I have only been into Jersey Jim's once and will never return. This review if for those considering this business. I have an older Technics record player that needed a new power cord, needle and overall clean/tune-up. I brought in my turn table and agreed that someone from the business would call me with an estimate for the cost of repair, about a week later I received a call saying my item was ready. I was curious why it would be ready when I hadn't spoken with anyone about the estimate but figured I would just stop in and see what was up.
Upon arrival my table was brought out and was handed a repair sales slip with a $125+ price tag. I asked why it was fixed before agreeing to an estimate. The attendant said she wasn't a technician and couldn't tell me why i hadn't received a call before the work began and completed. I contested the charges and was told that they could either take it back and "unfix" it or pay the cost. I eventually paid up and took my table home. After getting the table back home I found that the needle that was installed was bent and looked like it was taken from another piece of equipment.
I then had to make 3 calls and finally Jersey Jim himself called me back. When questioned why the table was repaired before I agreed to an estimate he said, "Well, it is such a high quality piece of equipment that $125 is a fraction of what it's worth so we just went ahead with the repair." WHAT? What kind of operating procedure is that? I had to bring my table back a second time and wait another week for them to look at the needle and answer a barrage of questions about its condition before they would replace it.
This all happened over a month ago and left very displeased. I decided to write this review after talking with my friend over the weekend about a set of speakers and a receiver he brought in. The SAME THING HAPPENED TO HIM. He discussed an estimate on the speakers (around $50 for both) and wanted to see the cost of the bigger repair to see if he should invest the repair money into new equipment instead. He was called to come in and when he showed up all the equipment was fixed with a price tag of over $175. When contested they said they could "unfix" the work that was done. He tested the equipment before leaving and agreed to leave it due to it not being repaired to his liking. He was again called a week later with still an over $100 price tag, he said he was coming in for his speakers and didn't think he wanted to spend the money for the receiver. Get this! When he arrived, his receiver was ALREADY on the selling floor listed at around $200! They were trying to make a profit off of equipment that WASN'T theirs to sell.
After my own poor experience I vowed not to return but after hearing my friends story too, it seems that this is their standard operating procedure! I don't want anyone to be on the hook for Jersey Jim's profit margin. Please heed this advice, if you enjoy your own money and equipment. I hope what happened to my friend and I doesn't happen to you. I will be filing a formal complaint to the better business bureau as well as exercising my consumer rights to the fullest.
FYI, I am a mid-20's very conscious consumer and do not have a personal vendetta against the business or it's employees. This review is strictly for the benefit of other perspective customers, and a precaution to their very poor business practices. If you've have a similar experience, please share it and help HONEST people hold on to their hard earned money.
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