my other than min lab repair experience

[johnmarkham15]

OK here goes after being asked by many to post this warning to others
this is my own experience and my own only
i was having a sensitivity problem with my Excalibur 2 1000 targets were just way to soft, Had Mel Parker put his mod on for the hand grip which switches between disc and am and it does work great, after using my Excalibur 2 1000 i noticed a sensitivity problem creeping up, so i thought id get it serviced,i checked on this forum as who i could send it to, min lab said they would work on it but they might have to take the mod out that Mel put in,i didn't want that to happen only cause i like the mod that Mel did, so i found out about bill branin in las Vegas who used to work for min lab when they was there, i thought OK this should be OK cause who would know these machines best? so i called him up and we chatted about my machine, he said i was in luck cause that very week he was working on several other excals and if i could get it to him then he could work on it and return it to me when i needed it so i could use it on my honeymoon in myrtle beach, so the next morning i overnight ed it to him at a cost of 150.00 dollars plus as he requested a check for 75.00 dollars to cover the repair costs which i thought was a fair price to get my machine serviced and back in time for my trip, so off it goes..i called him after he received my package, he then tells me he wont be able to repair mine until following week even after he said he could get it back to me before my trip.
so now I'm getting concerned,I'm going to the beach and no water machine, just great i said, i called my friends and Buddy's about this in a panic, i got a call from Mel Parker as he heard of my troubles and he offered to send to our hotel his Excalibur to use, i said thank you so so much,i told him id reimburse him for all expenses,so off we went,i ran into goodmoore from this site along with his wife hunting as he also offered the use of his machine to use also, thanks Brett i did appreciate the offer too..
after lots of excuses and over a month later i did get a detector back, when i opened the box i noticed right away something wasn't right,this machine wasn't mine,it was all scratched up battery connector was all chewed up like some one used a set of pliars on it to tighten and loosen up and the battery pack wasn't even mine cause i had over charged my pack one day and the shrink wrapping on mine i needed to remove to inspect pack,this pack was a stock pack,then i checked the serial number with my warranty card that i got when unit was new i had wrote down all numbers to this unit on my warranty card, i then noticed this wasn't the same number and then i noticed that the PC board was a different one.
so i tried for a few days to call bill as it is he only picks up his phone when he wants to, i asked him what did he do when he serviced this machine, at first before i got my machine back he said he had to figure out Mel's mod, he felt that the mod was not allowing the proper voltage to get to the coil, now I'm a electronic tech so some of this made sense, but since i don't or have never worked on any of these units i trusted his word on this,while he was servicing my machine i heard several excuses as to why he wasn't done with it, like he saw a cap that was soldered onto main PC board,he thought there wasn't enough current from battery pack,to he needed to shorten the coil cable cause it was too long and min lab knew this cause the FCC made them put a longer cable on to calm the machine down, all of which i know nothing about i asked him about this machine asking did he return the correct machine to me he said oh yes i did, i said are you sure he said yep no problem,i then asked him did he take my machine out of tube and check it out completely? he said he did,i then asked him why was this battery connector all chewed up? he said he didn't know about it, i then asked him about the tube could he have gotten it mixed up with another? he said he didn't think so, i then asked him about serial numbers? he was at aw on this,he never could explain,only to say he working on several other machines at the same time,he was tired and had all kinds of work and he didn't know how this happened? now remember i had Mel's mod done to my machine, he had to completely take my machine apart; coil,headphones and Mel's mod, so he switched boards and tube and battery pack,as he had to know he was doing this, as i work on radios and i work on several at a time sometime but Ive not switched radio chassis with another?? i just dint like his answers he was giving me so after great regret I'm writing this to warn all of my own experience i had, I'm sure hes done well for others but as i said this was my own experience...,bottom line is i didn't get back my own machine and to this date hes not answered my phone calls or emails,so its with great displeasure I'm posting this to warn anyone else of my own bad experience.
hopefully he will work this out with me and if and when he does ill post all...
i hope this helps out as its not meant to harm anyone but i feel i got took here..

 

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[johnmarkham15]

Heres an update to my previous post. I emailed Bill Branin to once again express my concerns about switching my metal detector. Here is the email I sent:

Hey bill
Are you gonna answer my emails about your sovereign ? If you don't want to sell it to me just say so?
I'm having problems with this Excalibur 2 you sent back to me as it's not the one I sent you as we discussed over the phone, I sent you a very great shape Excalibur 2 and you sent me a chewed up well used one back, you know after we talked I felt uneasy about this and as the days go on I'm really not at ease with this situation now, it's hard to get you on the phone and your not answering emails either,
I'd say we need to fix this issue!
Please contact me
Thanks
John markham

Today I received the following reply:

On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 1:49 PM, bill branin
wrote:
send it back to me I will fix it

Then without my responding to the above email I then received the following:

From: bill branin
Date: December 12, 2010 6:32:58 PM EST
To: John Markham
Subject: Re: Excalibur

ok I thought about the email you sent and frankly I am in no mood for
@#$%& after( my father in the hospital passing away) the machine
you recieve is in better shape and is running better then the machine
you sent, it the same machine I am not the the one who modifed or did
you forget that, it is running to factory specs and I will give you
your seventy five dollars back and I do not give a @#$%& if you get on
the forums and talk trash about me either I won t be held hostage by
forums if you do not want to do business with thats fine let me know.

