Drewd (Drew Dunn) (Shellbrook Audio) - Page 3

I understand problems come up, but please keep the customer informed and be honest. Don't tell the customer the order will be shipped 18 Nov, your order is your number 1 priority over a month ago, and then tell the customer the order was shipped on 13 Dec when it was not. Not one time did Drew inform me of any delays, and I only discovered problems after repeated emails. If Drew would have keep me informed and have been more upfront about the problems I would not be complaining. I have sent many emails and only about 10 percent were answered.

Ano?

Uhm, if you haven't been to his website lately, i'd seriously consider it. He's posted a letter to his customers, as well as his phone number so he can be contacted directly. In fact, i just got off the phone with him! At any rate, it sounds like stuff REALLY hit the fan, and are finally starting to get sorted out, (in a great way), and things are getting back on track. In fact, he now has an order queue so you can see exactly what's up. I know people have been understandably upset over delays and such, but i look at it like this. The dude works a regular 9-5, and does this with any spare time he has. That's not supposed to be an excuse, or anything. If nothing else, it makes me more patient. *shrugs* But that could just be me.

Decay

Purchased a custom PIMETA from Drew. Seems he got a little busy during the latter months of 2004 but whenever he forgot something, he went out of his way to make up for it. Which is more important, as everyone gets busy and everyone forgets sometimes. His service and communication throughout the process were absolutely outstanding. I highly recommend Drew and Shellbrook Audio. The amp itself was very well crafted and built exactly as I had requested and imagined it would look and sound. I've been meaning to post the pics of it too.

DrewD

Purchased a Super Mini Moy from Drew in early December. Initial service and shipping was prompt and courteous. The amp turned out to be defective, after confirming this with Drew I sent it back to him in early January (he received in on the 7th). I have been told many times that it would ship out and its in the shop ready to be shipped, but as of today, I have gotten nothing back from Drew. I've attempted to contact him via email at both of his addresses and have received no replies since last week when he sent me an automated message that USPS was ready to receive the amp for shipment to me. I have tried to be reasonable by trying to contact him via email but it seems I'm now being purposely ignored.

I know he is a respected member of this community, but I will never do business with him again.

I own drews super mini moy, love this amp, sounds great, built very well and drew is just a super nice person.

has great communication, and great shipping. if your interesed in one of his great products dont delay and do it, you wont be sorry.

My experience is almost exactly the same as vphan13's. I purchased a super mini moy in the beginning of Jan. The one shipped to me was defective and took awhile to get a new one.

Update: Replacement amp received today and works great. There was some mix-ups with shipping and missed ship dates, but in the end, the amp came and I'm satisfied.

My experience with Shellbrook Audio Labs

After months of lurking here in the forums, I recently decided to purchase my first headphone amp. Based mostly on my budget (~$150), I narrowed my choices down to a few different amps and ultimately decided on the Maxi Moy from Shellbrook Audio Labs (SAL, hereafter). Around the time that I decided to purchase an amp, there were a couple of ongoing threads discussing "problems" that some people were having with SAL/Drew Dunn. As I recall, there were problems with some people not receiving orders when they were told to expect them, not getting responses to e-mail, etc. But there were also people who spoke highly SAL amps and Drew Dunn personally. In the end, I decided to take a chance and placed an order for the Maxi Moy. The following details my experience with Shellbrook Audio Labs and Drew Dunn. Your mileage may vary (hopefully for the better)...

I placed an order for the Maxi Moy, an A/C adapter and an interconnect cable through SAL's website on Sunday, 1/9/05. As I was about to submit payment, I noticed that the voltage listed for the A/C adapter in my cart was different than what was listed on SAL's website. So I added a small note to my order asking Drew to confirm that I was purchasing the correct A/C adapter for the Maxi Moy. Later that day, I sent an e-mail to Drew saying that I'd be using the Maxi Moy with Senn HD-580s in case he needed to do anything special to tweak the amp for these particular phones. I received two e-mails from Drew soon thereafter.

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From: Drew Dunn [me@fluidlight.com]
Sent: Sun 1/9/2005 4:53 PM

Hi Brennon,

Yes, that was a typo. The AC adapter is 24V - our web site hasn't kept up with the improvements to our amplifiers!

Your amplifier will be completed and ready to ship on Monday, January 17th via USPS Priority Mail. You'll receive an automated email with the shipping information on Sunday the 16th.

Thanks for your order and please let me know if you have any other questions or comments!

Drew
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From: Drew Dunn [amps@shellbrooklab.com]
Sent: Sun 1/9/2005 4:54 PM

Hi Brennon,

Thanks for the head's up - the Maxi Moy will work perfectly out of the box with the HD580's. In fact, that is one of the headphones that we use to test the amplifier with!

Thanks again,
Drew
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At some point during the next week, a letter from Drew entitled "A Letter to My Valued Customers" appeared on the SAL website. After reading this letter, I felt a little more confident in my decision to order from SAL in light pf the ongoing threads by some individuals who'd had a bad experience with the company. Drew mentioned the changes that he planned to make at SAL in order to address the problems that some people had experienced. He went on to say that he would back up a shipping date with his wallet. It's always nice to know that you're dealing with someone who's willing to "put their money where their mouth is", so to speak.

