Transformer parts

[Phil Allison]

"roughplanet"

** Is a silly fake name for a very silly little man.


The arsewipe hiding behind it is Laurie Dare, 62, of Jeffrey Drive, Ringwood
in Melbourne.

Once an honoured member and treasurer for the Australian Communist Party.

Wall to wall ratbags there.

The lying cretin's one and only claim to fame was pelting rotten eggs at Bob
Menzies in the 1960s when he was chancellor of Melbourne Uni. They turfed
poor little Laurie ( he is only a runt) out of Melbourne Uni for that
gutless act of criminal stupidity.

Telling outrageous lies and gutless acts are all the cretinous, ASD fucked
Laurie is good for.

Oh, and talking endless, completely asinine BULLSHIT about himself.

Peeeuuke.




........ Phil

 

[Phil Allison]

"Mark Harrarse Cunt "

Ahh yes the Quad ESL63, an oldie but a such goodie!.
An audiophile tale of derring do, action and adventure.
Such technological detective work, such resolve, such
determination to see a harmless hifi retailer receive
his comeuppance and just desserts.

** Campsie Hi-Fi sure got their just deserts all right.

Went into receivership in March this year.

Store is closed.

All stock has been auctioned off.

http://www.campsiehifi.com.au/index.php?apg=products&PHPSESSID=7ed10e75cbb034223c9399f9f37bebab


Harry has bitten the dust.




.......... Phil

 

[Alan Rutlidge]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:4bmgduF12946fU1@individual.net...

"roughplanet"

** Is a silly fake name for a very silly little man.


The arsewipe hiding behind it is Laurie Dare, 62, of Jeffrey Drive,
Ringwood in Melbourne.

Once an honoured member and treasurer for the Australian Communist Party.

Wall to wall ratbags there.

The lying cretin's one and only claim to fame was pelting rotten eggs at
Bob Menzies in the 1960s when he was chancellor of Melbourne Uni. They
turfed poor little Laurie ( he is only a runt) out of Melbourne Uni for
that gutless act of criminal stupidity.

Telling outrageous lies and gutless acts are all the cretinous, ASD fucked
Laurie is good for.

Oh, and talking endless, completely asinine BULLSHIT about himself.

Peeeuuke.




....... Phil

And lest we not forget your gobble, gobble, gobbling in the orchestra pit
with a uni lecturer who should (for his own protection) remain nameless,
should we Phil?

 

[Phil Allison]

"Mark Harrarses"

Ahh yes the Quad ESL63, an oldie but a such goodie!.
An audiophile tale of derring do, action and adventure.
Such technological detective work, such resolve, such
determination to see a harmless hifi retailer receive
his comeuppance and just desserts.

** This story ??

The REAL story:


In August 2003, Sydney hi-fi dealer and Quad stockist Campsie Hi-Fi
www.campsiehifi.com.au advertised a pair of second hand ESL63s for $ 4,900
on their web site. In September the asking price dropped to $ 3,900.

The web site ad said: "... one owner, in superb condition, have been fully
restored, new panels and power supply. Working in perfect order."

Friends of mine had seen the speakers in the store and were on first name
terms with one of the staff - so they suggested I should have a look at
them.

One afternoon in mid September, in company with my friend Joe, I inspected
the ESL63s. I asked the well spoken salesman questions about their age,
serial numbers, who had done the repair work and when etc.

The salesman ( Jordan) assured me in front of Joe they were a genuine,
one-owner pair with consecutive serial numbers, that some new panels and a
new power supply had been fitted by repair staff at Campsie Hi-Fi and they
were in perfect working condition. However, the store did not give demos of
traded in items.

I then made an offer on the price and after briefly conferring with the
manager Jordan returned saying it was accepted PROVIDED I bought them
immediately.

So out came my MasterCard and the deal was soon done.

Acting on advice from the same salesman, we returned to my flat first to
fetch several pillows and a doona to pack the items - since the store did
not have the original box or packing.

When I finally got them home I decided to let them warm up for a while -
since they had not been used in many months. I listened for any hums or
crackles and after an hour or so heard nothing untoward. Then I connected
them in place of my usual speakers in the lounge room.

Immediately it became obvious to Joe and myself that one speaker was way
louder than the other - so much for the perfect working order claim. Only
one of the two speakers still had its serial number label attached and this
was the one that was louder.

