A-7 Answers, finally.

[Russellc]

To those who read and answered my "A-7 questions" post, I now have resolution. My 515-8Gs came back from greatplaines and are now rebuilt...great turn around time, I had them back with in a week and a half! Also, as you may recall, I had purchased these speakers from total audio and had contacted Richard Stevenson concerning the defective drivers, via the E-mail address given on the "Voiceofthetheatre" web site. I noted on this forum that He had not contacted me in regards to this problem. I just viewed the situation like buying any vintage or antique piece that needs a slight repair or part to be complete, decided it was a payment to the tuition of life and went on. I later had a conversation with Richard, who by this time was convinced I was a "spy" or something, and he denied having said web site! Well, I didn't know what to think, untill a few days later when Richard contacted me again, apologizing because he was unaware that the "voiceof the theatre" site had given him a E-mail account on the site. Apparently the gentleman who runs the Voiceofthetheatre.com site contacted him about my first Email, as well as a second one I sent to Richard. Realizing that I wasn't kidding when I said that I emailed him, Richard has gone out of his way to correct the problem. I am most pleased with this resolution. Since I have already paid for repairs to the drivers, Richard told me that to make it right, he would cover costs, or choice B, (which I am definatley taking him up on as spare cash allows) is a deep discount on my latest quest, 288 drivers and 1505b horns to complete an A-5 system. I had a very long conversation with Richard, which to all who have talked with him may know is unusual. Richard has a business to run and isn't big on small talk. I explained to him that this may work for contractual, large scale efforts, but when it comes to the guy like myself, just an individual buying a pair of speaks, we wanted to talk! Richard also stated to me that his policy is that if you purchase something from Total Audio, and are not pleased, he will refund. He showed me an instance where he did precisley that, and this was on a custom job, that had not gone past deadline, customer just changed mind and got refund, leaving Richard with the Custom job,which no doubt someone else happily purchased. I have heard all the stories concerning total audio, and I feel safe in now stating Total Audio should be considered an excellent source for all things Altec...not the only source, but I can say, (since I have actually been in this man's place of business), that this is a MAJOR stock pile of Altec parts...literally tractor trailer loads of it...I have seen them. With Richard's existing "stand behind it" policy, I can think of no reason why all who support the ALTEC pursuit could turn their back on this goldmine of Altec. When I asked about 1505b horns, and I must have mint condition, He offered out of a pile of at least 8 sets! I guess I (as well as Richard) wish to clear the air. I also told Richard that I would personally ask all of you out there, to please contact me at my E-mail address if you have an outstanding beef concerning Total Audio, please share it with me, and I will personally contact him and tell him about it and ask for resolution...now I don't mean the well I heard this type of stories, but people who actually have a beef. You may not like Richard's "very little small talk" manner, but please consider the fact that I know of no larger repository of Altec on the planet, and it is a shame to not utilize this resource. Lastly, no I am not a Total Audio spy or sock puppet, I am just a regular guy who happens to live in the Kansas City Area and stumbled on to Total Audio. I am under no threat of lawsuit or any thing of that nature, ( I am an attorney myself, and no, I do not represent Richard,nor is this my area of practice, I only do criminal defense) I just hate to see this resource ignored. I think you will now find Total Audio business to be square and fair...and if you think not, get your money back, He took care of me, and he will take care of you. Please contact me if you are or have experienced problems, I will help you by contacting Richard and telling him the problem.

Keep an open mind,
Russellc

[John Stover]

Russell,

My experience with Total Audio and Richard Stevenson was the exact opposite of yours and was the single worst purchase experience I've ever had with anything. After more than a month of being jacked around with promises that the A5 system I'd ordered would be shipped "tomorrow" and "in a couple of days," and a couple of really abusive phone calls from Richard, I requested a refund of the the more than $2500 I sent him. At first he refused to give my money back, telling me he would ship me "whatever he had," but after I threatened to go to the Kansas AG consumer fraud office, and to file a lawsuit against him, he finally sent me a check. Until the check cleared, I really thought I was going to lose my money.

