Again, I have deleted the email addresses.
From Atkinson (in reply)Hi Chris,
Thank you for your letter. I understand your feelings and I am truly sorry
for your inconvenience. Actually your screw bell job was the hardest that
we have ever done and we have done thousands through our repair dept. over
the years in business.
Your bell was indeed quite elliptical and we spent many hours trying to
round it out to give you the best fit possible and considering this
we thought it came out well. The worker that did your valve job is no
longer with us and I want to correct any possible problem you want.
Just send the horn body back to me. I will personally do the best that I
can.
Yours Truly, Mark Atkinson
> Date: 7/14/2005 1:58:29 AM
> Subject: RE: knopf double
>
>
> Dear Mark,
>
> I have been looking the horn over some more, and I've decided that I
don't
> want to send the horn back to you. There are too many sloppy mistakes and
I
> don't want to risk having the same, or more made as I attempt to get the
> previous ones corrected. And for every one, I can send as many pictures
as
> you want so that you can verify that the work was indeed done incorrectly.
> For example,
>
> I was charged an extra $95 because my bell was far from round as you
stated
> in a previous email.
> According to your website:
>
> # Screw Bell Conversion:
> Your bell is disassembled and if necessary is rounded at the point of
> cutting. This is important for older horns that have elliptical bells.
The
> bell ring is installed using our own rings ( compatible with Alexander
and
> Lawson ) and the precision cut is made. After installation your bell is
> polished and reassembled. If necessary spot lacquering is done for
cosmetic
> appearance.
> Price : $450.00 un lacquered horn
> $525.00 lacquered horn
>
> The $450 I paid should include this rounding, however, I know my bell was
a
> little crushed under the brace so I agreed to the $95... What your shop
> actually did is cut my bell and fill the low spots in with solder rather
> than make the bell round. Because of this my flare doesn't match up with
the
> tail. Next, the solder work was terrible. There isn't just excess solder
> around the joints, but drips of solder on the screw ring and on the
ferrells
> of the new slide sections that you made.
> I also don't think that the 2nd valve slide on the F side wasn't
tightened.
>
> I picked your shop because on your website you stated that you loved old
> horns. And while I realize that I did not purchase a new horn from you
and
> that I am not a professional horn player (although I once was, I chose a
> family over the life) I did spend nearly $2000 on having some work done
on
> an instrument that provides me some measure of relaxation and that I
truly
> enjoy playing on. Likewise, I never once sent an email asking when the
job
> would be completed because I didn't want anyone to rush through the
repair
> work on my horn. Whoever did the work on my horn is simply wanting a
> paycheck and could care less about my instrument.
>
> I certainly hope that we can come to an agreement on how to continue
resolve
> this situation because otherwise I will have to dispute the charges with
my
> credit card company.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Chris
>