I hope you get a working amp out of this, dude.

I really hope this all works out for you Dan. I hope you get an amp that is satisfactory and meets your expectations. I also hope you get the replacement headband in a timely matter as well. Keep us posted.

Yeah I hope it works out Dan.

He understood though he sounded a bit hurt, but whatever.

Nothing less......

Amicalement

PS

Good luck to you.

He was a little bit huffed when I was firm about legit seeming tracking #s. He talked about how this is a new policy with 2009 regarding getting paid prior to delivery since his business has been burned so many times and I immediately threw back well how many times has his customers been burned.. how many times have I been burned and that I am very unwilling to put another dollar in his hand without an amp in mine etc etc etc. He understood though he sounded a bit hurt, but whatever.

Does this part scare anyone else? I mean, shouldn't it be clear to Mikhail that he is really not in a position to get all hissy over Dan wanting some clarity and security in his deposits after what he has been through? Dan, maybe you can clarify, but it appears Mikhail seemed offended that you would even propose such a thing. I personally don't get it, I would think any decent human being would attempt to made right what was wronged and move forward in a positive manner.

Speaking from personal experience, the two manufacturers that I have dealt the most with have been Ray and Craig. I could never imagine one of those guys doing this stuff, its unfathomable.

Which email did you use to contact him? salesATsinglepower, mikhailATsinglepower, mikhailATnilenet?

Ryan,

I think it's clear at this point that for the last year or more Mikhail has not been operating in the really-real world and expecting him to act in a manner consistent with "normal" is not realistic. I hope he gets through this and goes back to being the Mikhail I met four years ago, but I haven't seen any evidence to support that.

I suspect that he always was both Mikhails. Every time I've met him he's been charming and ebullient, and if I did not know more about his business I would still happily buy an amp from him today.

He's an impressive salesman, and he would be a real asset to the DIY community. Unfortunately, he's decided to leech a living off of us instead.

Does this part scare anyone else?

Yes. He picked a really awkward time to implement this policy, and it should be retroactively canceled for anyone who still has an outstanding amp that needs returning. Not a step in the right direction.

Yes. He picked a really awkward time to implement this policy, and it should be retroactively canceled for anyone who still has an outstanding amp that needs returning. Not a step in the right direction.

I might or might not have your amp, which might or might not perform as advertised and I might or might not ship it to you provided you give me lots more money up front. Who could possibly object to that?

Well I did stress quite a few times that he better ship this week if he says he is citing many previous failures.. so maybe he felt a little antagonized which made him defensive. I don't know.

Of course I've met very few people who've responded well and not defensively when being called out which was what I was doing to him though not in a public arena.

Or maybe he was just deflecting and/or making an emotional play. I don't know! I just hope he follows through.

I'm thinking he's in receivership (government or investor based) and he needs the cash now. Probably wrong though just a guess.

Of coarse I wouldn't dream of telling you how to handle your own personal business, but I will say that if it were me I'd wait until delivery before sending a dime. Even after agreeing to send partial payment upon receiving tracking numbers. If it's more than acceptable for Mihail to make promises he does not keep, then turning that around on him is more than justified in my mind.

I can be very patient as long as I'm told the truth. Once lied to I loose all patience and respect. Of coarse once they arrived and everything met my satisfaction I'd send the promised payment.

Good luck, I'll cross my fingers for you.

Yeah it's tricky though. I mean there's not much leveraging a delivery except for an exchange of money. He could just keep my amp hostage indefinitely if I play hard ball along that route and then I'd have to take more drastic measures into getting anything from him

I've looked into a couple of potential solutions.. Colorado small claims court and maybe going directly through a collection agency or something. But the situation is complicated and not very well documented since 30 percent of all discussions happened in unrecorded phone calls plus since I bought the amp second hand.

I'll pursue it more if he ends up missing this last ship date.

Good luck man. Maybe if he gets yours out the door, getting mine back won't become a pipe dream.

I would also be careful about sending the money too quickly once you get the tracking info. Mikhail played fast and loose with tracking info a couple of times before he actually shipped my ES-1.

<snip>

There is also a VERY uneasy relationship with the DIY community as a whole (evidenced by the hardline crackdown on TomB last year), so there is still smoke even if you can't see the flames. The heat is there.

<snip more>

What happened there? Something to do with the Millett Max?

I would also be careful about sending the money too quickly once you get the tracking info. Mikhail played fast and loose with tracking info a couple of times before he actually shipped my ES-1.

This is easy to do. Just track it on the shipping site and don't pay until the package, which must be addressed correctly, is actually picked up. What isn't easy to do is to confirm that the box contains you expect.

Isn't that called "C.O.D."?

This is easy to do. Just track it on the shipping site and don't pay until the package, which must be addressed correctly, is actually picked up. What isn't easy to do is to confirm that the box contains you expect.

Yeah. I mean when I say legit feeling tracking # I mean I am not sending him money until I have verified that Fedex has something in their possession.

If I get anything less than satisfactory I'm going to try initiate a dispute through my credit card. We'll see what the damage is provided I actually get it.

It's been radio silence from Mikhail since the Monday phone call. I sent him an email asking for confirmation that shipping was cleared by his accounts payable person and that the ball is rolling on getting it shipped. No reply. I will send a similar email today.

What happened there? Something to do with the Millett Max?

This was the culprit... need say no more. Amazing it lived, keeping hundreds of RSA du jour models from being sold...

New Millett Hybrid MiniMAX (what happened to this thread?) - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

It was way more than that and goes back almost as far as when drewd was (justly) banned from HF.

It was way more than that and goes back almost as far as when drewd was (justly) banned from HF.

Could you enlighten those of us who don't know the story?

USG

edit to say that was meant with the utmost respect and not with any sort of attitude.

Could you enlighten those of us who don't know the story?

USG

That's a LONG story and goes back 4 years or more. No way I'm typing it up or reliving it any time soon. And honestly it's really not worth it. Mistakes were made on both sides and for the most part everyone has moved on amicably. Even Tom understands that he made a mistake posting the original MiniMax thread in the way that he did.

And I didn't read any attitude in your post.