In our conversations, Richard Stevenson was definitely not a man of few words. After I requested the refund, I had to start screening my calls to avoid his rambling and threatening tirades about what was wrong with the world and what a bad guy I was. He's either a bully or crazy, I'm not sure which.

I'm really glad if you had a better experience. It's possible that Richard has cleaned up his act, but there is no way I would ever try to do business with him again.

John

P.S. I ended up getting even better components, for less money, from Sonny Goldson. I can't recommend him highly enough.

[Russellc]

hello John:Can you tell me a little concerning the original terms of this transaction, i.e. how long was it projected for this pair of A-4s to be put together? You may, or may not be the case that Richard was telling me about, I will ask him to be sure. If it is the same case, and again, I am not sure that it is, his side was that before the completion date, a customer decided to cancel out of the deal, based on the various bad press out there concerning Total Audio. Total Audio did Refund in that case, and by your own admission, in your case also. Please do not misunderstand me, I was not there when you had your transaction, you certainly know what happened in your case better than I. Similarly, I haven't been in on other deals in the past that I have heard people refer to. However, I have recently done business with him, and I did have a problem with the bass drivers, and got no response because of the E-mail site-problem I spoke of in my first post, until my messages reached him thru the people that run the VoiceoftheTheatre.com site. At first, It looked like the rumours were right, BUT: When Richard discovered the contact I had attempted, He called me several times until he finally got hold of me and admitted that he had been mistaken about the E-mail site. We had a very long conversation about wanting to clear the air. I am not stating all of this because I want to be president of the Total Audio fan club, I just know I wish to promote Altec and its supporters in any way possible. Richard has a vast resource of Altec parts of all sorts. Tons of it! Wouldn't all in the Altec community benefit if Total Audio could be in our fold? Thank you for your response, I am glad to hear that for whatever reason, your money was refunded
to you, and I think All will find that Richard will now stand behind any sale he makes. When I state "Richard will now stand behind" I am not stating whether or not he did or did not in the past, I don't know I wasn't there then, but I am now, and I can state that this is his policy. Again, thankyou for your response...If anyone else out there has a beef please bring it to me.
Surely all this "reputation" isn't over just one incident. I am interested in all stories from original parties, particularly anyone who did not get taken care of, didn't get a refund,etc. John, thanks again and I will ascertain whether or not this was the same deal or not. Please let me know of the particulars of your transaction and the agreed upon terms. Also, who is Sonny Goldsman? I'm new, and have not heard of him. I would also like to hear from those with positive stories from business with Total Audio. Honestly, my only motivation here is to promote the Altec community and support it any way I can. Like him or not, Richard is a substantial part of this community...And happens to be located within easy driving distance for me! I will be happy assuming richard has no problem, to middle man
for you if you need something he has...No charge from me, I have no interest but to tap a large resource for all...If this can be done, surely no one has a problem, do they?

Thanks to all, please respond,
if you fell you have been cheated,
or treated well please tell, I
promise to try to help.
Russellc

[AllanCT]

"My experience with Total Audio and Richard Stevenson was the exact opposite of yours and was the single worst purchase experience I've ever had with anything. After more than a month of being jacked around with promises that the A5 system I'd ordered would be shipped "tomorrow" and "in a couple of days," and a couple of really abusive phone calls from Richard, I requested a refund of the the more than $2500 I sent him. At first he refused to give my money back, telling me he would ship me "whatever he had," but after I threatened to go to the Kansas AG consumer fraud office, and to file a lawsuit against him, he finally sent me a check. Until the check cleared, I really thought I was going to lose my money."

Just reading that about a transaction is more than enough to make me stay FAR away from this "business person".

Yes one deal can make or break someones reputation.

Nothing in Johns post sounded like slander or misinformation either.