By now it was after 6 pm so we could not return the ESLs that day. Joe said
he could come back on the following Monday and assist me to return them.

Meanwhile, over the next couple of days I did a few simple tests on the
Quads (using pink noise and Rode SPL meter) and concluded that while one was
working quite up to spec the other was almost 9 dB down in level - though
with a normal frequency response.

With a big offset on the channel volume levels one could get normal stereo
sound but with a loss of maximum SPL of about 9 dB. Despite this the sound
was remarkable.

The problem with low volume speaker was likely in the power supply, a loss
of HT supply voltage due to leaky caps or diodes does exactly this - so I
had a peek by removing the bottom covers.

To my surprise, there was no sign of any new power supply in either speaker
but rather a RUSTY OLD one with the word "FAULTY" in black pen written
boldly across some ceramic capacitors in the one that was performing
normally.

There was also no signs of any new panels - so I contact John Hall in
Melbourne ( a well known Quad repair specialist) for tips on what to look
for and how to equate serial numbers with age. The two speakers dated from
1986 while the rusty old power supply was from 1982. I took some colour
photos of the PSUs in both speakers and made notes of all date codes on
electronic parts.

I packed the speakers up like before and with Joe's help returned them to
Campsie Hi-Fi the following Monday. The same salesman appeared and I
explained that I was not happy - besides the obviously faulty unit the
speakers had not been fully restored, no proper repairs had ever been done
and had no new parts inside. I asked for a full refund then left the
speakers there as the manager was absent at the time.

The next day, I sent a one page, firm but polite letter setting out my
complaints to Campsie Hi-Fi owner and manager Mr Harry Vlotis with a demand
for a refund.

There was never any acknowledgement of, or a reply to, this letter.

I next checked with my MasterCard supplier to see if they could do a
transaction reversal - contrary to previous advice from them the answer was
now NO. Their advisor said to go to "Fair Trading" with the problem.

After another week, there was a phone message to say the Quad speakers were
"fixed" and to come and get them.

My request for a refund was being ignored so I sent another copy of my
letter to Harry Vlotis - this time by registered mail.

A few days later Harry Vlotis rang me and told me to come pick up the
speakers. Harry had a thick, guttural Greek accent.

When I asked him if there was any chance of a refund he replied simply
"nuh". After a pause I said "... see you in the Fair Trading Tribunal ".

Harry made no response to that.

I lodged an application next day with the CTTT, ( Consumer, Trader and
Tenancy Tribunal - their new name) including a detailed statutory
declaration from Joe on the events.

One month later I *finally* met Harry Vlotis at the preliminary hearing in
the CTTT's offices in Hurstville.

Harry was a most imposing character, over 2 metres tall and aged about 60.

Despite repeated requests from the (female) Tribunal Member Harry did not
want to negotiate one bit. He kept insisting that his "no refund" policy
was well known to me and applied to all his goods. He also said to the
Member he did not think that consumer laws applied to second hand goods.

She informed him very firmly he was wrong about that.

She also informed him in no uncertain fashion that his "no refund" policy
was contrary to Australian law.

In the conference room I showed Harry my various photos and other details
proving the lack of any new parts.

He replied saying (very rudely) that they just "swapped parts out" as needed
to get something working.

So "different" was EQUAL to "new" in Harry the Greek's legal book !!!!!!

As no agreement was be reached we were asked to return for a formal hearing
at a later date.

A few days later I saw ** MY** ESL63 speakers were back on sale on the
store's web site, at the SAME price, with the same details except the words
"new" and "fully restored" were now mysteriously gone !!!!!

Maybe Harry was learning !!!!!

A week before the formal hearing, Harry sent me a letter with an offer to
settle - he would pay me $500 less than what I had paid him. !!!

Whaaaaaaaattttttt !!!

$500 for the lend of one good and one faulty Quads over the weekend was not
good value for money and so I ignored this *insulting* offer.

It seemed Harry was getting a desperate, or maybe rattled.

At the formal hearing I arranged for my friend Joe to appear as a witness -
in case of any attempt to use lies to defeat the legal process.

I expected Harry would to bring the salesman as a witness, his son Jordan,
as he had been *advised to do* by the female CTTT member - but he did not.

I suspect that Jordan was not prepared to lie, so he was no use to Harry.

On December 10th , 2003 before a new (male) Tribunal Member and with the
three of us under oath, the details of whole matter were again gone through.

