Has anybody been in contact with Luke (stereoinstaller1) recentley?

[Wschnitz]

It's easy to play armchair quarterback. It's definitely easier than trying to bootstrap a business and grow it organically.

I lived in the PNW, Luke was chatted about a lot and went to the picnic and meets. You don't necessarily have the first hand experience with what I, and others, are talking about.

I don't hate the guy, it just seemed like he complained about everything not happening for him, without actually trying to make anything happen that wasn't a new post on the forums or going to a meet to show off the latest iteration in his E34.

[86gt635]

shit i need to order my crossovers before he shuts down

They're made from readily available parts on partsexpress. They're not much different from the stock premium crossovers. Search the values and make your own for about $20 a speaker. He was making a little bit of money because he had connections for wholesale/dealer prices, but you can make it on your own for the same price or a little better.

Sucks Luke is not able to maintain, I wish him well. But I wouldn't expect to get your products at this point if you wanted to order something.

[george graves]

I ask for a refund and he came UNGLUED...calling me every dirty name in the book and threatening to send the "law" after us.

That's not cool.

------

As many of you know, I like to give Luke a hard time when it comes to "solder vs crimp" and "magic pre-fab one size box fit all that's easy to sell" vs "a box tuned to the driver" and many other issue. I've met Luke and we've chatted for a long, long time online. A open, healthy debate is good thing IMHO.

I've also closely followed his progress, and I was understandably curious on some of the choice he's taken with his business. I've even have gone out of my way to offer advice of hard won lessons I've had to deal with and come back from. (I have made a ton of mistakes for sure, and humbled me - I am by no means perfect)

I'll refrain from commenting until Luke posts up - but I already know what he's going to say.

[e304lyfe]

So I am usually not one to jump on the bandwagon and say negative things about people... but take my experience from years ago from what its worth.

Communicated regularly with Luke about purchasing a box for a vert. His forum reputation, and sales pitch sold me on it at the time. Paid for the box, and never heard a word from him after that.

Multiple weeks passed, and I gave courteous warning that I would be putting in a PayPal dispute if I did not at least hear from him about this purchase as it was nearing the 40 day window (mind you he was able to post on FB, forums, etc. through this time and simply ignored me as best I could figure).

Ended up putting in my dispute... He never responded through the whole PayPal dispute / claim escalation process and I was refunded my money through PayPal. To this day, I have not heard a word from Luke about this purchase that went awry.

So my suggestion for anyone in a similar situation, is to put in a PayPal dispute before it is too late and you have no recourse. If you want to continue to trust that he will pop back up and make good on the sale, then that is your decision. I just prefer to not roll the dice on someone's internet reputation.

[flyboyx]

back in the day before he was a moderator(opened his business), he used to post some pretty douchy shit on r3v. however, sometimes people grow up...... (i can't speak too ill of this, because i have been known to blast a noob or two in my day for being retarded)

as has been stated previously, there is a pretty good chance this guy has some crazy stuff going on in his life now. however, this is NO excuse for not being in communication with people.

it doesn't really sound like he is being a man of principle or a stand up guy. its probably a good thing this was posted here. i bet a third of the members would buy a box from him if they could afford it. that has the potential of a lot of screwing.

by this point, he has to know about this thread but yet has not responded to it......?

[TrentW]

I've had quite a few contacts with Luke, by both interweb and phone. He's always delivered promptly and always taken my calls when I had questions.
I'm disheartened to hear he's not responding to some of you guys.

Give him a little time. He's got a lot on his plate right now. Be patient grasshopper. You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

[UNHCLL]

Give him a little time. He's got a lot on his plate right now. Be patient grasshopper. You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Did you see the OP's follow up post, quoted below?

Paid him in December for my son's box and after a laundry list of excuses, I gave him space, only contacting him once a month. Four months later, he still hasn't come through on his promises to deliver product

That's more than "patient".... 4+ months, no refund, no product, and poor communication? That's not on the buyer to be "patient" - that's on the "merchant"/Seller/vendor to make good on the exchange of goods (money) for services (product).

