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Bloody bloody bloody annoyed

GruntPuppy

pfm Member
This is not the way one should wake up.

The postman called at 7.30am this morning (not a problem - I'm quite frequently awake at this time of day, sadly sometimes from the day before), and delivered a platter this morning from Iceni Audio.

So... opening up -

(1) The shim he was supposed to include for VTA wasn't there. Again, not a problem. Plenty of places to buy these, and it gives me an excuse to buy a nice one elsewhere. He was chucking it in for free, no biggie.

(2) WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT DOING ENGRAVED ON THE TOP PLATTER? Yep, there it is - engraved twice on the top platter, Iceni Audio Ltd. It's not in the pictures on their website, or on their eBay listing. So what should have been a flawless black surface has their name laser engraved on it. Twice. In letters just over half an inch high.

I'm not building a rally car, I'm building a turntable. It's not a sponsored turntable, for sure. An email has been sent to see if they've got platters that actually match the pictures they've been using to sell them.

This is off the back of being told that the custom order they were happy to take details for, they can't build after all. Receiving a "custom engraved" platter after that, simply does NOT sit well. This sort of thing can't be the norm, can it?
 
Goods not as described. Send it back for a refund, look elsewhere..........and, breath.

Actually, under the Distance Selling Act, goods fundamentally not as described, supplier's duty to refund fully, and arrange for the collection of the incorrect goods at their cost.

Breathing in, growling out...

It's a shame really. If he'd told me about this engraving in our phone conversations, or it was pictured in their ebay ad or on their website, I would have simply not ordered. I would still have been speaking to him about arm upgrades to my RB250 - polishing, internal and external rewire, new cartridge, new stub end/weight, etc. As it is, that's not going to happen.
 
I don't get this at all. Manufacturer makes a product, and engraves their name (their branding) on said product. I can see loads of reasons why they might want to do this.

Do they advertise their platters as unengraved? with the option of engraving? I see nothing on their website. They do appear to offer custom colours of acrylic.....

May be it is me, but I can't understand your indignation.....
 
On the one hand the product has a different appearance to that advertised, on the other, won't you be covering the platter with a mat?
 
I don't get this at all. Manufacturer makes a product, and engraves their name (their branding) on said product. I can see loads of reasons why they might want to do this.

Do they advertise their platters as unengraved? with the option of engraving? I see nothing on their website. They do appear to offer custom colours of acrylic.....

May be it is me, but I can't understand your indignation.....

If they'd supplied the product as pictured on their website I would be happy. The one they sent has got some bloody awful laser etching on the top surface - not heavy enough to be easily visible, not light enough to ignore. It's gash to look at, compared to the pictured product on ebay and website, it looks awful. If they'd sent out a product identical to that pictured on their website/ebay I'd be happy as anything, instead of disappointed as hell.
 
On the one hand the product has a different appearance to that advertised, on the other, won't you be covering the platter with a mat?


The plan was not to - supplier was supposed to send me a shim as well, so that if I decided to go with a mat at a later date I could. The shim didn't arrive either.
 
I don't get this at all. Manufacturer makes a product, and engraves their name (their branding) on said product. I can see loads of reasons why they might want to do this.

Do they advertise their platters as unengraved? with the option of engraving? I see nothing on their website. They do appear to offer custom colours of acrylic.....

May be it is me, but I can't understand your indignation.....

the product as pictured has no engraving, and looks glorious. Forget asking for custom colours, it's a nice option that he doesn't do in real life - I'd asked for a purple bottom platter to match a cartridge I was going to buy off them, only to be told it wasn't doable.
 
Feel your pain Brother, not cool when a new toy turns up and was not as expected, perhaps a phone call to amend the situation, good luck.
 
I'm not in the vinyl game, but this is something that does annoy me about specialist hi-fi. There's too many companies charging thousands for really nice equipment... and making it look like utter shite with oversized branding, ugly typefaces (if I see one more engraved script logo...) and horrible surface treatments. Make it neat. Put your name on it, sure, but do it in small letters, preferably in paint, and for goodness sake ask someone "arty" about it before you order the things!

There are so many unemployed graphic designers around - wouldn't it be worth tossing one of them a hundred quid for a couple of hours' advice..?
 
I'm not in the vinyl game, but this is something that does annoy me about specialist hi-fi. There's too many companies charging thousands for really nice equipment... and making it look like utter shite with oversized branding, ugly typefaces (if I see one more engraved script logo...) and horrible surface treatments. Make it neat. Put your name on it, sure, but do it in small letters, preferably in paint, and for goodness sake ask someone "arty" about it before you order the things!

There are so many unemployed graphic designers around - wouldn't it be worth tossing one of them a hundred quid for a couple of hours' advice..?

Exactly - if the company name had been engraved in small letters around the rim, or around what would be the rim of a record label, or around the spindle hole, I wouldn't have minded. What REALLY pisses me off is not that it's engraved, but that there's no art to what's been done. The branding is unsubtle, inelegant and frankly just looks wrong, it spoils the look of an otherwise superb product. I spent more on this platter than I did to buy the turntable, I'll be spending what is, for me, significant money on this turntable, and I want it to be right. If I'd received what they're showing on their website I'd be happy.

If their product on the website or eBay had shown this engraving, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

[Edit] I'm charging my phone up so I can take a picture of the platter face.
 
They seem to be a small artisan company - would they make you one without the engraving? As this thread goes on, I would think that is becoming less likely
 
They seem to be a small artisan company - would they make you one without the engraving? As this thread goes on, I would think that is becoming less likely

He gets the platters made by a third party. Apparently getting one made that's the same as the ones on his website is a "custom order" now.
 
Did you say eBay?

Yes, very droll. Indeed he sells on eBay as well, but I ordered via his website, paying by PayPal. He seems to have gone quiet via email, I think that may be my next avenue of attack. If not, soddit, small claims time. Never done it before, never had to.
 


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