My witness Joe was questioned by the CTTT member, Harry and myself on
various points.

On three occasions during the 75 minute hearing, the Tribunal Member asked
if we would consider negotiating a settlement - on each occasion I said
"fine with me" - but Harry would not agree.

Harry denied the ESL63 speakers being offered on the store's web site were
the same one as mine, repeated his asinine faith in his blanket "no refund"
policy but strangely enough agreed there were no new panels fitted nor any
new
power supplies.

He alleged that I must have damaged that one speaker in transit - through
poor packing.

Joe put that straight by detailing how we had made a special trip to obtain
lots of soft packing materials for the ESLs.

The CTTT member accepted this. Harry went very quiet.

Harry then admitted he had no idea if the speakers had consecutive serials,
denied Jordan had ever said that they did ( Joe again convinced the Member
that was quite untrue) and told the Tribunal the problem with the faulty
speaker was traced to a "loose wire".

None of which seemed convincing to the member.

Eventually, we were ALL asked to leave the room for 20 minutes while the
CTTT member deliberated on the written and sworn evidence.

We retreated back to the waiting area and sat at maximum separation from
Harry.

When we were asked to return, the CTTT member had made out a "Tribunal
Order" that Campsie Hi-Fi ( aka Campsie T V Services Pty Ltd) refund me the
full purchase price within 7 days - all $3500.

He also warned Harry that his published "no refund" policy was contrary to
the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act and the NSW Fair Trading Act.

Harry did not look impressed by this.

( His illegal policy was never changed.)

Just after Christmas 2003, I received a full refund cheque from Campsie
Hi-Fi - three months after returning the ESL 63 speakers.


See the formal summary of the judgement:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCTTT/2004/63.html




........ Phil

 

[Mark Harriss]

Alan Rutlidge wrote:

And lest we not forget your gobble, gobble, gobbling in the orchestra pit
with a uni lecturer who should (for his own protection) remain nameless,
should we Phil?

Typical Phil tactic, to go to the manila folder kept under his bed,
next to the plastic green chamberpot and make up some crap in the
hopes of someone believing it.

As for Phil's uni days, I would have paid money to witness the event
in question, right now he's smacking his head against the table chanting
"No it never happened", "It's not true" over and over.

 

[TT]

"Alan Rutlidge" <don't_spam_me_rutlidge@iinet.net.au> wrote
in message
news:44560d7c$0$16952$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.n
et.au...

....... Philthy the Liar


And lest we not forget your gobble, gobble, gobbling in
the orchestra pit
with a uni lecturer who should (for his own protection)
remain nameless,
should we Phil?


Now when Philthy was at Uni (for his short stay) he was told

by fellow students "The more you suck the higher you get".
Unfortunately they were talking about "Wacky Backy" and poor
old Philthy, with his high school background, thought the
other thing )

Cheers TT (still numero uno)

 

[TT]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:4bmhn0F11ab2dU1@individual.net...

"Mark Harrarses"


Ahh yes the Quad ESL63, an oldie but a such goodie!.
An audiophile tale of derring do, action and adventure.
Such technological detective work, such resolve, such
determination to see a harmless hifi retailer receive
his comeuppance and just desserts.


** This story ??

The REAL story:


In August 2003,

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnn..............
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Phil Allison]

"Alan Rutlidge"

( snip Rutmaniac's fagotty fantasy drivel)


** Did you forget who stole all your money in 1997 ??

The Rutmaniac Arse Bandit has still **NEVER** told us how much
money that Thai pal he "imported" into Perth ripped off from his credit
card and bank accounts.

He has refused, over and over, to say why he never reported the crime his
Thai boy lover committed to his Bank or to the WA police.

** This post of his on " rec.travel asia " from 1997 explains the event:

------------------------------­------------------------------­---

" WARNING - Tourism dangers for Gay Tourists in Thailand

In my case I was coerced into sponsoring a Thai into Australia. I was
lead down the garden path into a false sense of security about my
relationship with this person. His aim was clearly to get me to purswade
the Australian Embassy to grant him a visa. Once here I didn't exist after
he drained my bank account and ran my credit card into overdraft.


Alan Rutlidge (Perth Western Australia) "

----------------------------- ------------------------------------

** The 1997 date pretty much co-incidences with the enactment of
Section 50 BA of the Commonwealth Crimes Act.

This is the law that finally made engaging in under age sex tourism
a criminal offence - with a max penalty of 17 years in jail.


