Horrible experience with a Nak Tech

[manojrc]

Admin, please delete if this post violates any forum rules.

Dear All,

I got this contact for this Kolokota based Nak tech from a random OLX user who was selling a deck.( Or is it the same Tech person !! Read on.. )
I promptly contacted this 50 year old self procliamed Nak expert ( Don't want to disclose his name now, since I filed a complaint in the consumer forum. If anyone wants to know his name, please DM me. I may eventually disclose his name if needed ). I sent him a video of the tape deck and he confirmed that it costs max 5k including service + spares. I agreed and shipped to his address.

Since received the deck, he has been asking to sell it to him for parts which I refused. Then after a few days, he informed me that VU meters can't be repaired.
Then he confirmed to me that he restored the deck & sent a final bill, hold your breath, worth Rs 17500 !!! I requested him to send me the detailed bill, which he did.
I checked the price of a replacement IC & saw that he charged me over 5k for 4 ICs. I checked online the price and to my shock, I found that it's just Rs 64 ( Sixty Four rupee ) !! Overall he charged me 13k for components alone but the retail price of these components is less than 200 rupee.. !!

Also when I prompted, he confirmed that he couldn't fix the Auto record azimuth issue !!. Basically, he couldn't do much other than it now plays tapes !!!

When I confronted him with the evidence of overcharging, he arrogantly increased the final bill amount and now I've to pay 27k including shipping !!!

I can only blame myself for trusting such Fraud techs.

I've mainly two issues in this transaction

1) Technician never informed me of the revised estimate to get my approval before starting the work.
2) Charging 100 times more markup is totally unacceptable & unethical. Now I want to know whether this is even legal. That's why I filed a consumer complaint

This post has few objectives. Tarnishing someone's ( or a company's ) image in a public forum is NOT the one. Instead, I want to share my learnings with this wonderful community.

1) Always get all T&C in writing. Always inform tech that if it's more than 5% of the initial estimate, they have to formally inform you & get your written approvals
2) Try to get it repaired locally. This will also save shipping cost & avoid potential damages. Since I couldn't find anyone in Kerala, I had to go this way. A known devil is better.....
3) Get the details about the components to be replaced upfront. If you can source it, that's better. This will also give the technician a message that they can't over charge you

I'll appreciate if you share your experience with consumer complaints. Have you tried? Does it really work? Will we get justice in these kinds of cases? In fact the technician even claims that since we don't have any such government norms, he can charge whatever he wants & even challenged me to file any kind of cases against him !!!

All feedback, suggestions, recommendations are welcome..Also, please do suggest a good Nak Tech in Kerala ( Kochi )

Thank you and have a wondereful new year ahead

- Manoj

 

[keith_correa]

He did say 5k each (whatever that is supposed to mean)!

 

[manojrc]

Good question. I also have another deck which also needs servicing and I shared a video of second deck also with him.. So he was taking about 5k each for the decks. Glad that I didn’t send the second deck… !!!

 

[nikhilblr]

I think I know who you are talking about. does this person also sell audio decks? because he on sold me a non working deck. If it's the same person he is there on this forum as well.

 

[manojrc]

Yes he does sell decks. In fact he projected as if Nak CD-1 is the best in the world & offered me one for a cool 75k !!!

Update : Now he agreed to repair the VU meter issue but still insist to pay the inflated component cost. He also finally admitted that he has no skill & expertise to fix the auto azimuth issue. It is too complicated for him, he says now.. Also surprised to see his change in tone from ‘I’m the best in industry’ to ‘I’m not Willy Herman’ . Since I haven’t received the deck back, I don’t want to judge his skill in this area. I shall post a separate review for that later.

 

[Nitin K]

Thanks for sharing your views Manoj. This will surely warn and help others.
Honesty is a virtue that is seldom found in the repairing area. Can understand your dilemma since your unit is with him and he has the cards in his favour.

 

[manojrc]

Thanks Nitin. Looks like few other members also had terrible experience with this individual. Based on their narratives, we could safely conclude that he is a fraud and repeat offender. It is a shame that we still have such people, pretending to be technicians, to cheat to get our hard earned money. It’s terrible to go through these kinda ordeal with such frauds, not to mention financial losses..

 

[ajuvignesh]

You should go ahead and reveal his name. No more people who read this thread should fall for it.

 

[manojrc]

I certainly understand your point but as I mentioned initially, the purpose of the post is to create certain awareness. Though initially I wanted to give him benefit of doubt, now after hearing horror stories from forum members about their bad experiences with this guy, I may disclose his identity. But I still want to give him a chance to restore my deck & charge me a reasonable amount for his service & spares.
Ideally he should honour his initial estimate.. In such case, it will be unfair to punish him, IMHO. Mistakes do happen. After all, every criminal should get an opportunity to reform themselves
It is a developing story…So let’s see how it goes. I shall keep you guys posted..

