[Phil A]

Schulte has posted in the avs thread many times as MrHiEndAudio. Quite a peach.

Yes - I understand what you mean now -  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1198719&page=52

[gerald porzio]

Most cos. take a very dim view when it comes to honoring the warranty post mods. In many ways, this stance is very understandable. Obviously there will be a few exceptions here & there.

[Johnny2Bad]

The AVS forum thread is forever-long (currently 72+ pages), but on the page 52 in your link, we have this response from MrHiEndAudio (who apparently is or represents TUC) at post #1545 on p52 of the AVS thread:

" ... Bingo you mention Modwright. They do less work then we do and charge more.
ModWrong's end result does not measure as well as our work, nor does it sound as good. They are not A+ BBB rated. Last I checked they are not even endorsed by the BBB. ..."

To my mind, that saves me the trouble of reading any further. The BBB does not "endorse" ANYONE; to become a member of the BBB a firm agrees to a dispute resolution process, nothing more. Currently BBB members are referred to as "Accredited" which is the new term for "Member" (changed a couple of years ago).
Moreover, a consumer can enlist the BBB to mediate a dispute with any business, member or not, and expect the same process to be followed and the same level of impartiality to be observed. So, Modwright could just as easily and just as satisfactorily resolve a complaint between a consumer and the firm, via a BBB mediation, as TUC could.

The only times I ever see claims that a business is "endorsed" by the BBB are when said business is up to something, or is fighting a (usually well deserved) credibility problem.

BBB membership by a business for a consumer considering a prospective purchase or relationship has value, but only in terms of what it does when a problem arises (which are part of that business's BBB record), and how long that business has been a member. Months are useless info, Years are nice, Decades are the real deal. Zero complaints are not necessarily better than a reasonable number of well-resolved complaints; it's the unresolved complaints that matter, and even then the long term history is critical.
Furthermore, you do not need to be a BBB member business for them to have a record of issues on your company. They publish the same details on non-members as members; the only difference is they offer a search function where only BBB members will show up for consumers.

It's a trivial process to dissolve or quit the membership of one company and register another which carries on the same business under the same principals, once the sh*t becomes too high to get into the office door. The new company will, of course, have an unblemished BBB unresolved complaint record.
It's also not necessarily a problem if a business is not a BBB member. Many businesses simply don't need to be ... their customers can find them if necessary, and it may be a small community they operate in, for example.
The last time I had a retail business there was no BBB chapter available and even today (30+ years later) there is only one office, in a different city, within 500 miles of me (my location has a population of 230,000 with 400K within 60 miles).

Of course everyone is free to come to their own conclusions, but when i see the phrase "endorsed by the BBB" I run, not walk. BBB membership is nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not a badge to lure consumers with either.

EDIT: Didn't even notice it until I reviewed the post, but he refers to Modright as "Modwrong" as well (and this is just one post of a thread I'm not going to bother reading through ... hmmm).
I've been in business, in fact even the Audio business (many, many years ago) and I can tell you this is a huge "NEVER" in the ethical businessman's rulebook. NEVER cut down the competition. EVER.

[ted_b]

Interesting that anyone decides to pick on Modwright of all modding/mfg audio companies.  Dan's company is quite successful, has huge brand loyalty, and has a tremendous customer sat reputation (his Circle here is well attended, well informed and Dan uses it for almost realtime product enhancement requests).  For "not doing much" his Transporter mod is famous for the exact opposite.  The before (stock) and after innerds here are almost laughable, in that he's added dozens of parts, including a HUGE power supply and several tube boards.

[ctviggen]

BBB membership does not mean a lot.  My mother-in-law had an antique kitchen pantry stolen by the moving company.  The mother-in-law and company traded letters via the BBB until the mother-in-law finally gave up.  The pantry was never returned and was never paid for.  They stole it and sold it. 

[K Shep]

The post by MrHiEndAudio on AVS is desperate.  The poor guy has backed himself into a corner, he is defending the best he knows how. 

To my point I've never heard Dan Wright have to defend himself.  As a matter of fact Mr. Wright's photo is in one of the audio magazines I read.  The magazine stated "Daniel Wright has the Midas touch with the ability to elevate mass-market devices..."

I don't own Modwright gear, I've heard his preamp, but I like his business model and he is receiving the right type of publicity that will grow his business.

[Johnny2Bad]

BBB membership does not mean a lot.  My mother-in-law had an antique kitchen pantry stolen by the moving company.  The mother-in-law and company traded letters via the BBB until the mother-in-law finally gave up.  The pantry was never returned and was never paid for.  They stole it and sold it.

Exactly. Your mother-in-law did do the right thing ... there will be a record of an unresolved complaint on that business, but it's only useful to others who bother to check the reputation, not her in this particular case. Membership or BBB intervention does not guarantee resolution.

