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DIFFICULT PROBLEM WITH A REPAIR SERVICE-

I sent off a Teac R to Reel (a 35-2B) to  guy near Chicago to refurbish. It had originally sold for $1700 when it was new, and it had a lot of useful features, including direct outs to an external preamp from the playback heads. When he dragged his feet fixing a part I sent him ANOTHER preamp unit I found on Ebay with a working switch.  Then he complained the machine had some distortion on playback and couldn't find the source. Initially I told him to try to sell the machine and give me a partial refund but he never even tried. This guy claims he has a 200 machine backlog (!)
In the past he did fix 3 Teacs for me of a newer vintage and they all came back working like new. He took his sweet time (of course) but I tried to be patient, etc. But THIS time around Dr.Jekyl turned into Mr. Hyde and no matter how many complements I gave him, PLUS a $300 deposit as an incentive, he is (now) the nastiest creep you can imagine.
So I told him to put the machine in a box, send me a invoice, and ship it to a really top-notch repair guy I discovered not far from where he lives. I've been reminding him for the last SIX MONTHS to do this, and STILL I can't get him off his lazy butt to do this. I just hate to see this super-nice machine gathering dust halfway across the country from me.
PLUS (OF COURSE) it belongs to me, not him. But since I "kept changing my mind" (only once but he's completely irrational) he is now not even answering my emails. I'm not an attorney, but I would like to make this person do what I requested and do it NOW. I ALSO would like to put a big dent in his reputation without using facebook. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you. ALSO- Happy Easter and Passover.
french_fries
french_fries OP
815 posts
 
(Sam Palermo) who apparently has a lot of time commenting on TapeHeads.net (Under SkyWave). He knows his stuff, or at least has a lot to say about repairing and adjusting decks. But his actual business model is "you'll get your machine back after I pet my cat while I play on facebook", etc. He wastes a lot of time doing something- who knows what. Tape Heats has a great forum, but I doubt you can write up a sponsor for mucking up your repair order. But I might try to anyway. He is a real jerk to say the least.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,368 posts
 
Too bad....such aggrivation
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

French-fries, I'm interjecting a comment from the perspective of someone who has owned many different brands of reel to reel decks, including a Teac 2000R. I'm also a retired "industrial" electronics technician who repairs his own stuff.

I had no success in repairing the Teac because it was not of the industrial quality that was meant to be repaired. plus I am not a professional R2R repair person; however, I bought my Technics RS1500 "used", over 20 years ago, and I have been able to modify and repair it with the Service Manual. It's built in the "industrial" manner that makes it "repairable".

Recently, one channel went out on my Sony KA3ES cassette deck; my troubleshooting indicated a bad "IC". All I needed to repair it was thing about half as big as your thumbnail. If I could have gotten the part, I would have had to take all of the inside out, just to get to it. Fortunately I had an identical deck, and took that large circuit board out of it, and inserted it into the bad unit. That deck was not constructed to be "repairable".

You have to know when to cut your losses short; apparently this guy has run into a "brick wall" and doesn't know how to tell you.

My comment is not meant to advise or help you in your current situation, but to advise you or anyone else in regard to any future purchase of reel to reels. There are only two decks, that are not super expensive, that consumers have not had a problem in getting repaired and maintaining, "that I know of", and they are Otari and Technics.
french_fries OP
815 posts
 
I'm done whining about my "little problem"- life is too short anyway. But just so you know, this "technically proficient" guy had TWO outboard preamps to work with since the deck comes with a separate transport unit. It was designed to be a semi-pro deck with umbilicals to connect the two units. It has a 1/4 track and a 1/2 track playback head and records at 7.5 and 15 IPS.  I gave him ample opportunity plus extra parts plus a lot of time, and after spending over $1000 I have nothing, not even a partially assembled deck in a box to send to another repair service. Because he's too lazy (or trashed it or sold it (?) to get his thing together and even do that. AFTER I agreed to pay him even more money
if he sends me an invoice for the caps he replaced, etc.  There are some people in this world I do not understand nor do I approve of their disregard for others.  But as long as his cat gets fed I guess that's all that seems to matter...

lewm
12,454 posts
 
I don't know where you are located, but if you have the stomach for trying again, I suggest Bill Thalmann of Music Tecnologies in Springfield, VA.  If Bill cannot fix it, he will tell you straight out after trying.
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