Quote:
Originally Posted by afc wimbledon
This a thousand times, audio, especially second hand is a small niche area, and Calgary and Vancouver are two cities where if you have half a brain you make sure you have a contact in your opposite city, you pass clients on to them and they back to you.
He may not be a dick but he is a moron, he isnt losing any business because it wasnt there in the first place, what he has done though is lost a potential referral from a grateful shop in Vancouver (well Surrey, again go to Innovative Audio) returning a favour and the possibility that he builds a good reputation and more referrals from people in Calgary, this story could just as easily be in the 'hey I found a great shop, you guys should go there' than in the 'Hey guys was he being a dick?' section.
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I agree with this 100%. We walked into the Old Retro Store in Inglewood a few years ago with a turntable from my step dad that was from the 70s, not anything special at all but I would hate to just throw it away.
The first guy we brought it to who works there said it wasn't worth fixing (needed a new belt and cartridge), it would have been like $75 for the diagnosis and then for the parts, so like $130ish to fix. So we took it home and then finally cleaning out our house and decided to just go donate it to them, we had no need for it (looked for parts online to do it ourselves but same thing, a bit too expensive). Anyway, went down to donate, someone else was in that day, they replaced the belt and cartridge, was up and running and only cost us $60. They for sure would have bought the thing form us but only for about $50 or so, then sell it for about $150 is my guess.
Anyway, when we originally went it they recommended other shops that might be cheaper or have parts or would by it for a higher price. That is kind of the response I would expect from niche markets like this, but not every is the same!
Also, depends who you talk to at any given store. Try calling back another day and see who answers and what kind of response you might get. I also feel people are more willing to give advice over the phone than in emails.
What we learned from this experience is that apparently new turntables (like the cheap ones on amazon) are not good for old vinyl, creates a deeper grove and will eventually ruin them. So if you do have an old one kicking around, it might just be worth it to fix it up.