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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 16:12:33 GMT -6
So, my desire to mod the opamps in my Silverface Apollo 16 started with Eric's post at the UAD forum linked here below:
I had been on the fence with the BLA mod but, as Eric claimed in the above mentioned thread, the JRR mod got you 90% of the way there and for only $200. So I decided to do it. The next step was to determine the details of payment, shipping and timeline with Eric. But.......then ALL of this happened.
Below is the chronology of events, as still saved in my message outbox on the RGO and UAD forums. Numerous phone calls have also been made.
8-Mar, RGO, No reply
5-Apr, UAD, No reply
17-Apr, Phone, Spoke to Eric and he suggested I send him a PM on the UAD forum and that he would get back to me there with details. No PM reply or call back.
17-Apr, UAD, No reply
3-May, UAD, No reply
5-May, Phone, Spoke to someone else (or voicemail, I can't remember), left a message for Eric to call me back. No call back.
12-May, Phone, Spoke to someone else (or voicemail, I can't remember), left a message for Eric to call me back. No call back.
16-May, UAD, No reply
30-May, Phone, Spoke to Eric and he said he would get back to me the next day with details. No call back.
9-Jun, Phone, Spoke to someone else, left a message for Eric to call me back. No call back.
Are you seeing a pattern here? I'm not sure what is up but I know Eric is active on the UAD forum and surely must have seen my PMs, not to mention the fact that I've called numerous times. I should also mention that I purchased my Apollo new from JRR, not to mention other things in the past. So it's not like I don't already have a customer/store relationship with Eric/JRR. This situation doesn't bode well for my trust in future purchases from JRR.
I'm fed up with him avoiding contacting me back. As I said, I don't know what the reason is but it really doesn't matter at this point. I'm not really left with any other option at this point than to attempt to call him out in a public forum so that maybe I'll finally get a response. Enough is enough.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 12, 2017 16:25:43 GMT -6
I do understand your frustration but knowing first hand how extensive the bla mod actually is, perhaps you should contact bla I think their mod is on sale ?
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 16:32:47 GMT -6
I do understand your frustration but knowing first hand how extensive the bla mod actually is, perhaps you should contact bla I think their mod is on sale ? Yeah, I got that email from BLA about the sale as well. The thing is that Eric has stated that he would just replace the opamps for his stated price of $200. The price of the more extensive mod with BLA is quite a bit more money than the more simple JRR mod and also more money than I want to put into my Apollo at this point. Eric should stick by what he says or, at the very least, not string someone along for months if there is some reason he can't/doesn't want to offer that mod anymore (I'm not saying that is the case). His April 17th and May 30th responses to my inquiry led me to believe that he WOULD be getting back to me shortly with timeline/shipping details. That clearly has not happened. |
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 12, 2017 16:37:30 GMT -6
Did you pay the $200 or not?
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 16:43:36 GMT -6
Did you pay the $200 or not? No, not yet, thankfully. What I have done, however, is schedule (or, more importantly, NOT schedule) some things in anticipation of what Eric led me to believe would be the near-future absence of my Apollo while it was being modded. |
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 12, 2017 17:16:25 GMT -6
if you didn't pay the 200, why are you complaining about not having a service performed? send it to BLA and get back to making music!
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,934 
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Post by ericn on Jun 12, 2017 17:43:58 GMT -6
He may have been 'silenced' by UA. Just speculating but a dealer offering to mod a piece of hardware on that same company's forum seems like bad form and something they would frown on as offering a mod is basically saying there is something "wrong" with this piece of gear that is cheap and easy to fix but the greedy company is cutting corners and pinching pennies. They may have told him to drop it and not respond or risk losing his ability to sell the brand. Still lame though (he could have at least PM'd you a hint filled response "I'm not saying I can't do the mod, I'm just saying someone would destroy my business if they found out I was saying that" kind of thing) He also might have been pushing the mod before he was ready, the logistics of a dealer recieving and keeping track of customers gear is a major pain in the ass, if the computer and the paperwork aren't setup even worse. |
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 17:47:34 GMT -6
if you didn't pay the 200, why are you complaining about not having a service performed? send it to BLA and get back to making music! Because it's a service I was led to believe that I WOULD receive and a discussion of a service that informed subsequent plans I've made since then. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 12, 2017 17:50:32 GMT -6
And Eric isn't a regular poster here. He has like two posts.
