Northern Audio Service — Attraction in Madison Heights

Follow Up to Owner's Ridiculous Response: First of all, I didn't wait in the shop on the second repair - it took them another 2+ weeks to repair it after having it for over a month the first time. I have the receipt and the pick-up dates to prove that.

Secondly, yes, the unit is over 50 years old - that's why I drove 50 miles round trip to take it them - because they claimed to be experts in the field of repairing vintage audio equipment. The fact that Mike, the owner, told me to "go buy another stereo" instead of offering to stand behind his work speaks to his confidence and their ability to repair these units correctly. Mike likes to throw around dates regarding warranties but the fact is the unit never worked properly AGAIN after the second repair attempt. When I contacted him again in the Fall to address it his response was "use your finger to get the turntable going." After $411 and two repair attempts - use my finger?? The only reason I didn't bring it back again in the fall was due to the distance from my home and because he reiterated that it wasn't under warranty. At that point, I could at least, get the thing going albeit not what one should expect after paying $411.

So...ask yourself? Do you really want to go to a place that is going to charge you a ridiculous amount of money for a repair only to have them tell you after 90 days - "sorry, you are out of warranty"? If they feel that their work is only good enough to last 90 days then maybe they should reconsider presenting themselves as "experts" in their field.

The car analogy is ridiculous. Generally, if someone goes into a repair facility with a symptom they rely on the "experts" to properly diagnose the symptom and repair it. I didn't tell him how to repair the stereo - I told him what the issue was and I relied on his supposed expertise (which is not so expert) to repair it accordingly. Again, this has been the exact same problem each time and it hasn't been repaired correctly...yet he wants to continue to charge me. It's not as if I went in for a repair to the turntable and then expected him to repair the speaker or the radio or something unrelated for free. THIS IS THE EXACT SAME ISSUE - ALL 3 TIMES.

Mike likes analogies, so here's one: I just had my furnace repaired yesterday. The furnace tech said he "thinks" he fixed and replaced the correct part. However, he said if that wasn't the correct fix they would come out again, refund me for the part, and try something else at no additional service fee. That's how proper and respectable service repairs work. You just don't start throwing in parts and doing things if you don't know what you are doing and continue to charge the customer each time.

The only reason these guys stay in business is because there are very few people that still have the skill sets to fix audio equipment. That's why they can hold you over a barrel, charge ridiculous rates and not stand behind their labor.

Finally, the accusation of threats is ridiculous. The owner didn't like the fact that I pushed back on his refusal to stand by his service (if he is so thin-skinned he shouldn't be in the service industry). Either that or he is so tired of people complaining about his service he has little tolerance for it anymore (see other reviews). My "threat" was that I told him if he wasn't going to honor his work then "there are other ways to handle this" i.e this review, Yelp, other online reviews, small claims court, etc. Brought HiFi in for repair to record player. Broke again in less than 90 days. Took it back in again for repair. Broke again. Contacted owner, Mike, and he told me my warranty was up. When I pushed him on the fact that this was the third time in less than 9 months he told me to go a buy a new one and not to bring it back in to him because I was challenging the "integrity of his business." These people are nice and friendly at first until you challenge them on their work. Yes, they have been doing it a long time so they should know how to repair it right the first time. I would...

My grandmother gave me a turntable a few years ago when i was in middle school. It was our families turntable since the 60/70s and it means a lot to me that i have this turntable that has been in our family for so many years. Not long after i got it (i have since graduated high school so this review is a few years overdue) I took it to Northern because ever local record shop swore that they were the best. So I took it there and I explained my problem to them and they gave me a price estimate. Well then they called me a week later and told me what that they had to order a part and then fix it and was that okay. Again, I was in middle school so they should have called my father who was an adult. Their explanation of the problem and the cost was shaky and so I agreed because in my mind, i wanted my turntable back and trusted these guys who had been called experts. So it comes time to pick it up and we get the new price. The initial extomate was around $170, which was enough to buy a working new/used turntable. The final price was around $350! These "experts" took advantage of someone who clearly did not have that kind of money sitting around somewhere. I had to borrow most of it from my father and pay him back later. The guys saw an opertunity to swindle and they took it.To cap it all off, I always suspected that the problem (which was the speed) hadn't been properly fixed, come to find out after getting bent over and screwed, it wasn't. The player plays too fast at the 33 1/3 speed. I wish I had been smarter then. Do not give them...

Rather disappointed in their lack of interest in repairing a couple of tube amplifiers. One is point to point circuitry the other one is built on a breadboard. He said it needed a choke and refused to find an alternative. He didn't even try.☹️

+Reply to northern audio.

I'm not surprised you got it wrong. The name is Marcos not Marcus, Considering you don't use a computer system and everything is written down by hand by friends and associates I can understand how easy it is to not have a record. But I do not like being called a liar or is the suggestion that this is a fake post.

You've helped me once before with no issue on the same amps.

To make it easy for you and everyone else here I've brought in two sets of monoblock amplifiers One vintage Allen 90's and one pair of Genesis tube technology amps.

They sat at your location for well over a month or two with no activity or update. I called multiple times and you said you guys were too busy but you get at them when you could. I was patient considering I have to drive from the east side to Madison heights.

Unfortunately you wasted my time and I think it's quite fair to let everyone here know this was my...