Beware Mike Thompson - Vintage Audio Manuals

galyons · « **on:** 11 Apr 2010, 02:42 pm »

Just a heads'up. I ordered an assembly manual for my Scott LK48 near the end of February from Mike Thompson - Vintage Audio Manuals. I received an email and invoice confirming availability of the manual. Never received. Emails went unanswered. Opened PayPal dispute. Finally got a refund. Never got a response from seller. I simply wanted the manual. Really a disappointing waste of time.

Of course, YMMV
Cheers,
Geary

bobbyrae · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Jun 2010, 10:01 am »

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience with Mike Thomason (not Thompson). I had an unpleasant experience with him last fall, but did eventually get what I had paid for. It turned out that he had been going through a personal relocation at the time and it took 7 weeks to get my order filled when he had promised it in just a few days. There were MANY attempts at communication on my part, and most of them went unanswered.

I posted a detailed review of the whole thing on another audio website, and there seemed to be an endless stream of supporters that suddenly popped up to claim that they had had no problems with Mike.

The guy does EXCELLENT work that is not rivaled by anyone else, but apparently is handicapped somehow, operates through a commercial P.O. Box and will not give you his phone number. All we get is an email addres and the PO box. I find that so frustrating. Communication will not be something customers give him high marks for!

SteveFord · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Jun 2010, 10:49 pm »

My experiences were just the opposite - fast shipping and no problems.
My last order was a year or two ago and things happen during moves so who knows. I've moved while being self employed and it can be rather difficult for everyone.
Hopefully he's probably back on track.

srb · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Jun 2010, 11:45 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 29 Jun 2010, 10:49 pm

I've moved while being self employed and it can be rather difficult for everyone.

It used to be, before the invention of email.

Steve

bobbyrae · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Jun 2010, 06:46 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 29 Jun 2010, 10:49 pm

My experiences were just the opposite - fast shipping and no problems.
My last order was a year or two ago and things happen during moves so who knows. I've moved while being self employed and it can be rather difficult for everyone.
Hopefully he's probably back on track.

The word was that he was operating out of a motel room for a while during a protracted move. When he finally got into a new place, one of the first experiences was to get phone, cable TV, and internet all from the same carrier, but OOPS! They all went out at once! But this really doesn't explain a 7week delay, nor does it explain Geary's problem, because he had his dispute well before Mike's move. Delays are one thing, but taking money and doing nothing for it, well, how do you feel when someone does that to you?

JohnR · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Jun 2010, 09:32 am »

Personally, I think this is getting distasteful. How much are these manuals anyway? $!0? $20?

Hank · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Jul 2010, 11:59 am »

galyons, I still have my LK-48B assembly manual - I built it as a teen about 1965 or so. I still have the amp and plan to re-cap it. I've also bought a couple of the equivalent factory-built units and have almost completed recapping one and replaced some resistors. If you need particular pages from the manual, I'd be happy to copy and mail them to you.

GBB · « **Reply #7 on:** 2 Jul 2010, 01:58 pm »

I'd like to provide a recent positive experience. I ordered a service manual for a Yamaha CA-600 that I had picked up and that needed some repairs. In early May, I sent Mike an email asking for a quote and received a response within 24 hours. I sent money via Paypal the next day.
It took him 4 days to send out the manual, which went out via USPS (the post office). I received a tracking number and was able to check the status online. As noted above, the manual was very high quality and worth the money. It cost me $16, including shipping. He also included a CD with an electronic copy of the schematic so that I could zoom in and see details that are hard to read off of the printed copy. Overall I am very satisfied and can recommend him.

As an editorial comment on this thread, I also feel that it's in bad taste. I thought that Audiocircle had a "no dirty laundry" policy and this seems to directly violate that policy. The logic behind the policy is that it's unfair to vendors to get bashed, even if it's fair bashing, when they don't have a chance to respond and explain their side of things. It would have been OK to say something about having a bad experience with Mike and asking if others had experienced similar problems.

Peace,
---Gary