Mr. Cheney of VMPS has made factually incorrect statements in this forum about amounts we have billed him and other items. We have asked him privately to correct these statements and given him time to do so, and he has refused. As these statements, if left unchallenged, could leave the impression that we were attempting to defraud VMPS and/or Mr. Cheney we are publishing correspondence related to the allegations he made. It is not our policy to challenge anyone’s legitimate opinion of our products, these statements are in relation only to the publicly posted defamatory statements which can be disproven by fact but have not been voluntarily retracted by Mr. Cheney after appropriate notice and opportunity.
For the record, VMPS purchased drivers from us from 1996 through 2001.
Factually Incorrect Statement #1:
“The designer of the Neo 8 isn't happy with it either.” (
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=2771.msg23387#23387&highlight=#23387 )
Correction:
I spoke with the designer, Igor Levitsky, on 6 November 2003 at 10:15 AM PST. He stated that he has never met Brian Cheney and therefore could not have made the statement attributed to him. Please refer to Published United States Patent Application #0030076977 (which has been allowed but not yet published) available at
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220030076977%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20030076977&RS=DN/20030076977 to confirm that Igor Levitsky is, indeed the designer of the product we sell.
On 2 October 2000 VMPS was shipped 2 preproduction units of a predecessor design made by David Graebener. VMPS was the first customer to receive units for preliminary evaluation, and David Graebener was, indeed, not satisfied with these preproduction units. However, these units do not represent the actual shipping item, which VMPS has never asked to sample. Sending out these items was an exception to our policy and done as a personal courtesy from Mr. Graebener to Mr. Cheney. We have never shipped a final production unit (based on Igor Levitsky’s design) to VMPS as Mr. Cheney has never asked for one.
Factually Incorrect Statement #2:
“I vividly remember a 50" panel that broke up on female vocals, but since the problem did not manifest itself with a sine sweep BG claimed the problem didn't exist.” (
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=5573.msg49256#49256)
Correction:
Letter to Mr. Cheney about this driver quoted in full below:
November 7, 2000
ITone Audio / VMPS Audio Products
Brian Cheney
3429 Morningside Dr.
El Sobrante, CA 94803
Dear Brian:
We have examined the RD50 driver you returned on RMA#551. Our inspection of the driver produced the following results:
After unpacking the driver was immediately put through our standard QC suite and passed all audio tests, despite the fact that the rear damping foam had been pulled out in two places;
The driver did not pass appearance QC because the septum had been reattached with what appears to be rubber cement. From the factory the septum is attached with a PVA adhesive. The driver would not have shipped with its current appearance;
The driver cannot be rebuilt. The driver chassis has been drilled through in four locations. One of the drilled holes (the closest to the top) had a broken screw in it when we received it. Upon inspection of this hole it is evident that the drilling process would have certainly introduced metal shavings into the driver cavity. During the build process all operations which can possibly produce metal shavings are completed before the driver parts are powder coated. The powder coat securely binds any shavings which may remain. If the metal is drilled after it is powder coated the metal shavings are attracted to the magnet surfaces and will cause buzzing and damage to the film. Our experience has been that any driver which has been exposed to metal shavings after the powder coating operation, either in our facility or through action of a customer, must be scrapped. Note that these drivers provide 5 mounting holes on each size which will engage the threads of #12 sheet metal screws or accept #10 machine screw/nut combinations for flexibility in mounting, and no other customer requires additional holes to be drilled for mounting.
Referring to our published OEM price list (a copy of which is attached for your ease of reference) you will see that we offer a 60 day warranty “when used in properly designed systems”. Notwithstanding this statement we have, in the past, rebuilt drivers you have returned after this period has passed as an accommodation to you as a valuable customer. Based on the serial number on this driver it was built 2 years ago, but we still would have rebuilt it had it not been drilled. Under these circumstances we cannot accept this driver for replacement as a warranty claim, nor will we in the future accept under warranty and driver that has been modified by drilling. We will, of course, repair under our warranty policy any driver which is shown to have a manufacturing defect, as we have in the past.
Sincerely,
Robin Ellis
Bohlender Graebener Corporation
While Mr. Cheney may be of the opinion that failure to repair at no charge, under warranty, a 2 year old driver that had been modified and installed in a system of his own design is unreasonable, he is entitled to that opinion. However, the facts of the situation were not as he stated.
