Sound Exchange of Pinellas — Local services in Pinellas Park

I will never go back or recommend this place to anyone.  Yesterday, I brought in 2 full medium packing boxes full of quality DVDs to sell (many still factory sealed) and roughly 35 - 40 Blu-ray movies (also many sealed) to sell at the Pinellas Park location.  I was told I needed to leave the movies there and they would call me back in about an hour or so to let me know when they were done, no issue.  This was around 11:40ish.  Around 3:00, I called to check in and they said they were about done with them, so I decided to go ahead and make my way there.  We came home with just under 150 dollars and 3/4 of a box of DVDs and around 20 Blu-rays left.

While I was finishing up with the paperwork, I asked the employee how purchasing old audio equipment and vinyl went.  I was told for the equipment there was an email process and that vinyl was only bought on Tues.  I then explained to the employee that I would like to build a repore with their shop because I'd recently gotten into buying storage units and that my last one was FULL of old vinyl and audio equipment (some still in their original boxes) and I wasn't looking to sell everything or break anyone's bank but the things I wanted to get rid of I would like to have them look at to see if they would be interested (we're talking serious vintage).  I told them I would bring some vinyls up today to have their "vinyl" person to assess.

Now for some background on myself and the vinyl.  I am a broker and have been for well over a decade so I am no stranger to assessment on fair market values or simple research, so I decided to test the waters today.  The unit I bought full of the items that were made for this place were previouy assessed and deficiencies notated nearly a decade ago, so I had some idea of what is there as far as gradings.  I decided to pull 5 vintage 45s out to sell today and I would leave the remainder for them to look over the next few days.  I went into the shop interested to see what kind of offer I'd get for an original Elvis Presley Steamboat Blues 45 with original slip, (an easy VG+ E-), an original Ritchie Valens LaBamba/Donna 45 plastic sleeved (VG to VG+), an original Beatles She Loves You/I'll Get You 45 plastic sleeved (G+ to VG- with a hairline inaudible crack), an original Beach Boys Dance Dance Dance/The Warmin of the Sun 45 plastic sleeved (VG+ to E-), and an original Yardbirds The Nazz are Blue/Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 45 also plastic sleeved (VG to VG+).

I was told that they purchase their 45s for .25 a piece, so I asked what about the Beatles and the Elvis Presley Steamroller 45s and was told especially for those (ver batum).  I welcome anyone to get online and see for yourselves what a Beatles s-4152-s OR an Elvis 74-0910 CPKS-4728 in VG condition sells for used.  I promise you it's nowhere near .25 cents and for this reason alone, I will never recommend this business to anyone. There is fair and there is this type of dealing with the public and I will choose to go elsewhere.  I will also share that while I was leaving, I did tell the "vinyl expert" that the records had already been assessed and I was seeing what kind of people I was potentially getting involved dealing with and that she'd blown it, to which she replied, "Well good luck finding another shop to buy them".  We'll just so...

It's the attitude of the people working there that killed it for me. I was debating on 3 stars, but 3 stars means I may go back. I don't want to go back. This rating is over 2 experiences with this Sound Exchange over a year apart.

First experience: I came across some very very rare vintage audio cables made by Polk Audio that were part of a speaker purchase I made a few days prior from a dude out in Lutz. I brought the cables in to see if SE would be interested in buying them as I know they are highly sought after Hi-Fi cables that I'd just not have the equipment to truly appreciate. A woman working at SE said, "eh, they're just speaker cables, I don't see what the big deal is, I'll give you like 15 bucks for them." So she clearly didn't know about vintage Polk Audio Cobra Cables. She was repeatedly rude and condescending when I was asking her if she ever heard of them before, she just shrugged and seemed like my offer to sell them to her was an inconvenience... I was only wanting $100 for them by the way, and they were 2x 20 foot ling cables in flawless condition. So I went home, did more value research, posted them on eBay, and they sold for $550.00 plus shipping not even 5 mins after I posted them.

Second experience: I went in looking for a piece of old stereo equipment I saw on their online site. I said, eh, they were rude and seedy last time I was in there, so I'll pass. But I ended up giving it a second chance be ause I really didn't want to buy that kind of equipment online and worry about it being ruined during shipping. So I went in and inquired about the equipment (which was ~$450...not just a cd or even 200 dollar item). I asked if I could check out the equipment that was on a shelf and the guy behind the counter said, "what do you wanna know..." I said, "well I just wanna check the condition of the switches and general condition of it." He actually huffed/sighed and got up and walked over to the piece and moved it to where I could see it and said, "well here it is." I asked questions... he said he wasn't the equipment guy and I'd have to ask that person on another day because he wasn't there. He walked back to his spot behind the counter as I was checking the equipment out. I inquired about a piece that was missing on the equipment and he disgruntledly said, "people like to steal stuff so we keep that behind the counter." I said "... oh, ok. Well I'd like to buy the piece." He looked shocked. And then it was like if you ask a dog if it wants a treat, he perked right up and was all the sudden wanting to be helpful and his attitude was completely different.

So, the store is totally a vintage record store and that aesthetic is legit. But the people I interacted with ruined the whole experience. General vibe of condescending mixed with 1. Not wanting to be there or 2. Treating you like a poor peasant until you buy something. I'll only go back if SE has something I can't find anywhere else within a 45 minute drive and I need it same day. I'd much rather buy online, pay for shipping, wait, and get the item from somewhere else over dealing with...

If you're looking for a repair of a turn table, this is NOT the place to go. Customer service here is HORRIBLE. They won't work with you, they will argue with you. They handled my situation very unprofessionally.

Edit* as a response to their response, so SORRY for not using the correct terms, I'm not an expert on these things obviously, my bad for using the wrong word. See, you all told me to replace the turntable but did not tell me why, and did not tell me the specific problems that it was having (otherwise how else would I have known? I don't work on these things. I just thought I was using it incorrectly at first). There was an issue with it that you noticed, and you did not tell me about the issue. You simply suggested replacing it, which I thought you meant because it was old.

And in response to the set up I have, I never plugged the record player into this setup before, so that's not what blew it out. I got the set up as a gift. So yes, I know I was not charged for any work you didn't do. But I came home with a record player that still does not work because even though you saw an issue, you were not clear in your emails and continually just told me to replace it instead of asking if I wanted you to fix the specific issue. And instead of trying to work with me as a customer, you got defensive, similarly like in the response to my review. Instead of saying "okay, let's work on fixing this issue you're having", you got mad at me for not understanding why things were not working. It is UNPROFESSIONAL. And emailing me again telling me to learn something and take responsibility?

For those reading this review, to summarize, there was a major problem with the record player and I was not told about it. Ron suggested that I replace the turntable because "I really don't like these turntables". That is verbatim what he said in the email. He also said in that same email, that the player is "working as it should". It is indeed, not working at all. That is why I am upset. Notice how defensive they get when someone is unhappy with them, as seen here and in other reviews.

ALSO, in their response, they claim that they told me the player was working intermittently in their shop. They did not tell me this until after I brought the player back home and noticed that it was not working. Only then did Ron tell me that it was intermittently working when he had it. Their response in inaccurate, and Ron is still emailing me personally and has asked that I take this...