You should have gone to Andy at Vintage Tube Services Very honest i would never buy from clowns overseas.
Difficulties with Jac Music
I’m not one to typically air dirty laundry in these forums (thankfully in over 35 years in the hobby, with many, many ‘internet’ transactions, I’ve had no real reason to do so), but at this point I feel like I should at least put other potential customers of Jac van de Walle/JacMusic on notice of the following, related to my attempt to purchase a pair of EML 300B XLS tubes. I still do not have the tubes I ordered and paid for on Feb. 15, and indeed I’m now out another $48 US in shipping (explained below).
In an attempt to finally receive the EML 300B XLS tubes that I purchased directly from Jac/JacMusic back on Feb. 15, I sent Jac the following summary of the facts on March 28:
I advised him that I am getting extremely frustrated and upset at this point and reminded him of the following facts:
--on Feb. 15, I email an inquiry to Jac regarding purchasing a pair of the ‘cosmetic defect’ 300B XLS tubes
--Jac immediately responds via email with a price quote and an invoice, which states: (1) “shipment will be send {sic} right after we receive payment”, (2) “all goods are in stock, unless we write otherwise” (Jac did NOT ‘write otherwise’; thus, I certainly assumed the tubes were in stock and that shipment would follow in the next day or so), and (3) “you will receive internet link with shipment number, when package is send{sic}”
--I immediately pay the invoiced amount via Paypal (again, payment sent on Feb. 15)
--I receive no response, shipping info., nor even any confirmation that Jac received my payment
--after a couple of days, I send Jac numerous emails inquiring as to what is going on, whether he received my payment, etc.
--Finally, 10 days later (!) Jac responds via email, stating that he had received lots of orders due to the Euro to US $ fluctuations, and that my tubes would ship on Feb. 26th (so 11 days after he sent the invoice and my immediate payment, he would ship my tubes)
--Jac ships the tubes on Feb. 26 and I receive tracking info
--finally, after a prolonged stay in US Customs (which I fully understand Jac has no control over), the tubes arrive on March 10
--I open the box and immediately notice that neither the tubes, nor the box, are marked as 300B XLS, but instead appear to be the standard 300B tubes. I immediately take pics and send these to Jac via email, notifying Jac that it appears the tubes I received are not XLS tubes
--Jacs responds on Mar. 10, advising me that the tubes I received were indeed not the XLS tubes I ordered, but instead were 300B’s (but were standard tubes, rather than ‘cosmetic defect’ tubes), and that Jac has now sold all of the ‘cosmetic defect’ XLS tubes; that shipment of these tubes to me was his error, and that all shipment costs would be on him, and asking me ‘what I wanted to do’
--still on Mar. 10, I email back asking what options Jac would propose; he responds immediately saying if I want to ship the tubes back to him at my expense, he will send me a pair of the regular (i.e. non cosmetic defect) 300B XLS tubes at no further charges
--still on Mar. 10, I respond by asking what the additional purchase price plus shipping would cost for Jac to send me a pair of the 300B XLS tubes and I just keep the regular 300B’s that he sent me in error (i.e., I would just purchase another set of tubes)
--once again, Jac commenced failing to respond, so I email again on Mar. 13, stating that since I hadn’t heard back from him, I would ship the 300B’s back at my cost and requesting him to ship me the replacement 300B XLS pair
--Jac then responds with a price quote for me to purchase the 2nd set of tubes (but at a price that I did not want to pay); I reply (still on Mar. 13) that I would go with his first proposal: that I would ship the regular 300B’s back at my expense and he would send me a replacement pair of regular 300B XLS tubes; Jac replies “that is OK”
--I ship the 300B tubes back to Jac via USPS on March 13 at my cost of $48 US; I email Jac the tracking info and request that he send my tubes as soon as possible, since it was now almost 1 month since I ordered and paid for tubes, and the delivery of the ‘wrong’ tubes to me certainly was not my error
--Once again, Jac does not respond at all (at this point I’m not surprised by this)
--I follow the tracking on the tubes that I sent back to Jac. On March 24, the tracking info notifies me that German “customs clearance processing complete”, and “addressee requests own pick-up, item being held, addressee being notified”
--I still receive no response from Jac, no acknowledgement regarding the tubes I’ve shipped back to him, no notice that the tubes he owes me are being or would be shipped
--I email Jac on March 26, asking what is going on, as I know according to the tracking info, the tubes I shipped are ready to be delivered to Jac.
--of course, yet again, Jac does not respond
--I email Jac again on Mar. 28; my email to Jac on Mar. 28 admittedly was heated on my end, as my frustrations were beginning to mount. I pointed out to him the following:
“In summary, I ordered and paid for tubes on Feb. 15. You wait 11 days to ship tubes to me, and then send the wrong tubes. I receive the wrong tubes on March 10 and immediately notify you. You acknowledge that you made a mistake, and that you have now sold the tubes that I purchased. We agree on resolution of the problem [the problem caused by (1) your 11 day delay in shipping tubes to me after my paid order, and (2) your shipment of the wrong tubes)]. I ship the tubes back to you at my expense; those tubes are in Germany ready to be delivered since March 24. It is now March 28; you cannot seem to find the time to respond to my emails nor ship me the tubes that you owe me.
