StereoMan

What was I thinking??!

I had a lull in incoming work over the holidays and I thought, well! I'm going to plan a little time off and go see my girls -- my daughter and granddaughters -- in Texas. I thought, hey! I'm pretty caught up and with this little lull, I'll be even more caught up before long. Ha! The lull ended with the holidays and I got slammed with new work, including five (FIVE!) Tascam PortaStudios. Those suckers take a LOT of time to service.

I'm going to do my best to turn out as much work as I can before I head south to see my girls, but by way of a heads up, if you bring me any repair work between now and my departure, it probably won't be done until March.

Almost without fail, my customers show up for their appointments, either right on time or a few minutes early. I appreciate that so much! There are exceptions, I'll admit, but very few, and this morning one of those exceptions was resolved, and very favorably.

Today being the coldest day we've had in quite a few years, I chose to not make any appointments, out of respect for the well-being of my customers. But unexpectedly I got a call from someone who had missed three (!) previous appointments to pick up a piece I had completed back in September, asking if he could come by today or next Tuesday. I was honest about my reluctance to make yet another appointment with him, but I suggested that if he was going to be out and about in this frigid weather anyway, he could come by any time, just text me before he showed up. Well, he texted me, he showed up, and he was considerate enough to add an $11 tip to his $39 payment.

A very favorable resolution!

I’ve had a run of old stereo consoles recently. Sometimes months go by and I don’t see even one, but lately I’ve had as many as a half dozen in my shop at the same time, and it seems like every week another one is coming in.

Legend has it that console stereos have the best sound. If you grew up with one and that’s how you listened to music during your formative years, then it’s true. If you’ve never heard one in your life and then one day … when you hear it, you will probably wonder if people who think they have “the best” sound should see someone about their hearing.

It’s a very subjective thing. “It was my grandmother’s” is the most common refrain I hear from people wanting to get one repaired. I get that. Otherwise it wouldn’t be worth what it costs to restore one.

It is time consuming work and often involves two house calls and a few parts that cost more than a latte at Starbucks. I always tell people in advance what to expect in terms of cost and delay in completing the repair. But after all these years of repairing consoles, I have excellent resources for electronic parts and for rebuilding mechanical parts, and a very high success rate as a result.

Ring! Ring! goes the telephone ...

CALLER: Can you sell me a belt for my Technics turntable?

StereoMan: Maybe. Do you have the original belt?

CALLER: It's actually an MCS turntable, but it was made by Technics. I have the model number and the Technics equivalent.

StereoMan: Yes, but what I was asking you is if you have the original belt.

CALLER: Well no, the belt is all melted and broken apart. But I can give you the model number.

StereoMan: Sorry, that won't help. If you don't have the original belt I can't match it up with a new one. You should check online, you'll probably find it on ebay or Amazon.

CALLER: Why can't you match it by model number?

StereoMan: I'm sorry, but I can't help you with this.

CALLER: You should be able to match it up by model number.

StereoMan: No, that would only give me a Technics part number, which isn't helpful.

CALLER: Why isn't that helpful?

StereoMan: It's probably not available from Technics, and it would take me too much time to cross it to a belt I might have in stock.

CALLER: Well I could buy the belt online you know.

StereoMan: Yes, that's what you should do.

CALLER: I was just trying to support a local business, that's all.

StereoMan: Right, well, thank you for your call.



You requested that I do fifteen minutes of research to find out what size belt it is, and then spend another half hour determining if I even have the right belt, scheduling an appointment for you to come and get the belt, greeting you, handling the transaction, writing up a receipt for your purchase, and wishing you well. All of that, 45 minutes of my time, for three dollars. You think my skills, knowledge, and experience are worth four bucks an hour? That's the way you support a local business? And you want to argue with me on the phone about it?

There's always this one neighbor who looks upon a home-based business with disdain, or maybe jealousy, and goes out of their way to obstruct, impede, or otherwise negatively impact success. Does StereoMan have such a neighbor? Yes he does.

I had no sooner moved into my new place and set up my home-based business when an envelope appeared in my mailbox, no stamp and no return address, with a note inside advising me that my business was in violation of City codes, and not welcome in "our" neighborhood. A few weeks later I had a visit from the City's Zoning Enforcement Officer, responding to a complaint from a "concerned citizen." She at first was very adversarial toward me, but soon realized that my use of the home was reasonable, the violations were minor, and I was perfectly willing to correct them. Which I did. Score one for StereoMan.

All this time the neighbor in question has been completely non-communicative with me, avoiding any kind of eye contact or verbal communication. And then, a couple of days ago, I heard from the City that the neighbor had filed another complaint. Today I had a visit from the Officer, she found that I was completely in compliance, we had a friendly chat, and icing on the cake, she granted that I could increase my daily flow of customers by 50%.

Score! Two for StereoMan, zero for nasty neighbor.

Actual telephone conversation:

Caller: I just had a question. I have a couple of cheap bluetooth speakers where the jack has gotten pushed in.

StereoMan: Okay. What was the question?

Caller: Well I was just wondering if you guys could fix that, if it would be a reasonable cost.

StereoMan: Well, you started out by saying they were "cheap" bluetooth speakers.

Caller: Yeah, like about $20 each.

StereoMan: Well, I'm not. I hope that answers your question.

Caller: (hangs up)

I guess that answered his question.

Actual telephone conversation this morning:

CALLER: I need help, I've been calling around and everybody is so booked up, I was wondering could you look at my car today?

StereoMan: I no longer do car stereo work.

CALLER: Then why do you still have a website?



StereoMan: I'm sorry, did you actually look at my website?

CALLER: Yes I did.

StereoMan: Because my website does indicate that I no longer do car stereo work, and right at the top of the home page it says that I am currently not accepting new work.



CALLER: OK.

StereoMan: Thanks for your call.

New signage to help guide my customers to the right place(s).

I am happy to announce that I have completed the migration of my shop from 33 London Rd. to my home at 30 Park Lane Ave. Starting Monday, Jan 4, 2021, I will be open for business - by appointment only of course! All transactions will be conducted outdoors "under the yellow canopy."