Need Advice on Unresponsive Amp Tech

[Caddie]

I need advice on what to do with a situation. I sent an amp off to an amp tech for repair in July '04. I have yet to have it returned to me. I have received no less than 6 promise dates. I paid the requested $80 repair bill last October.

The email correspondence between us has always stayed at a high level, even friendly & joking. It has never turned nasty. Although the response time to my inquiries has gradually slowed to the point now of "no response at all". Here are the details, for your entertainment pleasure, if you care to read on

I was having some problems with a Marshall amp I own. Thru the "Marshall Arts Forum" I became acquainted with an amp tech who (by all accounts) had an excellent reputation, seemed to know what he was talking about, etc. The amp was shipped in July '04. I have verification of delivery from both FedEx and the amp tech.

The first promises of completion were made in September, but "a new problem" would always seem to crop up just as the date approaches. And the only way I would find out about it was when the amp did not arrive and I started sending emails and leaving voicemails. Finally in October I was emailed that its done, send $80. I sent a USPS Money Order, he acknowledged that he received it and promised to ship the following Monday.

Well another problem came up, the bias was drifting. Another promise date came and passed. And another new problem came up, along with another promise date. And another. And another. Interestingly, these promise dates are always in the context of "I just found the source of the problem, resistor xyz had a cold junction. I'm going to fix it tomorrow night, try it out, and ship on Monday. Sorry again about the delay." I'm to the point now where I just want the thing back. I'd love to have it arrive with the problem fixed, but I just want it back. Now I'm not even receiving responses to email or vmail.

Any suggestions of what I can do to get a positive resolution on this? I'm thinking that my next step is to send certified mail with return receipt requesting that the amp be returned. But just the act of sending that type of mail could antagonize this guy. And then what do I do after that? Call his local police dept to ask them to make a call on the guy? I don't see a positive result coming out of going down that route.

I'm at a loss here folks, got any suggestions?

Thanks.

Noonan

Like right at the end of Caddyshack when Rodney says:

"Hey Moose ! Rocko! Help Judge Schmails find his wallet wouldja?"

[pesocaster]

Man that's a tough one....... where did you ship the amp? Have you tried calling? ... what about sending a UPS call tag? ... Maybe a local HFC brother can go get it...... Just an idea.....

[Brewmaster]

Sounds like something I went through about a little over a year ago with a former member of this forum. After about 9 months I finally got the amp back, DOA. At least he didn't charge me anything.

This can be very difficult especially if he has a good reputation on other boards. Since he stopped returning phone calls and answering emails I ended up going to the other boards. Whenever he posted something, I responded. I didn't get confrontational but I let him know I was there. After a few weeks of this he relented and sent the amp back.

Best of luck and let us know if we can help.

[DaveL]

I had a problem with a guy who had ZERO useful

contact information on ebay (PO box, common name).

I contacted one of his feedback contacts, he gave me

some info and by using google and yahoo people

search in about 5 minutes I had his digits, his business

associates and pretty much his entire life story.

I called him, I wasn't a prick but I was firm and

continued to follow up until I got it resolved (he shipped

the stuff). Personally, as long as you keep calling

they'll get the idea that you won't go away. I would

not elevate it to threats right away or use profanity,

and, if you can't seem to get a hold of him, call from

a number with caller ID blocking, and or try him early

in the am, not 6 am but maybe 7:30-8 am or so...

One thing I learned, if you don't have a tracker it's

BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SHIP IT!!

[HamerHokie]

You have to call him immediately and lay down the law.

Your next step is to file a complaint with his local police department.

[gregc]

That's too long to wait. My guess is either:

1: he FUBAR'd the amp beyond all repair and doesn't know what to do...

2: He traded/sold/lost your amp long ago and is hoping you'll go away.

Thank God I can do my own amp repair*

gregc

[Guest teefus2]

$80 isn't a lot of $$ for a marshall head repair and return shipping. what was the original complaint? how far away is the shop from you and do you know anyone in the area that can put the heat on so to speak?

brew, your amp came back doa? i don't remember that part of the story. wasn't it a pretty straight forward tube conversion?