I really don’t understand how someone with a decent business reputation can behave the way that you have. I know that it will not do me any good with respect to this situation, but at this point I feel like I need to post a copy of this on various audio forums, so that other potential purchasers can be aware of the potential problems of purchasing tubes from you….
Please ship me the tubes that you owe me immediately.
Randy”
--Jac responds via email on March 28, telling me he’s ‘not the bad guy I think he is,’ and to please wait, he’d get back to me in 2 hours
--a few hours later Jac indeed sends me another email. In it he claims the tubes I returned to him have not yet cleared German customs (this even though I had forwarded him the notification that I received 4 days prior to this from USPS tracking which clearly states that customs clearance had occurred and that the tubes were being held for him as the ‘addressee’ at his request. He goes on to state that he can’t be expected to ship my tubes until he receives the returned tubes, and that should happen in ‘a couple days’…..right after that he will ship me a new pair of 300B XLS tubes and that I’m getting a ‘really fair price’ on those.
-- I responded to him that either he or the USPS tracking info must be in error, and reminding him again that our circumstances are what they are due to his errors—that I didn’t manufacture this whole situation in an attempt to con him out of tubes—and requesting once again that he ship me the tubes owes me. I pointed out to him that if the roles were reversed, i.e. if he shipped me tubes based on the promise that I would pay immediately after he shipped (remember his original invoice and sales email promised to ship immediately after receipt of payment, which he received on Feb. 15), and yet after going on 7 weeks I still had not paid, he likely wouldn’t be very happy!!
--Jac and I trade terse emails, with his final reply reiterating that he is the only person that can complete the Germans customs clearance process
--so it is now April 4, another full week has passed since any communication from Jac. If indeed he is the only one that can obtain customs clearance for the tubes I returned to him (and which have been marked as ‘cleared’ in German customs since Mar. 24 (11 days ago)), and which he advised me that he would receive ‘in a couple days’, he does not seem to have done so. There is no change in the USPS tracking info available to me—it still says “addressee requests own pick-up – item being held, addressee being notified”. Back on Mar 28, Jac advised me that he had been so notified a couple of days prior to that date; so he doesn’t deny having received the notice. But as of yet nothing from Jac, as far as communication, shipment of the tubes that he owes, etc.
--I have again inquired of Jac as to status, with no response at this point.
Buyer beware!!!
In an attempt to finally receive the EML 300B XLS tubes that I purchased directly from Jac/JacMusic back on Feb. 15, I sent Jac the following summary of the facts on March 28:
I advised him that I am getting extremely frustrated and upset at this point and reminded him of the following facts:
--on Feb. 15, I email an inquiry to Jac regarding purchasing a pair of the ‘cosmetic defect’ 300B XLS tubes
--Jac immediately responds via email with a price quote and an invoice, which states: (1) “shipment will be send {sic} right after we receive payment”, (2) “all goods are in stock, unless we write otherwise” (Jac did NOT ‘write otherwise’; thus, I certainly assumed the tubes were in stock and that shipment would follow in the next day or so), and (3) “you will receive internet link with shipment number, when package is send{sic}”
--I immediately pay the invoiced amount via Paypal (again, payment sent on Feb. 15)
--I receive no response, shipping info., nor even any confirmation that Jac received my payment
--after a couple of days, I send Jac numerous emails inquiring as to what is going on, whether he received my payment, etc.