BTW

The age of consent for gay males in WA in 1997 was 21 years old.

Come on - Arse Bandit - we all need to know if you were being
blackmailed.

And over what exactly ?

Did young Phouc Yu really fuck you over ?




........ Phil

 

[TT]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:4bmi43F12d2b4U1@individual.net...

Hey Quad Boy can't you actually do or say anything without

cutting and pasting exactly the same drivel year in year
out!?

It really is boring the shit out of everyone!

TT

 

[Phil Allison]

"TT"

Hey Quad Boy can't you actually do or say anything without
cutting and pasting exactly the same drivel year in year
out!?

** It's simple - Mr Grease Monkey Arsewipe.

Whenever your brain dead criminal cunt pals publish malicious lies.

I post the simple truth about them.

Not an even handed deal, but I do not need to make anything up.




........ Phil

 

[Phil Allison]

"Mark Harriss"

Typical Phil tactic, to go to the manila folder kept under his bed,
next to the plastic green chamberpot and make up some crap in the
hopes of someone believing it.

** This exact post WAS from the Rutmaniac on " rec.travel asia "
from October 11, 1997.

------------------------------­------------------------------­---

" WARNING - Tourism dangers for Gay Tourists in Thailand

Thailand used to be a nice place to visit. Friendly people, interesting
cultures, magnificent sceneery. But now it seems to be seedier than
ever even in the out of the way places like the beautiful island of
Koh Samui. I recently returned from there a couple of months ago to find
myself the victim of a very elabourate con.
Two bad experiences with Thais has left me a bit cold on the country and
considering the smog problem, rumour of raised airport taxes etc. I would
find it hard to find anything attractive about visiting there in the near
future. Everywhere you go in the world there is always the possibility
of being ripped off but some of the locals are really capitalizing on it.

In my case I was coerced into sponsoring a Thai into Australia. I was
lead down the garden path into a false sense of security about my
relationship with this person. His aim was clearly to get me to purswade
the Australian Embassy to grant him a visa. Once here I didn't exist
after he drained my bank account and ran my credit card into overdraft.




Alan Rutlidge (Perth Western Australia) "

----------------------------- ------------------------------------



** The 1997 date pretty much co-incidences with the enactment of
Section 50 BA of the Commonwealth Crimes Act.

This is the law that finally made engaging in or promoting under age
sex tourism a criminal offence - max penalty 17 years in jail.


BTW

The age of consent for gay males in WA in 1997 was 21 years old.

Come on - Arse Bandit - we all need to know if you were being
blackmailed.

And why ???

Did young " Phouc Yu " really fuck you over?





.......... Phil

 

[atec77]

Phil Allison wrote:

"TT"
Hey Quad Boy can't you actually do or say anything without
cutting and pasting exactly the same drivel year in year
out!?


** It's simple - Mr Grease Monkey Arsewipe.

Whenever your brain dead criminal cunt pals publish malicious lies.

I post the simple truth about them.

Not an even handed deal, but I do not need to make anything up.




....... Phil


The BIG question is philthy why did you think sucking some little cock

was worth ruining your life to the point of you being barely able to
make repair to the odd toaster of failed water kettle , if your claims
were true about ability you wold be far more wealthy fiscally than you
are now and certainly you wouldn't be allowed into the real word only
under care , coincidently are you still trying to relive your lost youth
buy sucking all and sundry ?.

 

[TT]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:4bmikpF11k72kU1@individual.net...

"TT"

Hey Quad Boy can't you actually do or say anything
without
cutting and pasting exactly the same drivel year in year
out!?


** It's simple - Mr Grease Monkey Arsewipe.

Whenever your brain dead criminal c**t pals publish
malicious lies.

I post the simple truth about them.

Not an even handed deal, but I do not need to make
anything up.


....... Phil

So let's look at the lies then?

1) You are from Tasmania - True
2) You bought some dodgy ESLs - True
3) Your spelling and grammar fails when you get mad - True
4) You failed to finish Uni - True
5) There is a cloud over the official reason - True
6) You have something to hide about the incident - True
7) Through snippets of information received an educated
guess has been made - True
8) You will not divulge the exact reason - True
9) Therefore it must be highly embarrassing to you - True
(see 6&7)
10) You have little or no social life - True
11) You are very good at Goggling - True
12) You feign knowledge quite well - True
13) You are a real loser - True
14) You suffer from mental illness - True
15) You regularly abuse people and suggest tragic events
should happen to them - True

I'll give it a rest here for now.