I also, found it quite interesting that Luke posted on his FB page that GAS was closing it's doors, all done, blah blah blah - and then throws another $179 GASE3010 offer up?

If the original posters description of the events/timeline is accurate, he is more than valid in his frustration/disdain for Luke/GAS.


Communication, in situations like this, is sometimes worth more than anything if the seller can't deliver immediately/on-time/as promised.

-Chris

[deutschman]

From fallowing his posts on FB, I think the guy is kind of fed up with trying to run his own business. Whether its his fault or not, hes had a hard time trying to keep his business going. Hes been ripped off a few times by customers as well, not paying him for work, and or duplicating his work and then selling it them selves. I know he has also had issues last year and this year with loosing his shop space and having to find new space and then paying to get it set up and running. He has also hired a few guys to speed up production, but has had a hard time keeping them working and payed.
I think quality large audio installs are kind of a small market because having hundreds or even thousands of dollars of audio gear in your car is not everyone's cup of tee. Plus many e30 owners are younger people or people with a budget and they usually choose to spend their money in keeping their cars running or upgrading mechanicals. So even though he gets tones of interest, they percentage of people that actually drop money on his parts is low. It would proboly help him if he produced parts for newer cars and cars in markets where people have more disposable income like e46 and so on.
Im not trying to say hes perfect or trying to make excuses for him. Just trying to give some insight into what I see is up with him.
Running a small business is hard especially one that counts on getting money from a bunch of cheap classic car owners because you know we all are a bunch of cheap bastards lol

[stonea]

I was tempted to do the $179 GASE3010 offer, but now I don't know. I mean he made Jordan a custom box pretty recently right? I don't know when it was made, but it was one of the final touches on Jordans car.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Only experience was a bad one that made me not wanna give him any of my money. Asked some tech advice that i couldn't find doing a google search and came unglued on me. Like other not really surprised it happened.

[Rouvld]

Did you see the OP's follow up post, quoted below?



That's more than "patient".... 4+ months, no refund, no product, and poor communication? That's not on the buyer to be "patient" - that's on the "merchant"/Seller/vendor to make good on the exchange of goods (money) for services (product).

I also, found it quite interesting that Luke posted on his FB page that GAS was closing it's doors, all done, blah blah blah - and then throws another $179 GASE3010 offer up?

If the original posters description of the events/timeline is accurate, he is more than valid in his frustration/disdain for Luke/GAS.


Communication, in situations like this, is sometimes worth more than anything if the seller can't deliver immediately/on-time/as promised.

-Chris

He's not the OP, I am. But in all honesty his situation is far more adverse than mines.

[ST1G]

I was tempted to do the $179 GASE3010 offer, but now I don't know. I mean he made Jordan a custom box pretty recently right? I don't know when it was made, but it was one of the final touches on Jordans car.

Bingo. I emailed and got no answer about two months ago. I decided not to buy.

[Das Delfin]

He came off like a dick sometimes. Mostly to noobs. Arrogance is not a good quality to have in a community-driven business model. Especially when some of those noobs are potential customers...

I never bought anything because I don't like doing internet transactions with private individuals for more than a couple hundred dollars. And he seemed like a dick.

[jc72]

He made a box to put a 12 in my e28 and was really responsive and helpful despite being 1500 miles away. He was also really helpful 6 months later when I needed some advice.

Running a small business is hard. I don't think he's actively tried/trying to rip anyone off. OP's complaint is valid but it's pretty distasteful for people to trash him who never had any interactions with him.

[Jordan]

I mean he made Jordan a custom box pretty recently right? I don't know when it was made, but it was one of the final touches on Jordans car.

Indeed he did. I paid for the box on March 7th, voluntarily did so as a gift payment so he could have all of it, and I got it about 3 weeks later I think. It was made to order.

Zero issues, Luke & Justin knocked it out of the park as always in my experience.

There is more going on than people know, but I'm in no position to comment on that. I see things getting much better for Luke in the future if he can hang in there a little longer.