--Finally, 10 days later (!) Jac responds via email, stating that he had received lots of orders due to the Euro to US $ fluctuations, and that my tubes would ship on Feb. 26th (so 11 days after he sent the invoice and my immediate payment, he would ship my tubes)
--Jac ships the tubes on Feb. 26 and I receive tracking info
--finally, after a prolonged stay in US Customs (which I fully understand Jac has no control over), the tubes arrive on March 10
--I open the box and immediately notice that neither the tubes, nor the box, are marked as 300B XLS, but instead appear to be the standard 300B tubes. I immediately take pics and send these to Jac via email, notifying Jac that it appears the tubes I received are not XLS tubes
--Jacs responds on Mar. 10, advising me that the tubes I received were indeed not the XLS tubes I ordered, but instead were 300B’s (but were standard tubes, rather than ‘cosmetic defect’ tubes), and that Jac has now sold all of the ‘cosmetic defect’ XLS tubes; that shipment of these tubes to me was his error, and that all shipment costs would be on him, and asking me ‘what I wanted to do’
--still on Mar. 10, I email back asking what options Jac would propose; he responds immediately saying if I want to ship the tubes back to him at my expense, he will send me a pair of the regular (i.e. non cosmetic defect) 300B XLS tubes at no further charges
--still on Mar. 10, I respond by asking what the additional purchase price plus shipping would cost for Jac to send me a pair of the 300B XLS tubes and I just keep the regular 300B’s that he sent me in error (i.e., I would just purchase another set of tubes)
--once again, Jac commenced failing to respond, so I email again on Mar. 13, stating that since I hadn’t heard back from him, I would ship the 300B’s back at my cost and requesting him to ship me the replacement 300B XLS pair
--Jac then responds with a price quote for me to purchase the 2nd set of tubes (but at a price that I did not want to pay); I reply (still on Mar. 13) that I would go with his first proposal: that I would ship the regular 300B’s back at my expense and he would send me a replacement pair of regular 300B XLS tubes; Jac replies “that is OK”
--I ship the 300B tubes back to Jac via USPS on March 13 at my cost of $48 US; I email Jac the tracking info and request that he send my tubes as soon as possible, since it was now almost 1 month since I ordered and paid for tubes, and the delivery of the ‘wrong’ tubes to me certainly was not my error
--Once again, Jac does not respond at all (at this point I’m not surprised by this)
--I follow the tracking on the tubes that I sent back to Jac. On March 24, the tracking info notifies me that German “customs clearance processing complete”, and “addressee requests own pick-up, item being held, addressee being notified”
--I still receive no response from Jac, no acknowledgement regarding the tubes I’ve shipped back to him, no notice that the tubes he owes me are being or would be shipped
--I email Jac on March 26, asking what is going on, as I know according to the tracking info, the tubes I shipped are ready to be delivered to Jac.
--of course, yet again, Jac does not respond
--I email Jac again on Mar. 28; my email to Jac on Mar. 28 admittedly was heated on my end, as my frustrations were beginning to mount. I pointed out to him the following:
“In summary, I ordered and paid for tubes on Feb. 15. You wait 11 days to ship tubes to me, and then send the wrong tubes. I receive the wrong tubes on March 10 and immediately notify you. You acknowledge that you made a mistake, and that you have now sold the tubes that I purchased. We agree on resolution of the problem [the problem caused by (1) your 11 day delay in shipping tubes to me after my paid order, and (2) your shipment of the wrong tubes)]. I ship the tubes back to you at my expense; those tubes are in Germany ready to be delivered since March 24. It is now March 28; you cannot seem to find the time to respond to my emails nor ship me the tubes that you owe me.
I really don’t understand how someone with a decent business reputation can behave the way that you have. I know that it will not do me any good with respect to this situation, but at this point I feel like I need to post a copy of this on various audio forums, so that other potential purchasers can be aware of the potential problems of purchasing tubes from you….
Please ship me the tubes that you owe me immediately.
Randy”
--Jac responds via email on March 28, telling me he’s ‘not the bad guy I think he is,’ and to please wait, he’d get back to me in 2 hours
--a few hours later Jac indeed sends me another email. In it he claims the tubes I returned to him have not yet cleared German customs (this even though I had forwarded him the notification that I received 4 days prior to this from USPS tracking which clearly states that customs clearance had occurred and that the tubes were being held for him as the ‘addressee’ at his request. He goes on to state that he can’t be expected to ship my tubes until he receives the returned tubes, and that should happen in ‘a couple days’…..right after that he will ship me a new pair of 300B XLS tubes and that I’m getting a ‘really fair price’ on those.
-- I responded to him that either he or the USPS tracking info must be in error, and reminding him again that our circumstances are what they are due to his errors—that I didn’t manufacture this whole situation in an attempt to con him out of tubes—and requesting once again that he ship me the tubes owes me. I pointed out to him that if the roles were reversed, i.e. if he shipped me tubes based on the promise that I would pay immediately after he shipped (remember his original invoice and sales email promised to ship immediately after receipt of payment, which he received on Feb. 15), and yet after going on 7 weeks I still had not paid, he likely wouldn’t be very happy!!
--Jac and I trade terse emails, with his final reply reiterating that he is the only person that can complete the Germans customs clearance process
--so it is now April 4, another full week has passed since any communication from Jac. If indeed he is the only one that can obtain customs clearance for the tubes I returned to him (and which have been marked as ‘cleared’ in German customs since Mar. 24 (11 days ago)), and which he advised me that he would receive ‘in a couple days’, he does not seem to have done so. There is no change in the USPS tracking info available to me—it still says “addressee requests own pick-up – item being held, addressee being notified”. Back on Mar 28, Jac advised me that he had been so notified a couple of days prior to that date; so he doesn’t deny having received the notice. But as of yet nothing from Jac, as far as communication, shipment of the tubes that he owes, etc.
--I have again inquired of Jac as to status, with no response at this point.
Buyer beware!!!