Hi Everyone,
I am trying to get one of my units serviced. I found an ad on ebay posted by
hallofivintage.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/26234511515...1&exe=13926&ext=35632&sojTags=exe=exe,ext=ext
The thing is he requested the entire bill be paid even before the unit is received by him.
Also the ad states $675 but when I contacted him the price became $850 and I am not sure if I should do it.
Is it a normal practices for this kind of things?
Hello all. First time on this forum so bear with me on protocol. I joined AK just now, to make sure I offer my experience with a very dishonest, very incompetent self proclaimed expert restorer. Noah / Hallo-Fi Electronics. I just got my Sansui G22000 back from this guy Noah. That is the only good news. He is Hallo-Fi Electronics, and is all over Ebay as well his own blog/website. I responded to an Ebay listing, at $600 to "Restore" my Sansui beyond my dreams.
$600 (Noah) + $400 (FedEx back/forth) = $1000 (cool G). Worth it ?? NO WAY.
Let me make it as clear as possible, this guy is as crooked as they come. Also, let me qualify, that I have been playing with Audio for over 30 years, and have never made such a stupid mistake as to trust a total unknown stranger with one of my more valuable gems. Shame on me.
This Noah, was so convincing on the phone, and emails, that I was compelled to give him a shot. Hell, if he did good, I would have sent him lots more business and referrals to boot. He told me it would take between 30-60 days. Once into the 2nd month, I contacted him to check on progress. He said he was almost done, and by end of week, he would ship it back. Wrong ! That week came and gone, no ship. Following week, and the week after that, and the next 2 weeks after that, he tells me the same story: "We are wrapping things up and should have it ready by this day or that one." All Lies. Of course, as time passed, and I read all kinds of stuff on AK and other sites about this guy, I got more worried, and started putting some pressure on Noah. He responded like a victim, offended even, quoting me that he "bumped" my repairs in front of other people, and that he was finishing mine up "months ahead of schedule". What planet is this guy from. How do you tell somebody that you will finish a service on this Friday, and then months later come up with attitude, as you get put on the spot to deliver the goods you promised on Ebay, through Email, and Verbal communications. Oh, like others on this forum, he tried to "UP" my bill as well. The "Complete" restoration was not really complete, getting my old parts back would cost me additional $$'s plus my credit card numbers, and my packaging was not up to par. All more money. This is just the bad news. Now for the really bad news.
So finally, after 3 months of stress, worry and feeling just Stupid, I get my receiver back. The particular, specific packaging design I used for safe travel, completely disreguarded. I got my units back in one peace by the will of God. Loose bolts in the box. Yes, loose bolts ?? Bent up metal casing on amp section. I plugged everything in, scared to death it wouldn't work. But Alas, I got a break. The Sansui turned on. This whole novel started cause I wanted to "Restore" my G22000 to pristine heights. Well, guess what ? The tuner knob is not working anymore. Most of the switches and knobs are scratchy as before. There are now pieces of dirt on the inside of the glass panel, which was crystal before service. The specific things that we agreed he would do, like install XLR balanced connections, and other items, none of them performed. Even the RCA jacks that he said he would "Clean and Polish" ? No Way. Nothing. My receiver is in worse shape now than before sending it to this professional. but he did cash in my $600. Nice going.
Basically, if you trust your expensive gear to this Noah / Hallo-Fi Electronics, you will pay a super premium price for service, up front. You will be lied to about the completion time. You will be short changed on the services agreed on to be performed. If, and When, you get your unit back, expect it to be in worse condition than before. And expect the price and the terms to change along the way. One of you from AK contacted me a couple months ago about this guy, but it was too late. Thank you for trying. This is me "paying it forward". STAY AWAY FROM NOAH / HALLO-FI ELECTRONICS.