Questionable service at Soundsmith

Question:  do you pay SS up front, or when the cartridge is ready to ship.

I won't get into the details of: your waiting time, "we'll check", "it's ready, please pay", although I direct you to lewm's comments above.

I do want to comment however, that there's a reason Soundsmith is a "sacred cow" around these parts.  It's because Peter ("the retipping guy") is indeed one of the good guys in the industry.  I have quite a few customers to have received nothing but first class work.

For the equivalent work from Dynavector (for example), your $450 would set you back about $2K.  I won't debate your extended wait, but I don't get why you're grumpy about paying $0.25 on the dollar for equally exemplary work.

It's clear to me that Peter is undervaluing his labor and he should align his pricing with that of the major manufacturers.  This would bring demand into line and no doubt improve delivery times.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Dear Mr. Viloria;

I have researched your repair - RA15628. This Benz was received on 7/6/15, not "One Year Ago" as stated. I also see that you Pre-selected a repair level of $450, so that should NOT be a surprise.

I looked up the particulars in this repair, and it took some extra time as I found some additional work that was needed. You were not charged for this work, but it does take extra time, as my time is limited these days for "free extra work". We did notify you of the slight delay - so please check you spam or junk mail. We also notified you that is was done, but that email may also have not made it to you as well.

Apologies for the miscommunication to you that it was not done, as I have some temporary help in the office answering phones, as I am caring for two close family members who have cancer, and it does consume some of my available time. I do have your phone, so I will call you soon to discuss any remaining issues.

Many thanks -

Peter Ledermann / Soundsmith    

I too think SS deserves his sacred cow status. He more frequently than not goes the extra mile when it comes to his business practices. He once repaired a Blackbird for me for free, nada, nothing! Turn around time was a weekish.
Return time for you was a long 8 months and that’s a long time for most. However, waiting forever is also not a good way to insure a timely return. If you are too busy with your life to contact the repair guy for a year (8 months according to PL) then you have little to complain about when you don’t have said cartridge back when you want it.
The customer does hold some responsibility especially when dealing with an artisan such as Peter. Sure, give him some time to do his thing but you need to follow up IMHO. As far as price is concerned, I think his top of the line retip is north of $350.00 last time I checked and $450 while expensive is within the ballpark when dealing with these type of products. It sounds like Peter did some extra work gratis and that you selected that price point for repair.

Surely you must see you are responsible for at least part of what you are complaining about.