Thanks..

 

[manojrc]

The plot thickens !!

With the input from a fellow forum member ( Who bought a deck from this same guy but received a non working one!! ), I went back and checked the now disabled ad on Olx from where I got this Tech's contact number.

So the story goes like this. I saw this ad on Olx for a Nak deck. Seller name is 'Olx User' ( clue clue ). He is from Kolkata. I contacted him to get a Nak tech details since a deck user obviously needs such help for periodic maintenance. Now see the attached chat transcript. To conclude, the 'Olx user' from whom I got this Tech's contact number is the Tech himself !!! He cleverly manipulated and convinced me to send the deck to himself. Sounds like 'The Hills have eyes' movie or similar movie story !!

 

[nikhilblr]

When this person sold me a non working tape deck ( which he claimed was working) , he pretended that he did not know anything about tape decks or electronics and was selling his brothers tape deck as his brother had moved abroad. On the other hand he told Manoj that he is an expert on repairing Nakamichi cassette decks. This guy is a major scammer and advertises his cassette decks for sale on OLX and Facebook.

 

[shibashis]

The plot may thicken like few days old milk but I have to say OP, you should have been more careful.
Trusting someone online without any reference/provenance and then parting with your prized possessions, is not the smartest thing to do.
You have brought this issue to light and others will be thankful and not fall for such blatant scams but unfortunately this is a lesson hard-earned for you, not a cheap one by the looks of it.

 

[greenhorn]

What Decks did you give him to service? I am not sure a manufacturer such as nakamichi would use discrete logic gate ic's. Can confirm if you can share model numbers

 

[manojrc]

The plot may thicken like few days old milk but I have to say OP, you should have been more careful.
Trusting someone online without any reference/provenance and then parting with your prized possessions, is not the smartest thing to do.
You have brought this issue to light and others will be thankful and not fall for such blatant scams but unfortunately this is a lesson hard-earned for you, not a cheap one by the looks of it.

As you may have observed, I got this so called reference from an Olx seller who happened to be the scammer himself !!
Yes this is an expensive lesson learned, unfortunately..

 

[manojrc]

What Decks did you give him to service? I am not sure a manufacturer such as nakamichi would use discrete logic gate ic's. Can confirm if you can share model numbers

670ZX

Attached is the final receipt and you can see the list of repair he claims to performed..Total around 22k !!! Even for that money, he couldn’t fix VU meter issue and he has no clue about how to fix azimuth issue. With these kinda issues, the deck is as good for parts and may worth 5-10k and I’ve to pay 22k plus 2k shipping !!!

 

[keith_correa]

He's counting on you giving up and literally gifting him the machine after you see the light.

 

[manojrc]

He's counting on you giving up and literally gifting him the machine after you see the light.

If I pay, he wins and if I give up, still he wins !! That’s win - win for him but that’s the end result every frauds expect right !!

 

[reubensm]

670ZX

Attached is the final receipt and you can see the list of repair he claims to performed..Total around 22k !!! Even for that money, he couldn’t fix VU meter issue and he has no clue about how to fix azimuth issue. With these kinda issues, the deck is as good for parts and may worth 5-10k and I’ve to pay 22k plus 2k shipping !!!

That is definitely not enough information on the handwritten bill - Nak OEM parts can be sourced only for a few genuine sources across the world or from old equipment. As a customer you are entitled to insist that new genuine OEM parts are freshly procured and installed in your deck. The purchase invoices of these parts should also be shared with you. Given the gravity of the situation, it would be best that you meet up with him in person and sort things out. As a customer you have the option of asking the person to reverse whatever he has done and send the deck back in the condition which you sent it to him (assuming you have video evidence for validating). He ideally cannot claim any repair charges if he was unable to fix the primary issues with the deck which you went to him for. It is highly unlikely that he changed any parts in the first place, Could have just re-soldered the originals to show that work was done (again, hope you have photographs of the originalsfor validating)

Ps: a neutral opinion from me - there are many clowns out there online, masquerading as persons with knowledge of hi-fi, maintenance, restoration, etc. My personal belief has always been, if one does not understand about what is inside the box and how it all works, it is better to educate oneself before venturing out. When communicating with a person in the repair business, there are many pointers and flags one can look for, if the owner of the equipment is knowledgeable and experienced. On the other hand, one needs to be well prepared before going to a Mech as the reverse will also happen wherein the Mech tries to evaluate the potential customer with the intent to maximize revenue. For more valuable or complex equipment, it is always better to deal with the folks in person.

 

[Kannan]

Will be cheaper to travel to Kolkata, meet in person, check if deck is actually repaired and collect after paying optimal amount.

 

[Phani24]

Will be cheaper to travel to Kolkata, meet in person, check if deck is actually repaired and collect after paying optimal amount.

is it good to meet such a scammer inperson at his place.