hello im new

[nfe]

^ I would find a guitar in his shop that exceeds the value of your amp and just walk out the door with it, seriously. Flog it and get yourself something decent.

Of course, if they're being this difficult over things, They WILL phone the police and you WILL get charged with theft.

[Johnny Mac]

^ I would find a guitar in his shop that exceeds the value of your amp and just walk out the door with it, seriously. Flog it and get yourself something decent.

Of course, if they're being this difficult over things, They WILL phone the police and you WILL get charged with theft.

The police have got better things to do, really they have. They don't attend drive outs in petrol stations for example or burglarys.
I know its not an ideal solution but I feel they're not going to give him his money back. Anyway you could do it with out drawing attention to yourself. They have taken 1000 pounds of his hard earned and sold him a load of shitee and then tried to repair it using someone who hasn't got a clue what they're doing and they're mugging him off saying an attenuator has damaged his transformer. There is no other option. 

You should see how we do business in the game i work in. People who don't pay get referred to 'Plan B' and Plan B always gets paid.

[nfe]

In my experience of phoning the police regarding thefts from instrument shops, they're there in a flash (two cats that would otherwise be wandering the streets get to go hang about somewhere warm and chat to folk, after all!) how much it gets persued afterwards I don't know, but if the shop can name the offender, then it's a nice easy arrest to add to the tally, y'know?

You'd have no defence at all, regardless of the situation, you'd still be a thief, in terms of legality. It'd be at best a palaver to sort out.

One more try at sorting things out face to face, then a lawyers letter I reckon, which will sort things out in two seconds I imagine. If you're on a low enough wage legal aid will do it for free, I think.

[Johnny Mac]

In my experience of phoning the police regarding thefts from instrument shops, they're there in a flash (two cats that would otherwise be wandering the streets get to go hang about somewhere warm and chat to folk, after all!) how much it gets persued afterwards I don't know, but if the shop can name the offender, then it's a nice easy arrest to add to the tally, y'know?

You'd have no defence at all, regardless of the situation, you'd still be a thief, in terms of legality. It'd be at best a palaver to sort out.

One more try at sorting things out face to face, then a lawyers letter I reckon, which will sort things out in two seconds I imagine. If you're on a low enough wage legal aid will do it for free, I think.

I appreciate what your saying, I really do and a few years ago I would have done it your way. I wouldn't now. They're is no guarantee a lawyer would get an instant result. 60 sheets a letter, these days.  Sure one more try amicably is well worth a shot but the manager isn't going to cave in is he, we both know that. Legal aid is for criminal cases but I'm not certain on that. I'd be surprised if they would grant legal aid in a dispute over 1000 pounds. Each letter that you pay a lawyer to write, phone call, any of their time, the meter is on. That grand would run out in a few weeks and then your running on a loss. A bit of risk taking doesn't seem so that bad does it? I mean they do owe him despite the technicalitys.

[nfe]

They absolutely, I'm just wary of taking other goods approach because (althoug it was in the hands of the recievers at the time, so effectively it was the bank doing it) when Soundcontrol went down the pan and customers who were owed money or goods were simply taking other stock, the recievers were making a point of pressing charges on every single one. We're talking people taking three packs of strings and stuff, it was ludicrous.

Whether Sounds Great would do that I don't know, but I'd certainly be wary.

To be honest, I'm astouded they're being this awkward at all. I've never heard of such a thing outwith rogue traders on the telly!  :lol:

I suspect you'll be right about the legal aid only applying in criminal cases, that's the only time I've had experience of it, anyway  :roll:  :lol:

[Johnny Mac]

I suspect you'll be right about the legal aid only applying in criminal cases, that's the only time I've had experience of it, anyway  :roll:  :lol:

Me too!    :lol:

[Dmoney]

oh my word johnny i love your thinking!

i've got onto consumer direct via email. ill give em a few days then chase them up.

