Crestron Calls Savant Lawsuit a ‘Publicity Stunt’

I wonder if Lutron’s patent suit is a “publicity stunt” too…

wow.. Crestron, maker of high end AV automation products for the wealthy, slides 13% in sales during one of the worst recessions in history and it’s Savants fault…

Riiiiiiiiiiiight.. Good luck with that.

I’m pretty sure that crestrons counter suit to savants publicity stunt lawsuit is to illustrate the absurdity of Savant’s claims.

This is crazy.  Companies in every industry are allowed to change product lines as the market changes - especially for projects that often take years to complete.  Sometimes they change because the new products have better margin, other times they might do it to give them a competitive advantage, but most often, reputable companies do it simply because they feel the new product is a better solution for the client.

A few years ago we switched a lot of jobs that were initially spec’ed with Sony flat panels to models from Samsung. The Samsungs were dramatically thinner, had stylish frames, and great picture quality.  If Sony sued us (or Samsung) for using Sony’s “popularity and brand recognition to secure meetings with potential customers, then flip them to [Samsung]”, that would be a crazy statement. 

Or here’s an even better example.  Many years ago, the large company I work for switched from AMX to Crestron because we felt Crestron had moved ahead with a better product line.  Guess what?  Most of the projects that were initially spec’ed with AMX, got switched to Crestron.  Crestron certainly didn’t mind when they were the benefactor of those changes.

Let’s let the marketplace decide all of this.  Dealers are smart enough to see through any “deceptive” claims from either side.  Make the best products and sales will follow.

I’m guessing that this law suit is about the dealer using the crestron brand to attract clients and then flipping them towards savant.

Obviously i have no idea what the lawsuit is about or whether any of that happened. It just doesnt make sense (like you said) that they are suing them for switching teams.

In your flat panel scenario it would be like you having “sony dealer” on your website and then when anyone contacted you about sony you pitched them samsung while explaining that sony is outdated and over priced.

In your amx to crestron scenario you guys sold them amx but then switched control systems and used crestron instead. This is different because you didnt use amx to secure a client/project and then spec crestron instead. And i assume you didnt bad mouth amx to convince the client to okay the crestron switch.

@39CentStamp

Valid points in general, but I’ve never landed a single job of any significance (or even gotten my foot in the door to try), based on being a dealer for Crestron, or Sony or any other manufacturer.  Every job I’ve ever won came as a result of a relationship with an architect, builder, interior designer, or previous client.  They choose to use us because they trust (and we’ve proven) that we are the experts.  In fact, they want us to tell them which products are best for their clients and wouldn’t presume to dictate what we use. 

In my experience, it’s exceedingly rare to find a builder/architect etc. who’s “loyal” to a control system brand.  They might be familiar or comfortable with Crestron/AMX/Control4/Savant, but most people are always open to hearing about new technology and any potential improvements.

I’m a big fan of Crestron’s products and am confident they’ll continue to adapt to the changing landscape of iPads, Android tablets, streaming media, etc.  I’m simply saying that lawsuits (from both parties) based on the competition “bad mouthing” your products doesn’t help anyone except the law firms.

Same for the dealer i work for. 2 of our clients in 12+ years knew what Crestron or AMX was. No one cares what product we use. They have a wishlist and could care less what makes it happen as long as it happens.

I work for a residential dealer though. In commercial its common to not only have a product spec’d but in some cases to actually have the system engineered by a 3rd party. So you will bid on a specific product/design. This would probably make it tougher to flip the client though so its probably not relevant.

Things are changing now though. More and more clients are online, visiting forums and researching products. If you follow avs threads you will see a huge increase in “can you check my proposal and tell me if its fair” or “what should i use brand x or brand y”. The high end market will probably see less of this but the $250k and under markets will be dealing with this more frequently in the near future if they aren’t already. This is where a dealer could implement bait and switch tactics.

I don’t disagree with you. I am not happy about any manufacturer going after dealers. But.. Crestron would have never initiated this lawsuit if they had not been the target of Savants publicity stunt. Savant initiated this silly cat fight and now Crestrons lawyers are going to do whatever they have to do.

Does that change public opinion about Crestron? Sure it does. Every crestron dealer on the planet is checking their dealer agreements right now. Whats the alternative? Let savant get lucky and win a frivolous lawsuit against them?