I have been buying and selling audio equipment, mostly through Audiogon, for decades. I have been very fortunate to have dealt with truly honest, trustworthy and reliable buyers and sellers over these many years and they in turn have had exactly the same experiences when dealing with me as my lengthy, flawless feedback will confirm. Unfortunately, Steve Javaherian of High Performance Stereo has finally put a glaring end to my good experiences in this very same world of audio.
My experience with Steve began with a purchase I made from him for a pair of very rare Apogee Full Range speakers (also referred to as “The originals”) he had for sale on line from his warehouse.
Pictures on his website showed them to be in good shape, as did his advertised description. Asking price was $10,000. I’ll spare most of the details for the sake of brevity at the moment as I will have much more in depth storyline to publish when I begin releasing copies of the multiple letters I sent him requesting he “Do the right thing”.
What happened? In a nutshell: a couple of phone conversations between Steve and myself lead me to believe I could trust this man. We negotiated a selling price of $8000. which included $1050 agreed upon value of a few trade in items I would send to him (these included a Classe Model 25 solid state amplifier with one channel not working, a couple of vintage electronic crossovers, and a rare pair of Symo speaker cables in very good condition).
The cash balance due was $6950. which Steve requested I send electronically via my bank account to his. I did as he requested with a note on the paperwork displaying “Apogee Full Ranges paid in full”.
2 days later Steve sent me a text message requesting an additional $465 to cover ALL shipping expenses. I promptly sent the additional money that same day. He assured me he would handle ALL aspects of the shipping process and that the speakers would be fine. Later that day, the speakers were shipped.
I was having them shipped to my good friend Rich at True Sound Works in Nevada where he was going to do a restoration procedure before I ultimately retrieved them (I had TSW rebuild Apogees previously on other occasions).
Just over a week later I received a frantic phone call from Rich at True Sound Works stating the speakers had been severely mishandled and appear utterly destroyed. Numerous pictures were immediately sent and after close further inspection it was confirmed: they were an $8465. total loss. TOTAL. Irreparable.
Nothing even worthy as spare parts.
I immediately notified Steve by phone and forwarded the photos.
And this is where the true saga began. Months of phone calls, waiting... numerous letters... update requests, etc. Steve virtually ignored me.
ABSOLUTELY NO sense of remorse on his part. NO sense of responsibility on his part. NO apology for the unfortunate situation and tragic loss. And NO offer of any amount to repay me for the product I paid him for in full (including shipping fees) which I never received! In fact, that very first phone call I made to him that morning informing him of the complete destruction of the speakers I sensed his true character beginning to unfold.
When I said to him “Looks and sounds like they’re totaled... I hope insurance will be quick with the $8000. pay out”. He responded “ I only insured them for $6000.”
His first [of many] blatant lies... I found out later he had NOT insured them at all.
My immediate response was “Why would you do that, I paid you $8000.” When the dead silence of his [non] reply was lingering far too long I simply said “Let’s see how it goes first”. His extremely arrogant response to me, (and I quote exactly) “ You’re not getting one
f_ _ _ ing dollar out of MY pocket!”.
Nope, not a dollar... not a penny... and almost as serious, if not MORE serious: not even a “Sorry it happened”. Nothing.
Months of waiting... Months of stories about insurance delays, processing... every excuse in the book and they were all lies.
I could write a long chapter in how the ensuing months dragged on, and I will..., as I said, but for this feedback column right now it has already been a lot.
Suffice to say from this personal experience.. after tremendous patience and faith on my part, a misaligned trust that given the choice to do “The right thing” I’ve always believed most people will come through...I have now been given a new mission. Not one I would have thought was in store for me but nevertheless it is now in front of me.
And that is to spread the word throughout the audio marketplace that Steve Javaherian of High Performance Stereo is NO one you can trust to do business with. If you’ve been fortunate enough that there have been no “Mishaps” with your purchase and the item purchased truly was as good as described then so far you’ve been lucky (I know several people personally who have purchased from him and was treated poorly when it came to the satisfactory condition and/or performance of the product)...
He “Talks a good line” as they say ... and certainly had me fooled too... until it became inconvenient for HIM. At that point: he’ll never lose... YOU will.
Steve Javaherian LIED to me.
Steve Javaherian CHEATED me. And Steve Javaherian STOLE over EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS right out of my hands.