[Guest Buck Dharma]

Do some online research, get his home number and call him at home. Then do one of two things:

1. Have your lawyer send him a letter.

2. Get a couple of buds together who don't like people like that and pay him a visit.

I had a guy who sold me a Cisco router lab for like $2000 and still would not send the stuff and would not return my emails. I found his home number and work number and addresses in Florida. When I called him at home he was shocked and knew that I would visit him soon if he did not send the stuff.

[kurtsstuff]

Ya want I should send over a couple a my boy's???

[Brewmaster]

$80 isn't a lot of $$ for a marshall head repair and return shipping. what was the original complaint? how far away is the shop from you and do you know anyone in the area that can put the heat on so to speak?

brew, your amp came back doa? i don't remember that part of the story. wasn't it a pretty straight forward tube conversion?

Yep, it was a tube conversion, 6550 to EL34. After I got it back I sent it up to BCR and Todd the god fixed it. It has been doing yeoman service as a studio amp ever since.

[thecajunboy]

Sounds like something I went through about a little over a year ago with a former member of this forum.

Hey Dan,

Same guy, same story, just a few short weeks ago at the TDPRI. Some of the hate posts have been edited and deleted.

[Caddie]

Thanks for the input guys. Just to address a few of the questions you've raised:

- I know this guy's home address & phone number. He gave me that info very early in our conversations. He does this work as a sideline. I also know where he works just from friendly small talking with him.

- He lives about a 2.5 hour drive from me. But I'm not about to go pay a visit to him. My father-in-law spent his career in law enforcement. Showing up at this guy's door is begging for a confrontation or worse. The risks are huge. If you want someone to go knock on his door you work with local law enforcement. They will do the knocking, they know how to do it, I'm an amateur.

- His excuses are so elaborate and detailed that either this guy is telling me the truth or he is one world class story teller. "c108 is bad"....."c109 has a cold junction"...."r107 is burned" If he is lying he sure is slathering a lot of chocolate frosting on the turd.

- I have given him a couple of offers to bail out and save face. "Hi Albert (name changed to protect his identity). Whether the news is good, bad, or no news at all, please call. Thanks." Eventually he responds with an apology, another problem he has found, and another promise.

- The amp is a lousy cheesy JTM30. The problem symptom was power fading as the amp heated up. We discussed the problem in detail and a price range before the amp was ever shipped. I wouldn't have gone thru the trouble of having it repaired for more than $150. The techs I talked to around here did not want to touch a component level problem on a Marshall JTM30. The only local guy that gave me a price said $200 to $250. aka: not worth it. At the very least, I just want him to box up and ship the amp back to me. If it works, great, he can keep the $80. If it doesn't work, I want my money back.

- Reality? I have pretty much resigned myself to not getting anything back. Chalk it up to experience.

- At this point I think my approach will be to call and email him on a daily basis. Make it clear to him that I am not going to go away. I'll call from a phone number that I have not used before so that he'll have a tougher time screening it. I'll keep that up for a couple weeks, then I'll give him a deadline and tell him that I'm going to need to contact his local law enforcement.

- Or maybe I'll get bored with the whole silly game by then and just forget about that cheesy JTM.

Thanks again for the advice gents.

Noonan

Noonan

[tafkathundernotes]

Frankly, you might be doing us all a favor by letting us know who he is (and where). You could do that by e-mail if you wish.

In some cases, the people doing this sort of work are part-timers with other jobs,etc. It may be that the rest of life took over, your amp and others fell by the wayside, and the guy just shut down and tried to disappear. That Marshall could still be sitting in his shop collecting dust because he's too embarassed to admit he's failed. I'm not asking you to feel sorry for the guy - just understand the situation so you can tailor your approach. The whole point here is to get your amp back.

If you're persistent and creative, you can find him. Go back to the boards where you think he might be and ask around. Create a new profile for yourself and go fishin'. If he's a dirty bastard, he'll try to get you again. If not, someone will steer you to him. DaveL's e-bay completed sales idea is one way.