I was annoyed at sound control too! i wanted an ABY pedal and i got told a boss line selector would do the job. only it didnt at all. so i took it back and said the advice i had been given was wrong, and they would only give me store credit. then the place went bust and i lost £80 or whatever. cheers. so i refuse store credit on principal its just bullshitee from stores protecting their earnings at the loss of someone else. at the time i didnt mind because i thought id use the credit up popping in for strings and cables. its not like im gonna go to manchester from london to pop into sounds great for £1000 of regular slinkys!

ill see what happens over the next few days. worst comes to worst and they have my amp back from whoever, ill just say im gonna pick it up from the store and ill have it out face to face. or i could walk in and not declare myself and "accidently" knock few stacks over. ooops! haha

[Johnny Mac]

^ Well you never know they may fix it properly and hopefully it will work the way Soldano intended.

[Dmoney]

this is also true. and why i wanted to speak to the new tech. because that really would put my mind at ease to talk to someone who could tell me what was going on technically with the head. but i wasnt given this guys name, or the company he works for (if he does work for one). i just got told my number would be passed on so ill hope something comes of that.

the whole thing has put me off soldano. in the time its taken to fix this amp ive tinkered with my dual rec... new tubes, new rectifiers, new preamp tubes, swapped the presence pot on the orange channel, got my rebel yells in my les paul. im so happy with it now.

our other guitarist uses my JCM800 2205 now, where as he used to use the Soldano (i was jealous) because when we toured i shared my 6506 with the guitarist from another band. so i used that to save on setup times between sets, and the others used the soldano. if that makes sense. so ive never actually even played it live!

i walk around london looking for interesting heads. they have some Diamond amps in town but i think they are £2000+ and probably not what im after. everything else is orange, marshall and peavey.

id like to try a cornford or a blackstar. well, more cornford, i got told the mods in my JCM800 where done by the blackstar designer (before i came to own it, but paid for by the previous owner). or one of the designers. and if thats trues hes melted the corners of a couple of caps in my head. so that worries me. the amp works fine... but im not sure how much im into people melting capacitors.

[Johnny Mac]

^ We're having a little gathering in a studio soon if you want to come along and try out some Bkps and an amp with a bit of a reputation!  :lol:

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16174.0

[dave_mc]

Dave, I was only joking when I suggested Dmoney takes his audience for more leverage, but after reading the latest update I think a bit a of scene is called for. What that so called manager has just told him is a load of fuking bollocks! I don't get treated like this when i make purchases in shops and if I did i go ballistic. Sometimes you have to make it known that you won't put up with bullshiteeeeeeeeee of any kind whatsoever and it works. I had some trouble with a mobile a few years back and I got what I wanted, I didn't swear to begin with but i made the people who were obviously trying to mug me off feel very uncomfortable and things start to happen when you take control of the dispute and tell them what you want.

Don't let this firm walk all over you mate. Get your money back.

haha, no worries jonny, sarcasm doesn't come across well online :oops: i just didn't want him to walk in with a kalashnikov and an armful of C4, haha! definitely not taking any guff is a good idea. :)

bringing someone else is also a good idea, for moral support... not necessarily to be threatening, but for moral support. also bring stuff to show that, in the eyes of the law, you're in the right.

as i've already said, his attitude is terrible. he's claiming that he didn't see you using the attenuator? what kind of guff is that? did he offer to come on tour with you? why doesn't he do the same thing with speaker cabs (as if they're attached to the wrong impedance, they can also cause damage)? "why did you check the bias?" jeez. that's skating on very, very thin ice. he's basically asking why you had the nerve to find out he was up to gip.

yo.
turns out the guy i thought was an assistant is actually the MD.
he said that using an attenuator puts stress on the OP transformer and can make it blow... he said that to me like he was trying to blame me for breaking it... then i also had to explain to him why the bias problem was bad.
he told me how much new tubes and shipping for the OP transformer had cost him like it was meant to make me feel bad, or just to prove they had done something. apparently they have sent it to a new 'better' tech in manchester, but when i asked for the tech's number the guy said he'd liase with him first and then find out if he could give it to me. i think the guy talked me out of being angry... im actually bloody furious now.
yeah, i had it a 3 months before it broke down, but in that time i only got 2 weeks reasonable use.
Rob

yeah, i'm pretty sure that's complete rubbish about the attenuator. that's a terrible attitude which that shop has- if it's any consolation (which it won't be), i'll definitely think twice before ordering anything from them.

