Hello, Mr. Arrick!
When I bought my Taurus pedals back in 2004, I looked up Bucki for a window and frame for the control panel. Zero problem contacting him (he picked up the phone when I called) and zero problem with delivery.
Hi Kevin. You have been most generous while my module has been in your workshop, and I can’t fault you for taking so long, in fact, there’s not a day when I look at the generous gifts you have given to me and think, “Maybe I should pay him something more,” knowing FULL WELL you would turn down any offer of payment, as you have done in the past.
Mike Bucki seems to be your opposite, not contacting his customers, not delivering items payed for and not being available to take payment from those who owe him. It all seems very strange to me. 
Thanks for the kind words.
What can I say?
Everyone’s different.
Different sets of circumstances, etc.
It’s a shame that someone can do such good work once and then fall off the face of the Earth.
But he should give his clients some sort of closure.
Something.
Worse scenario, he’ll die, the state will take his stuff, put it up for auction, someone will buy a single lot of “Electronic parts, pcbs and panels for unknown purpose”, go on Ebay and THEN you’ll know what happened.
Morbid, but Ebay has many “estate sales” that work exactly like that.
This is what I was told and I relayed it as soon as I got that information.
I’d be hesitant to heap too much praise on MB lest people doing a google search get the impression that it’s worth a try to do business with him at this time.
I don’t think that’s Roger Arrick. On muffs his location is NY and Roger Arrick goes by another screen name.
I’d be kind of surprised if there’s no ownership laws that help protect against gear in the possession of a repair/restoration shop being sold at all without the owners consent, especially in the event of the repair shop closing while it has the gear. If/when the gear was sold out of a divorce… wouldn’t that be a crime as well since neither Mike or his wife are the actual owners of the gear? It probably wouldn’t hurt to call and make sure that he still has the gear at the least, if nothing else…
If the statute of limitations has expired, there’s nothing that can be done. Some of those threads go back to what, 2008 and are older than five years.
In NY, according to lawyers.com, for “product liability”, it’s three years. For Fraud and breach of contract, it’s six.
In situations with these one-man operations where someone is building an instrument or repairing an instrument for a customer, especially if the customer lives out-of-state or across the country, the merchant really has the customer by the balls. You have to deal with someone who has an impeccable reputation, or someone you know personally, or someone who you absolutely trust, because otherwise it’s a real gamble.
If someone has problems with the merchant, and the merchant is out to put the screws on the customer, the customer’s only recourse is to go to small claims court. But they have to physically appear in court and plead their case to get a judgement. Even if they win the judgement, enforcing the judgement is an entirely different matter. Often times the cost can far outweigh the value of the item and unless someone is rich and wants to “win” and cause misery for the merchant on the matter of principle it’s not worth it to pursue. If you live in the state though and can take the time to handle that it can be worthwhile.
You do have slightly more rights if you used a credit or debit card. When these get in the mix, there are some strict guidelines (perhaps on the federal level) that must be followed. For example, they can’t charge your card until they are ready to ship or they have to ship within a certain amount of time after charging your card. In some instances like these, the banks will get involved and return your cash and penalize the merchant, but of course this doesn’t apply to repairs. Granted, this might not be 100% accurate because I am recalling a conversation that I had with an officer of a bank in charge of the debit/credit when I had my doubts Mike was going to deliver on time several years ago.
“LaxSlash1993"It probably wouldn’t hurt to call and make sure that he still has the gear at the least, if nothing else…”
There are many of us who would love nothing more than to give him a call. The last working number I had was cut off over 2 years ago.
Talk about limitations… time runs out quickly when the person is in hiding.
I’ve thought about trying to organize all the people he stole from but that seems impossible too…
His address never changed, he could have been served a subpoena.
The bank officer told you that it’s product liability?
Product liability is if a person is injured from the use of a defective product. Also, for fraud… it’s six years from the date when fraud was discovered.
I do agree, though. Send gear to someone that you can trust with it, has good reviews and a good reputation.
The bank officer didn’t tell me that it was product liability.
It’s best to let an attorney navigate the murky waters of legal definitions. I pulled that out because I thought it might have been relevant.
Here’s an interesting link:
http://www.herrick.com/sitefiles/publications/b11cc8a7121fa7fa11c46f9979d8cd94.pdf
In any of those threads, does it look like there remains anyone who falls within the six year window and if so, are they even willing to sue?
My opinion is that Mike has suffered some sort of emotional or situational issue(s), but is inherently a good guy.
He may feel embarrassed or ganged up on now and doesn’t have the resources or ability to rectify things or defend his point of view by himself.
