Zinky Superfly blog - Part 66: Taking It To The BBB

Receiving no communications from Bruce, on 4 February 2010 I decided to try the Better Business Bureau covering Flagstaff, AZ.

Filing a complaint on-line was not overly complicated, the toughest aspect being the condensing of the whole miserable tale into less than 2030 characters of text.

I received a pro-forma confirmation email straight away, and waited to see what happened... for a surprisingly rapid development, see part 67!

My complaint

1. Primary Classification

Guarantee Or Warranty Issues

2. Secondary Classification

Repair Issues

3. Problem:

On 23 April 2008 I shipped from the UK to the offices of Zinky Electronics an electric guitar amplifier made by the Zinky company. The amplifier (a "Superfly" model) had developed an intermittent fault and the Zinky company offers a lifetime warranty on products like this one. Prior to shipping it I had discussed the fault with Bruce Zinky by email and agreed that he would investigate the fault and also perform some upgrade work that the company offered at a fixed price of $100. In addition he would supply - at my cost - a new wooden case. Mr Zinky maintained that due to the complicated design of the amplifier, he was the only person in the world knowledgeable enough to do the repair and upgrade work, so I paid around $200 to ship it to him.
It arrived on 29 April 2008 and work was started. Since then there have been multiple long delays. Sometimes months would go by with no news from Bruce Zinky, until I sent further emails enquiring what was happening. By 27 October 2008 he stated in an email "This has taken so long, I can't charge for the update any more."
However by 11 June 2009 there had been so little progress that I actually offered him a $1000 bounty to finish the work by 31 July. His response was simply "I will finish it, and you will pay nothing." Finally after more emails, on 15 September 2009 I received an email declaring "Should ship tomorrow, no charge." and after yet more chasing up, another email on 19 October 2009 stating that "the chassis is done. I just need to... get it on the way", concluding "I'll do that today.". That was over three months ago and despite five more unanswered emails I have no idea when, or if, Bruce Zinky will return my amplifier.
I have attempted to remain patient and have offered to pay the original agreed costs even after Bruce's "no charge" decision, while my amplifier has languished untouched on his workbench for months at a time.
I have documented the whole history of this issue on my website as a blog. Please visit http://www.dave.st/zinkyblog

Desired outcome:

To have my amplifier shipped back to me in a working state (with a new set of vacuum tubes as agreed). I don't care about the replacement wooden case. I will pay the originally agreed costs for the upgrade work and vacuum tubes. I would like my amp back before the 2-year anniversary of it being delivered to Zinky Electronics.