TubeNet

Hello all,

I'm having a problem with the Al
I bought him a Conn 25J Tuba two months ago and after that he did not answer most of my emails. Do not sent to me in my US address the horn and does not answer my calls.
Until last year I know he was present at this forum to help people however I do not know what happened!
Worse, it has passed 60 days of my purchase and I can no longer enter a dispute for PayPal that the deadline for the dispute is 45 days. "That is I lost my money".
I know this is not the first post of someone who has a complaint about Al.
This is a off my chest because the amount spent in this horn converted into the currency of my country is very high.
I am not here speaking ill of him I just want to expose this problem because I think others have the same situation as mine.
I also do not want to show that I'm blaming anyone for this forum, but unfortunately it is difficult to trust people.
In my country it is most likely to occur but I never imagined that someone like Al would do this.

Well that's thanks to all who read this message!

Dante

P.S.: Sorry for my english!

This might be old news, but I found the location of the old website for BBMNW here:

http://home.comcast.net/~cecilecalabres ... lcome.html" target="_blank

As for contacting Al, keep trying. I have had the best results from texting him.

I am having the same problem with Big Bottom Music NW. Ordered a horn in January and have not heard from him since then. Multiple e-mails and phone messages with no response. If anyone does figure out how to contact him, I would love to learn the information so I can follow up and either get the horn I ordered or get my money back.

Tubajason wrote:Looks like the site is no longer functional.

Works fine for me.

http://www.bigbottommusicnw.com

Tubajason wrote:It works because it's cached and has not been updated since August 2011, not a good sign if you ask me.

Not accepting new orders since August seems highly appropriate to me.

Tubajason wrote:It works because it's cached and has not been updated since August 2011, not a good sign if you ask me.

It is not just a cache on my computer that makes it work. Your implied suggestion that the site is down because he took it down or allowed it to be taken down is false. No changes may have been made to the code, but the site is current.

russiantuba wrote:

bort wrote:

Tubajason wrote:It works because it's cached and has not been updated since August 2011, not a good sign if you ask me.

Not accepting new orders since August seems highly appropriate to me.

Agreed.

He didn't win the New Jersey Symphony and Albany Symphony auditions, either.

dantetuba wrote:Hello all,

I'm having a problem with the Al
I bought him a Conn 25J Tuba two months ago and after that he did not answer most of my emails. Do not sent to me in my US address the horn and does not answer my calls.
Until last year I know he was present at this forum to help people however I do not know what happened!
Worse, it has passed 60 days of my purchase and I can no longer enter a dispute for PayPal that the deadline for the dispute is 45 days. "That is I lost my money".
I know this is not the first post of someone who has a complaint about Al.
This is a off my chest because the amount spent in this horn converted into the currency of my country is very high.
I am not here speaking ill of him I just want to expose this problem because I think others have the same situation as mine.
I also do not want to show that I'm blaming anyone for this forum, but unfortunately it is difficult to trust people.
In my country it is most likely to occur but I never imagined that someone like Al would do this.

Well that's thanks to all who read this message!

Dante

P.S.: Sorry for my english!

If a MasterCard or the like is involved, you may have a chance disputing the payment, as the allowed number of days only counts from the last provable communication concerning the deal. Ask your card supplier and tell about the most recent emails.

Klaus

I have had nothing but positive experiences with Al (and would not hesitate to do business with him again) so I sincerely hope that this gets corrected and cleared up ASAP.

Tubajason wrote:Not trying to split hairs here but just wanted people to know they need to read the fine print and the fine print says last updated on August 2011.

I just think you used "Cached" incorrectly, hence the confusion. Cached means that the webpage is no longer there and it is being stored on another server....

I could not bring up the website in Chrome. I had to use Internet Explorer before it would come up.

Not that it makes much of a difference but the website hasn't worked in Chrome since the day it went up. I e-mailed Al about it the day the site appeared. I believe there was a note about on the site somewhere. I'm also waiting for nearly a year for a horn. (6/14) I admit to be being "frustrated" about the way things have gone; especially the lack of communication but at this point, since I've waited so long, I guess I can wait a little longer before "exploring other remedies". I've been in contact with other members about the situation via PM's as I didn't feel that it was appropriate or beneficial to anyone to get into verbal battles or speculation here.
And also, I must admit, a bit... Anyway, I've been encouraged by some of the members with whom I've communicated and believe this will be settled "soon".
Pete

Hello guys,

Al contacted me last week.
He is willing to send me the horn.
I will wait and see what happens.

