Federico,

I have a similar story where this dirt bag was going to sell me a Coda
System 100 for around $2500. We struck a deal where he was going to take an
amp in trade plus cash and when I asked him for the serial number of the
unit to see what version it was he asked for $100 to go to the warehouse and
un-box it to look. He was out of the country and he had some woman handling
the interface with me. There are tons of these stories. He can be very
abusive but there are folks out there that love this fella. I offered him a
good ass whoopin the next time he was in Atlanta but he did not take me up
on it. The sad thing is that I really wanted that amp at the time. That
was over 5 years ago so I can't believe he is still around.

My only question to you is why you did not use a cashiers check or money
order. Even a wire transfer would have fixed this. Sending a check and
waiting for it to clear seems very old fashioned. Just my two cents. The
bottom line is that this guy is a bad guy. Overall he may be successful but
that is because in this business it seems that a lot of bullies seem to do
well.

Sherman Webers
Fredericksburg, VA
"Roger Weed" wrote in message
om...
)

Actually, I very much agree that Brian Kelly from Hello Hi-Fi could
*really use* a lesson in politeness and professionalism. As if his
incredibly rude postings to this NG weren't enough, I have a story of
my own:
A little background in my dealings with him should help.
About 6 months ago (April I believe) I purchased a BAT Vk-60 from
Brian at a
fair price (but by no means awesome - I have seen many come up for
sale since at lower prices). Due to the fact that his operation does
not accept credit cards, we decided to do the transaction by check.
He would wait for the check to clear and then send the amp.
Unfortunately, due to a bank error of some sort, my check was
initially refused (why - one has yet to understand. I had over 10x
the amount of the amp in the account and I had never had a check
refused). In the meantime, Brian had very kindly gone ahead and sent
the amp. SO- naturally, when the bank refused my check, he freaked.
Seems normal enough to this point. I would probably have done the same
So - he called and called and called (three times in 1 hour while I
was away at a meeting) and wrote nasty e-mails treating me like a
criminal and filling them with insults. Though I was a bit shocked
that he would treat a customer who just spent $3000 in his store like
this, I can see that he was worried and rightfully so.
The second I learned about the problem, I naturally called my bank to
try and understand what the hell happened. My bank, Chase,
immediately profusely apologized, assured me that if Brian tried to
redeposit the check there would be no problem, and offered to pay any
fees related to the mistake provided they had a receipt.
I immediately called Brian back and told him as much. Unfortunately
his attitude towards me did not change, nor his tone and I definitely
got the impression that he was convinced I was lying to him. In
addition, he demanded a $100 returned check fee and before I could
even reply, threatened that he would turn the matter over to a
collection agency if I didn't immediately respond.
A bit stunned at his abruptness, and though I thought that $100 for
him to soley redeposit the check was exorbitant, I sent him the check
because (i) it seemed like a really minor amount to get this hassle
behind us; and (ii) I knew that Chase would reimburse me upon
presentation of the returned check fee receipt.
The *one thing* I asked from Brian was a receipt for the fee. I asked
him to send it by fax or mail. It did not matter to me or Chase.
BUT- I needed this receipt. First off it was worth $100 to me, and
second of all, Chase should pay for their mistakes.
To date, 6 months later, and after e-mails every few weeks, phone
calls constantly, and more patience than even I have, I still *DO NOT*
have my receipt. My e-mails were met with responses like "Brian is
out of the country and can't send it", "It was sent weeks ago" etc
etc. Every time, without fail the e-mails I received were in an
incredibly condescending and insulting tone which never ceased to
treat me like a liar or a criminal.
Finally, I got ****ed and told him as much. I wish that I had kept
his reply to show all of you because its rudeness was unreal. It
asserted that he had no time to deal with bored audiophiles that had
nothing better to do than waste his time and find **** to bitch at.
It asserted that the receipt was sent weeks ago in both fax and mail
form.
Now as an aside: I am an investment banker in the corporate finance
department of a premier Wall Street institution. I have a personal
assistant who I have been working with for over a year, and who to
date HAS NEVER ONCE misplaced a fax, a piece of mail, an e-mail or a
voice message for me. If Brian had sent the receipt, I would have it.
There is no doubt in my mind.
SO - at this point I have given up on ever getting back my $100. I
have ensured that my credit rating wasn't marred by the incident and
though the principle of the matter just kills me, $100 is just not
worth having to deal with this punk playing pretend audio dealer.
Now I am sure that Brian will immediately fire back some reply to the
newsgroup asserting that he sent the receipt and that I am a
criminal/flake/(insert your own insult). But lets get back to point
A: if he had sent it, I would have it. And either way, IT IS WRONG to
not treat customers, past or potential, with respect and dignity. I
constantly give my clients the benefit of the doubt. Seems basic
enough to me.
Brian's posts to the newsgroup confirm to me that the dealings that I
have had with him are not unique, nor has he learned his lesson. That
being the case, I would recommend to those of you in the market to
avoid his shady operation. If I had this much trouble getting a
receipt out of him, can you imagine the hassle if you had a problem,
or a warranty question?!?
Proceed at your own risk...
Best regards to all.
Federico Cribiore