Things that just puzzle me…

[Mike]

I am a fan of Avid turntables and I really like Conrad Mas the owner. But man, you have to wonder…

Years ago, shortly after Conrad ended his disastrous previous US distributor relationship, we talked at one of the shows. He said if Suncoast was to come on board, he promised me - gave me his word - he would never have another US distributor. He was going to build the US market and wanted us to come on board.

I agreed and invested. I brought in every table he made. We even had some of his early cartridges and all of his phonostages.

Fast forward a few years and we get notified that Focal North America had taken over US distribution for Avid.

I immediately called Conrad and told him that he had broken his word to me. I told him this was a terrible move on his part. This was not a fit, even if he wanted a distributor. Even though we work with FNA, I was not continuing. We sold off our stock and moved on.

Well, it turned out to be a terrible decision. Avid fell off the map completely in America as I predicted.

And today…this came across my desk.

SMH.

 

[Porsche]

karma, ones word is everything and at minimum like you said he should have discussed with u

 

[mep]

That hurts on several levels.

 

[Ritmo]

Surprising to me how a significant number of people in the audio industry operate in this way.

 

[Bones13]

Ouch. Greed decision?

 

[dznutz]

Its shocking to me that you acted in a business capacity without a written contract.

 

[Mike]

It’s shocking to me that you acted in a business capacity without

Its shocking to me that you acted in a business capacity without a written contract.

Well, considering I have a lot of experience with contract law, which jurisdiction would you have suggested for this contract? Florida where he has no assets so any victory is a hollow one or the UK, where litigation laws are completely foreign?

 

[dznutz]

Considering the amount of time, energy and financial risk/outlay in an arrangement like this I would have done both. Not neccessarily to litigate but a contracts sheer existence should cause both parties to act more fairly and reasonably to one another as time goes on.

 

[Mike]

Considering the amount of time, energy and financial risk/outlay in an arrangement like this I would have done both. Not neccessarily to litigate but a contracts sheer existence should cause both parties to act more fairly and reasonably to one another as time goes on.

Unfortunately, the creation of a contract requires a single jurisdiction, you cannot have multiple. It also costs thousands in legal fees and I knew it was not worth it due to the reasons mentioned above.

 

[Randy Myers]

Well, there is another brand I will never deal with. Not that I would probably be getting one of their products in the near future, but you never know.

In my world, how I operate, my word is my bond. My word means more to me than any contract ever could. If I tell you I am going to do something, you can take it to the bank, I will. This is one thing that my hard-working father taught me. Your word is everything.

I know, asking or even believing that a company would do this is probably fantasy. So far very few that I recall, to me, have operated in this manner. If there is an issue than a discussion is required prior to changing that agreement, verbal or otherwise.