Copy / Paste, Alex reply:
——-
I just now replied over in the Audiophile Style forum. Below is what I posted. I guess I can expect that Mr. Cheah--who never even purchased any products from us directly (other than the new upgrade we sold him at below our cost)--is beginning a multi-forum campaign to defame our reputation. So I'll get out in front of this with the complete facts.
==========
WOW.
As anyone who has ever conducted business with me knows, honesty, integrity, and giving clients the benefit of the doubt--even to the point of loosing money--is how I conduct business.
Yet once every few years, despite best efforts, there are clients for whom no effort is enough. And Mr. Y.A. Cheah (mikey8811) in Malaysia is our example for 2019.
Leaving aside his specious summarizations that UpTone is unprofessional or not to be trusted--which hundreds of others who have dealt with me would dispute--there are facts of our interaction which he misrepresents. I could spend a couple of hours unpacking his long post and replying point-by-point, but instead--for full transparency-- am going to paste the entirely of our 10 month long exchange.
First a few intersting facts that may not be apparent from the e-mails:
a) With the exception of the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 we sold to him as an upgrade ($250 including FedEx shipping), all of the UpTone products Mr. Cheah possesses were obtained by him second-hand. We find no record of him ever having purchased ISO REGEN or LPS-1.2 units from us. So although he has never purchased anything directly from UpTone, we of course still honor our generous 3-year transferrable warranty and treated him with respect throughout more than a dozen e-mail exchanges. I think in total we have lost more then $600 with this gentleman.
b) Checking the order record for the second-hand 2017 LPS-1 he had, we see that it was originally bought from us without any "energizing"/charging supply, and the unit he originally sent to us looked like it had been severely over-voltaged, though I never said anything to him about that.
c) As noted in the e-mails, the LPS-1 board we used for his first replacement was from a customer trade-in, not from a repair.
d) The LPS-1 he shipped to us arrived poorly wrapped and packed loose in a envelope; As I recall, the dings suffered by the casework were so extensive that we substituted other 'B'-stock casework before shipping his replacement.
e) I was very clear that the heavily discounted $220 upgrade (what we receive after taking away our FedEx cost)--which is actually below our cost for a complete UltraCap LPS-1.2--would be in lieu of any repair to the original LPS-1. Despite that, he persisted in taking my time to provide him with part number details so he could attempt repair of the original unit locally.
e) In the end he was dissatisfied that the black end-panel screws on the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 showed some silver in the points of the Torx bit sockets, and that if the unit is shaken (who does that?) the 0.1mm too-short PCB in his unit would move slightly in the case. So we offered to refund his $250 if he would send it back. Instead he chose to open a dispute with his credit card company. So now we have lost another $250.
=================
Below is our ENITRE e-mail chain--with not a single word changed. Please read from the bottom up to be in ascending date order. I will attempt to remove all private details such as e-mail and physical addresses.
Anyone is free to ask me questions. I have zero to hide. Please judge for yourselves.
Thanks,
ALEX CRESPI
--------------
October 28, 2019
No. You can pay for the return of the new and perfectly functioning LPS-1.2 and we will refund $250 upon receipt and inspection. That is our only and final offer to you.
Goodbye,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
---------------
On Oct 28, 2019, at 8:37 AM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
You have shown yourself and Uptone to be a manufacturer who produces shoddy product who further refuses to be responsible for said product it has shipped.
Please make arrangements for FedEx to collect the UltraCap LPS 1.2 from me for return back to you at your expense.
I will gladly return it.
Also, in lieu of the warranty value you have imputed to the faulty UltraCap 1 which is still under warranty, please make payment of US$185 to me.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-----------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 11:20 PM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Y A:
You have shown yourself to be a person with expectations beyond what is reasonable. We will not loose ever more money in dealing with you. If you will ship the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 unit back to us, we will refund your $250 and this relationship will be over.
Goodbye,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
Mariposa, California
Phone: 1-209-966-4377
--------------------
On Oct 28, 2019, at 8:09 AM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
You shipped me a unit that is not up to par.
It is perfectly reasonable of me to expect a replacement at no further cost to me.
It seems that you are not willing to be responsible for something you manufacture which escaped your seemingly poor quality control standards.
You sell a finished product which is not up to scratch and you wish for a customer to open it up himself and put a strip of electrical tape inside? This is rich.
For all your talk - it is simply marketing. Your response is plainly unprofessional and unethical.
I reasonably expect a replacement at no further cost or inconvenience to me, failing which I will be forced to take action against Uptone.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-----------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 10:55 PM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
If you wish we will mail new screws to you. When you remove the face plate you can put a strip of electrical tape across the inside so that the edge of the PCB will contact that—effectively making the board longer and insuring that the end plates press the edges of the board to eliminate movement. Beyond that we are done. I an not shipping you another unit. There is nothing wrong with the new one we sent.