But the only reason Dmoney's owned it for a "reasonable length of time" is that the shop have actually had it for the majority "fixing" it.

And the repair wasn't remotely satisfactory.


EDIT: Dave was in there first  :lol:

exactly (to the first bit). :)

and cheers to the edit. :lol:

EDIT: whatever you do, do NOT do something which you consider to be illegal, whether that be stealing something, or "accidentally" knocking something over, etc. etc. there is a good chance that you WILL be charged, as the cops like to go after the easy targets. It's entirely possible that the cops would refuse to help you with your dispute, but not refuse to help the shop with their dispute- they have a tendency to just assume that the shop is in the right (which sucks). Apart from anything, the shop might have CCTV, etc. etc.

So, as i said, in the strongest possible terms, do NOT do anything illegal. With any luck, this will work itself out just fine legally. I know you're pissed off, but if you get a criminal record, fine, or, god forbid, a prison sentence, will that make you feel any better? You need to be sensible. Being sensible will help you to win, legally. the shop doesn't have a leg to stand on. it knows this. it's hoping that you don't.

Do you happen to know a solicitor, just out of interest? it's amazing what a solicitor's letter can achieve.

[Will]

Personally I would do it by phone, sod the body language and be direct with a firm voice. I haven't read every single post, but have you suggested asking him to forward the call to the next guy up? Be it the manager of the branch/ chain of stores / distributor / manufacturer. Suggest that the shop should hand back the dealership of the product as the service is not satisfactory.
Make sure you have notes in front so you cover everything, a mass of evidence helps rather than " well there was this, then that happened. Oh I missed out____"

On a brighter note: Do you think you could actually smash the amp head on the floor? I reckon it would be quite hard to do any more damage than a re-tolex and re-valve wouldn't cure :P

[dave_mc]

i'm not sure about phone. they can palm you off on the phone. obviously it's harder since you're further away, but that could be what they're banking on.

i'd see what the OFT and consumer direct say first. the big problem is that your problems are a bit technical, and they might not understand them. i'm guessing that that's also what the shop is banking on.

[Johnny Mac]

You're a good bloke Dave  :D

When I suggested take your mate, i meant so he can hold the door open so the lock doesn't go on as they have to buzz you out!  :lol:
have a cab outside waiting
Wear a hoody.
Go there in different clothes earlier in the day to find the most expensive and easy to pick custom shop big name guitar. Go for around the 5 grand mark.
Write the amp off.
Flog the Guitar.
Buy a Koch and Jump off it in your mad gigs chugging like a muthfuker!!!  :twisted:

Good luck! I wager you 50 quid Dave that DMoney pulls it off!!  :lol:

God, this Whisky is going down a treat tonight  :lol:

[Dmoney]

HAHA!

cheers for all the advice. Consumer Direct think that because i took the repair job and it was bodged, that i have a claim...

I also called up Bill Sundt, the Soldano tech in Seatle. He told me they know about the situation and aren't happy either. he asked to my mobile number so he could pass it to micheal soldano, and he said he'd write me an email with his opinion on attenuators, which we discussed due to this email from Gary Sharpe, Managing Director of Sounds Great Music...

"Rob,

You’re not entitled to a refund because the amp failed due to use not recommended by the manufacturer and connected to a piece of equipment not supplied or recommended by ourselves. This will all be confirmed when the consumer direct people are in possession of all the facts.

If you want to discuss a different outcome give me a call.

 Gary"

Basically, the "use not recommended..." and the "equipment not supplied" refers to the Hotplate i used. the hotplate i used with 3 other amps without issue. the hotplate i didnt take on tour for two weeks when it failed.

im going to call Soldano back in the middle of next week. give everything some time. also write a formal letter and post it recorded to Sounds Great. When all else fails i have a friend ready and willing to drive me to cheshire for a calm and collected face to face chatter.