Alina
I’ve never written a Google review before and I am not the confrontational type, but I continue to feel so bothered by how I was treated by Austin Stereo Service that I have to get this off my chest. After my dad passed away in 2024 I wanted to fix up his Thorens TD 125 to give to my mom as a gift. He had always wanted to fix it up for them to play, but never found the time. I brought the turntable in for a restoration. After bringing it home, some problems developed a couple months later so we brought it back to the store under warranty. My mom picked it up the second time and brought it home because I was out of town. I came back in town for my Dad’s memorial where we planned to have the turntable out along with other possessions that were special to him. That’s when I discovered the turntable didn’t spin at all and the cartridge was turned to the side. On further inspection I discovered the turntable didn’t spin because the belt was missing. Additionally another component, an Ortofon STM-72 transformer, that I had brought in with the turntable was gone. I called up Austin Stereo and told them the belt was gone, the cartridge was turned, and the Ortofon transformer that was in the box with it was missing. They claimed the turntable must have been tampered with and proceeded to blame my mom for transporting it incorrectly and losing the belt. They claimed it must have been shipped in the mail for this to happen. No, it was placed in its original styrofoam box, put in the back of a car, and driven 20 minutes. They said they needed to confirm the belt was missing and not just hidden under the platter, when it was very obvious to me that it was missing. I brought the turntable in for a third time and showed them there was in fact no belt. They continued to blame me and my mom saying we must have lost it, telling me to go back home and search again and that surely if we looked harder we would find it (I had already looked extensively for it). One of the employees then went to the back and just so happened to find the exact belt in the shop…He reinstalled it but said we needed to come back and return it once we found the belt at home, still claiming that it was our fault and we had lost the belt. This was all after I had spent over $500 on the restoration. He found my dad’s Ortofon transformer in the back of the shop and returned it, saying they kept it because they didn’t think I would want it and it wasn’t necessary for this turntable. How could you assume a customer didn’t want a valuable part that they owned and brought in? This component is not just monetarily valuable but also special, belonging to my dad, so of course I would want it. And this was all happening the day before my dad’s memorial. In the end I came home with a working Thorens which we were able to play at his memorial, but the stress and pain cannot be described. This was hands down the worst and most distressing customer experience I’ve ever been through. Please do not blame your customers, do not assume they are stupid, and do not keep their possessions without asking. That is just insane. You never know the story behind the audio equipment you are working on and what it means to them. If you make a mistake, work to make things right and treat your customers with kindness and respect. Their immaturity and reluctance to take ownership and responsibility for multiple mistakes and poor service was astonishing for a business. I’ve never experienced anything like it, especially after paying so much money. I’m confused by all the high reviews. Maybe I don’t fit the stereotypical clientele, but my experience was a nightmare. I received poor service, was blamed, and was treated incredibly rudely by the employees.
