Sound Supports (tonearm plates and boards)

[Wakefield Turntables]

I remember when I had the technoarm on my 1210 I wanted a sound support tonearm plate (and i still own it). Its a good piece of kit. But, like Marco I remember having to wait one month for some Rega based tonearm plates to arrive. So, whilst the product is good, the service is something which needs series work.

[MCRU]

I ordered 2 armboards for my silver technics which I have given to someone in the meantime and they arrived quickly and fitted perfectly, it is frustrating though when things don't go to plan!

[Dingdong]

Shame that. I've bought off him a couple of times and been quite happy. A month does sound a long time for a couple of bits of metal with some holes in.

[MCRU]

Shame that. I've bought off him a couple of times and been quite happy. A month does sound a long time for a couple of bits of metal with some holes in.

Especially when you have an important bake off to attend and need your deck singing at it's best.

[Marco]

Quite a few of the smaller websites are manned by people with day jobs who cannot answer their e-mails or phone calls whilst at work, I have found plenty of times when another small dealer asks me for something they never answer back until after 6pm!

I work from home so answer the phone straight away and e-mails within the hour! Of course gmail sometimes let's me down and e-bays spam filters are terrible at blocking messages to my customers!

I answer 24/7 as well for USA customers who e-mail in the middle of the night!

I don't have a problem waiting a reasonable amount of time for emails to be answered, as I know some of these guys have 'proper' day jobs, but it's the fact he only tells me that I have to wait a month for the armboard to be made after numerous emails have been exchanged, where it was blatantly clear that I was in a hurry to get the job done!!

If he'd said that there was a month's waiting time at the beginning, I'd have politely said 'thanks but no thanks', gone elsewhere, and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Also, what does Italy have to do with it? What's he getting from there, I wonder??

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

Try this guy Marco on Ebay http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/f1sport/ I have one of his armboards and it is certainly as good as any of the others about that I have seen; not seen them all though.


Regards D S D L

[Marco]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for that - interesting.... However, Speedy Steve's going to make me one from a solid piece of ebony

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for that - interesting.... However, Speedy Steve's going to make me one from a solid piece of ebony

Marco.

That should look very nice Marco


Regards D S D L

[Marco]

Yup, it should do. It's just a matter of getting the geometry right...

Your link to the Greek seller was useful in that respect, as it shows Steve the armplate I'm using now (although it's been reversed and modified for my current Ortofon arm), but it gives him an idea of where the mounting hole has to go, so he can make a rough template up before doing the job properly

Marco.

[Marco]

A reply just in from Shaun (amazing eh, that he has now miraculously noticed my emails? )

Thanks for that Marco,

No Engineering firm would produce a CAD drawing /design and manufacture the item and have it arrive in Italy in 2 days especially if they have a 10 hour a day job and an extremely successful and unique business to run as well, do you think you are our only customer? Or do you think you should jump the queue and get served before all the other Audiofiles we are currently producing bespoke Armboards for?

For your information and based on our experience of selling Armboards to hundreds of Italians over the years I can tell you the average time it takes for a package to arrive to them is 21 days, this problem alone means I spend a lot of time replying to emails from these customers trying to explain why they are having to wait so long, although the truth is I really don’t know. Obviously we can offer a signed for delivery service but most people are reluctant to pay the extra cost.

I would also like to point out that I feel I did tell you at the correct moment during our correspondence about the possible time that manufacture / shipping could take, i.e. before I started the design and requested any funds from you.

So to sum up we have never had a complaint up until now because people know if they want a quality bespoke armboard they have come to the right place and are happy that the end product will be of top quality and well worth the wait.

By the way, as well as my day job and extremely buoyant business my family also demand that I spend some time with them in the evening!

I hope you will also publish this email on your forum in its complete form and not just edit it to suit you. And as they say....

....all publicity is good publicity!!

Highest regards

Shaun

My response:

Of course! It's going on the forum now, 'as is'... I don't fabricate things! It's a bit of a coincidence, though, that you've ignored all my emails since last night until now, when the problem has been brought into the public domain

And I still don't have a clue what Italy has got to do with anything. A month is a ridiculously long time to wait for an armboard to be made, as others on the forum have already commented. If you're running your business properly, you should have the wherewithal to turn over fairly simple products, like armboards, in less than a week.

I know people how can build whole bespoke amplifiers quicker, and still hold down their day job!

The fact is too that at no stage during our exchange, apart from at the last minute, did you tell me that I'd have to wait a MONTH to have the armboard made, and the contents of the email exchanges I've published proves that. It is precisely that issue, and your ignoring me, that has caused this situation.

Anyway, you are free to register on AoS and put your points across, so there is no need to conduct further dialogue by email.

Regards,
Marco.

I still don't have a bloody clue what he's on about regarding Italy!!

Any ideas, anyone? Maybe he thinks I live in Italy?

Marco.