you bet James ! thanks for your help to service members, it is appreciated and as you are aware needed.
Let me know.
Jim |
Thanks Tomic601! Very nice of you. |
i would be willing to cover a couple hours of neutral mediator time for y’all to work this out. |
Hey everyone, this is James Connell with Raven Audio. Firstly, I want everyone to know that Raven Audio is extremely pro-Military. Both of Dave Thompson’s (Raven Audio Founder) parents were military. My father was Airforce, my uncle was as well, and many of my extended family members are and were in the Military. Two of my closest lifelong friends were Arm and Navy. As many know I have been involved in music production my whole life, but I have also owned a television production firm as well. About ten years ago I hosted a dinner in Dallas honoring WWII veterans and prior to that filmed them telling their stories. This was one of the most meaningful things I feel like I have ever done. If anyone is interested, message me and I will send you links to these wonderful men’s stories I produced. I am delving into this information because I want everyone out there to know how much I personally love and respect the military and people who have served. As a company, Raven Audio gets many solicitations every day via email and phone for all sorts of scams. Occasionally, the stories are by claimed Military members. I am in a constant state of hyperawareness of these issues because we are bombarded every day and week with various scams. Having said that, I do believe that Erik was most likely representing himself as serving in the Military even though through all the communications he offered no proof of it. This communication was over a several-month period. I never at any point told him we would not honor the discount on the amplifier. The problem was over a new speaker that we are coming out with that I wanted to be a surprise to the public. We have had several versions of the prototype. When we first spoke, I mentioned I could sell him the prototype for s specific price. A couple of months passed before Erik called me. During that time we rethought the speaker. The first version was a small bookshelf. We wound up with a larger bookshelf that we believe is more marketable because it has enough authoritative low bass to not need a subwoofer. When Erik called me a week ago and said he was ready to go, and mentioned the prices I could not sell him the newer version for the price quoted two months before. That is how this got started, It was not until after the call that I put it all together in my own mind. I deal with twenty to fifty customer phone calls per week and we discuss many things. Many people talk about buying and then do not call me for several months and I have to be reminded of what we talked about. Sometimes things change during those spans of time and we are not able to do what we could have done when I made the original offer. When Erik sent me an email listing out what we had talked about, I was simply acknowledging that what I had told him initially was true. When he called me last week, the conversation went sideways when he told me he was a lawyer and gave me a lecture on a verbal contract and then threatened to smear us on social media. Within a day I was getting emails from fake email accounts accusing me of being a “Liberal Activist” and dishonoring military veterans. I then started getting emails showing long diatribes being posted on all our videos on YouTube, of course, I deleted them because I feel like this is a ridiculous and dishonorable way to handle this situation. If Erik would have simply taken my phone calls the evening that this happened, I was prepared to sell him the speakers at our loss after thinking it through because once I put myself in his position, I could understand why he was frustrated. I still will sell him the amp with the discount and the original smaller bookshelf speakers that we discussed and I showed him via FaceTime a couple of months ago. I am open to suggestions. Erik, If you want to have a reset, call me and we can put this behind ourselves and work something out to make you happy. All the best,
James |
@erangle If he did it to you I am sure has to others. Sad part is people will keep doing business with them and like it has been said about the Tekton guy jumping people. Funny how small this world is and they think they can just keep treating people like excrement. They lost any shot at any of my business EVER!
Since my initial post, I received a nastygram text message from James
Connell at Raven where he goes so far as to question my integrity and
even my military service. It is really quite unfortunate, but it only
serves to confirm my summation of his character
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@erangel -- sorry to hear about how Raven Audio is behaving towards you. It's bad enough to treat regular customers this way, but to have this kind of attitude towards our service members is just unacceptable. I have no idea what's going on with James. |
wow….. i would publish that text in a heartbeat…. |
@arafiq, I appreciate your response and please know that I took no offense to your previous post.
Since my initial post, I received a nastygram text message from James Connell at Raven where he goes so far as to question my integrity and even my military service. It is really quite unfortunate, but it only serves to confirm my summation of his character.