Good day,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
-----------------
On Oct 27, 2019, at 9:48 PM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
Thanks for your reply.
While I appreciate your reassurance that the unit is indeed new and the rattling noise doesn't affect the functionality, I have the following reservations.
Firstly, I have plugged in the unit since I wrote to you and upon subsequent inspection after it heated up, the rattling noise still remains.
Secondly, the heads of the Torx screws are pretty scratched - it is very obvious to the naked eye. The scratch as I mentioned is faint - I noticed it only upon looking closely at the unit after hearing the rattling noise.
I understand that there are lapses in the assembly of units and faults but if my setup configuration changes and I should intend to sell the LPS 1.2, then a buyer will not. For buyers of audio equipment concerned about miniscule things like vibration, the rattling would certainly be difficult to explain away. Ditto for the cosmetic effects of the scratched Torx screw heads. This would be to my detriment.
As such, I would appreciate that you replace the unit with a new properly assembled one.
Kindly make arrangements for FedEx to collect it from me to be sent back to you and send me a replacement when available.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-------------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 10:22 AM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Y A:
Glad to hear that the package with new UltraCap LPS-1.2 was successfully delivered to you.
I guarantee that the unit you received was 100% new. We assembled 50 new units immediately upon receipt of the aluminum cases, and then packaged them up. You received one of these units without our looking to make any differentiation versus all other customers.
Perhaps the Torx T10 screwdriver tip my assistant was using to assemble was a bit worn. After many uses we throw away the bits if they start to mare the black of the Torx-star screw. But those screws are b now means “stripped.” I can not see from the photo the scratch you mention, but it must be very small as we do let scratched units go out. We do try hard to pay attention to these details.
Any rattle you hear is only from the entire circuit board not being held firm in the slots by pressure from the front/back plates. The PCB has close +/- tolerance for length, and sometimes a few are just 0.1mm short—enough to keep the end plates from holding it steady. We have a trick to fix that (a bit of electrical tape along the inside of the front plate is enough thickness), but perhaps we missed your unit or the temperature is different in your environment—when it warms up it may become tighter. In any case, there are no loose parts inside and your unit will function perfectly.
With kind regards,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
Mariposa, California
Phone: 1-209-966-4377
-------------
——-
I just now replied over in the Audiophile Style forum. Below is what I posted. I guess I can expect that Mr. Cheah--who never even purchased any products from us directly (other than the new upgrade we sold him at below our cost)--is beginning a multi-forum campaign to defame our reputation. So I'll get out in front of this with the complete facts.
==========
WOW.
As anyone who has ever conducted business with me knows, honesty, integrity, and giving clients the benefit of the doubt--even to the point of loosing money--is how I conduct business.
Yet once every few years, despite best efforts, there are clients for whom no effort is enough. And Mr. Y.A. Cheah (mikey8811) in Malaysia is our example for 2019.
Leaving aside his specious summarizations that UpTone is unprofessional or not to be trusted--which hundreds of others who have dealt with me would dispute--there are facts of our interaction which he misrepresents. I could spend a couple of hours unpacking his long post and replying point-by-point, but instead--for full transparency-- am going to paste the entirely of our 10 month long exchange.
First a few intersting facts that may not be apparent from the e-mails:
a) With the exception of the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 we sold to him as an upgrade ($250 including FedEx shipping), all of the UpTone products Mr. Cheah possesses were obtained by him second-hand. We find no record of him ever having purchased ISO REGEN or LPS-1.2 units from us. So although he has never purchased anything directly from UpTone, we of course still honor our generous 3-year transferrable warranty and treated him with respect throughout more than a dozen e-mail exchanges. I think in total we have lost more then $600 with this gentleman.
b) Checking the order record for the second-hand 2017 LPS-1 he had, we see that it was originally bought from us without any "energizing"/charging supply, and the unit he originally sent to us looked like it had been severely over-voltaged, though I never said anything to him about that.
c) As noted in the e-mails, the LPS-1 board we used for his first replacement was from a customer trade-in, not from a repair.
d) The LPS-1 he shipped to us arrived poorly wrapped and packed loose in a envelope; As I recall, the dings suffered by the casework were so extensive that we substituted other 'B'-stock casework before shipping his replacement.
e) I was very clear that the heavily discounted $220 upgrade (what we receive after taking away our FedEx cost)--which is actually below our cost for a complete UltraCap LPS-1.2--would be in lieu of any repair to the original LPS-1. Despite that, he persisted in taking my time to provide him with part number details so he could attempt repair of the original unit locally.
e) In the end he was dissatisfied that the black end-panel screws on the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 showed some silver in the points of the Torx bit sockets, and that if the unit is shaken (who does that?) the 0.1mm too-short PCB in his unit would move slightly in the case. So we offered to refund his $250 if he would send it back. Instead he chose to open a dispute with his credit card company. So now we have lost another $250.
