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Anyone else treated poorly by AVA?

Back at the end of December 2020, I placed an order with Frank at Audio by Van Alstine for a Vision SLR preamp. Heard so many good reviews about Frank and his products, I felt that was just what the doctor ordered for my system. At first I was told the custom building of my unit would take up to 3 weeks. Then, as nothing happened, I inquired and was told due to an unexpected high volume of orders, mine would take another 2 weeks. I then told Frank, please tell me if there are any further delays because not knowing is worse than getting bad news. Three weeks past, not a word from Frank. So, almost 2 months past the order date, I called him and he tells me they have a problem, the master technician who builds these units left for another state to care for his wife who got sick. I get that and I hope with all my heart she will be ok. But bottom line is Frank fed me multiple excuses for not performing while not communicating about any of it. It was completely inexcusable. He had my money for nearly two months and did not bother to keep me updated of what was going on. I could not ever recommend AVA to anyone and felt compelled to relate this on this site since I usually see only praise for Frank and I frankly felt the opposite. Worst audio purchasing experience in my 66 years.

128x128baylinor
clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 
Pace the loss of a key employee in a small company, but...

The ground rules for taking deposits on orders to be fulfilled later:
1.   Too many companies just take all orders that come in.  Do NOT take orders that cannot be fulfilled by delivery date.  Keep capacity under daily review.
2.   State delivery date.
3.   If the company goes bust, the customer loses deposit.  So put customer deposits in a ring-fenced account and not use them in the business.
4.   Keep customer informed weekly, good news or bad.  Quicker for bad news.
5.   Customer: do not deal with suppliers who won't do all above.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,249 posts
 
If I understand this correctly, the OP, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that has disrupted electronic supply chains, orders a custom built preamp from a small, niche manufacturer.  Multiple delays ensue and the OP eventually asks for and receives a refund.  The OP then bad mouths the manufacturer on a popular internet site.

You promptly got your money back when you asked.  So why start this post?  You just want the world to know how you were treated.  Fair enough, AVA should have communicated better.  Now the world knows how you were treated, but they also know what you're really like too.
troidelover1499
253 posts
 
Seems to me that Frank/AVA could certainly have communicated to the buyer more promptly, but he did provide the refund and the reasons for the delay and mayhem are quite understandable and seems to have occurred without much warning on his end.

For the OP to come on here and post like he has, while contributing little else, also signals the kind of person he is. I think the one poster who mentioned that some people live in ’gilded cages’, pampered and easily angered at being slighted, irrespective of underlying reasons and what others may be facing with in our present world state, themselves need some lessons in humanity.
baylinor's avatar
baylinor OP
1,429 posts
 
The last time I talked to Frank, he told me he was in the process of teaching a new technician, so it would take a few more weeks before he could build mine. For real! Never even offered a refund at that point. That's when I pulled out. Being told the master technician would handle the custom build for nearly two months kept me in. But having it built by a "trainee", his quote, definitely put me over the top. For him to never be up front about the situation and dragging me along while keeping my money was unfair, to be polite. He should have notified me the minute his master technician left, not 3 weeks later when I finally called him. Calling him is the only reason I found out about it, otherwise I would still be waiting.
For those who are ok with this, good shopping.
Posting this was not an easy decision, but it was so badly handled, I have no regrets, I feel I did the correct thing. Sorry for all the ruffled feathers.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,449 posts
 
@baylinor,

you were right to post this. I want to hear about the companies customer service, good or bad. Because Frank Van Allistine has made many contributions to the audio world over the decades, many people feel he deserves a pass. I do not feel de does and I am sure many others who never post feel the same. You did right and I wouldn’t want a first timer working on something of mine.


Here. Is a little story, in 1995 I bought a new Dodge Stratus with the 2.4 liter engine. The car went through 3 head gaskets in 2 years. The third time it was being replaced, the service manager had his son, fresh out of mechanics school do the job. It ended up being quite a cluster***k and he not only installed it wrong, he punctured a hole in the transmission line. All the way home and back I had smoke pouring out in front of the windshield because the transmission fluid leaked onto the hot manifold. The engine and transmission was ruined. Chrysler Corp had to pay for a new crate engine and transmission. As soon as it got fixed, I traded it in on a new Camry. Would never buy anything made by Chrysler Corp ever again.

All because a trainee did the job with no supervision. 
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