Good luck to you. I hope this all works out in the end. Keep us posted.

[kurtsstuff]

I don't care if it's a Peavey Rage practice amp...I say bust his knee caps...but...that just me talkin....lol

[Brewmaster]

Sounds like something I went through about a little over a year ago  with a former member of this forum.

Hey Dan,

Same guy, same story, just a few short weeks ago at the TDPRI. Some of the hate posts have been edited and deleted.

Sorry to hear it.

I wonder what turned him to the dark side.

[DaveL]

One other tip...

if you know where he works, start contacting

him there. I'd leave a polite message and or get

the fax number or his email from the receptionist.

Unless he's completely FRIED I guarantee he'll stop

screwing around and get back to you.

[Kilroy is all about...]

Jeepers, creepers...I did not know my JTM30 was a 'cheesey' amp. Mine rocks the marshall brown-sound thru the 6L6 like a bitchy, banashee, b'butt', bustin'.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/juliam/P1010020.jpg

good luck on that ugly situation...amp heart-burn is one of the worst ills. :angry:

kilroy sends.

[tafkathundernotes]

One possibility: Small claims court. If he's in your state - sue him for the return of the item or make him 'splain to the judge why he can't . That may inspire him.

[Caddie]

kilroy_is_all_about...wrote

"Jeepers, creepers...I did not know my JTM30 was a 'cheesey' amp. Mine rocks the marshall brown-sound thru the 6L6 like a bitchy, banashee, b'butt', bustin'.

Sorry buddy, I didn't mean to knock what may be your personal pride & joy. But it does seem that the lowly JTM30 and JTM60 series has not enjoyed much respect among the Marshall following. Probably for good reason with its track record of poor reliability. But I must say that until mine started to exhibit the problems that are common to this amp, I was very happy with mine. That was the primary reason I wanted to get it back in full working order. Mine is the JTM312 plus the 1x12 ext cab.

Perhaps I have way too much faith in people. I hope & believe this guy will come around, perhaps he is having some family and/or work problems that have forced him to put his amp biz on the back burner. For the time being I'm just going to stay on him with messages, remain positive in those messages, give him the opportunity to save face...........and get the damn amp back! ;-)

Noonan

[edgar_allan_poe]

What was the outcome of this?

[Caddie]

Well, here is what has happened since my last post.

On 3/23 I received an email from him apologizing for not getting back to me. He explained that he had been out of town on business for the last 2 weeks. I guess that doesn't fully explain the 4+ weeks of non-response but I wasn't in an argumentative mood. He promised that he would get it completed on 3/24 & 3/25 because he had those days off work. You know where this is going.....

I received no further communication from him. On 3/27 & 3/28 I emailed and left voicemail for him. Late on 3/28 I received an email that simply stated "Amp is not done, I am still working on it." I'll give him a few more days then start email & vmail again I suppose.

I don't want to slam this guy out here in cyberspace so I won't publicly mention his name. But I'll say this much, if you are considering sending an amp for repair to someone in central IL please drop an email to me first. I'll let you know if its "my buddy" or not.

Still Marshall-less

Noonan

[straightblues]

You have been way to patient. It is time to turn up the heat. The guy at very least is a liar, and I think worse but maybe thats just me. It is now time to compel him to perform.

I would immediately send him a letter stating that you want your amp back in very clear terms. In the letter, set forth the terms under which you gave him the amp, how much is was to cost, when it was supposed to be returned, include all of the dates and time of each email and phone call in a very long list. Make this initial letter as detailed as possible with all of the facts. The more details you set forth, the more scary it will be for him. Just the facts, and be nice and straightforward. At the end state very clearly that you want the amp returned immideately and if it is not returned, you will "seek all legal remedies to resolve this matter." If you don't hear back, keep sending demand letters on a weekly basis demanding the amps return. Send these letter via certified mail. Then when you bring a small claims law suit against the guy and you will have a good paper trail to use at trial.

Also, others have made great suggestions. Start calling him daily, both at home and at work.