Sunday, 1/16/05 came and went and I never received the automated e-mail with shipping information that Drew told me to expect. So I waited until Tuesday, 1/18/05 and when I still hadn't received any shipping information, I sent the following e-mail to Drew.

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Hi Drew,

I just wanted to check on the status of the amp that I ordered. I didn’t get the automated e-mail that you mentioned but it’s possible that my ISP’s spam filters might have blocked it.

Thanks very much!
Brennon
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I received this response a few hours later (still 1/18/05).

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From: Drew Dunn [drewd@nospin.org]
Sent: Tue 1/18/2005 4:24 PM

Hi Brennon,

I ran out of AC adapters! The replacements will be in tomorrow - I'm very sorry...I lost track of my stock of them. I'll be shipping your amp tomorrow afternoon as soon as they arrive.

Thanks again,
Drew
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Ok, accidents happen. I understand that. I replied and just said 'Thanks for the update!' The next day, I received another e-mail from Drew:

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From: Drew Dunn [me@fluidlight.com]
Sent: Wed 1/19/2005 6:10 PM

Hi Brennon,

I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know that your amp will be shipping Friday morning. I accidentally ran out of AC adapters and I expect a shipment tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. After I test them, I'll package everything up and send it on its way. I'm sorry for the delay!

Thanks again,
Drew
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This was disappointing news, but maybe the A/C adapters didn't arrive on Wednesday as Drew had expected. And Friday was only a couple of more days away. Friday came and went with no sign of an automated e-mail with shipping information. On Saturday (1/22/05), I sent Drew another quick e-mail...

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Hi Drew,

Thanks for the update. Did the amp ship out by USPS Priority Mail?

Thanks,
Brennon
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...and received the following reply.

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From: Drew Dunn [me@fluidlight.com]
Sent: Sat 1/22/2005 7:55 AM

Hi Brennon,

Yes, it went out via Priority Mail and should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks again!
Drew
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Ok, so I didn't get an automated e-mail telling me my order shipped but I was glad knowing that it finally had. I waited until Wednesday evening (1/26/05) but still no package from SAL/Drew. So I sent another e-mail...

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Hi Drew,

My mail was just delivered today (Wednesday) and I haven’t received your package yet. Based on your e-mail below, I was expecting it to be delivered yesterday. Our mail is almost always on time, so I’m a bit concerned that something may have happened to the package. I was under the impression that there’s no way to track USPS priority mail while it’s in transit and that these types of packages are normally not insured. Do you receive any kind of notification from USPS regarding status and/or delivery?

Keeping my fingers crossed,
Brennon
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I didn't get a response from Drew that day. When I got home from work the next day (Thursday, 1/27/05), I checked my mail and still no package. I also hadn't received a reply from Drew yet so I sent this e-mail as a follow-up.

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Drew,

I’m sorry to say that my mail was just delivered and I still haven’t received my amp. After visiting the order status page on your website, I’m even more confused. The status of my order is still listed as “testing”. In addition, I also saw the notice about orders including AC adapters not being shipped until the 26th/27th. At this point, a small part of me hopes that the amp didn’t actually ship last Friday (as stated in your e-mail below) because at least I’d know that it hadn’t been lost in the mail. Please clarify the status of my order.

Brennon

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Later that day, I received the following reply.

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From: Drew Dunn [drewd@nospin.org]
Sent: Thu 1/27/2005 10:41 AM

Hi Brennon,

It did ship - yours was the last of the AC adapters. I just didn't get your entry updated on the web site. I'm going to send out another package for you and take the problem up with the post office. If two packages should show up from Shellbrook Audio Lab, just refuse the second one and the post office will send it back.

Thanks again,
Drew
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At this point I'm wondering what happened to my amp? Is it lost in the mail somewhere? Did it really ship when Drew said it did? I remembered Drew saying I would get an automated e-mail when my order shipped but I never got one. It wasn't until I contacted him that I was told that my order had shipped. If Drew was going to send out another package for me, how much longer would it take to build and test a whole new amp? I went to the SAL website and looked at the order status page to find that the status of my order was still listed as "Testing" (as it had been since shortly after placing my order on 1/9/05). In addition, there was a note on the front page of the SAL website about another shortage of A/C adapters. I thought about it some more and then sent this e-mail to Drew.

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Drew,

I see by the order status on your website that you’ve received quite a few orders since mine was placed on 1/9. Given these existing orders and the fact that my original order has apparently been lost by USPS (meaning you’ll now have to build and test another amp), when do you expect to ship this new order?

Brennon
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Drew sent the following reply.

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From: Drew Dunn [drewd@nospin.org]
Sent: Thu 1/27/2005 11:47 AM

Saturday at the latest - I'll bump yours up to the head of the line. I'll try to get it out tomorrow afternoon, if possible.