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 17:54:13 GMT -6
I hear what some of y'all are saying about possible reasons. But if any of those are true, what does it take to pick up the phone or type a message and say so instead of avoiding the situation or, on the rare occasion I make good contact, continue to tell me that it's still going to happen? I'd rather be told no than to continue to be stuck in the dark.
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Post by nobtwiddler on Jun 12, 2017 18:02:30 GMT -6
I had the BLA full mod done to my Silver face Apollo 16 and its GREAT! Unit sounds wonderful. As a matter of fact, a few days after I got it back, one channel went out, I sent it back to them, and they fixed it and sent it back in two days! NO CHARGE for the fix and or shipping either way! Very, very, cool, Paid quite a lot for the mod way back when I bought it, but I have no regrets, and would some day love to compare it to the new improved black version of the Apollo 16. Let's see what UA really improved?  |
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 18:09:48 GMT -6
And Eric isn't a regular poster here. He has like two posts. Yeah, I copied this post from the one I did over at the UAD forum where he IS active. I meant to edit my post here and just forgot. I've gone back and edited it to reflect that. On a positive note, my post at the UAD forum seems to have gotten his attention. I just received a pm from him over there that I need to respond to. Perhaps something will work out after all. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 12, 2017 18:10:31 GMT -6
ah no dog in this race but jrr has nothing to do with UA or BLA for that matter : three separate companies and as far as I know Ua has never publicly supported any particular mod to the apollo but, of course came out with its BF or apollo mkii .
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 18:35:00 GMT -6
ah no dog in this race but jrr has nothing to do with UA or BLA for that matter : three separate companies and as far as I know Ua has never publicly supported any particular mod to the apollo but, of course came out with its BF or apollo mkii . And UAD forum is not owned by UAD either. Matt Hepworth owns and runs it. UAD and JRR are BOTH advertisers over there. Though UAD does sort of use it as their unofficial "official" forum. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 12, 2017 18:52:20 GMT -6
ya I know.Personally I have had nothing but positive experiences with Eric for like 3 years,but I see his response to you at UA forum so I hope this gets sorted out.
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Post by Quint on Jun 12, 2017 19:25:02 GMT -6
ya I know.Personally I have had nothing but positive experiences with Eric for like 3 years,but I see his response to you at UA forum so I hope this gets sorted out. Up until now, my experience with JRR and Eric has been positive too. I responded to his pm that he sent me earlier over at UAD but have not heard back yet. It sucks having to go this route but it did get his attention. Hopefully this will get sorted out. |
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Post by EmRR on Jun 12, 2017 19:27:16 GMT -6
It all smells of "don't deal with him". What goes wrong next?
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 18, 2017 20:47:04 GMT -6
Whatever his reasons, a graceful backing out would have been the thing to do. Leaving someone hanging is far worse than saying they're sorry, but something's changed, and they can't do it at this time.
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Post by Quint on Jun 18, 2017 21:50:46 GMT -6
Whatever his reasons, a graceful backing out would have been the thing to do. Leaving someone hanging is far worse than saying they're sorry, but something's changed, and they can't do it at this time. Eric has PM'ed me over at the UAD forum and we are moving things forward. He hasn't responded to my latest message in a couple of days but, that aside, we did agree to arrange for me to send my Apollo in to be modded in the coming weeks. He is ordering the opamps and I'm waiting to hear back when he is ready for me to send it in. I'm cautiously optimistic that we are positively moving forward. |
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 19, 2017 4:04:53 GMT -6
What was your reason for going with JRR vs BLA? just so you could save a couple bucks?
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Post by Quint on Jun 19, 2017 8:38:43 GMT -6
What was your reason for going with JRR vs BLA? just so you could save a couple bucks? Yes. Though I'd say it was more than a "couple" of bucks difference. It's more like $200 versus a $1,000. I don't mind spending $200 but $1,000 is more than I'm willing to put into my Apollo at this point. I might as well just get something new if I'm going to do that. |
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