Just my .02 in a few less words.

[Russellc]

Hello Allen:
I assume from what you wrote that you haven't done business with Total Audio? Please elaborate if you have had a problem. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I do respect that as well as one's choice on who to do business with! However, without having had an experience experience yourself, to hang someone's reputation out on one side of a story is in my own opinion, being somewhat closed minded. Don't misunderstand, I mean no insult, and am not meaning to wave Richards flag for him,I have just seen a lot of Altec there, and view it as a shame not to utilize it's existence. I am asking all for their experiences. I have spent the last several mins reviewing some of his E-bay feed back...there appear to be a lot more happy than unhappy. What I am trying to promote here is the fact that one mis-placed comment can also effect ones business reputation, without more info, I would advise to at least get the story as it really is, whatever,good or bad. Assuming for the moment you are correct in your conclusion, would not it be more positive towards the Altec and therefore supportive of everyone concerned, to get such a large resource
safely available? Wouldn't you agree that this would be more positive than keeping alive the notion that no good willever come and shutting one out? I am certain that Richard realizes that he is "under the gun to do the right thing" with this group, and one mistake further would lose the confidence of many, if not all. I do not wish to take either side, I would just suggest an open mind, based on your own empirical observation and experience. to do otherwise, and blindly follow others side without exploring the other, has all the grace of animals following each other to the trough. Can't we all just get along? Aren't we all basically pointed in the same direction concerning Altec? Again, if anyone out there has a story, please pony it up,
I will be happy to listen, then i will be happy to ask him about it. He is really interested in regaining trust, I my self had an experience that started out looking bad, when I heard the general opinion of Total Audio around I was very freaked out and posted a post here that got removed, where I was very unhappy and very freaked out with my purchase. I had repairs done and contacted Richard. At first, he didn't believe me and actually thought I was a spy from this board! When i calmed down and looked at both sides, as did richard, problem was solved. You surely noticed that notwithstanding the complaint made by the gentleman with the A-5s, he got his money back. Thank you for your response, and please consider, I realize that I could be wrong, but with an open mind i do see two sides, thats all ...i am not on a support Total Audio trip, but I AM ON a support altec trip, big time.

Support Altec
Russellc

[Russellc]

Hello,
Sorry to hear of these difficulties. Richard, as near as I can tell, likes to do business like this: You tell him exactly what you want and what condition, or you tell him what you want whatever system it is to do. He quotes you the price, and you wait until it is done. He does not seem to get in a hurry, he wants it to go out right. Unfortunately, with guys like us, we want to discuss it so we come to an understanding that we can be comfortable with. Richard knows altec, and assumes everyone is relying on his expertise. For commercial type installations these negotiations my be fine, but the individual altec-o-phile wants a little more discussion. I have mentioned to him about improving the bedside manner with customers like
us, and hopefully Richard will take all this to heart. Richard has his hands in all phases of Total Audio, and is extremely busy, and I am sure this is where the "delay" issue comes in, but he seems to see it as, I take as much time as it takes to make it right. Again, for certain commercial jobs this my not be such a big issue, where various delays are common place...but we sit at home sweating it out until our speakers finally get there.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm new, can't say what happened in the past, but he seems to want to clear the air so that all understand, he will make it right if you are not happy with something you buy from total audio. Again, I just hate to see a rather large treasure trove of altec ignored. Thank you for your response.

Russellc

[Russellc]

Sorry about all the grammatical/keyboard errors in that last post, I have been up way to long and am very tired.

Goodnight,
Russellc

[John Stover]

I'm not sure what rehashing this will accomplish, but here goes:

After seeing a number of interesting Altec items on Ebay from Total Audio, I called Richard and told him what I wanted. He said he had all of it for immediate shipment, but that the tar-f.i.l.l.e.d 1505's I wanted were a little dinged up. I asked if they could be refinished. He said yes, but it would take about a week before they would be ready for shipment. I said that was OK and (at his suggestion to speed things up) I wire transferred the money the next day.