Interesting that anyone decides to pick on Modwright of all modding/mfg audio companies.  Dan's company is quite successful, has huge brand loyalty, and has a tremendous customer sat reputation ...

I made no mention of Modwright simply because I thought it obvious they were not really involved in this issue at all. But, the contrast between Modright and TUC is rather stark, if anyone cares to do their own due diligence. No-one should assume there is any intended slight on Modwright whatsoever by nature of that firm being mentioned in the post (which is, in it's essence, just a quote from what appears to be an ethically challenged competitor).

[Johnny2Bad]

The plot thickens ...
MrHiEndAudio made his claim regarding the BBB "Endorsement" in a post dated April 3 2010 (post 1545 p52).
I thought I would dig a bit deeper, just for fun. So I did.
The Upgrade Company is indeed a member of the Michigan BBB.
They've been a member since December 2009, three months before the post.
They've been a member of the AVS forum (where this thread we're referring to exists) since December 2009 as well.
They've been in business since January 1980, according to their BBB filing.
Apparently, the BBB "Endorsement" wasn't seen as necessary for 30 years.
Finally, from the BBB itself:
" ...BBB Copyright and Reporting Policy. As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business...."REF: [/]http://www.bbb.org/western-michigan/business-reviews/audio-visual-equipment-dealers/the-upgrade-company-in-harbor-springs-mi-38125293... which is the TUC BBB report in it's entirety, by the way.

[ted_b]

.I made no mention of Modwright simply because I thought it obvious they were not really involved in this issue at all.

?? Huh?  The Modwright mention is directly from your quoted post.  You (or MrHighendAudio via your quote) mentions them several times, a few times as Modwrong!  I had no other reason to chime in about MW except for your post. 

[jhm731]

From left to right:Key Kim (StereoTimes), Clement Perry (StereoTimes), Schulte aka MR.HIGHENDAUDIO and the Audio Doctor. Taken at 2006 CES

[Elizabeth]

I have had a threat of legal action because I posted a disparaging review of a product on AudiogoN.
This is old, but relevent. Awhile ago i was in a local eccentric's shop. He had me listen to his product. Some sort of gizmo stuck on the cables to 'correct' phase.
It sounded like crap to me. Better without it.
Anyway.. He was selling them on the goN' and someone posted question if anyone heard them. I posted back saying yes I had, and they sucked.
The dude who made the things got in touch with my EMPLOYER saying  he demanded that they line up all the employees to pick me out so he could sue me. (He remembered me, but not my full name, then we had a second/third hand mutual friend, who, told him where I worked. (not my full name, they did not know it)
So.. the Human relations at my job JUMPS on me with a cross-examination of why did this nut write to us? etc. And.. Is he dangerous?
Jeez.. Anyone who works for a big company can know what a terror being questioned with one's job on the line was for me.
(We CAN use the computers at work during lunch etc, so they worried about  the legal implications for themselves if he did sue me.)
Anyway, they refused to create a lineup so he could find me.
and the whole thing got forgotten,
But it did make me never comment about his junk again.

[TONEPUB]

Personally, I think Dan Wright is much better off continuing to develop his line of his own products. 

[NagysAudio]

I read through some of The Upgrade Company's website and I'm going to call it BS. The military doesn't even use half the garbage that they list and say it uses.

[Johnny2Bad]

?? Huh?  The Modwright mention is directly from your quoted post.  You (or MrHighendAudio via your quote) mentions them several times, a few times as Modwrong!  I had no other reason to chime in about MW except for your post.

I MADE no mention of Modwright in my comment, which is exactly what I said in the subsequent post.

Just like I'm not mentioning the word "Huh?" in this post; it's a quote of someone else's post. In other words, someone else said "Huh", not me.
That's why we have quotation marks. To quote with.
It's not that hard to figure out whether I or MrHiEndAudio said it; if it's in quotation marks, it's a quotation of someone else. Easy, right?

I did mention Modwright (once) in an edit I added later ... that's why I used the EDIT notation. And I explained why I mentioned it. Not a word about their reputation, their products, etc. As far as anyone knows, no-one knows what I think of Modwright, and I didn't address that in my post, nor in the Edit. I just didn't think someone's off-base comment would be interpreted as some statement of fact, or my own opinion, or even worthy of consideration whatsoever.

Of course, you could have said that using the QUOTE tag in a forum is not a legal quotation, and you'd be right, because Copyright Law is very specific in that a legal quote must include quotation marks and attribution, which is what I used in the original, EACH TIME I quoted MrHiEndAudio.

So technically I did say "Huh" when I illegally quoted you via the tag and not the legal method. Guilty there, I guess.

Since I have a funny feeling you and I don't really disagree about anything regarding TUC, let alone Modwright, I'm going to leave it at that. Cheers.