[nusikem]

Greetings All, Ken here, just joined.  Have any of you dreamed of a feature that could serve as a Repair Technician Locator?  A tab we could go to on a hosting website (such as AudioCircle) into which members could post information about repair technicians in their areas.  It could be in searchable Excel format with columns for Country, City, Contact Information, Equipment Repaired, Date of Information.  And, it would include European countries such as Hungary, where I have accumulated vintage equipment and attending problems (the platter won't start on my Thorens TD-124, the right channel is out on my Pioneer SX 1980, etc.) There might also be a field for Assessment, into which the member could enter a summary touching on reasonableness of repair charges, responsiveness, length of repair time, etc.  Maybe also a field called Horror Stories just for fun.  For example, I once drove my old car two days from Keszthely, HU to Bremerhaven, Germany to find a receiver guru who squirted fish oil into my potentiometer, then charged me 450 euros.  It worked...for a month.  This would really need to be a collaborative effort that gets built brick-by-brick by members from everywhere.  But, over time....  I sometimes see posts across different audio websites asking "Does anyone know someone who can repair (something) in the (somewhere) area?"  For example, I have a pair of Kora Cosmos (tube) amps whose sound I love.  I've just learned that each tube needs to be re-biased (from inside the unit) after replacement tubes are installed.  Kora was never big in the USA and went out of business years ago.  No idea where in the USA I might find a technician having experience with them, nor where biasing instructions can be located if I should want to try doing it myself.  Maybe there also could be a field for finding literature (shared by members) for legacy equipment?  We do see that in one-off exchanges between members.  Audiokarma offers some literature but, unfortunately, nothing for Koras.  Okay, what I'm suggesting is a dream.  But, it could be started.  Wish I had the software skills to kick it off.  Am I nuts for imagining the benefits of this, which would only require a few minutes of input from hundreds of us? 

[FullRangeMan]

Nice suggestion but it looks like google search to me.

[nusikem]

You're certainly right that Google can sometimes get you there along with word of mouth.  It can also lead to countless rabbit holes over weeks, as it did for me recently when looking for someone to fix a sketchy channel on a Marantz 2500 receiver.  In that technician-hunting process, I found 3 leads (all older gentlemen) that I would immediately input into the Locator DB that I proposed, making it easier for the next among us.  What I suggested could be populated in a few weeks with hundreds of tech repair leads all over the country if each of us were to contribute what we know about repair techs our areas.  As a group, we've all been there:  something runs too hot or a function stops working; we use Yelp to find a tech within a 100 miles, we call or leave a voice message, we eventually chat by phone, we go for it.  Then, one of several things happens:  our unit is fixed, or it's fixed temporarily with the problem returning, or it's not fixed and we keep looking, or the tech rejects the project at the outset.  In all but one of these scenarios, we're back to square one.
There would be another way to compile this locator that would require inputs from none of us.  An on-line, member accessible database could invite repair techs to list themselves.  A tech working in Baltimore MD or Stockton, CAfor example, could enter his contact info along with his specialty (I specialize in vintage solid state Marantz or I repair tube amps or I do all boards on Pioneers, etc.)  This resource would only need to be a tab (Repair Locator) hosted by a website like Audiocircle or AudioKarma.   

[FullRangeMan]

It would be great if AC had such feature.
Iam not sure if all techs would like to be registered.

I was once looking for a technician and came across a tech in Solid State and Tubes who had a waiting list for equipment evaluation (paid, more than us$100, no refund) the waiting list was 3 to 6 months.

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC Ken     Nice thought, tricky execution, relies on enthusiasm to post info. Also keeping things civil could be difficult, many times folks want to vent frustrations with service situations. Be they real or perceived.

[nusikem]

Hi Arthur, thanks for the welcome.  Refinement:  a site where we could type in our zip code and nearby, listed techs would populate! What could be easier? Everything you said is accurate...it would depend on dozens of us sprinkled across the country devoting a half hour or so to enter info/assessments about our local techs, based on their past work for us. 

[FullRangeMan]

I liked your idea. How do you intend implement this project?
Already exist a topic about this subject since 2011 in the Tube amp Circle, where you would add your address data>
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=90988.0