Take care. |
@erangel -- My last post was not meant to cast doubt on the validity of your complaint. I have no reason to believe you were anything less than truthful. I was just presenting another data point which was very different than yours obviously. As you know, the cost of almost everything has gone up due to supply chain issues. It is entirely possible that Raven could not have built the speakers at the price they quoted earlier due to increased cost of parts. The US manufacturers are at a greater disadvantage due to higher transportation and logistics costs. I guess that’s what you get when you outsource everything to another country.
With the onslaught of lower priced Chinese audio, I feel that US audio manufacturers are a dying breed. It was hard enough to compete due to higher labor costs in the US, and unfortunately the recent supply chain disruption can be the final nail in the coffin, especially for little guys like Raven Audio. There is no excuse for how James behaved with you, and I’m with you on that. But we don’t know what kind of pressure these folks are under. We are all human, and sometimes stress can make us behave in ways that don’t reflect who we really are. The James I dealt was a nice guy willing to go out of his way to accommodate his customers. I’m just surprised how he behaved with you. Again, not doubting your side of the story.
I sincerely hope that James or one of the other folks at Raven can find a way to make this right for you. Good luck and thank you for your service! |
@erangel I understand and an acquaintance of mine had some issues with James.Will not go into the details however I now have no reason to doubt the validity of your complaint and I will steer clear of these people.
This person even chirped off on in the comments section of Part Time Audiophile that posted a review of the Blackhawk and his post was deleted. He did say the editor sent him an email and wanted to hear the details of his complaint. He just let it die he felt it was a waste of time when PTA killed his post.
Ethics and integrity is very important and seems to lacking at times.
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No funds were exchanged. The intent of my post goes beyond economics, but to character. To me and people like me, ethics matter. The way in which James comported himself was dishonorable and reflects poorly on him and his company. I think it is important for consumers to be made aware such unscrupulous business tactics in order to make a more informed purchasing decisions. At the end of the day, James did in fact to me a "favor," he showed me his true character and those of Raven Audio before I made a purchase. |
@jetter no but I was an Eagle Scout and my Grandfather was a Lt Col and my Father a Major.
So I have a real good idea.
I am still suspect of the post.
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jerryg123 & arafiq
Are you or have you ever been service members? If not, you don't have a clue what it means to be dishonerable to one. |
My experience dealing with James is just the opposite. I’ve talked to him a few times on the phone and visited his house to audition a few amps and speakers. He was very nice, knowledge, and accessible. Maybe he was having a bad day? Whether you like their products or not, there’s no question their service is top notch. |
Reading the OP it sounds like he was to get the speakers you are writing about.
???
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Sorry to hear of your experience.
Find it odd you Joined today and posted this today?
So did you pay them a dime?
If not move on the deal fell through.
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Poor service from Raven Audio. I was researching audio equipment and contacted Raven
Audio. I spoke to James Connell. I told him the products in which I was
interested and asked him if Raven offered a Military Discount. He stated that he would offer a 5% discount. At the time I was stationed overseas and
could not have the items shipped to my location but assured him of my interest
and that I would purchase the units when I returned stateside. Upon my return to the U.S. I contacted James and
stated that I remained interested in the Celest towers, but that they were now out
of my price range after their recent price increase. Jim stated that he had some Celest
bookshelves which were coming available and that he had a first-run pair which
he could sell to me for $1,999. We even
video chatted so that I could see the speakers for myself. Jim stated that the speakers would not be
ready for at least another two weeks, as he had to have them photographed for
their website. He asked that I follow-up
with him in about two weeks. At the end
of our conversation, I verbally confirmed the prices and details of the package. After our conversation, I sent James a
follow-up e-mail with a detailed itemization.
Jim acknowledged my e-mail twice, and never attempted to correct the
information. This is an exact cut and
paste of the itemized breakdown I emailed James.
