I'll say this for him - Marty does OK work and you'll find that out IF you can get your gear back anywhere close to the time he quotes out.
I've been to Futara twice. Once was to get my Boogie amp repaired, and I didn't want to drive 70 miles to Hollywood to drop it off at the Boogie shop. The amp was having some problems, and he quoted me a 2-3 week turnaround time. I got it back after asking for it on week 4. He didn't charge me for labor (parts only) and the repair has held up.
The next experience was the one that resulted in me deciding not to come back. My bass player's SVT was on the fritz, so I took it in and was quoted a 2-3 week lead time.
At the end of week 2 I called to check the status of the amp, and left a message. I got a call back a day later saying that he had not started working on it but he would soon. Ok...
At the end of week 3 I called again, and it was 3-4 days before I got a call back and that was only after several messages. Again... he still had not started work on the amp!! I asked for an explanation for the delay and his ACTUAL response was "I've been very backed up, I got a big work order for a very important client and I had to take care of it."
Oh, I see. Whomever you're helping is more important than I am. Ok... I get the message. I'm not important enough for you to simply fix the damn amp on time like you said you would. I told him I wanted the amp fixed ASAP as he is now well over the time limit quoted, and I am spending money weekly for a rental.
Close to the end of the 4th week of not having the amp, I ask him if he's done with the amp yet. He said he's looked at it, and he's not sure what the problem is, but he knows what it ISN'T. That's no help to me. I call back 2 days later and he said the amp still isn't fixed. At this point I've had it. I tell him that I'm going to be there tomorrow to pick up the amp, fixed or not. If it's not fixed I'm not going to pay a dime.
Well guess what happened? The amp magically got fixed and the problem solved and parts replaced overnight! I step into his shop and the first thing he says is "Ok, I got it ready - this was a real pain in the ass to fix though..."
First of all, I don't want to hear how much trouble the amp was to fix. I'm playing you to take care of that. Second of all, you're a week behind schedule and I'm paying for a rental to cover that downtime. Third of all, you're the one who didn't touch the thing for 3-1/2 weeks because you had a more important client, remember?
He offered no discount to comp for the extra time the amp was out, nor did he acknowledge how late he was. He cost me almost $287 of work on a $1000 amp, and the job probably took a few hours, judging by the phone conversations I had. Almost $300 in repairs plus what I paid for a rental for the amp to sit and gather dust for the better part of four weeks.
On another note: I work as a manager at a music store that is part of the largest music retail company in the US. I would not recommend this shop to any of my customers. In fact, I would tell them to take their business elsewhere, somewhere where they will be appreciated instead of being told that another client is more important. I told my Operations Manager about this shop and he said, "Oh, we already have them on our black list. I had to deal with them once... never again!"
Don't go here to get your gear fixed. It'll cost you a lot and take twice as long as he says it will. If he's got as many "important" customers as he claims to have, I doubt he'll notice the loss of business. read more