Factually Incorrect Statement #3:
“We would get them bad out of the box, or they would develop problems in the field, and BG would routinely deny warranty.” (same reference as previous)
Correction:
We shipped VMPS a total of 48 50” and 21 75” drivers during the period from 23 May 1996 through 23 July 2001. We replaced at no charge, and paid for the shipping ourselves, 10 50” and 7 75” units at Brian’s request for a variety of reasons. We charged him to rebuild exactly one driver – 75” unit #204883 – which charge remains unpaid.
Factually Incorrect Statement #4:
“BG is still billing me for repairs they initially did under warranty, then decided months later were not warrantable. They also continue to bill me for product never shipped, and for sample product I returned to them years ago. Letters, faxes, and phone calls were to no avail.” (same reference as previous)
Correction:
Mr. Cheney alleges that we are attempting to defraud him. This is both false and highly defamatory. He is being billed for the repairs to the 75” driver mentioned above and some items he claims to have returned but has offered no proof other than his assertion that they were returned. We have no record the items were returned, and Mr. Cheney has not provided a delivery receipt showing that they were returned to us. We have told them that if he produces such a receipt we will remove the charges immediately, but we have not received same. He is also being billed for parts we ordered for a custom driver, which order he cancelled. This is addressed in the next section.
Factually Incorrect Statement #5:
We measured a 14 (fourteen) dB rise between 600Hz and 1500Hz in the Daiichi (sic) neo panel sold by BG. I can buy it direct from the Phillippines (sic) for $10ea. GR pays $20. (
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=78960&highlight=#78960 )
“If we wanted to use this panel we wouldn't buy it from BG anyway, but direct from the manufacturer in the Philippines. 1000 piece price is $15ea” (
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=26373#26373 )
Correction:
We have no information on Mr. Cheney’s measurements. The units are made for us by Dai-1chi in the Philippines as an ISO 9000 supplier – a requirement of many of our OEM customers. However, it is done on a contract basis for us. Mr. Cheney cannot buy it directly from them for $10.00 each or $15.00 each (depending on post). Nobody but us can buy it from them for any price. GR Research does not pay $20.00 per unit, there is a published price list that is freely available.
Factually Incorrect Statement #6:
“In Nov 2000 I reordered the 8" BG ferrite panel I had been purchasing from BG Corp for over a year. They promised two weeks delivery. After 90 days I cancelled the order for failure to deliver. BG's position is that the parts I ordered were custom and I should pay for them even though I cancelled my order and the panels were never shipped to me. They continue to bill me for the parts to these panels. The amount in dispute is around $800.00.”
Correction:
The 8” panel in question was originally designed for use in the Eclipse 8701 Autosound system. After fulfilling Eclipse’s order we had some excess parts. David Graebener told Brian about this part. On 6 February 1998 we sent VMPS 2 of these drivers for evaluation. On 26 October 1998 Brian ordered 100 units. After getting permission from Eclipse to sell a custom item to another customer we shipped VMPS 100 units between 24 November 1998 and 27 January 1999. On 3 September 1999 Brian ordered another 100 units, and we shipped a total of 97 units between 4 October 1999 and 14 December 2000. At this point we were completely out of the materials specific to this driver and could build no more. It was never a stock item, it was made only for the original customer (Eclipse) and (later) for VMPS. Brian Cheney even bragged about this:
“By contrast, the 8" ferrite panel BG made for us domestically (never used by anyone else)…” (
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=51011#51011 )
On 28 October 2000 Brian placed an order for another 80 drivers. We explained to him that this was a custom item, and if he wanted them we would have to quote a short run of several parts from our suppliers and give him a price reflecting these costs. On 11 December 2000 we received the final quote from our suppliers and gave Brian the updated price and a delivery date of not later than 31 of January 2001. He accepted these terms, and we schedule the items for production beginning 10 January 2001 under our internal Shop Order #733. We ordered the parts, but contrary to policy we did not ask VMPS for a deposit. On 10 January 2001 work commenced.
On 11 January 2001 Brian sent us a FAX asking us to put his order “on hold”.