- Blackhawk integrated with a $300 discount
- New Celest bookshelves at $1,999
- Upgraded tubes in Blackhawk (you had
mentioned the JANs in front, Brimars in middle, and I think GE in the back)
- Power cable
- Speaker cable - RCA cable
Again, James acknowledged this e-mail twice and made no
attempt to correct any of the information. Per his instructions, I contacted James two weeks later by
e-mail to ask if the speakers were ready to ship. James responded that they would be ready to
ship in two more weeks and asked that I call him directly to “catch up briefly.” I called and texted James numerous times over
the next week with no answer or response.
He finally answered my phone call a week later. I was excited when he answered and expected a
pleasant conversation that consisted of him taking my credit card information
and telling me how much I was going to enjoy the set-up. Instead, James opened with, “I am not going
to lose money on speakers.” He went on that
he had a bad feeling about this deal as I had haggled him on price. I responded that I had not haggled on price,
I had asked about a military discount and expected him to honor the price he
had provided me. He stated that he would
not, and that since I did not have it in writing the contract was nonbinding. I respectfully corrected James that in Texas,
the state in which he operates, a verbal contract is legally binding. This infuriated him, and he proceeded to try
and lecture me on being grateful for the “favor” he was doing me by offering a
military discount. I quickly rebutted
that he was doing me no “favor” but was instead extending a courtesy to me and
every other servicemember with a discounted price. He would hear none of it and continued with
his rude ramblings about how I should be more grateful to him for having a military
discount. The fact that this company thinks
that I or any customer, military or not, should feel a debt of gratitude to
them is preposterous and, quite frankly, offensive. I have chosen to live my life by a certain set
of ethos, among them honor and integrity.
I do my upmost to support businesses which uphold these values. Raven Audio falls completely short of that bar. Instead, they employ unscrupulous business
practices by misquoting prices and then lack the integrity to honor them. Worse, they then try to blame the customer
for their own ethical shortcomings. In
the end, I chose to take my business elsewhere and suggest you do the same. |
Touring our facilities MFR and DC.
Wisenhimer.
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With the band or are you going solo?
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Be in Central US next week.
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Okay but was it Cheboygan or Sheboygan? |
Fun fact, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon claimed to have studied at the Cheboygan Conservatory of Music in "Some Like It Hot". It was a running joke thru the film.
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Living in Cheboygan and for the most still love it. It's only in situations such as this or finding a decent restaurant without a 50 mile drive that I get frustrated. I'm a painting contractor who moved here from Georgia 20 years ago/ In this business I've probably seen more of the state above Gaylord than many people who grew up here. It's absolutely beautiful. Done quite a few jobs in Mac City and hoping to land a new house paint on the island.
I had a difficult time getting my RELs set up and even finding an audio pro is impossible.
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@hilde45 Funny and we did talk about other speakers and their approach. James knows those guys at Tekton quite well.
Yes the CeLest Monitor and the Tower are designed to match with the Raven Avian Series IA. The monitor being a 2 Way design will have a less complex crossover than the tower. James goal with the CeLest series is to have a great all around speaker.
@dadork Where in Michigan? I was born in Sault. Ste. Marie. and moved to Chicago when I was 12. Spent summers after moving to Chi fishing Lake Superior, St Mary river and Huron. Have family in Mackinaw also.
Yes it must be tough getting to listen to anything, lo, mid or hi being 4 hours from the city.
Guess you need to find retailers with generous return policies like Music Direct (not a fan) Upscale Audio (like them) or guys you can trust.
Best regards
EF. |
These look interesting and the price is reasonable. I've been entertaining the thought of different speakers. Currently have B&W 606 S2s and after an excruciating amount of time trying to get my bass right with the pair of RELs I am able to enjoy them pretty well but feel they're lacking a bit. I really need to do some research as my experience with mid to hi fi is limited and I have little experience actually hearing many differnt mfgs much less different types like horns or planars. I live in the far north woods of Michigan and it's a 4 hour drive to anyplace that carries hi end stuff and even then it's limited. |
I'd love to hear about them! Is Raven going to pull off a two-way capable of being powered by their lower watt tube amps?
More importantly, can they possibly compete with Tekton? (Inside joke for our Tekton fanboy who, for some reason, didn't buy a Raven tower to go with his Raven amp.) |
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