Anyone else treated poorly by AVA?


Back at the end of December 2020, I placed an order with Frank at Audio by Van Alstine for a Vision SLR preamp. Heard so many good reviews about Frank and his products, I felt that was just what the doctor ordered for my system. At first I was told the custom building of my unit would take up to 3 weeks. Then, as nothing happened, I inquired and was told due to an unexpected high volume of orders, mine would take another 2 weeks. I then told Frank, please tell me if there are any further delays because not knowing is worse than getting bad news. Three weeks past, not a word from Frank. So, almost 2 months past the order date, I called him and he tells me they have a problem, the master technician who builds these units left for another state to care for his wife who got sick. I get that and I hope with all my heart she will be ok. But bottom line is Frank fed me multiple excuses for not performing while not communicating about any of it. It was completely inexcusable. He had my money for nearly two months and did not bother to keep me updated of what was going on. I could not ever recommend AVA to anyone and felt compelled to relate this on this site since I usually see only praise for Frank and I frankly felt the opposite. Worst audio purchasing experience in my 66 years.

128x128baylinor

Showing 4 responses by jjss49

frank is terrific

he has a small outfit, a few very key employees

they have been oversubscribed, very busy

he is the last guy in this industry who will screw a customer over or be consciously unresponsive to a paying customer new or old

try to be patient, empathetic... this is not a life saving vaccine... this is a preamp
this thread is an illustration as to why retail/’direct to consumer’ businesses are so difficult

people can just be unreasonable, indignant, entitled, unforgiving, without grace -- and of course, the customer is always right!!! ...sure...

as for frank and ava... in my book, if there is one man in the high end audio trade that deserves some latitude and goodwill, it is him - he is older now, still answers the phone personally when you call in, honest to a ’t’, often to a fault - all small businesses in this time are struggling

but hey, that’s just me
frank has always done right by me

i know covid has been really tough on small outfits like his...  i can confidently say he is not a financial shark purposely taking advantage of customers for working capital float, he just isn't that kind of person