Although I am very sorry for the loss of Bills father, I still dont believe he understand my entire concern. When you are in business to work on the property of others you should return the exact equipment to them. It is not good business to switch customers property without the customers knowledge and approval. Bill has offered to reimburse me for my $75.00 repair bill however;, I am still without my original property and still out $150.00 to overnight my detector to him so that I could have it back for my honeymoon trip to Myrtle Beach as this was my last beach hunt for the year. (Although with the snow we are getting today and tonight Im ready to hop on the next plane to Miami)

 

[Harold in Fla.]

Iv'e known this person for a long time and he has done work on my Excal 1000 and it works better than it ever has, now as to John's problem i don't know anything about, but i hope this matter can be straightened out on both parts, for one he's not doing anymore repairs now just doing what he has on his bench, So i hope this matter can get straightened out, cause he's the only one that i know that works on these excals and nobody will be able to get there older machines fixed. Harold

 

[TexasDigger1]

I'm sure Mr. Brannin is a very good tech working with Minelabs but I do feel for John, he should of gotten his machine back and not another one, I wouldn't like it either. Sure hope John and Bill do work something out. I do wonder what happened to John's machine. HH

 

[johnmarkham15]

ill be posting some updates to my thread tonight on this.it seems now bill branin wants to sue me for defamation of charactor as he states in a email he sent to me..wow this guy rips me off and he threatens me now, oh my god...ill post more of his emails and mine to him tonight
wow all i wanted was to get my machine fixed.....

 

[johnmarkham15]

As promised here are the emails I mentioned. Please review and tell me how I'm at fault as Bill claims I am..

On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 7:46 PM, John Markham <[email protected]> wrote:
Bill
As you know by know I'm very upset that you switched my Excalibur 2 1000 without my consent, this unit you sent to me isn't the same unit that I sent you,we need to resolve this very quickly now. I'm not want to take this to the next level but after rereading your last email I'm thinking your not interested in resolving this problem, I had thought you was a square guy and honest in your business practices, I'm just at aww here now, I trusted you and you have let me down,I spent 150.00 to overnight my machine to you as you requested so you could repair it and get it back to me in time for my honeymoon hunt you didn't do this, then you cashed our check for 75.00 to cover your repair costs which I thought was fair. Then as you know you sent me a different machine back, I even notified you about this over the phone a few days later after opening package you sent back to me. You said you didn't know how this happened only after you said you didn't send different machine back, then I asked you about the difference in serial numbers you didn't give me a correct answer. Now as I figure I'm out my initial 225.00 dollars plus the cost of 62.00 to borrow my friends machine to use.for a Excalibur 2 1000, now I'm not asking for a brand new machine just a just and fair compensation for the loss of my original machine! I'll be forwarding a complaint against you this week if I don't hear from you as I'd not rather do this, I'm sure this can be worked out fairly between us both but now the balls in your court now I'm hoping you'll want to contact me back to resolve this, I'm sure you understand the seriousness of this matter please don't think I'm gonna relax on this matter untill settled, I would only hope you'll resolve this soon
Thank you
John markham
Sent from my iPhone




On Dec 20, 2010, at 6:17 AM, bill branin <[email protected]> wrote:
John your unit was not switched only the pc board was changed and I
told you that yours is the only EXCAL 2 I had in the shop so there is
know way I would or could switch your unit and why would I do that I
think I am being held responsible for somebody eles work name mel
parker I believed did your custom work the machine is working and it
is your machine you have pretty much destroyed my reputation on the
forums and my business my lawyer has copies of the emails from the
forums and is putting together a case for defamation of character

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 5:47 AM, John Markham <[email protected]> wrote:
Bill
Your email you just sent makes no sense. You claim you sent me back my machine but yet you ADMIT you changed my main pc board out out? You claim mine was the only Excalibur 2 1000 that you was working on when you yourself told me that you was working on several others and that's why you wanted it that week fast and you also mentioned this when I called you questioning you why my machine is different. Only after you first said three times that you hadn't changed my machine you said it was the exact machine I sent you but the after I asked why was this a different serial number you was at aww and couldn't answer then you admitted well you may have sent me a different machine cause you was working on several others at the same time and you was so so tired you told me that the machine I got is a really hot machine and that I'd be much happier with it, I told you I didn't understand why you would switch out machines with asking me, we then talked about your sovereign elite that you had and that you would sell it to me for 350.00 and you would send it yo me to try it out first and you agreed yo do this. You still haven't even followed thru on your own word on this. Dud honesty is what makes a could business and ones integrity counts too, you say I damaged your business and your reputation on the forums ? It seems if this was true by telling only the facts as to what happened I have no worries I would have thought and would respect that you would and could have chimed in to make things right? You haven't even bothered to try to make anything right! I'll welcome any suit you bring to me. I just hope your ready too? Are you ? You really really need to read some of the forums responses ! Your own business record doesn't seem to be very good? I trusted you by what I was recommend to do and you let me down! Well it's Monday morning as I have things to do and spending my morning dealing with this issue is at the top of my list. You know how to contact me if you even care to resolve this.
Have a great day
John markham
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 20, 2010, at 9:23 AM, bill branin <[email protected]> wrote:
No

