So after talking to a very respected TB'er about this whole issue last night, I feel the need to post something about this deal. I actually wasn't going to post anything because I really hate forum fights and negative posts, but he said you have to post something because I would want to know if I were getting ready to order a cab from this company and I would feel like I owe it to folks deciding to purchase after me. So I'm going to attempt to be objective about this even though I feel like I got screwed over several times in this 1 deal! It actually came to the point of me just calling my credit card company and reporting the whole deal and they pulled the money back. I'm pretty sure they're checking in with this company to make sure he never shipped me anything. He actually finally sent me a pic of my cab going 6 weeks into the build process...shown below.
I spoke to Mike Arnopol back in September about getting a Bodai cab. I was actually going to order a Bodai 112 or possible a Bodai 110. Turns out he tells me they have this new Bodai cab that's better than those and uses 8" speakers. He told me you can get a dual 8", or a triple 8" called the 38. I had not heard of these cabs or seen anything about them. He sent me to his Facebook page to see it. He said he'd custom ordered a bunch of the 8" speakers and had them in his shop ready to go. He told me he had a couple of the cab boxes about ready to be assembled and that shipping to St. Louis was about 1 day so after putting it together, I'd get the cab in 1 week. This was on a Thursday. I think I called him back Friday and actually paid for the cab during that weekend. I called him on Monday just to make sure he got the payment because I didn't get a response from him that the money was there and we were all good to go. I didn't ask any other questions. He responded, we will get this cab to you in a week. Ok, that was 6 weeks ago this weekend that I made the payment.
Anyway, when I ordered I was extremely excited to be getting this cab but didn't want to get too elated so I tried to forget about the order. Helps me to forget it and then look for the FedEx or UPS email that something is coming! A lot of folks know me on this forum and I buy so many basses and so many cabs every year so I have it all down to a science! Well over 3 weeks pass and not a word on anything! I called Mike 3 weeks and 2 days into the deal and didn't hear anything, so I post a message in this thread that I can't wait to get the cab. That day, I get a lot of pm's from TB'ers saying let me know how it is! Let me know what you think! Well 1 of the pm's comes from a guy saying he'd ordered the same cab but was having problems getting it. I didn't know him at all as he's not one of the TB regulars here. Turns out he ordered his cab 4 or 5 days after I'd placed my order but got the upgraded tweeter option. I just bought the standard black Bodai 38, no upgrades. Both of us had paid for the cabs in full! Anyway, He started pm'ing me just about every other day saying he'd called and wasn't getting call backs or anything. Well I'd just called and left a message for Mike and didn't get a call at all and that was actually the reason for the initial post, but I didn't leave details about the issue at that point! I had waited over 3 weeks thinking I'd give him some time to get it done even though it's already beyond his 1 week promise date! I'm still thinking I'm going to get a great cab very soon!
The other TB'er starts to get extremely worried so I tell him Mike has been around for a good while and that he'd definitely get a great cab! I think this sort of helped because it seemed like he was thinking he'd been scammed. I was feeling the bad treatment too, but not at the point of thinking I'm getting scammed. Another week passes with no return call from Mike. I call Mike the next week and leave a message.... He does not return a phone call again. At this point, it's beyond 4 weeks after the payment and there's been no contact with Mike at all, just me leaving messages! I get a message from the other TB'er asking what's going on as he's getting the same treatment! At this point, I'm like I don't know... he's ignored my calls and hasn't returned my calls either.... I had no idea this would happen. I call the next week and finally get Mike on the phone (it's a Wednesday of the next week) and he promises me a cab for sure by Monday/ Tuesday of the next week. Well Monday/ Tuesday passes...NO CALL, NO SHIPMENT, NOT A DAMN thing! It's well over a month at this point! Keep in mind, we were both promised cabs in ONE WEEK! So the other TB'er texts him an ultimatum that he wants to cancel the order early this week. I decide to call Mike and he promises he will ship my cab Friday (this is 2 days from the date we're talking)! Fast forward 1 day to Thursday night and I get a pm that the other TB'er gets a rushed cab delivery but it's not 100% what he ordered. Some mounting option seems to be missing or something? It looks like a Bodai 38 though. So this feels like KICK IN THE FACE #5 that the other TB'er gets his cab first and I ordered 4 or 5 days before him. My cab has not shipped and it's a simpler design without the extra tweeter! I'm like this is UNREAL! I'm just watching this whole TRAIN WRECK play out in slow motion!