My goal in life right now is to begin spreading the word: don’t take the chance buying anything from this man... He’s Bad Bad news. Do the audio world a big favor and pass this on.
No one deserves this kind of treatment. Buyer Beware!!!
My experience with Steve began with a purchase I made from him for a pair of very rare Apogee Full Range speakers (also referred to as “The originals”) he had for sale on line from his warehouse.
Pictures on his website showed them to be in good shape, as did his advertised description. Asking price was $10,000. I’ll spare most of the details for the sake of brevity at the moment as I will have much more in depth storyline to publish when I begin releasing copies of the multiple letters I sent him requesting he “Do the right thing”.
What happened? In a nutshell: a couple of phone conversations between Steve and myself lead me to believe I could trust this man. We negotiated a selling price of $8000. which included $1050 agreed upon value of a few trade in items I would send to him (these included a Classe Model 25 solid state amplifier with one channel not working, a couple of vintage electronic crossovers, and a rare pair of Symo speaker cables in very good condition).
The cash balance due was $6950. which Steve requested I send electronically via my bank account to his. I did as he requested with a note on the paperwork displaying “Apogee Full Ranges paid in full”.
2 days later Steve sent me a text message requesting an additional $465 to cover ALL shipping expenses. I promptly sent the additional money that same day. He assured me he would handle ALL aspects of the shipping process and that the speakers would be fine. Later that day, the speakers were shipped.
I was having them shipped to my good friend Rich at True Sound Works in Nevada where he was going to do a restoration procedure before I ultimately retrieved them (I had TSW rebuild Apogees previously on other occasions).
Just over a week later I received a frantic phone call from Rich at True Sound Works stating the speakers had been severely mishandled and appear utterly destroyed. Numerous pictures were immediately sent and after close further inspection it was confirmed: they were an $8465. total loss. TOTAL. Irreparable.
Nothing even worthy as spare parts.
I immediately notified Steve by phone and forwarded the photos.
And this is where the true saga began. Months of phone calls, waiting... numerous letters... update requests, etc. Steve virtually ignored me.
ABSOLUTELY NO sense of remorse on his part. NO sense of responsibility on his part. NO apology for the unfortunate situation and tragic loss. And NO offer of any amount to repay me for the product I paid him for in full (including shipping fees) which I never received! In fact, that very first phone call I made to him that morning informing him of the complete destruction of the speakers I sensed his true character beginning to unfold.
When I said to him “Looks and sounds like they’re totaled... I hope insurance will be quick with the $8000. pay out”. He responded “ I only insured them for $6000.”
His first [of many] blatant lies... I found out later he had NOT insured them at all.
My immediate response was “Why would you do that, I paid you $8000.” When the dead silence of his [non] reply was lingering far too long I simply said “Let’s see how it goes first”. His extremely arrogant response to me, (and I quote exactly) “ You’re not getting one
f_ _ _ ing dollar out of MY pocket!”.
Nope, not a dollar... not a penny... and almost as serious, if not MORE serious: not even a “Sorry it happened”. Nothing.
Months of waiting... Months of stories about insurance delays, processing... every excuse in the book and they were all lies.
I could write a long chapter in how the ensuing months dragged on, and I will..., as I said, but for this feedback column right now it has already been a lot.
Suffice to say from this personal experience.. after tremendous patience and faith on my part, a misaligned trust that given the choice to do “The right thing” I’ve always believed most people will come through...I have now been given a new mission. Not one I would have thought was in store for me but nevertheless it is now in front of me.
And that is to spread the word throughout the audio marketplace that Steve Javaherian of High Performance Stereo is NO one you can trust to do business with. If you’ve been fortunate enough that there have been no “Mishaps” with your purchase and the item purchased truly was as good as described then so far you’ve been lucky (I know several people personally who have purchased from him and was treated poorly when it came to the satisfactory condition and/or performance of the product)...
He “Talks a good line” as they say ... and certainly had me fooled too... until it became inconvenient for HIM. At that point: he’ll never lose... YOU will.
Steve Javaherian LIED to me.
Steve Javaherian CHEATED me. And Steve Javaherian STOLE over EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS right out of my hands.
My goal in life right now is to begin spreading the word: don’t take the chance buying anything from this man... He’s Bad Bad news. Do the audio world a big favor and pass this on.
No one deserves this kind of treatment. Buyer Beware!!!