If this goes on for more than a week or two without getting the amp back, I would then call the police in his home town. (Your letters will be helpful to the police as well.) By that time, you will have given him plenty of time to do the right thing. At that point, he will have earned all of the bad thing that will happen to him.

[Hamer95USA]

Hey Caddie,

I saw your dilemma posted on here. I would like to make comments or responses to what's going on, bro.

In some cases, the people doing this sort of work are part-timers with other jobs,etc. It may be that the rest of life took over, your amp and others fell by the wayside, and the guy just shut down and tried to disappear. That Marshall could still be sitting in his shop collecting dust because he's too embarassed to admit he's failed. I'm not asking you to feel sorry for the guy - just understand the situation so you can tailor your approach. The whole point here is to get your amp back.

This is a very good point. Even if the amp is not fixed, you should have the amp returned to you as is.

Well, here is what has happened since my last post.

On 3/23 I received an email from him apologizing for not getting back to me. He explained that he had been out of town on business for the last 2 weeks. I guess that doesn't fully explain the 4+ weeks of non-response but I wasn't in an argumentative mood. He promised that he would get it completed on 3/24 & 3/25 because he had those days off work. You know where this is going.....

I received no further communication from him. On 3/27 & 3/28 I emailed and left voicemail for him. Late on 3/28 I received an email that simply stated "Amp is not done, I am still working on it." I'll give him a few more days then start email & vmail again I suppose.

I don't want to slam this guy out here in cyberspace so I won't publicly mention his name. But I'll say this much, if you are considering sending an amp for repair to someone in central IL please drop an email to me first. I'll let you know if its "my buddy" or not.

Still Marshall-less

Noonan

Ok, bro, it's time for you to take action. The nice guy approach of phone calls and e-mails is over.

You have been way to patient. It is time to turn up the heat. The guy at very least is a liar, and I think worse but maybe thats just me. It is now time to compel him to perform.

I would immediately send him a letter stating that you want your amp back in very clear terms. In the letter, set forth the terms under which you gave him the amp, how much is was to cost, when it was supposed to be returned, include all of the dates and time of each email and phone call in a very long list. Make this initial letter as detailed as possible with all of the facts. The more details you set forth, the more scary it will be for him. Just the facts, and be nice and straightforward. At the end state very clearly that you want the amp returned immideately and if it is not returned, you will "seek all legal remedies to resolve this matter." If you don't hear back, keep sending demand letters on a weekly basis demanding the amps return. Send these letter via certified mail. Then when you bring a small claims law suit against the guy and you will have a good paper trail to use at trial.

Also, others have made great suggestions. Start calling him daily, both at home and at work.

If this goes on for more than a week or two without getting the amp back, I would then call the police in his home town. (Your letters will be helpful to the police as well.) By that time, you will have given him plenty of time to do the right thing. At that point, he will have earned all of the bad thing that will happen to him.

This is what I would do. You should have serial numbers, receipts and photographs of the aforementioned amplifier involved. Straighblues made a good call on this one.

One possibility: Small claims court. If he's in your state - sue him for the return of the item or make him 'splain to the judge why he can't . That may inspire him.

This action along with submitting a police report to the amp repair person involved will put you in a good position of legal payback. The best that can happen is you receive the amp the way it was sent out. The worst of it is you may get it back in pieces or not at all. In the future, you should just deal with legitimate amp repair shops, not some unlicensed guy who does it on the side for extra cash. Ok, Caddie, let us know how things turn out. I hope that it will be for the better, bro.

Guitar George

[Scottcrud]

Noonan,

This is just ridiculous! Get a hold of him and tell him you want your freakin' amp back, fixed or not. I've got some cousins in the Joliet/Diamond area, my cousin Rick would break this guys jaw just to watch him bleed...really

Scott

[Caddie]

Guys I truly appreciate your advice and angst over this issue. I'll keep you posted on what happens. Scott it's nice to hear about your cousin Rick's successful "outpatient jaw re-alignment" practice. I'll keep it in mind. ;-)

Noonan