Drew of Shellbrooksaudio - Page 5  

GPalmer, if you have some sort of specific gripe with me, please PM me about it. Why does anyone post on a forum? To post their opinion. I posted mine.

People were effectively calling Drew a crook, making suggestions that they get the FBI involved. I posted my opinion, based on having read most of the threads about Shellbrook that have cropped up over the months, that I didn't think he's a crook or dishonest and that he just has minor personality problems. Other people are entitled to draw their own opinions about Drew's strange behavior, of course. Feel free to post yours.

In these often-repeated threads this manufactuer provides good explanations but perhaps I've missed where he addresses a potentially crucial point. I'm actually considering buying one of his amps and while these threads make me a bit nervous, what makes me particuarly hesitant is an issue that Wodgy raised. I've counted dozens of customers who have claimed that this manufacturer has shipped out an amp when that is not the case, in many cases a claim that the manufacturer makes repeatedly and often consecutively to customers. I too noticed that this wasn't directly addressed in any of the latest responses. If the manufacturer comes back to this forum, I wonder if he would be so kind as to help clarify?

Edit - I also wonder if one solution might be to hire a distribution fulfillment/managment service, helping the manufacturer manage these difficulties and allowing him to perhaps produce more product or to ease his schedule?

Well surprise, surprise. The ipodstudio thread I'd linked to above, has mysteriously disappeared. Hopefully some of you got to see it before that happened.

Also, to clarify, this has nothing to do with our Duncan. It's the Duncan known here as ipodstudio aka didikossa aka R1D1 aka migraineboy aka setharmstrong and at ipodstudio as full monty aka setharmstrong aka "who knows who else".

Sorry to get off track again, but this guy really bugs me.

I managed to have a look before it went bye bye.

My 5 cents

In April '04 I contacted an amp builder named Drew D. after seeing one of his amps on Ebay- I asked him if he could build me a custom clone amp. Might be the same Drew that has posted in this thread. He was very intelligent and friendly and sent long emails about all the details and answered all of my many questions.
I sent him payment but 2 or 3 months later the amp was still not finished. (He was waiting on parts, he went on vacation, he was sick, he had other builds to complete, etc.) The longer I waited the harder it was to get a reply from him. Well I needed the money for other things anyway so I asked him for a refund. A while later I did see the money back in my Paypal account with no email or message from the builder to inform me.
Anyway, I don't know if this is the same Drew. (In our correpsondence he never mentioned Shellbrook Labs.) If necessary, just disregard or delete my post. But I went through the same type of experience that has been described by others on head-fi, so thought I'd share my story for what it's worth.
Cheers

Follow up: Ok I read through the posts on the buyer/seller feedback thread and confirmed via last name and email address that it is the same Drew that I ordered from (outside of Head-Fi.)
Again, from my interaction with him through the first several weeks, he was VERY nice and friendly and knowledgeable. And the price was good. But yes, I did have problems with not receiving responses in the end and waiting on the amp for months.
At the time I didn't know how long it should take to build an amp, so even after a few months of waiting, I was embarrassed about asking him for a refund. Now that I know other buyers had similar problems, I don't feel so bad about backing out of the sale and getting my money back.
But as I am still shopping around for an amp, I really wish things had worked out- I would love to have that amp right now!!

I found a few of his emails that I saved and here are some excerpts from them:

-----
4/29: The lead time on it would be about two weeks to allow for parts ordering, layout, build and testing.

5/25: I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you on the amp. I
was a little under the weather yesterday...

5/28: I'll be able to start working on your amp next week (I have
several others in the queue right now) and June 5th through June 13th I'll be on vacation at Lake Powell. I expect to have it finished sometime during the week of 6/13.

7/2: It's the waiting game right now. Your case is being manufactured by Par-Metal in New York. It should arrive next week, then I'll cut the front panel, install everything and test it for a day. Keep your fingers crossed - it should be ready to go by next weekend.

7/9: I'm still waiting for the case. It should be in any day.

7/17: Still we wait. I'm going to call Par-Metal on Monday to see what the status is on the case. It should be finished by now...

7/25: Still we wait...
-----

On 10/25 (October 25th) I received the refund in my Paypal account.

Anyway, if Drew eventually can consistently deliver on-time products in good shape at that price, he'll have a good business going. As you can imgaine from the email excerpts, maybe it really was just a vendor delay. Overall, I wish him well- no hard feelings here. But considering the number of people that have had similar issues, I think it's good for me to share my experience.

Mod, please move or delete this thread as appropriate.

Cheers always!

After more than 2 weeks of silence, drew has contacted me and gave me the order number of my package which will arrive soon.
Communication seems to be restored.
Faith has not been restored.
Anger and frustration is still around.

Main thing is that his customers issues will resolve as soon as possible and for me, as a customer, that is a big relief.
That doesn't mean that I now believe Drew, there are still differences in his information but at this point it is not relevant.
He first needs to show his customers that his words now are true. Each can draw it's own conclusions, and move on.
Time will tell...

Sometimes someone needs a good wake-up call; AlanY came in like a buffalo stampede and I can't help but think that the word 'FBI' made Drew jump up like he was in one of professor Pavlov's experiments.
I don't know Drew personally either but what Wodgy said including the FBI part all this got in higher gear, those were my thoughts exactly.

fyi I have told drew my personal grief in pm, it is not that i only ventilate my frustration in this thread, just so you know.
I just hope he didn't add an extra piece of C4 in the amps

to be continued...

After he got on this forum requesting his cutomers to PM him ASAP, I PM-ed him last night through this forum regarding my two cable ordered back in mid June. I requested a full refund. He promptly replied to my PM and refunded me in few hours. I got what I wanted, after such a long wait for simple cable order. End of story. The business transaction was (finally) settled. Good luck Drew.

I just want to enjoy my musice...and look forward and dream about new amps and more expensive headsets that's out there to be enjoyed.

I'm glad this is all getting settled. But next time anybody is buying an amp, i suggest he should take a look at the feedback forum first. There're tons of great builders out there...

I understand all your gripes with Drew, but your sig is tacky and immature. You shouldn't become a martyr over this amp...

Drew, I've PM you too, but yet to receive your reply. Please contact me and resolve the issue ASAP.

Perhaps he should just shut up and not say anything? He lost~$500. He made a transaction in good faith and was misinformed about all sorts of details. The only venue he has to punish the amp builder is feedback. Which is exactly what his sig accomplishes. The feedback system only works when people make their opinions public.

For the same reason I appreciate wodgy's comments and he raises a good point.

But in the End I agree with IBan and think it was AlanY's mention of the FBI that probably sparked the now prompt reactions.

No you don't.

I like to think that my sig has made people realise that drew's administration was not up to date.
My sig at this moment is an update for those who showed interest before.

Your post was really helpful and will certainly help to solve all this.

First I would like to thank those Head-Fi members (you know who you are) who contacted Drew, alerting him of this thread and our situation. It's much appreciated!

Second, Drew contacted me last night and is working on completing my order ASAP. The correct tube sockets and revised circuit boards are in stock and he is finishing my Hybrid Head. Unfortunately the capacitors needed to complete the upgraded PSU are not on hand. However he hopes to find a local source and have my Amp + PSU dispatched on Monday.

I would like to mention during this long wait, Drew was very generous in allowing me to hold on to a Super Mini Moy (which I am enjoying). The only concerns I had, mainly due to this thread was the fear that I bought myself a $425 USD Super Mini Moy !!

Yes, I DO. Everyone on this board does.

I think I would find a way to better update those interested, maybe a PM? Also, I know I'm not trying to solve your case, but publically ragging on a guy isn't too cool either.