Posted by Jay Bertolet on May 26, 1999 at 09:40:54:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Gig Bag Wanted for Yamaha 822 F posted by Daryl Hickman on May 25, 1999 at 20:23:46:
Daryl,
Take comfort in the fact that Vince could be out of business soon. At least that is my prediction. You see, it is my opinion that Vince is doing some of the same things these days as were once done in Detroit. The big difference in the situations is that Custom Music held at that time most of the exclusive marketing rights for the major european manufacturers. They had a strong edge in the business. What does Vince have? In my opinion, exactly the opposite. He has a huge order committed to St. Pete. I don't want to speak out of school, but I heard from a reliable source that he has ordered something like 5000 of these tubas over the next 5 years. And after he made the order it was discovered that the St. Pete's had this problem with the nickle plating that was causing the finish and the tuba to rot and turn black. How can Vince sell all these tubas? My first thought was that maybe he'd send them back as defective and get new, corrected ones. But my source tells me that the tubas are already made and sitting in a warehouse, signed, sealed, and delivered. So, the longer they sit, the blacker they get. And, unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this. It is my understanding that the stripping and replating repair costs nearly as much as the purchase price. If this is true, the Tuba Exchange is in a really big bind.
It saddens and sickens me to hear stories about how Vince has changed his business practices. I did business with him 10+ years ago and it was a wonderful experience. I think that maybe he has forgotten what made him successful when he first started in the business. He used to run his shop in a very personable fashion, with a high priority to customer service. In fact, I hope he or his son are reading this so that he will know what is happening to his business reputation and take steps to turn things around. If not, the Tuba Exchange will go the way of the dinosaur...