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When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???

107.10.56.175
Posted on July 18, 2020 at 11:02:01
Tidycat1
 I was curious about a certain manufacturers/retailers interconnect cabIe. Contacted them about procuring two pairs of balanced cables.I asked whether he would listen to a cable that I was currently using,so as to be able to compare and help in selection between his copper and silver offerings.So I sent the cable out to him on 5-26-2020.
After about 5 weeks had passed,I contacted him again.He said that he really didn't have time to listen to it.A week later he reversed and said that "since I promised,I will take a listen".
Another 10 days went by and nothing.Tried sending e-mails to determine status,but usually had to call,at which point I was usually told "Yeah,sure I can do that.
Time passed and he finally listened,responding that it was not as open a cable as his.I then let him know that I was planning on purchasing two pair for an audition and arranged to have my ICs returned at the time of delivery.Yeah,no problem.
Spoke with the manufacturer to be sure the cables would be available and arranged to have the cables invoiced to me through Paypal.Confirmed through e-mail.
I tried to confirm pricing and model designation,duration of evaluation period and refund policy.Asked that the invoice be cut in two:shipping and actual product cost.
No reply,so I called. Two pairs in stock,couldn't remember what price he had quoted me.I reminded him and was told about the shipping charge.
He suggested that he might have to charge more,if it was just for evaluation.
I said that I was interested in two pair.If they worked out,I would be keeping them.
Was told the invoice would be sent out 7-15/16-2020..
So far,no invoice nor a commitment to send back my cables.
Have sent multiple e-mails without response.Have left messages-no response.
I am beginning to believe that I have lost possession of my cables and will not be auditioning the cables as planned.
Have decided to approach another manufacturer that friends have recommended as a "real straight-shooter",that will begin on Monday.
Any advice concerning this person and situation,would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,Tom

 

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Write off this outfit as unfit to deal with, posted on July 18, 2020 at 14:56:10
Mike K
Audiophile

Posts: 13973
Location: 97701
Joined: September 23, 1999
 and spread the word to that effect far and wide.

And consider yourself lucky you didn't invest a lot of money.



Lack of skill dictates economy of style. - Joey Ramone

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 18, 2020 at 19:23:29
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 It's unusual for a cable maker/seller to accept delivery of another product to listen to for the sake of comparison from a potential customer. I'm surprised to know that he did such a thing, but not surprised that the task was put on the back burner for so long. If he were a class act, he would simply send your cables back and be done with it. Letting things fall through a crack and ignore your correspondence is not a good way to do business. I hope matters are resolved soon, Tidycat1.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 19, 2020 at 09:19:17
Mick Wolfe
Audiophile

Posts: 3363
Location: AZ
Joined: October 10, 1999
Contributor
  Since: September 4, 2000
 I've dealt with Mike on at least three occasions and never had a problem. The only exception to just a straight forward purchase was a return of one of his copper IC's in credit toward a pricier silver version. Time frames experienced were at times sluggish, but within reason for a one man show. He also seemed to answer phone calls most of the time. With this all said, haven't talked to him in awhile, so I have no idea what might be cooking.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 20, 2020 at 13:27:33
verastarr@gmail.com
Manufacturer

Posts: 3
Location: Georgia
Joined: January 19, 2016
 What one is to do , is to give me a request to send your cables back or to place the order. That means send the paypal.

I find it interesting that your story was so detailed yet, it did not include the detail that you mentioned to me you had a potential sale of one of the cables you sent and I asked if you would like me to ship to the guy in the interest of efficiency and I not only did that but I overnighted them and never asked you for payment. Isnt that correct ?

First off Duster is totally correct. Its imposing to ask me to critique someone elses cables. Especially an out of business cable company. Yes, I admit its very hard for me to say no to requests, inposing or not.
I accommodated your request to critique your cables but just take a second to put yourself in my shoes. Covid screwed my work force. I have 2 people every day, one is a trained cable maker, the other is an admin. So in the middle of this covid crap, Im now making all the cables which I do not do any more. Handling administrative duty, taking incoming sales calls, following up on others, answering emails, shipping and receiving and creating videos for my Youtube channel content. I wont comment that I also cook dinner and buy groceries, then theres the mail and paying bills, and oh yeah, my design and manufacturing projects that have deadlines. I barely sleep anymore. So I apologize but critiquing a dead companys cables for a guy who is not even a customer of mine yet is not high on my list of priorities.
Furthermore , Ive got to make you 2 pair of foil XLR cables that you carefully had me go over the return policy with, to insure it would cost you nothing should you not like them. So the least you could do is simply send the payment to my paypal. I dont lift a finger to make anything not paid. way too many other things going on. Now considering all Im going through , perhaps you can comment on the amount of time I gave you for our phone calls. I believe I stopped whatever I was doing each call and gave you up to 30 or 40 min if I recall correctly.

To make matters even worse Ive got Mike K with a noose in hand ready to string my ass up far and wide. Mike is an example of a very big issue in our industry. Should Tom do as Mike Suggests and go far and wide he could cause irreparable damage to my business because people on forums are so impressionable. All of this because I have the intent to go out of my way to accommodate a special request from a newly met fellow, who is not yet a customer. At this rate the audiophiles will only be left with the big box corporate HiFi overpriced BS.. Audioquest in this example. No more handcrafted pieces made by artisans with the love of music as fuel. Because we get stoned by the mob before we are even heard.

