Buy tubes from Audio Research or not

Quote from Link below:
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Here's your answer - Kevin Deal 11:44:46 05/16/08 (0)

In Reply to: RE: Upscale Audio no longer retubing ARC VT 100??? posted by cruzmsl on May 15, 2008 at 20:31:36

Bambi & Cruz.....the "Don't ask for an explanation" was not something I wrote..an employee did and I had it taken down as soon as I saw it...but then again I don't have time to answer daily phone calls and e-mails on the subject. So those words are really not my intention.... I apologize for being rude and surly :-)

Selling tubes the RIGHT way with real test gear is something we do to support our customers that bought their gear here. Given our pricing compared to the pricing at ARC turned us into a bit of a "magnet" for ARC amp owners. The problem was that many guys did not have biasing instructions, and that amp is not as easy to bias as some (this is only my opinion). In this day everything should be done so the customer doesn't have to work hard to re-tube.

I am not speaking of Audio Research, but of the industry in general in this sentence: There is way too much gear on the market that is "no muss, no fuss" to be worrying about gear that is difficult.

Matching standards that are designed to have the customer buy tubes from the vendor at very high prices is not the way I would run my business. Hence the products we have a hand in distributing don't even require matching or adjustments.

There are other amps from other companies we turn down tube sales on because they run the tubes at the ragged edge of their dissipation. In these situations selling tubes becomes a liability... I am still in this biz because it's fun! When selling product becomes a liability I don't have fun...

I want my customers to come home to Mayberry and have Aunt Bee bring them a piece of apple pie. And I need that myself. Take a break, man. You deserve it.

I believe I have spent more money on my test gear than anyone, and we even show them off. I have paid the best Electrical Engineers mucho dinero to that end because I want folks to have the least amount of headache when it comes to their tubes.

Audio Research is a fine company with great guys. Chris and Leonard are super. But... I took that one model and said "no more." One of the series of VT-100 amps requires great skill to just change the front end tubes. That was ARC's design decision....but I don't have an hour to teach a guy this stuff because I sold him some tubes....guys....I wish I did. That's why some tube dealers just let you order....they don't make their phone number too easy to find.
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=tubes&m=207865

"In Reply to: RE: Upscale Audio no longer retubing ARC VT 100??? posted by cruzmsl on May 15, 2008 at 20:31:36"

Note the date! Then why such a bad attitude towards Taters a year later? Mr. Deal sure doesn't come across like this on the phone. My personal expierence with Mr.D is that he is very rude on the phone. Mr.Deal should send Taters an apology as well. Tater please let us know if you recieve an apology.

At this point I would imagine Cyclonicman and Mofimadness wishes they would have never recommended Upscale Audio to Taters. Not because Upscale Audio screws the buying public but rather the bad experience Taters had with them.

Lets keep in mind on Upscale Audio's Web Site it clearly states they do not sell tubes for ARC VT100 amps.
Do they give a good reason why? No.... But what would you want them to say? Should Mr Deal say it is ARC fault for building an Amp that is not service friendly to the general public?

I am sure Taters feels he was treated unfairly by Upscale audio. He may have a legitimate reason to be pissed....
LOL, but who knows how many calls Upscale audio gets from people asking questions about re-tubing their ARC VT 100 amp. It says right on their Web Page, we don't do it....
Also we are not privy to both sides of the conversions that took place between Taters and the staff at Upscale Audio. Did Taters become argumentative? We don't know...
When Mr Deal got on the phone was he rude and tell Taters to never call again? Yes more than likely.... The archives on AA are full of such posts about Mr Deals temperament. Hey, different strokes for different folks. Does it cost Upscale Audio lost revenues? I am sure it does.

I once read a post of Kevin Deal's, on AA, where he said on average Upscale audio gets 200 to 300 phone calls a day.

Maybe the answer is to go to a recorded message answering service. Upscale Audio could then screen all calls and only answers those who they want to.
One thing for sure there would not be any more rude responses from Mr Deal.

Jea48, I do feel badly about those folks that have had a bad experience with Kevin. I guess the hassles he has with some amps is not worth it for him. I have no affiliation with Kevin except as a purchaser of tubes. I have to say I don't understand his logic because most business people do not refuse a sale, especially when it can be quite substantial. I would say that this shows that Kevin does have integrity even if it comes across as somewhat distorted.

Jea48, I agree with your last post. Taters could have gotten a little nasty as well but, for K.Deal to hang up on him.

I wasn't aware of K. Deal's statement on his website about ARC retubing until you pointed it out. That makes me feel a little better but still no excuse for being rude to a potential life long customer.

I'm in business myself and the customer is 99 & 3/4% always right. We sell maintience supplies to industry and with the economy like it is we're feeling the crunch. We can't afford to be pissing off customers. In our business, the customers buy from us every month. We're practically married to our customers. Does it get annoying? Yes, but we bite our tongues and keep counting those sales!

As far as 200-300 phone calls a day! Come on. I would be willing to bet a month's salary against that. We have 25 salespeople covering the state of NC with monthly sales in the 750,000 to 1,000,000 range and we don't have that kind of phone calls. LOL! If Mr. Deal is that busy then no wander the rest of the high end business is slow. Mr. Deal has it all wrapped up LOL!