Ethical or unethical........

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You never know what was actually happening, the guy at the shop may have wanted the receiver for himself to fix as cheaply as possible and sell online. So you may have prevented the guy from a self righteous pay day. Why do you think the guy in the shop wasn’t answering you when you asked about the receiver ???? The guy at the shop was trying to scoop up on a deal and probably gave an expensive prognosis of the receivers problems just to separate the receiver from the owner.....and then along comes you !!! Why else would the guy at the shop blow you off ???

You saved the receiver from an opportunist that would have done a minimal repair just to make a quick couple hundred bucks and whoever would have bought this receiver from the guy at the shop would have sent the receiver to recycle after the cheap repair job failed. You didn’t cheat the owner of the receiver....you just picked up the peices and saved the receiver !!!
 
Here we go. :rolleyes:

Automatically comes the assumption the shop owner who we know nothing about is a crooked, low down, dirty rotten scumbag, let alone knowing what was in his mind. Has it ever occurred there may be an entire other backstory that the OP knows nothing about, nor had any way of knowing? The possibilities are countless.
 
You never know what was actually happening, the guy at the shop may have wanted the receiver for himself to fix as cheaply as possible and sell online. So you may have prevented the guy from a self righteous pay day. Why do you think the guy in the shop wasn’t answering you when you asked about the receiver ???? The guy at the shop was trying to scoop up on a deal and probably gave an expensive prognosis of the receivers problems just to separate the receiver from the owner.....and then along comes you !!! Why else would the guy at the shop blow you off ???

You saved the receiver from an opportunist that would have done a minimal repair just to make a quick couple hundred bucks and whoever would have bought this receiver from the guy at the shop would have sent the receiver to recycle after the cheap repair job failed. You didn’t cheat the owner of the receiver....you just picked up the peices and saved the receiver !!!

So you're speculating, and then indict the guy at the shop as an opportunist; assuming that he would do "a minimal repair to make a quick couple hundred bucks" (with zero actual knowledge of what is actually wrong with the piece in question). You go on to speculate that the repair would fail, and that the new owners would recycle it and then you judge the OP a hero?
Sorry, what the OP did is sketchy. If the owner of the piece relegated possession to the shop owner (for ANY reason) it belongs to the shop owner and is his to do with as he sees fit.
 
So you're speculating, and then indict the guy at the shop as an opportunist; assuming that he would do "a minimal repair to make a quick couple hundred bucks" (with zero actual knowledge of what is actually wrong with the piece in question). You go on to speculate that the repair would fail, and that the new owners would recycle it and then you judge the OP a hero?
Sorry, what the OP did is sketchy. If the owner of the piece relegated possession to the shop owner (for ANY reason) it belongs to the shop owner and is his to do with as he sees fit.

Evidently my good sir you have lived a sheltered life....

People are living in a state of disparity and sometimes do things to keep their heads above the water. The OP did nothing sketchy because he contacted the owner and paid him exactly the amount of money he actually wanted. The owner of the unit had already resigned himself to write off the unit as a total loss by the interpretation given him from the guy at the shop from which reason is not stated. I myself have had such dealings with rip-off artists and hope you never do.

Good day to you.....sir !!!
 
You did fine. I like the part where you made a legal transaction with the 3900 owner ($20) so the shop owner couldn't play games with you insisting that it gets scrapped for his lame reasoning, etc. The SX-3900 is a lot of work to properly restore, but worth it.

Good work!
 
I say "no harm, no foul"--the owner had already relinquished possession to the shop owner for "disposal" and was probably glad to even get $20 out of it (at your insistence)--he was looking for nothing, other than to be rid of it. As mentioned, the shop owner may be a little upset because he had other intentions for the unit $$$, rather than just chucking it into a dumpster, but the bench fee was already paid, so other than the agreeing to "dispose of it" for the owner, he had no real right to determine its fate.

You did right--saved another one from the landfill, and made the appropriate attempt to compensate the original owner. The whole scenario makes me seriously question the ethics of the shop owner--how many units have been abandoned there due to inflated repair estimates, just to be parted out or eventually repaired and sold for some "extra cash"? Most of us have some clue as to the cost of repairs/restoration of vintage gear (or can at least look it up), but the average person walking in off the street does not, and can be fair game for that kind of scam.
 
I wouldn't overthink it, it happened and worked out just fine. Any tech worth his salt would not "dispose" of something like that, and he was going to, apparently, even had it sitting on the counter "ready for disposal" for everyone to see. You know he was pulling a number on the owner, simple as that.
This is why he wouldn't respond to your questions.
I dont think this is a theory, its life experience filling in the blanks.

I'm curious about the shop owners attitude when you went back to get it.
 
Since I started it, let me clarify.

I don't give a rats behind if the shop owner had designs on the amp. I'd probably have kept it myself in the situation rather than throw it away.

But having a customer ask you a question and simply walking away from them without responding is being a dick. If an owner/employee at a shop did that to me, especially after I'd asked the same question three times, I'd find myself a different shop. I can take no for an answer, but actively ignoring a customer is crap behavior.
 
But having a customer ask you a question and simply walking away from them without responding is being a dick. If an owner/employee at a shop did that to me, especially after I'd asked the same question three times, I'd find myself a different shop. I can take no for an answer, but actively ignoring a customer is crap behavior.
There is no reason to act like that, its crappy human behaviour!!
 