TT

 

[TT]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in
message news:4455FA7D.7EF2320D@earthlink.net...

Jeßus wrote:
poor phil, caught out yet again, lol
BTW, if you worship american-speak so much, why don't
you emigrate? I'm
sure you could find somebody to 'sponsor' you

--
/J/


Maybe to Guantanamo Bay.

Nah! Being stripped naked, put in a leather leash and told
to get on the floor and bark like a dog by a couple of big
macho Marines would just turn him on That's his idea of
a holiday camp )

Cheers TT

 

[Phil Allison]

"TT"

** It's simple - Mr Grease Monkey Arsewipe.

Whenever your brain dead criminal cunt pals publish
malicious lies.

I post the simple truth about them.

Not an even handed deal, but I do not need to make
anything up.

So let's look at the lies then?


1) You are from Tasmania - True

** FALSE - you stupid, lying prick.

2) You bought some dodgy ESLs - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

Sold as being " in perfect condition" with a full warranty.

3) Your spelling and grammar fails when you get mad - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

I get very precise and very pithy.

4) You failed to finish Uni - True

** I simply left.

5) There is a cloud over the official reason - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

I have supplied the reasons several times.

6) You have something to hide about the incident - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

There was no "incident".

7) Through snippets of information received an educated
guess has been made - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

No "information" has been supplied by any others.

8) You will not divulge the exact reason - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

Been supplied already.

9) Therefore it must be highly embarrassing to you - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

10) You have little or no social life - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

I run a home business and deal with scores of different people.

I have many friends of long acquaintance too.

11) You are very good at Goggling - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

Just average at the silly thing.

12) You feign knowledge quite well - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

I am very smart.

Something a brain dead, criminal cunt like YOU can never see.

13) You are a real loser - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

I do not have to tell lies about anyone or anything - like YOU do !!

I am my own person with no-one holding anything over me.

Puts me WAY ahead of a incorrigible scumbag & liar like YOU.

14) You suffer from mental illness - True

** FALSE - you lying prick.

Tencer is a completely pathological LIAR.

15) You regularly abuse people and suggest tragic events
should happen to them - True

** Never - you lying prick.

Anonymous scumbags posting criminal crap and threats on usenet are not
"people".

Tencer has posted many such CRIMINAL THREATS.

Tencer is a lying, criminal psychopath.

A completely evil cunt.




........ Phil

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

TT wrote:

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:4bmi43F12d2b4U1@individual.net...

Hey Quad Boy can't you actually do or say anything without
cutting and pasting exactly the same drivel year in year
out!?

It really is boring the shit out of everyone!

TT

You've heard of the "Terminator"? Well, Phil is the "Drivellnator",
who is able to bore most people to tears with a few million cut and post
replies.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Sander deWaal]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> said:

"Mark Harriss"

Ahh yes the Quad ESL63, an oldie but a such goodie!.
An audiophile tale of derring do, action and adventure.
Such technological detective work, such resolve, such
determination to see a harmless hifi retailer receive
his comeuppance and just desserts.

** This story ??

The REAL story:

<snip>

Well, assuming this story is true (and why shouldn't it be?), I think
Phil was absolutely right.

Dealers who act like this should be trialed and convicted.

And no, I'm not exactly a "friend" of Phil's ;-)

--

- Never argue with idiots, they drag you down their level and beat you with experience. -

 

[Andre Jute]

Phil Allison wrote:

"Mark Harrarses"


Ahh yes the Quad ESL63, an oldie but a such goodie!.
An audiophile tale of derring do, action and adventure.
Such technological detective work, such resolve, such
determination to see a harmless hifi retailer receive
his comeuppance and just desserts.


** This story ??

The REAL story:


In August 2003, Sydney hi-fi dealer and Quad stockist Campsie Hi-Fi
www.campsiehifi.com.au advertised a pair of second hand ESL63s for $ 4,900
on their web site. In September the asking price dropped to $ 3,900.

The web site ad said: "... one owner, in superb condition, have been fully
restored, new panels and power supply. Working in perfect order."

Friends of mine had seen the speakers in the store and were on first name
terms with one of the staff - so they suggested I should have a look at
them.

