Was I treated Fairly?

Digital Drive

Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

As a past amateur reviewer for Pacific Valve & Electric Company,(www.pacificvalve.us) I decided to take advantage of a reviewer accommodation price (about 15% off) and purchased a â€œnewâ€ Lite Dac 60 Modified d/a converter. This is basically a new unit where aftermarket mods are done to improve the overall performance. The unit arrived double-boxed and appeared to be well packed. When I removed the Dac from the packing, I noticed that there was a smudge on the faceplate that I could not remove. In addition, I noticed that some of the screws holding down the top cover were askew and screwed in off center. This happens sometimes when the cover doesnâ€™t line up properly or the cover is put on reversed. Anyhow, I read the supplied documentation, then proceeded to hook the unit up to my transport. I powered the unit up and switched the input to coaxial. The display continued to display 000 and would not lock to the transport. I tried another digital cable and another transport and the unit continued to provide no sound. At this point I decided to take the cover off and take a look see. This is a tube based D/A and I would assume removing the cover to check the unit out and roll some different tubes in should be ok. Unfortunately, I could not accomplish this because whoever did the mod on the unit stripped the threads on one of the screw holes and the screw would simply spin around and not come out. I contacted Joe Degidio, who is one of the principals at Pacific Valve and explained the situation to him. I indicated to him that the unit should never have been shipped and he agreed with me. He sent me a pre-paid mailing label and I sent the unit back. About a week later, I received an e-mail stating that I had removed the cover and unsoldered the RCA jacks therefore voiding the warranty. The cost to repair the unit which includes a new board is $150.00 Iâ€™m told and it will take a few weeks to turn around. Incredulous as to the accusations, I replied that I expected a new unit to be shipped ASAP as I had indicated earlier that the cover could not be removed. Furthermore, why would I unsolder the RCA jacks of all things? This was pure lunacy. The next e-mail from Pacific Valve stated that the unit I had purchased was in fact not a new unit but a reviewer sample. Joe Degidio admitted that it was conceivable that a screw was stripped and said â€œwe are willing to pay for that.â€ I was offered a refund less shipping from Pacific Valve and back to them plus a restocking fee. This out- of- pocket loss came to $85.00. The question is thisâ€”why should I have to pay anything for a non-working unit that was shipped to me and with stripped screw holes to boot. I asked for a new unit and was denied .Then I am asked to pay $150.00 for a repair. This is ridiculous!! I am currently disputing the charge with my credit card company as Pacific Valve should not be able to get away with these suspect business practices. Folks, I am only telling you this as a public service in the event you are considering purchasing any product from Pacific Valve or from Joe Degidio . His moniker on Audiogon is Joezillax. I am not saying you will be burned, but if there are any issues with equipment purchased from them I guarantee it will cost you, warranty or not . I would appreciate any comments from fellow members regarding this.

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Topic - Was I treated Fairly? - jig45 14:30:09 06/24/06 (3)

Re: Was I treated Fairly? - Fatbosco 16:42:11 06/24/06 (2)

Re: Was I treated Fairly? - zanash 01:59:05 06/25/06 (1)

Stick to your guns! - theromium 05:13:05 06/25/06 (0)

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