Evidently my good sir you have lived a sheltered life....

People are living in a state of disparity and sometimes do things to keep their heads above the water. The OP did nothing sketchy because he contacted the owner and paid him exactly the amount of money he actually wanted. The owner of the unit had already resigned himself to write off the unit as a total loss by the interpretation given him from the guy at the shop from which reason is not stated. I myself have had such dealings with rip-off artists and hope you never do.

Good day to you.....sir !!!

Wow. So now more assumptions and disparagement of my character as naive because I suggested that the unit was clearly the property of the shop owner?

If the customer declined to pay the cost of repair (whether 50 cents or $1000 is immaterial; "Disparaging times" notwithstanding), the unit was in possession of the shop owner. Whether the guy is a bad businessman or rude, or a decent guy trying to make a living (possibly having a bad day) he is now a "Rip-off artist". Awesome.

The OP clearly asked because he wondered about the ethics of his decision (It's right there in the title).
 
I've had one or two run ins with small business owners with attitude problems and it always leaves me feeling like there's a reason Walmart has taken over so much of the country beyond the fact that it's convenient.

Nothing personal at all- I've "Liked" many of your posts, but if the OP had done that at Walmart (even with a used tire) he would likely be prosecuted or at the very least detained, and I suspect very few here would be arguing in his favor.
 
As to your question on ethics, you asked the owner of the shop. Got nowhere and as fate would had it was able to contact owner. Worked out a deal and then shop accepted. No problem seen here , it is just business.
My opinion is the shop owner was going to keep it and fix for resale. Got put on spot and not wanting to be found out did the right thing.
You were lucky to have gotten it.
Will it now be a problem in the future at this shop?

Probably!
 
Nothing personal at all- I've "Liked" many of your posts, but if the OP had done that at Walmart (even with a used tire) he would likely be prosecuted or at the very least detained, and I suspect very few here would be arguing in his favor.

True enough. I was mostly referring to unfriendliness in shops. It just doesn't make sense from a customer satisfaction point of view. If you want to be a grump all the time you better either have a skill that's very rare or go into a less customer facing career. It just takes one bad experience for a customer to write you off, and with Yelp and Google reviews, these days word of mouth is more powerful than ever. I wasn't speaking specifically of this situation.

Walmart would also be likely to fire an employee that leaked customer contact info.
 
Wow. So now more assumptions and disparagement of my character as naive because I suggested that the unit was clearly the property of the shop owner?

If the customer declined to pay the cost of repair (whether 50 cents or $1000 is immaterial; "Disparaging times" notwithstanding), the unit was in possession of the shop owner. Whether the guy is a bad businessman or rude, or a decent guy trying to make a living (possibly having a bad day) he is now a "Rip-off artist". Awesome.

The OP clearly asked because he wondered about the ethics of his decision (It's right there in the title).

That maybe another way to look at it, but either way the guy at the shop wrote DISPOSE on the tag which means he didn’t want anything to to with fixing it. So again Jim Dandy to the rescue.....go Jim Dandy go !!!

There might be a slight technicality that the receiver was property of shop owner that didn’t want anything to do with the receiver any who....

Sorry if there was a slight against your character.....but anything is possible these days and the result of dishonesty and selfishness is present everywhere you look. There are people fixing equipment with substandard parts in a way that causes destruction of the unit. There is an attitude that it’s not possible for those that repair equipment can ever do wrong here in this forum.....when in reality it’s a doggy-dog world out there and allot of people that fix do so only good enough to pass a function check then flip it.

So there is an actuality of more shady business than honest and that’s why persons like myself are skeptical....cause we been burned.
 
Yes thats true.. information is traded all the time without anyone's consent.... Thanks for making me feel better.
Look what Face Book and Cambridge Analytica if you want a example of unethical. you did nothing wrong here and I would not sweat the ethics question at all.
 
You wanted suggestions:

1. new replacement "phoenix" output transistor "sockets" - no matter what.
2. resolder the whole power amp board, examining for damages, 100% component testing since it is ALREADY out, looking for transistors with cracked joints (usually circular and INVISIBLE until the transistor is "jiggled",maybe 98% new silicon, to-92's and diodes if any silicon damage found but NOT the TO-220 transistors unless they themselves are damaged) and burned resistors. New e-caps AND trimpots. PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION to the four to-92 transistors on the amplifier board that have THICKER center COLLECTOR leads - that lead was SUPPOSED to heat sink these hotter transistors - and Pioneer dropped the ball - which is why I specify TO-126 transistors in those four spots.
3. new silicon and e-caps on the power supply except the two j-fets.
4. lamps: if ok leave alone unless feeling feisty. LED conversion slightly tricky, especially re-assembly. Get me to remember my tricks - including straws for reassembly.
5. I haven't got much improvement by doing the e-caps on the tuner board or display board, but maybe the "balcony" board with the phono circuits...
6. the usual deoxiting of controls and switches.
7. I DID get an improvement in heat shedding by the power supply by carefully bundling and routing cables transiting the volume over that board to allow better airflow.

Then prepare to have it stay on the shelf singing for YEARS until the switches need re-deoxiting.

edit: I will add things to this list as they jog my memory. Currently the number is 7.
 
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