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 6:47 AM, John Markham <[email protected]> wrote:
Hummm come on bill all you can do is to just reply to my email by just saying NO?? Lol come on bill I'd expect a bit more on this? Wow you really want to show what a crook you really are ? Man just man up here and take care of what you screwed up, you already admitted what you did just correct the wrong you did! Just make things right, don't just respond on a email by just saying NO. And you say I'm at fault here now ? Wow
I send you my machine my monies and you send me back a piece of junk take my monies and I'm at fault cause I cry faul and tell my story as to what happened, oh my wow .
All I can say is god will punish you for this in his own way, I'm in no way fearing your threats about suing me for telling the truth!
I would only hope that you would really think about this in a clear and radioman like way and resolve this issue.
Have a great day
John markham
Sent from my iPhone

From: bill branin <[email protected]>
Date: December 20, 2010 10:17:06 AM EST
To: John Markham <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: My Excalibur 2 1000

I am not allowed to go on the forums it was my agreement with mine lab
when we were let go non of the ex employees are allowed we sign
seperation papers and that was one of earmarks hope you got proof

 

[Keppy]

All i can say or will say about this is ........... I hope you 2 can get this strightened out with out Lawers............. that will be the winner with the money they get from you 2.................

 

[Sandman]

All i can say or will say about this is ........... I hope you 2 can get this strightened out with out Lawers............. that will be the winner with the money they get from you 2.................

Agreed............This can happen to anyone of us when we trust someone to do the right thing.

 

[LM]

I know *nothing* about this situation, nor the parties involved.

I do know that emails, like video cameras, usually do a pretty good job at removing the "two sides to every story" factor. The story is all there, plain to see. Further, I've personally experienced very poor business practices from operations who then felt the need to threaten to sue for "slander" or "libel" or "defamation of character" when their misdeeds were published on the internet for the world to see in a totally factual manner. John- don't worry. Nothing you've said here is defamatory. There are no protections in the laws of any state that furnish legal remedy to a business for being justifiably criticized by a customer in a factual manner. Unless you're just making this whole thing up, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Obviously, if JohnMarkham15's posts are accurate, then Bill probably didn't handle this too well and indeed, someone telling the story on the internet is just-comeuppance. A service technician doesn't have the right to replace your item being serviced with another unit at his discretion. Factories doing under-warranty work might reserve that right, private service techs absolutely do not have that right.

I'd suggest you both take a breather, take a step back and figure out how to resolve it. If the situation is as described, the person who needs to work on that remedy is the service tech, not the customer. Good reputations can be easily recovered from a hiccup in judgment- including ones that might have gotten a bit too emotional- if the business does what it takes to repair their mistake and make the customer whole. That reputation is irreparably damaged if a mistake is made, then pawned off onto the customer.

 

[johnmarkham15]

well i had hoped to update with good news but ive not heard anymore from bill branin on my excalibur,i was just hoping that the christmas spirit would change his mind and resolve this issue but as of this post ive not heard anything from him,i just want my original excalibur returned back to me,i cannot afford to spring for a new one all at once right now,id like to put one on layaway if possible if anyone knows who just might be able to help me out on this please let me know,well next week is a new year and this will be at the top of my list
im hoping all my friends on hthis forum will have a safe new year so we all can come out to hunt next year
thanks for all the support
john

 

[Smremm]

After reading through all this, I have to say I really feel for John. The issue here is not whether John has a machine that works - this is a personal property issue. It seems to me that Bill took it upon himself to send John a working replacement (for whatever reason) without taking into consideration the fact that John didn't want a replacement - he wanted his own machine back. If this happened to me I would be livid! I have a very sentimental attachment to my machine, working or not I will keep it always. I don't want something similar or comparable or even better - I want what's mine. I also want the right to make my own decisions regarding my property. A true professional, in my opinion, would never assume to know what the customer wants. A true professional, in my opinion, will own up to any mistake made rather than trying to cover their tracks. A true professional, in my opinion, would never treat an unhappy customer in such a rude and condescending manner. But, that's just my opinion. All I can say is, it's a very sad situation and one I wouldn't want to be in myself.