Thanks again for all

Dante

dantetuba wrote:Hello guys,

Al contacted me last week.
He is willing to send me the horn.
I will wait and see what happens.

Thanks again for all

Dante

Again: I have no part in anything related to this thread, only commenting as somebody having experienced problematic deals in the past.

If the above promise to deliver was done in writing or in an electronically traceable format, then the sum may be reclaimed via MasterCard, if that was the payment method. Possibly also via similar cards.

In one case I had an instrument built to me. The maker gave me a fixed deadline, which he blew at a point of time, where I could not get my money back via MasterCard. When I protested, he claimed another person in the organization had failed to stock certain fittings needed to finish the instrument. My suspicion was that they were cash strapped and dragged on ordering those fittings. But exactly that communication from the seller would allow me to cancel the deal via MasterCard. When I threatened to do so by a given date, the delivery came quite promptly.

Klaus

dantetuba wrote:Hello guys,

Al contacted me last week.
He is willing to send me the horn.
I will wait and see what happens.

Thanks again for all

Dante

Again: I have no part in anything related to this thread, only commenting as somebody having experienced problematic deals in the past.

If the above promise to deliver was done in writing or in an electronically traceable format, then the sum may be reclaimed via MasterCard, if that was the payment method. Possibly also via similar cards.

In one case I had an instrument built to me. The maker gave me a fixed deadline, which he blew at a point of time, where I could not get my money back via MasterCard. When I protested, he claimed another person in the organization had failed to stock certain fittings needed to finish the instrument. My suspicion was that they were cash strapped and dragged on ordering those fittings. But exactly that communication from the seller would allow me to cancel the deal via MasterCard. When I threatened to do so by a given date, the delivery came quite promptly.

Klaus

I also have a pending order with Al. Has anyone heard anything new since this last May? I ordered a euphonium from him in August 2011 (and paid for it) and I am still waiting for it. I am willing to give him the opportunity to make it right, but I am just wondering if he is still working to get these orders filled. Any updates would be very helpful. Thank you.

etgreece wrote:Has anyone heard anything new since this last May?

Yes.

Really tempted to leave it at that.

But I'll go on to say that he is working on making it right. Unfortunately it is a deep hole. I myself have received partial satisfaction, as have others. Al had personal problems and in hindsight it looks like he didn't handle them in the ideal way. I believe he will get through it, but it is not going to be quick. Nevertheless, I do believe he is basically a man of integrity who has had to learn a thing or two the hard way.

Flaming me for saying this will do no good and will receive no response from me, so just save it.

tallyrand, I am not in the business of "flaming" anyone. I appreciate the reply. Like others, I really do wish that Al would just reply or send out some information. Before I found this forum, I didn't know if he was a scammer or not. If you have more contact, I would really appreciate any form of reply. As I said before, I am willing to wait for him to get things straightened out.

Again, thanks for the info.

talleyrand wrote:But I'll go on to say that he is working on making it right. Unfortunately it is a deep hole. I myself have received partial satisfaction, as have others. Al had personal problems and in hindsight it looks like he didn't handle them in the ideal way. I believe he will get through it, but it is not going to be quick. Nevertheless, I do believe he is basically a man of integrity who has had to learn a thing or two the hard way.

100% agree

Greetings all,

A student of mine ordered an F tuba from this gentleman well over a year ago and sent him the money up front. After much cajoling he has so far paid back a portion of the money. Problem is, once he paid a portion, he stopped replying to any messages from my student, and has not made any contact since. In order to assist my student I loaned him the difference so he could make a purchase of another instrument. At this point, I no longer believe that we will ever see the money again. I hate the idea of making my student pay me back based on the behavior of a supposed professional businessman, but considering the amount (over $600) I cannot just write it off as a gift to the student. It really disturbs me that this person would do this to college students (not that it is any better with pros, but at least we can absorb the costs a little easier).

TO