One afternoon in mid September, in company with my friend Joe, I inspected
the ESL63s. I asked the well spoken salesman questions about their age,
serial numbers, who had done the repair work and when etc.

The salesman ( Jordan) assured me in front of Joe they were a genuine,
one-owner pair with consecutive serial numbers, that some new panels and a
new power supply had been fitted by repair staff at Campsie Hi-Fi and they
were in perfect working condition. However, the store did not give demos of
traded in items.

I then made an offer on the price and after briefly conferring with the
manager Jordan returned saying it was accepted PROVIDED I bought them
immediately.

So out came my MasterCard and the deal was soon done.

Acting on advice from the same salesman, we returned to my flat first to
fetch several pillows and a doona to pack the items - since the store did
not have the original box or packing.

When I finally got them home I decided to let them warm up for a while -
since they had not been used in many months. I listened for any hums or
crackles and after an hour or so heard nothing untoward. Then I connected
them in place of my usual speakers in the lounge room.

Immediately it became obvious to Joe and myself that one speaker was way
louder than the other - so much for the perfect working order claim. Only
one of the two speakers still had its serial number label attached and this
was the one that was louder.

By now it was after 6 pm so we could not return the ESLs that day. Joe said
he could come back on the following Monday and assist me to return them.

Meanwhile, over the next couple of days I did a few simple tests on the
Quads (using pink noise and Rode SPL meter) and concluded that while one was
working quite up to spec the other was almost 9 dB down in level - though
with a normal frequency response.

With a big offset on the channel volume levels one could get normal stereo
sound but with a loss of maximum SPL of about 9 dB. Despite this the sound
was remarkable.

The problem with low volume speaker was likely in the power supply, a loss
of HT supply voltage due to leaky caps or diodes does exactly this - so I
had a peek by removing the bottom covers.

To my surprise, there was no sign of any new power supply in either speaker
but rather a RUSTY OLD one with the word "FAULTY" in black pen written
boldly across some ceramic capacitors in the one that was performing
normally.

There was also no signs of any new panels - so I contact John Hall in
Melbourne ( a well known Quad repair specialist) for tips on what to look
for and how to equate serial numbers with age. The two speakers dated from
1986 while the rusty old power supply was from 1982. I took some colour
photos of the PSUs in both speakers and made notes of all date codes on
electronic parts.

I packed the speakers up like before and with Joe's help returned them to
Campsie Hi-Fi the following Monday. The same salesman appeared and I
explained that I was not happy - besides the obviously faulty unit the
speakers had not been fully restored, no proper repairs had ever been done
and had no new parts inside. I asked for a full refund then left the
speakers there as the manager was absent at the time.

The next day, I sent a one page, firm but polite letter setting out my
complaints to Campsie Hi-Fi owner and manager Mr Harry Vlotis with a demand
for a refund.

There was never any acknowledgement of, or a reply to, this letter.

I next checked with my MasterCard supplier to see if they could do a
transaction reversal - contrary to previous advice from them the answer was
now NO. Their advisor said to go to "Fair Trading" with the problem.

After another week, there was a phone message to say the Quad speakers were
"fixed" and to come and get them.

My request for a refund was being ignored so I sent another copy of my
letter to Harry Vlotis - this time by registered mail.

A few days later Harry Vlotis rang me and told me to come pick up the
speakers. Harry had a thick, guttural Greek accent.

When I asked him if there was any chance of a refund he replied simply
"nuh". After a pause I said "... see you in the Fair Trading Tribunal ".

Harry made no response to that.

I lodged an application next day with the CTTT, ( Consumer, Trader and
Tenancy Tribunal - their new name) including a detailed statutory
declaration from Joe on the events.

One month later I *finally* met Harry Vlotis at the preliminary hearing in
the CTTT's offices in Hurstville.

Harry was a most imposing character, over 2 metres tall and aged about 60.

Despite repeated requests from the (female) Tribunal Member Harry did not
want to negotiate one bit. He kept insisting that his "no refund" policy
was well known to me and applied to all his goods. He also said to the
Member he did not think that consumer laws applied to second hand goods.

She informed him very firmly he was wrong about that.

She also informed him in no uncertain fashion that his "no refund" policy
was contrary to Australian law.

In the conference room I showed Harry my various photos and other details
proving the lack of any new parts.

He replied saying (very rudely) that they just "swapped parts out" as needed
to get something working.

So "different" was EQUAL to "new" in Harry the Greek's legal book !!!!!!

