Reasons to avoid Atlas Audio on Liberty Ave in Pittsburgh

[OCCD]

Repair costs and ethics come to mind right off the top of my head.

A very nice older gent came into the shop today wanting to sell gear he just had serviced At Atlas Audio.  (He did not know we existed.)

He took in a set of EPI 100v speakers that needed re-foamed  and one driver possibly re-coned ,and a Technics M14 cassette deck.

The speakers are worth about $175 in very nice cosmetic and working condition.

The cassette deck is worth $25 in working condition.

The poor guy is beside himself.

They charged a $40 bench fee,each, just to start the screw job.

The results...

Put a belt on the cassette deck, cleaned and "calibrated"   $128 cost for a $25 deck. Ethics, where are they.

Now the EPI speakers.  Over $220 to replace the woofers with , made in Taiwan 8" woofers that can be picked up from MCM electronics for $35 each shipping included.  Why did they not re-foam the originals or send the originals out to get foamed or re-coned? Parts Express does a great job of re-coning and they are reasonable.

Question two, for the money they charged, they could have purchased a re-foamed working set of originals on epay for $125-$150, yet they told the guy they were replaced with originals.


Beware people, there are shops out there that are all about the money and not about you or the equipment.


Shame on you Atlas...

[Slim-Shaddy]

Wow!! Douchebags!!

[Falcon]

Wow,  If that guy is telling the truth,  Atlas sucks even more than I thought!!!
 

[Bunni]

Atlas sucks about as much as *I* think it does.

[OCCD]

Atlas sucks about as much as *I* think it does.

Not only is he telling the truth, he showed me the receipts.

[Bunni]

Atlas sucks about as much as *I* think it does.

Not only is he telling the truth, he showed me the receipts.

Oh I absolutely believe it.  It's the way they do things, always has been.  I could tell you stories from a good resource we both know!  He's forgotten many of them, but I remember.  We didn't ever want people to know he worked there, for fear that his reputation would be ruined.  He tried to do a good job for them, but "good job" and doing things the "right way" was discouraged regularly.  Original parts often were thrown away.  So not surprising to me in the least!  I feel terrible for the customer, but glad he's found the right place now.

[Falcon]

  That is freaking sickening.   

[bmwr75]

Before I learned about Vintage Hi-Fi and how to do my own work, I took  probably 4 amps and integrated amps to them.  There is no way I'll ever get my investment out of any of them.  Probably not even 1/2!!

[Reverend]

Shit Eaters.

[Kingman]

I hate those types... I took a turntable to a shop down here and they charged $40 bench fee to test, then told me it was probably the power supply and they had no solution. Later I discovered they had taken my stylus out and either broke it or replaced it with a broken one!!! Paying for further damage!!!

[Coz]

I don't care if it's Atlas, Phil's TV, Galaxie, or  Pitt Vintage HiFi...

NOTHING worse than driving to Pittsburgh from Morgantown to buy a piece of gear that the business owner as assured the customer(me)
has been all "gone through" and is 100%.  Only to find when I get back to WV it's DOA!  Then have to burn time & fuel to come back up to
the Burg to get a refund!  Shame on me for not auditioning the piece!  Caveat emptor!

[Reverend]

Why would you not audition an item before you purchase it?  Anytime you travel, things can happen as well.

[Coz]

Just took it for granted what the proprietor was ethical and what was said regarding repairs was true.

As far as the transport part...been buying & selling gear for years...face to face (driving) and shipping it.
This would the the first time that a piece failed in transport.  Guess it CAN happen.  Maybe my number was up?

I take it as a learning experience.  Always audition.  Don't support businesses that burn customers! (Like the OP story)

[MasterBlaster]

Aside from being an inconvenience when something went wrong, at least you had the assurance that the shop stood behind the items they sold and you got your money back.
That is what I would expect from a reputable dealer. Others may have argued that you damaged it, or swapped it with a broken one that you already had in your possession.

It is always a good idea to check things out though. DOA equipment can and does happen. NEW product is sometimes broken right out of the box too.

As for the repair fleecing, it was flagrant deception imo, and a completely diffirent situation.
The shop intentionally installed cheap replacement speakers and passed them off as though they were just as good as what was in there to begin with.

The cassette deck repair is a similar situation; the shop owner should have been honest about the value of the unit vs the cost to repair it.
Given the facts, I'm sure the guy would not have gone through with it. But that would lose the shop money in performing the repair.

[Bunni]

The word "Honest" means nothing to Atlas.  Somewhere on the net is a forum post, involving the owner and a customer who caught him in a lie.  His response was yeah, so what, I lied.  Aside from that, when you treat your techs, whose talents you're making ridiculous money off of, like crap, and create an environment of fear and loathing, chances are the quality of work performed may not be the best.  Such is Atlas.

Humans tend to make mistakes, honest humans will learn from them and do everything they can to make them right.  I've seen and heard how Tom feels about his customers.  I know how Anders treats his customer's electronics, and how he treats his own.  I know both stand behind what they do.  I can't say that about a lot of businesses.  There are a lot of people out there who will fleece you because they can.  We've been on the receiving end of it as well and it leaves you feeling violated.

I agree: 

Aside from being an inconvenience when something went wrong, at least you had the assurance that the shop stood behind the items they sold and you got your money back.
That is what I would expect from a reputable dealer. Others may have argued that you damaged it, or swapped it with a broken one that you already had in your possession.

It is always a good idea to check things out though. DOA equipment can and does happen. NEW product is sometimes broken right out of the box too.

As for the repair fleecing, it was flagrant deception imo, and a completely diffirent situation.
The shop intentionally installed cheap replacement speakers and passed them off as though they were just as good as what was in there to begin with.

The cassette deck repair is a similar situation; the shop owner should have been honest about the value of the unit vs the cost to repair it.
Given the facts, I'm sure the guy would not have gone through with it. But that would lose the shop money in performing the repair.