John Wood Audio, a tale of woe

[Rick E]

Is it only me that has read what happened here as some people seem to be missing some vital information or have selective reading?

Geoff paid for a new amp to be build. Mr Woods send him a 2nd hand amp which he admitted in court. As far as I'm concerned you can't accidentally do something like this and you deserve to have no more customers.

To deceive a customer by sending them 2nd hand goods and trying to pass them off as new is just unforgivable and inexcusable.

You should re-read the thread Stu, as you are guilty of your own observations mate.

[synsei]

All this hand-wringing shouldn't mask the fact that Mr Wood's level of service has been found wanting in a British court, twice in effect, so let's not lose sight of that. As for his email to Marco, I see no contrition at all which is reprehensible IMO, especially under the circumstances.

[Clive]

For me the initial error of John Wood was to not clearly state up front the amp needed to be picked up in person. Had it been it's likely the latter events would not hsve unfolded.

[Puffin]

For me the initial error of John Wood was to not clearly state up front the amp needed to be picked up in person. Had it been it's likely the latter events would not hsve unfolded.

I was going to make this very point, but thought it somewhat churlish and not wishing to rub salt in the wounds. By the way Clive this is not a dig at you in any way as I think it needed saying.

[Eagle owl]

For me the initial error of John Wood was to not clearly state up front the amp needed to be picked up in person. Had it been it's likely the latter events would not hsve unfolded.

Clive, you've hit the nail on the head, I'm of an age now where I have no desire to drive long distances on our crappy, congested road system. If Mr Wood had told me I would need to come and collect the amplifier when he'd finished building it I would not have placed an order with him.

[Macca]

Geoff paid for a new amp to be build. Mr Woods send him a 2nd hand amp which he admitted in court. As far as I'm concerned you can't accidentally do something like this

.

Orders get sent to the wrong place all the time, it is a mistake that can happen relatively easily in a company of any size. Not saying that is the case here but if you consider a sole trader who has maybe ten or fifteen live orders on the go for all sorts, who is not particularly organised, keeps no formal records, takes orders on the telephone and by e-mail, it is certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility.

[Rick E]

lol, here we are, reading a tale of truly awful trading practices and customer service, backed up not once, but twice, by a court judgement, and people are making veiled excuses for his behaviour.

The lack of input is no surprise to me. I was in a position to read the very lively debate on the wam when it was happening regarding the debacle that was the question of CE certification. He wouldn't contribute to that either, and instead sent a PM to James to insist, in so many words, that he is somehow above the laws of the land. I'm seeing similarities here too!

Any mistake regarding an order or shipping or material costs or margins or health issues do not require 2 court hearings to get them rectified.

Making excuses for this is as inexcusable as the act.

[synsei]

This is a risk you take buying from OMB (one man band) concerns. When everything goes swimmingly all is a bed of roses, it's only when one has an issue with the product in question that one discovers the true nature of the beast. That's not to say all OMB's follow Mr Woods example of course...

[Mr.Ian]

Interesting thread. After the bashing John got on the Wigam over CE approval and now this, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he gave up all together, which would in many ways be a shame as his amps are very very good.

He built me a pair of bespoke mono-block power amps about 18 months ago. He was if I recall correctly he was at the time offering an integrated for £1300. As I recall he had had a number of chassis made and got a good price on components by buying in larger than usual quantities. There's not a huge amount of parts in his amps but the money goes on the important bits, those mega transformers. Big, very big and heavy very heavy.

The impression I got was that all sales were strictly collection only as he didn't have cases and the amps are, as above, VERY heavy. There is clearly more risk on both sides with a hand made bespoke product so I think all parties need to go into with their eyes open. I would have had reservations about buying something like this if I couldn't collect in person. Just the risk of damage in transit would have been enough to put me off. I think it is rare that the seller pays return costs on faulty items, even ebay makes the buyer pay for the return. Potential issues like this should have been thought through prior to purchase. As should issues such as valve replacement and re-biasing.

Before I am accused of being a fanboy let me say that I too had some frustrations with my purchase too and think John would benefit from being more up front before the sale. For example my pre sale emailed purchase terms included a demonstration on biasing when I collected. It never materialised and I got the distinct impression that John wasn't keen for other people to start messing with his amps. If I look at it from the other side of the coin though if I offered a life time warranty, like John told me he did, I would want to be sure that problems were caused by other factors. But I would have preferred it if he had said he didnt want to cover that before I paid the money. I had some slippage on delivery timescales too.

I never expected manuals or boxes, I dont think I got power cables but given the bargain price it was no big deal to me. I was disappointed that I never received the receipt he promised to email.

The hum issue is an interesting one.

When I first got mine I ran a long interconnect between the John Wood Pre and the John Wood Power amps and everything was whisper quiet. When I moved the power amps close to the pre and used 8m of Canare 4s11 between the speakers and the power amp hum was very bad. So bad I thought the amps had developed a fault, but swapping the Canare for Belden 5000UP largely sorted the problem. It still not as quiet as it was with the long interconnect but my ear needs to be right up against the speakers (94db/m) now to hear it.

Would John have knowingly shipped a faulty product I doubt it but I a have a niggle that my balance pot is wired the wrong way round so maybe things can get missed.

I was brought up in retail in the 1980s during a time that customer service was paramount. I can remember arranging for contractors to visit a customer to remove and re-install a children's swing from its concrete foundations because the old swing had gone rusty! I cant think that many companies would do that these days. Service is something that appears to me to be devoid from many retailers philosophy these days; mobile phone suppliers, telecoms suppliers, utility companies for example. Some that I would dearly like to see come back.

I pride myself on delivering first class service. I always strive to over deliver and secondly on the very rare occasions that some thing goes wrong I pro-actively try to ensure it is corrected or compensated for before my customers raise the issue. Its so easy to loose customers and in a niche market like John works a bad reputation could be disastrous.

I think early action here by John, reasonable or not, would have given a better solution for all. Ultimately I guess he has himself to blame for chasing sales that didn't confirm to his "collection only policy". One that I think potential customers would be wise to follow too

[synsei]

This is a risk you take buying from OMB (one man band) concerns. When everything goes swimmingly all is a bed of roses, it's only when one has an issue with the product in question that one discovers the true nature of the beast. That's not to say all OMB's follow Mr Woods example of course...

I have been asked to clarify this post which I am happy to do. The point I make is to encourage people to do their research thoroughly before pulling the trigger on an item, which in fact is good practice whether the outfit is a small business or indeed a much larger concern. Use your noggin: Read reviews on forums and take note of peoples experiences etc, etc. The vast majority of the time such transactions will be painless and pleasant, it is the odd one or two traders who spoil it for everyone else and as such they need to be exposed to the limelight....