As no agreement was be reached we were asked to return for a formal hearing
at a later date.

A few days later I saw ** MY** ESL63 speakers were back on sale on the
store's web site, at the SAME price, with the same details except the words
"new" and "fully restored" were now mysteriously gone !!!!!

Maybe Harry was learning !!!!!

A week before the formal hearing, Harry sent me a letter with an offer to
settle - he would pay me $500 less than what I had paid him. !!!

Whaaaaaaaattttttt !!!

$500 for the lend of one good and one faulty Quads over the weekend was not
good value for money and so I ignored this *insulting* offer.

It seemed Harry was getting a desperate, or maybe rattled.

At the formal hearing I arranged for my friend Joe to appear as a witness -
in case of any attempt to use lies to defeat the legal process.

I expected Harry would to bring the salesman as a witness, his son Jordan,
as he had been *advised to do* by the female CTTT member - but he did not.

I suspect that Jordan was not prepared to lie, so he was no use to Harry.

On December 10th , 2003 before a new (male) Tribunal Member and with the
three of us under oath, the details of whole matter were again gone through.

My witness Joe was questioned by the CTTT member, Harry and myself on
various points.

On three occasions during the 75 minute hearing, the Tribunal Member asked
if we would consider negotiating a settlement - on each occasion I said
"fine with me" - but Harry would not agree.

Harry denied the ESL63 speakers being offered on the store's web site were
the same one as mine, repeated his asinine faith in his blanket "no refund"
policy but strangely enough agreed there were no new panels fitted nor any
new
power supplies.

He alleged that I must have damaged that one speaker in transit - through
poor packing.

Joe put that straight by detailing how we had made a special trip to obtain
lots of soft packing materials for the ESLs.

The CTTT member accepted this. Harry went very quiet.

Harry then admitted he had no idea if the speakers had consecutive serials,
denied Jordan had ever said that they did ( Joe again convinced the Member
that was quite untrue) and told the Tribunal the problem with the faulty
speaker was traced to a "loose wire".

None of which seemed convincing to the member.

Eventually, we were ALL asked to leave the room for 20 minutes while the
CTTT member deliberated on the written and sworn evidence.

We retreated back to the waiting area and sat at maximum separation from
Harry.

When we were asked to return, the CTTT member had made out a "Tribunal
Order" that Campsie Hi-Fi ( aka Campsie T V Services Pty Ltd) refund me the
full purchase price within 7 days - all $3500.

He also warned Harry that his published "no refund" policy was contrary to
the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act and the NSW Fair Trading Act.

Harry did not look impressed by this.

( His illegal policy was never changed.)

Just after Christmas 2003, I received a full refund cheque from Campsie
Hi-Fi - three months after returning the ESL 63 speakers.


See the formal summary of the judgement:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCTTT/2004/63.html

....... Phil

Damn right too, Phil, you performed a public service by exposing a
crooked hi-fi dealer. And I must say you did it in a civilized and
socialized manner. I personally would not have been so polite and so
patient. Vlotis (and his son Jordan -- I don't like flunkies lying to
me either) would have been in traction for a good long time if they
didn't give my money back immediately I asked for it.

Congratulations on proving once again that you are a more useful member
of society (in addition to being a more knowledgeable audiophile) than
that scum at aus.hi-fi. Not that the demonstration is necessary after
they danced around publicly jerking off in glee at the possibility that
you might have suffered a loss, thereby demonstrating the sort of
people they are.

Andre Jute
Our legislators managed to criminalize fox-hunting and smoking; when
they will get off their collective fat arse and criminalize negative
feedback? It is clearly consumed only by undesirables.

 

[GB]

Sander deWaal <nospam@wanadoo.nl> wrote in
news:mgec52pc11macip27ujfg67iluvrmvmq8e@4ax.com:

Dealers who act like this should be trialed and convicted.

You're showing signs of having watched too much American
television there son. You don't get 'trials' or 'convictions'
in the SCT.

GB
--
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the
entrails of the last priest." (Diderot, paraphrasing Meslier)

 

[Mark Harriss]

That's actually a new variation on an old tactic Phil:
Instead of posting some made up crap about me, you've
obviously cut and pasted made up crap about someone else
this time. Do try and get your attacks correct.

P.S. have you ever been in contact with AEM about buying
transformer components such as E and I lams or were you
just doing a Google and presenting that as personal knowledge?