Thanks,
Drew
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By now, I was wondering if this was just my bad luck or if I really made a mistake in placing this order. The amp that I ordered back on 1/9/05 wasn't going to ship until Saturday, 1/29/05. The weekend came and went without any update from Drew. Each day I came home hoping to find a package from SAL in my mailbox. No package arrived but I did receive this e-mail on Wednesday, 2/2/05.

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From: USPS_Shipping_Services
Sent: Wed 2/2/2005 1:32 AM

@**** This is a post-only message. Please do not respond. ****

Dear BRENNON XXXXXXXX,

This ship notification is being sent to you by the U.S. Postal Service® at the request of ANDREW M DUNN.

A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com containing the following information is scheduled to be shipped on 02/01/2005.

From:Shipped to:
XXXXXX

Type of Service: Priority Mail
Label Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

To check on the delivery status of your package, please go to Track and Confirm at www.usps.com.

Thank you,
United States Postal Service®
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I've continued to check my mail box and the Track and Confirm page at the USPS website but have yet to receive my amp. The information at the USPS website remains unchanged since Wednesday.

========================================
Current Status

You entered XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper or shipping partner on February 02, 2005 to expect your package for mailing. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.
========================================

As of today, Saturday, 2/5/05, I still have not received my order that was placed on 1/9/05 from Shellbrook Audio Labs. For those of you who might not have read the letter that I mentioned above on SAL's website, I'd like to refer back to one thing in particular that was stated in it...

"Second, when I give a shipping date, it will be a promise backed up by my wallet. If I miss the shipping date, you'll get 10% of the purchase price of your amplifier back."

As I said previously, this is a pretty strong statement to make and it definitely helped re-assure me that I'd make a good decision to order from SAL. Oddly, though, this offer was not extended to me at any point during the past 26 days since I placed my order. That's not to say that I expected (or would have accepted) it, but merely that it would have been a nice gesture given the multiple delays that my order has experienced.

While I'm waiting for my amp to arrive, I'd like to hear from other people who've ordered from SAL lately. What has your experience been like? If you've received your order already, are you pleased with your amp?

Thanks for reading,
Brennon

Hmm..

Brennon,

Saw your message on the other board.

My mini-moy "shipped" on the 31st. It should be here by now. Drew has replied to all of my messages within hours. I kinda doubt something fishy is going on.

Well...I'm hoping it's just a delay due to some mistake or something like that.

If it's not here by Monday I'll be a little bit worried though.

I ordered my Maximoy back in November or so, before Drew was flooded with orders, and everything went fine. Seems to me like this is just a recent thing since his amps got more popular and he can't catch up with the demand on his own.

Yea, that's what I was thinking. He's a small businessman and he has a popular product. He's probably just flooded with work right now.

Barry

my amp was shipped 5 days after the scheduled shipping date, I also accidentally got the wrong mini cable with my order, but hey. accidents happen. He mailed out the correct mini cable the next day (still in transit but, recieved a usps confirmation) and I mailed back the wrong mini.

I totally forgot about the 10% deal hah. Ah well, for a one man business, I was already expecting some bumps in the order process, so when my amp was in building past the expected ship date. I thought nothing of it, since there were a slew of other amps still in testing. Then one day I check the status, and like 20 amps shipped the same day.. I assume, it was easier for him to ship all at once rather then have USPS pick up amps everyday.

Well I have the amp its really neat looking, I have yet to test it (Grados and e2cs still in transit), but I dont regret ordering from Shellbrook. With small time business', my past experience has taught me to expect shipping delays 90 percent of time. It happened to me all the time on Ebay auctions.

it took about 14 days to recieve my mini moy from date of order rather then 7 days.. not bad for a made to order product. My headsave amp actually took 3-4 weeks.

a bit off topic: I also ordered a DDR metal pad from cobalt flux and was given a 2 week building time, it actually shipped 3 weeks later and took almost a month for them to build one ddr pad and ship it. They were a small time company too, i believe 7 employees.

Shellbrook labs

I ordered back in november and still haven't received my amp. 6 weeks ago I poseted my experiences on this forum and finally got a response from drew after over a month of silence assuring me it would be bumped to the head of the line and sent immdeiately. Six weeks on there is still no sign. I last heard from him over a week ago when he said it ws being dispatched next day, but when I requested a tracking number I got no response.

Another 4 weeks have elapsed since I posted to this thread - still no sign of the amp.

i bought an amp from drew back in december and personally i would never deal with him again. i dont want to spread rumors as to what is always causing delays. he also charges way too much for his amps. he needs to hire another worker if he is this bogged down. i am quite certain he is the only one working and is making many mistakes and errors in shipment and in building just to pocket more money. maybe he has so many delays because he is using a book to build these things because he is an amatuer.

I have exactlly problem. I sent an amp back to Drew for fixing a minor problem. However, It took like 4-5 months to fix and i still not receive the amp back yet. It keeps delay for many times and hardly to get his reply. However, he offers me a free new case with a custom front panel.He is a nice guy but i think he need more ppl to help him.