Not everyone is a good communicator, despite huge talents they may have in other ways.
So I don’t think he set out to rip any one off, but with people’s minds running wild with speculations, he’s truly scared now to show his face.
These negative speculations place him in a position of defending himself, something he may simply not be good at doing having no experience in bad dealings before.
Few people write about good dealings, but they sure do for negative ones.
For example, you can inform a person they have great hair, beautiful eyes, are charming and all that, but mention one little zit on their forehead and that’s what they will obsess over.
So again, I have sympathy for Mike.
I do not believe for a second he set out to rip anyone off.
Receiving criticism may be something he’s just never had to deal with before.
If given a chance to correct his problems, I believe he would.
I think he needs help and support, not criticisms.
Some understanding, some forgiveness and some pragmatic methods to cure things.
An intervention, a diplomatic middle-man or other method(s) to re-open communications would go a long way to both ease his and past client’s emotions.
As to a solution, I believe he or someone else needs to open a dialog explaining what has happened.
We need his side of the story.
Yes, it might be embarrassing for him, but it could also show that he has good character and wants to fix things for people he’s caused distress for.
He just might not know how.
Remember, few people choose to become alcoholics, drug addicts, homeless or whatever.
But give them a chance again and they may not only meet, but exceed their previous capabilities.
Consider actor Robert Downey, Jr.
It’s very easy to say he was a crack-smoking degenerate, but someone gave him another chance and he not only worked again, he excelled past his previous accomplishments.
I’m an atheist, but I believe in forgiveness.
A little can go a long way.
Yes. The damage has been done. That’s in the past.
Now, looking forward, how could the people, that fell victim of his misfortune too, help him if nobody can reach him ?
I’m not a religious person either, but there’s a saying that goes something like: “Help yourself and others will surely help you.”
Mike might be helping himself the best he can.
Survival is sometimes a full time job when things are bad.
But I agree with you: how to help someone if you don’t know where they are?
The last phone numbers I’ve had are:
716-622-5093
716-438-0756
716-668-6600
Also have a po box somewhere, but might be defunct now too.
Anyway, I couldn’t locate it quickly.
I second that!!! Tim is great! Has done fantastic work for me on my Hammond and Moog. Highly recommended!!!
Apparently Moog removed the thread regarding Analog US.
Not even a PM from Moog beforehand discussing or attempting compromise.
However Moog has still retained at least one thread (if not more) regarding Mike Bucki.
Threads that even call Mike a douchebag.
To me, that’s hypocritical to retain other such threads and to offer no communications beforehand.
With that said, I no longer feel like participating in a forum that selectively censors.
Thank you all for your support and I hope l’ve helped others along the way.
Several people here have been more than competent in answering tech questions anyway.
Out of disappointment in Moog’s selective choice of actions and lack of any diplomacy, I’m leaving immediately.
Kevin
Is it possible that Analog US contacted Moog regarding that thread and threatened legal action if it was not removed? I, for one, would be interested in the whole story.
Hey Kevin, don’t feel bad about moderators deleting entire threads without any warning or explanation, or even a private message. I’m a member of other forums where the moderation is much, much worst than here. I’ve had more than my share of deleted posts, and threads without any explanation.
But here, I’ve always found that the moderators were rather discreet and unobtrusive, even tolerating, compared to elsewhere.
Maybe the rather (too?) personal nature of that thread was considered outside the scope of a forum like this ? It’s possible. But, as I’ve learned to do elsewhere, don’t take it personally and don’t leave simply because of this, please. Your invaluable contributions to the exchange of ideas, techniques, tips and tricks of the trade, over the years here, far outweigh any very occasional censorship by the moderators here.
And, after all, wasn’t the purpose of that thread fulfilled by the fact that the offender finally paid you ?
Just forget it, and stay with us. I’m sure that despite your vast knowledge and experience, you still might learn a thing or two, and we would surely continue to truly and thoroughly appreciate all of your posts.
And to hell with the moderators and censorship.
Hoping you’ll reconsider, after the initial frustration wears off (I completely understand you, I’ve often felt the same way about being censored. It’s no fun. But it’s part of life on a forum sometimes, deserved or not).
Alain.
This is a forum run by Moog, so whatever the mods decide to do in terms of removing posts is fine with me. Overall I really dig this forum. It would be sad for Kevin to discontinue his (often useful and at time insightful) posts here, but I respect his actions for whatever reasons he has, and wish him and his close ones all the best in the future.
I’ve been reading these threads with a sort of distant interest like listening to the John Teiter story on Coast to Coast . . . wouldn’t it be ironic if this dude has gone back to working for Moog all along and they are protecting him.