Troubles with Sound-Smith return communications?

Gerrym5:

I know Peter well and have always found him (and his colleagues) to be very responsive and no BS. I want to point out that he is, at this point, the only person left doing high-end cartridge repair IN THE WORLD - I'm not talking about retipping, which he of course does, but the actual repair of damaged or broken cartridges - he is IT, the other four or five outfits that did this type of work all having shuttered in the last few years. The guy really is a "rocket scientist": he was a research scientist with IBM for many years, and he does factory service for darTZeel, Halcro, Gryphon, etc. - he's the real deal. Finally, he happens to be a lovely person who runs a charity devoted to the abolition of child labor.

I normally don't go to bat for hi-fi people, but Peter is a really impressive guy. With all the charlatans in this business selling 50 cent cork footers made for air conditioning units as "proprietary isolation devices that we designed to breath life, air and nuance into each one of your components" and charging a fortune for them, it's nice to have someone like Peter to deal with.

If your table turns out anything like my 8002 it will be well worth the wait.

That should read - 40 year old table.

I got caught up in meetings today - bit I DID work on the table for a few more hours to try to catch the last intermittent speed problem. Will test it some more tomorrow. Please call me - our phone does respond to "9" to ring it, as we describe on our outgoping message. I will try to call you tomorrow as well =-

Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith

I had a cartridge re-tip done by them for the first time last year and noticed they were up to their neck with work when I called one time to ask about when the cartridge would come back.

Well, after about 3 or 4 months (can't remember exactly) it did, and the work was of an excellent quality - and I do mean really excellent, they did a fantastic job.

So, I understand any issues with response times, they seem to be very busy. Well worth any wait, though, from my experience.

I had two cartridges done last year. took about 4 months each. Had a few communication problems with email, but got sorted out. However, I have tried to get an RMA on two more cartridges for the past 3 months with no response to email, so I do understand the frustration. I'm not sure why Peter would blame the economy for having to lay off half his staff, when it seems he has more work than he can possibly do. I have a feeling that he is such a perfectionist that he spends way too much time on some projects than his rates allow. case in point is the B&O he references above. sounds like he has spent days on that table already, and is chasing an intermittent bug which we all know can drive you nuts and take a lot of time. I doubt he is charging by the hour to do this, as he would have spent way more time than the table is worth. His work is excellent. i just wish he could train others to do it and have a better turn around time. More importantly, who will do this work when Peter decides to hang it up. A craftsman should have an obligation to ensure his craft continues. Whether Peter has anyone in training is unknown, but it would seem there are plenty of skilled people out of work that could learn the craft.
I will keep trying to get an RMA number.