=================
Below is our ENITRE e-mail chain--with not a single word changed. Please read from the bottom up to be in ascending date order. I will attempt to remove all private details such as e-mail and physical addresses.
Anyone is free to ask me questions. I have zero to hide. Please judge for yourselves.
Thanks,
ALEX CRESPI
--------------
October 28, 2019
No. You can pay for the return of the new and perfectly functioning LPS-1.2 and we will refund $250 upon receipt and inspection. That is our only and final offer to you.
Goodbye,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
---------------
On Oct 28, 2019, at 8:37 AM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
You have shown yourself and Uptone to be a manufacturer who produces shoddy product who further refuses to be responsible for said product it has shipped.
Please make arrangements for FedEx to collect the UltraCap LPS 1.2 from me for return back to you at your expense.
I will gladly return it.
Also, in lieu of the warranty value you have imputed to the faulty UltraCap 1 which is still under warranty, please make payment of US$185 to me.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-----------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 11:20 PM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Y A:
You have shown yourself to be a person with expectations beyond what is reasonable. We will not loose ever more money in dealing with you. If you will ship the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 unit back to us, we will refund your $250 and this relationship will be over.
Goodbye,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
Mariposa, California
Phone: 1-209-966-4377
--------------------
On Oct 28, 2019, at 8:09 AM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
You shipped me a unit that is not up to par.
It is perfectly reasonable of me to expect a replacement at no further cost to me.
It seems that you are not willing to be responsible for something you manufacture which escaped your seemingly poor quality control standards.
You sell a finished product which is not up to scratch and you wish for a customer to open it up himself and put a strip of electrical tape inside? This is rich.
For all your talk - it is simply marketing. Your response is plainly unprofessional and unethical.
I reasonably expect a replacement at no further cost or inconvenience to me, failing which I will be forced to take action against Uptone.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-----------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 10:55 PM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
If you wish we will mail new screws to you. When you remove the face plate you can put a strip of electrical tape across the inside so that the edge of the PCB will contact that—effectively making the board longer and insuring that the end plates press the edges of the board to eliminate movement. Beyond that we are done. I an not shipping you another unit. There is nothing wrong with the new one we sent.
Good day,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
-----------------
On Oct 27, 2019, at 9:48 PM, Yeong Aun Cheah wrote:
Dear Alex
Thanks for your reply.
While I appreciate your reassurance that the unit is indeed new and the rattling noise doesn't affect the functionality, I have the following reservations.
Firstly, I have plugged in the unit since I wrote to you and upon subsequent inspection after it heated up, the rattling noise still remains.
Secondly, the heads of the Torx screws are pretty scratched - it is very obvious to the naked eye. The scratch as I mentioned is faint - I noticed it only upon looking closely at the unit after hearing the rattling noise.
I understand that there are lapses in the assembly of units and faults but if my setup configuration changes and I should intend to sell the LPS 1.2, then a buyer will not. For buyers of audio equipment concerned about miniscule things like vibration, the rattling would certainly be difficult to explain away. Ditto for the cosmetic effects of the scratched Torx screw heads. This would be to my detriment.
As such, I would appreciate that you replace the unit with a new properly assembled one.
Kindly make arrangements for FedEx to collect it from me to be sent back to you and send me a replacement when available.
Sincerely
Yeong Aun Cheah
-------------------
On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 10:22 AM Alex Crespi <uptoneaudio@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Y A:
Glad to hear that the package with new UltraCap LPS-1.2 was successfully delivered to you.
I guarantee that the unit you received was 100% new. We assembled 50 new units immediately upon receipt of the aluminum cases, and then packaged them up. You received one of these units without our looking to make any differentiation versus all other customers.
Perhaps the Torx T10 screwdriver tip my assistant was using to assemble was a bit worn. After many uses we throw away the bits if they start to mare the black of the Torx-star screw. But those screws are b now means “stripped.” I can not see from the photo the scratch you mention, but it must be very small as we do let scratched units go out. We do try hard to pay attention to these details.
Any rattle you hear is only from the entire circuit board not being held firm in the slots by pressure from the front/back plates. The PCB has close +/- tolerance for length, and sometimes a few are just 0.1mm short—enough to keep the end plates from holding it steady. We have a trick to fix that (a bit of electrical tape along the inside of the front plate is enough thickness), but perhaps we missed your unit or the temperature is different in your environment—when it warms up it may become tighter. In any case, there are no loose parts inside and your unit will function perfectly.
With kind regards,
Alex Crespi
UpTone Audio LLC
Mariposa, California
Phone: 1-209-966-4377
-------------