More than a week passed and I called to see where things stood and to find out a delivery time -- since I would need to be at home to receive the speakers from the trucking company. I was told the speakers would ship shortly -- I can't remember, but it was either "tomorrow" or "in a couple of days" -- I figured things were taking longer than expected and was OK with that.

Basically the same conversation (with both Richard and his assistants) was repeated at least weekly over the next month. As an explanation for the delays, at various times I was also told that the horns had already been finished, hadn't been finished, were drying, etc. I was even told at one point that everything was boxed up and ready to go. I chalked all this up to a small business making excuses for falling behind schedule. I didn't like it, but I didn't complain about it.

What finally pushed me over the edge was when Richard's assistants told me that they "weren't sure" when the speakers would ship and that I would have to talk to him -- and he didn't return my calls. So I left a polite voicemail message that I was concerned about the delays in shipment and that we should talk about a firm delivery date for the speakers.

Up to that point, my conversations with Richard had been friendly. But after my voicemail, I got a couple of calls from him that, as mentioned above, I considered abusive. Omitting the hostile language, the gist of his rant was that the 1505's had been damaged in the course of refinishing, it was all my fault, and he was going to ship me "whatever he had."

When I could get a word in edgewise I told him that although I wanted the speakers sooner rather than later, the important thing was to get speakers in good shape and to agree on a firm date -- even if that was 2 more weeks or another month out. He didn't want to hear about it and repeated that he was going to ship out everything as is and I would just have to lump it. I told him that I expected to receive what I had paid for, e.g speakers in good shape, and would not accept a shipment of anything less. Then he really blew up and I finally had to hang up on him -- in my 45 years, I've done that about twice in my life, but there was just no talking to him.

After that, I decided to only communicate with Richard in writing. I also decided that I could not trust him to send me a good product and, if I accepted a delivery from him, I'd likely be stuck with it. So I wrote him an email requesting my money back and specifically stating that I would not accept any shipment from him. I was really reluctant to do that because I really wanted the speakers and, at the time, didn't know of anywhere else to get them. His response was a series of voicemails (at all hours) that were threatening at first, but got more and more pleading over the following 3-4 days -- but he continued to refuse to refund my money.

It was only after I wrote telling him that I had prepared complaints to the Kansas AG's office of consumer affairs and to the USPS (since we had corresponded re. the sale through the mail), and that I would sue to get my money back, that he had his assistant send a message agreeing to a refund.

I'm a lawyer too and I know how expensive legal process is -- everybody usually loses -- so I've never sued anyone and I don't go around threatening to sue people, but I would have sued Richard Stevenson. There was no way I was going to let that guy take my money.

After my bad experience, I found out that a lot of people have had unpleasant dealings with Richard and Total. There are long strings on this subject on the old version of this board and on Audio Asylum. I really wish I'd done more homework before sending him money. I won't make that mistake again.

That's all I'm going to say on this subject.

P.S. Sonny Goldson is a vintage equipment dealer in Florida (ex Oklahoma). He usually has ads as "SonnySound" in the back of Stereophile and TAS. I've bought quite a bit of stuff from him and have NEVER had a bad experience. Plus, he is friendly and knowledgable even if you don't buy anything.

[marcuswilson]

I think this backward and forward, detailed, long-winded discussion about someones business dealings is not the right thing for a public forum. Maybe it should be done in private emails.

[marcuswilson]

Especially when the one being talked about is no-where to be heard. All you lawyers should know everyone has the right of reply and there is no real info coming from one side, only 'he does it better now' defence. It all looks bad from here.

I do not give people another chance in business if they really screw it up (especially if they get nasty) and the more they try to defend themselves, the worse it looks. Only if they apologise and put it right, do they get another look in.

When you have someone writing long defensive posts about someone else, no matter what they say, it looks bad. The more that is written, the worse it looks.