fabulous Technics EPC-100 series re-tip

I sent Andy two P100CMK4 and a P205CMK4 for suspension repair. I was very clear to him, and stated twice, that only suspension repair was to be performed, and the original cantilevers had to remain intact. The two P100CMK4 were NOS, and the P205CMK4 was used but didn’t show any wear.

To make a very long story short, the next I heard from him he was billing me for two new cantilevers and one repair. He didn’t stop after destroying one of the P100CMK4 cantilevers, but also destroyed the P205CMK4 cantilever. No remorse, no apology; all he cared about was the money he was losing because I wouldn’t pay for the new cantilevers I expressly forbid before I even sent him the cartridges.

I had to pay for the repair to get my valuable cartridges back, and was further disappointed when the "repaired" unit was near complete collapse after only half a side. Further, under my microscope, I could see no signs of repair. This ended in a PayPal dispute I won, as there was simply no way I was sending the stylus back for ’further evaluation’ after what he did to the other two.

The downside of the PayPal dispute is he now won’t return the broken stylus and case until I pay a newly made-up "evaluation" charge and 3x actual shipping costs, which equal to what he lost in the dispute.

I know a lot of people have been happy with his work, but when the chips are down he won’t even offer an apology for his mistakes, let alone make the slightest attempt at making it right. He’s a no-integrity player in my book.

Glad you have finally posted this horrible story, John. More people should know about this case and think twice before sending stuff to Andy at Needle Clinic! 

I have shipped two cartridges to Axel few month ago. One of them was my old Technics 100c mk3 (just for inspection) that i've bought from foxtan (full story about this cartridge described above). 

It's funny but after inspection Axel told me it was his own job that he has done few years ago with this cartridge for seller! The bad thing is that i've bought it from the seller as "original" (Foxtan didn't mentioned re-tipping and re-cantilevering work, he also told me it was not serviced by Axel in Germany when i asked him). I've learned alot since that days.

Strange story, but Imagine my feeling when Axel told me it was him who serviced this cartridge before. 

The good thing is that after inspection Axel told me the stylus is in perfect condition, same with suspension. The boron cantilever is made by Nagaoka and the tip is elliptical (suspension repaired). 

I've noticed long time ago how good is this cartridge (Compared to others included 4 samples of original 204cmk4). I can vote for Axel's service! 

There was really no doubt in my mind that he would, but I wanted to afford him a reasonable amount of time to reconsider.  

I wanted the broken bits back so I could open them up to see how they're assembled, as I've it in my mind to see if I can repair the suspensions.  I'm fairly good at precision work, so I figure it's worth at least a little investigation.  I also happen to know a materials scientists who specializes in polymers. 

All the examples I have here have a good deal of live left in the styli save one.  And, it would've been nice to have the chance to make something of the $1K in bits Andy destroyed.