufacturers--all dedicated to providing affordable, high quality
sound--you will ensure that you have one of the most acoustically pure and
visually pleasing systems available today. We are certain that there is no
better value on the market today.

Good Sound To You!
ASCEND ACOUSTICS, INC.

www.ascendacoustics.com



Important Note: You are receiving this email promotion because you are
either a valued customer of ours or you have elected to join our mailing
list. We hate spam too and if you would like to be removed from our
mailing list, please reply with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the message subject and
you will be promptly removed.

[Gregisme]

ok, thanks for the response guys, especially Derek for posting the email.

No, I'm not an owner yet, but should be soon. I don't think I'm interested in doing a whole package, but was interested in knowing what the deal was and how commonly email was used for such communication purposes, i.e., special deals, interesting tidbits, etc.

[ClutchBrake]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Gregisme

How does one go about getting on the Ascend emailing list? Does one even exist?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Go here: http://www.ascendacoustics.com/Main/Purchase/maillist.htm

[Gregisme]

And for that matter, I think it would be more productive for not-yet-owners to receive some notification, either vie email or this website. Existing owners are less likely interested in taking advantage of packages as they already own parts of the package.

[Gregisme]

thanks, clutchbrake. [:)]

[curtis]

Funny thing is...I never got the email.

-curtis

[Quinn]

Me neither.

[BradJudy]

I received it, but it shouldn't be posted here, at least not with prices. I'm sure Ascend has an agreement with H/K that they cannot advertise the prices and I think we should respect that. We don't want Harman to be mad at Ascend since not only do they now sell H/K products, but Harman International owns Audax who makes the drivers Ascend uses (at least for a while longer - Audax is getting out of that business).

[curtis]

I think Brad is right....

I edited out the prices. If you want to know the deals, give Ascend a call.

-curtis

[Derek]

I thought about that, but I figured that if they were sending out a mass mailing, then they weren't too concerned about who saw the prices.

[BradJudy]

Derek,

They weren't 'mass mailings', but targetted mailings to existing customers and subscribers to their mailings (not sure why all of them didn't get the message). It may not sound like a big difference, but it is in the world of online sales. Probably much like the 'add to cart to see the price' thing you see online because they can't advertise the low price, but can disclose the price in an individual communication, even if that communication is automatic.

I don't know that Ascend would get in trouble from it, but from the fact that DaveF never posted details on the matter and asked people to call instead (when it was an offer to forum memebers) I suspect they might.

[Derek]

The first line in the email says "Dear Valued and Prospective Ascend Customers, "

so it just wasn't for existing customers.

However, every internet newbie (should) know that if you want to keep something a secret, don't put it in an email. [:)]

[BradJudy]

Derek,

No, not just for prospective customers, that's why I said "existing customers and subscribers".

As an old-school internet guy (I guess 10 years is pretty old in Internet terms), I know that e-mail should be respected just like any other communication. :)

I never said secret, just that we should respect the situation Ascend is likely in.

[davef]

Hi Guys,

Seems to be some confusion regarding our email promotion...

It was sent out to those who are on our mailing list, more specifically, a mailing list that you must actually join. The promotions are open to everyone of course but we do respect privacy, thus not a true mass mailing (otherwise known as SPAM :)


Good Sound To You!

David Fabrikant
www.ascendacoustics.com

[Derek]

Hi Brad,

Sorry, I misread your response.

This is the thanks I get for trying to help someone out... [:)]

If I had specifically asked ascend for pricing quotes for these items, I never would have posted this email. However, this email was sent to me along with lots of other current and (hopefully) future customers. Therefore I don't see a problem with sharing it on a public board.

Also if the email read something like "Super secret pricing only for our special members. Please don't share it with anyone!!!" then I also would not have posted it here. There was nothing in the email to lead me to believe that this wasn't public information.

Do you see where I am coming from?

Derek

[BradJudy]

Derek,

I certainly see where you're coming from and it's probably a more popular perspective than my own. I just come from a background where I believe e-mails to me (regardless if numerous others also receive it) are not intended to be redistributed unless specifically noted. It's probably an old fashion way of viewing new ways of communication, but it's my way of trying to not let the medium lessen my view of the content.

Either way I hope you can understand why I think it was best to remove the prices.

Brad

[davef]

Hi Guys,

No Worries!!! If I am not concerned by any of this, you certainly should not be :)


Good Sound To You!

David Fabrikant
www.ascendacoustics.com