So now youve got my side of the story, go ahead and pass judgement, Tom, I'll send your new cables and put your sent cables in the box as requested, whenever you paypal. Contact me so I make sure I have all the details right. and any of you guys can feel free to google my name and company and see if you find even one unhappy person out there that never got something back. I dont steal. Id love to stay and chat but Ive got work to do, my apologies.

Almost forgot, I did critique the other companies cables and give a comparison between theres and ours.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 20, 2020 at 13:46:28
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 Well-said response, Mike. Hope your support team is up and running again, soon.

Cheers, Duster

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 20, 2020 at 17:09:23
verastarr@gmail.com
Manufacturer

Posts: 3
Location: Georgia
Joined: January 19, 2016
 Thanks Duster, I appreciate it.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 20, 2020 at 18:51:44
The Dill
Audiophile

Posts: 2197
Location: Portland, Oregon
Joined: July 1, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 3, 2016
 Nice to hear the other side of the story ...

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 21, 2020 at 12:25:00
rmilewsk
Audiophile

Posts: 534
Location: So. Cal.
Joined: January 10, 2008
 I'm really surprised that any manufacturer would agree to take responsibility for someone else's goods on a loan basis. Why didn't the seller send a couple of the cables to the potential buyer? The seller could have charged the buyer's credit card before shipping the trial cables, and then the buyer could decide for themself whether to keep the cables or not. Many businesses have been working with this type of process for decades. How much does the buyer really learn about the cables when they are being tested with someone else's ears in someone else's system?

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 21, 2020 at 14:04:14
verastarr@gmail.com
Manufacturer

Posts: 3
Location: Georgia
Joined: January 19, 2016
 The reason why is because he wanted me to listen to the cables and give my opinion how they sounded. He did not send them for me to hold until they sold. This works well when its a very expensive cable, for instance one of my clients has a $12K Stage 3 Concepts Proteus PC. I always thought this cable would kill my designs, but not even close, so now I know that Stage 3 are dark sounding in my rig.. as well as a friends rig , and another clients rig.
In fact the test gave me a major confidence boost in how good my top level power cable really is. Its $4500 beating out $12K Cables. So this is a big reason we would take something in from a client.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 21, 2020 at 16:11:35
rmilewsk
Audiophile

Posts: 534
Location: So. Cal.
Joined: January 10, 2008
 If you continue to do this then you take the risk of what happened continuing to happen. Any time you take someone else's goods on loan you run the risk of this same thing happening.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 21, 2020 at 19:16:19
Tidycat1
 Forgive me,but I have received no notices of updates to the thread.
I had contacted Mike and was discussing audio products and different cables.
I had asked "if he could use AES-EBU cables.Yes.
I said that I would send out a stereo pair and the AES-EBU that I thought an excellent value.
It turned out that a piece of gear was on the fritz (not charging) and that had scrubbed the digital cable. Mike had said that he would try to get things up and running,but no cigar.
Since he could not listen to the digital,I mentioned that my friend wanted to take a listen.A little over a week later,I had not received any confirmation of the cables' return to me.
After two e-mails from my friend concerning the cable,I shot Mike an e-mail letting him know that someone was waiting for its' return.Mike sent an e-mail asking "what time frame"? BTW,this was Mikes' idea. I stated that after the wait,probably should not exceed 3 days.Mike waited thru the weekend and sent it "over-night". If there were no delays,priority should have been fine.
I asked Mike if he wanted to hold onto the silver stereo pair to listen to? Yes.
Yes,he did listen to my cable,but the comparison wasn't conveyed in much more than a sentence or two.I was looking for a "character" comparison.Slightly lean IMS.
I do not call up manufacturers to shoot the breeze.Mike did have time to discuss Monty Python,but maybe only to humor me.
I had been straight forward about my interest in the cables (Verastarr silver XLR).
As far as my requesting the cables be returned,I asked several times.In the end,I just left it for the "shipment",trying to simplify things.
When I received no invoices and called,I said "Hello Mike-it's me.When you hear this message,please grab my cables and put them in a mailing container and ship them.
If Mike would like to be paid for his "overnight-ing" and return of my cables,please send an invoice.
For the record:ELF custom Cables is still in business.I'm sure that Ernest/Wirewizard will be happy to hear.
Thank you Mike for leaving a long voice mail at my home.I have my cell phone with me most of the day and is the number I gave you for contact.Home number for shipping purposes.
As far as my perspective on this situation:
I would have been open to proceeding if the response had been "This was an over-sight on my part.My apologies and let's get this back on track.
But ,telling me you don't get enough sleep and you are trying to wear too many hats,doesn't fix the problem at hand.Nor will it favor future customers.
I believe companies should have a list of products and a price list.That way you know what you are paying for and what to expect.You needn't guess whether you got "Tribe" pricing,retail or...
I like Mike,he is a very personable gentleman,but I ran out of useable options.
I'm glad that this got his attention.Hopefully,everyone can move on after this is concluded.
Yes,there are two sides to every story. Maybe neither side is 100% in the clear.

 

RE: When dealing with Verastarr,what is one to do???, posted on July 22, 2020 at 08:28:04
davem1
Audiophile

Posts: 275
Location: Washington, DC Metro
Joined: July 16, 2012
 Since this is the Cable Asylum, the initial post should have been in another venue (General, Shady?).

As has been the case many times, after one side of an issue is presented, people react as if this was gospel. It rarely is.

Both versions differ materially in places. Hopefully this will end instead of going back and forth.

 

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