That whole evening, I'm furious that cabs have shipped before mine that were ordered after mine! I confirmed 100% that the other Bodai 38 was one, but I heard about others but couldn't confirm those so I'm just sticking to the other 38 cab. I sit down and think about all of this that's happened, and deep down I know Mike has told me another lie and that this cab is not shipping Friday! We are just a couple of days shy of 6 weeks at this point! I decide that night that I'm ending this TRAIN WRECK instantly and not fighting this out with him or Paypal, so I called and issued full statements on the whole transaction history to my credit card agency. I've never had to file a credit card dispute and I buy A LOT from MANY people! Look at my TB'er Feedback! I've had many excellent deals but also some sour deals with people where I ate time and money to make situations right when problems came up! I have always bent over backwards to make things go right if ever there were any issues! This really was a last resort after all the problems, and lies, and just frankly coming to the point of saying I really like his cabinets and designs, but I'm at the breaking point and will NEVER EVER buy anything, not even a $5 cab wheel from Mike or his company. He is not to be trusted at all! I have not added all the stories and lies I've been told in the last 2 days in this message!
So to end this long post, I finally got my FIRST phone call from Mike yesterday...actually MANY OF THEM in a row after he realized that Paypal pulled all the funds back from this transaction! His whole frustration in the messages I got from him were that he couldn't afford to lose the money on the deal! Now I run a business and cater to customers and see a huge problem with his whole approach to this. His concern was for money in his account being returned on an item he has not shipped for going on 6 weeks. He had not shipped me anything but he feels that he's lost something and has been wronged. He had 6 weeks to ship me something, and that's 5 weeks longer than the 1 week he promised when he told me he had the cab in his shop almost built and the woofers, in stock, also in his shop when I ordered! I texted him back all of my problems with the last 6 weeks and that he'd lost nothing but a sale! I have gotten my money back and you have not shipped me a thing, so we are even! It's definitely a huge failure on an Opportunity for him! In some of the many texts yesterday, he says that he's going to finish the cab next week and have it shipped next Tuesday (trying to make another promise #5 that's so easily broken) and that he'll get his money back from Paypal. I told him the deal was fried and not to ship me anything! There's no way to continue this deal! I ended it this way on purpose! If you ship a cab this way, you are doing so against my will, and I've informed you that the money was returned to me. I'm not going to ship anything back in the highly likely event that you never get the funds back from Paypal! In all the texts yesterday, he decides to send me a picture of the cab he said again that he's working on. This is what he described having ready over the phone the first week I ordered the cabinet when he said the cab is almost built and the woofers are in the shop ready to be installed. There's such a huge discrepancy in what was promised here to the point that I believe Mike has a serious problem.
Mike had the audacity to send me this photo yesterday of a cab promised over 5 weeks ago...
I actually have cut this post down and will say I honestly don't know the details of why this has transpired like this on Mike's end. It's the weirdest, most condescending deal I've had from any company or anyone! There's absolutely no professionalism here and no ethics so deal with him very carefully, if at all! He even brought Duke into this whole thing yesterday saying Duke ships cabs 12 weeks late and that he does better than Duke so I should be happy to deal with him! I told him I actually ordered from Duke 2 years ago and it was 2 days late and that Duke called me apologizing for the 2 days late shipment and he did other things to make up for the 2 days that I won't mention here! He supposedly actually called Duke to verify my purchase. I had told him I buy many, many cabs and gear so not sure why the verification was needed. I typically remember deals with people especially if something happened out of the ordinary both good and bad. Sorry about this long post...I was really looking forward to a great cab (Mike does build an awesome cab) but I can't stand by with this kind of customer treatment! If this is a "one-off" bad experience and you guys have had better dealings, please share your experiences.