On 15 January 2001 Robin Ellis sent the following letter:
January 15, 2001
ITone Audio / VMPS Audio Products
Brian Cheney
3429 Morningside Dr.
El Sobrante, CA 94803
Dear Brian,
Thanks for taking my call today.
Your inquiry into availability of the new NEO-Series products, suggests that you are leaning toward using the new NEO-8 driver instead of the E-8 you have used in the past. As per your earlier fax, we did put your E-8 order on hold but not before ordering some of the materials necessary for fabricating these drivers. These non-recoverable costs which include the raw metal plates and film etching charges amount to $1,164.44. As previously stated, VMPS is the only customer of ours that uses this part and the charges must be recovered if you do not intend to proceed with the original order. Brian, we appreciate your business but I trust you will understand our position.
As far as the E-8 (DOA) you sent in for repair is concerned, that driver should be in your hands by the end of this week.
Thanks again and I will look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Robin Ellis
Bohlender Graebener Corporation
Some time after the above letter Brian called Robin Ellis and told Robin that VMPS’s cabinet maker had disappeared with a bunch of VMPS’s money. Brian asked if we would be willing to wait for payment, and we said that we would.
On 4 March 2001 Robin Ellis sent the following letter:
March 4, 2001
ITone Audio / VMPS Audio Products
Brian Cheney
3429 Morningside Dr.
El Sobrante, CA 94803
Dear Brian,
Per our conversation, I will call you back in two weeks to finalize the direction we are going to take on your current PO containing 80 E-8s you asked us to put on hold two months ago. We understand the predicament you’re in with your cabinetmaker but we also have a significant investment in materials for your E-8 order. This needs to be reconciled as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Robin Ellis
Bohlender Graebener Corporation
We received no response to the previous letter, and on 25 June 2001 Robin Ellis sent the following letter:
June 25, 2001
ITone Audio / VMPS Audio Products
Brian Cheney
3429 Morningside Dr.
El Sobrante, CA 94803
Dear Brian,
Last January 15th we sent you a note detailing the costs we have incurred to date making your 8 inch strontium-ferrite drivers. As you know, this product is made only for you. With any other customer we would have required a deposit before we ordered materials for a custom product, but we did not require one from you. As a result, we have spent $1,164.44 of our own money on parts we cannot use.
We are aware of your current problems with your cabinet supplier, and while we are sympathetic the fact is we are out of pocket for your benefit and you have made no effort to compensate us. We are asking you to repay us the $1,164.44 we have spent on your behalf, which amount we will, of course, credit against your eventual purchase of these parts. After discussing this unusual predicament with our financial officer, we are willing to accept payments of $200 per month (we have already paid our suppliers) to accommodate your current situation.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Robin Ellis
Bohlender Graebener Corporation
To date we remain unpaid despite numerous requests.
Brain is certainly entitled to his opinion of our products, and we have no intention of arguing the pros and cons of specific driver or driver technologies in an audiophile forum. If he believes our products are “unlistenable” he is neither required to purchase them nor to keep his opinion to himself. There are plenty of others that have found our products to be perfect for their uses. We would like to point out that we have sold over 40,000 of our drivers in the past 4 years. GR Research, a contributor to this forum, is a regular and valued customer of several models, as is Parts Express and several dozen other OEMs. Our products are distributed in Europe by several distributors. 300 of our 75” drivers comprise the sound system in the Berlin Cultural Center in a location which makes replacement almost impossible, a job for which it took 2 years to prove to the satisfaction of the German government that the drivers were not “fragile” and could remain in place, untouched, for years.
Finally, the Neo 8 panel that Brian considered “unlistenable” based on 2 preproduction units is, in fact, purchased by MartinLogan – by the tens of thousands – for use in several recently introduced products. That Brian Cheney and Gayle Sanders disagree not unexpected or surprising, but MartinLogan evaluated all the other planar technologies available before selecting ours, and you don’t see Gayle posting derogatory and/or defamatory remarks about those he did not select. He and his Company are much more dignified than that. Likewise, we are not posting to take issue with any of Mr. Cheney’s opinions, we are protecting the reputation of the Bohlender-Graebener Corporation by accurately and completely refuting the defamatory, material misstatements of facts that Mr. Cheney has made in this forum and has refused (via private correspondence and failure to act) to correct upon proper notification.
