So long, CIOMIT

[LanceHandsome]

I bought a trombone at CIOMIT (Colorado Institute of Musical Instrument Technology) and recently brought it in for its yearly cleaning, which wasn't a problem in previous years. Unfortunately, the shop has changed hands and the repairman did not do an acceptable job. I had to take the instrument to a different shop, where it was revealed that one of the two valves hadn't even been cleaned (I was told both had been.) I sent the new owner pictures of the valves, told him I found the whole servicing unacceptable, and asked for a refund. No reply. I gave it a few days and asked again. No reply.

I'm sorry to say it, but I can no longer recommend this shop.

[harrisonreed]

What a shame. They created a valve linkage for my 36H and did all kinds of work for me that was great, not too long ago. Maybe it was a student? Maybe they are on vacation right now? Odd time for a repair

[tbonesullivan]

Ok, so this is your first ever post, with a strange username and picture. And you go here just to make a complaint about a shop, the day after Christmas.

Are they even open to answer your emails at this time of year?

[harrisonreed]

Yeah,my thoughts exactly

[BGuttman]

LanceHandsome was a member of TTF.

[Schlitz]

.

[Neo Bri]

I don't really see the trouble with this being a first post. If the info is useful (might be) and legit (hopefully) no problem. Sad if this is true, but it is an odd time of the year.

[LanceHandsome]

The correspondence with the new owner was in November, so I felt I'd given him plenty of time to respond before I posted here.

I hate being photographed and there's no such thing as a good photo of me. The name was lifted from a story a long-ago coworker told me.

[Schlitz]

.

[LanceHandsome]

Thanks. The killer part was that I took the horn down there because a) I'd bought it there and the previous owner usually worked on it himself, and b) their tech knew Hagmann valves (he said) and the guy in Denver didn't. Hmm...should I post the photos of the supposedly cleaned valve?

[Neo Bri]

I hate being photographed and there's no such thing as a good photo of me. The name was lifted from a story a long-ago coworker told me.

My avatar is a photograph of me. This is exactly what I look like.

Too bad about the Hagmann valves - they're supposed to be good with them, and were/are a Rath dealer.

[LanceHandsome]

It DOES look like you.

As for Hagmanns, does the one on the right look clean to you? It sure doesn't to me.

[ZacharyThornton]

Depending on the way it was cleaned the brass can look different colors after cleaning. They can “shine” it up but that can result in brass being removed. This picture really doesn’t give enough evidence that a crime was committed :p

[elmsandr]

It DOES look like you.

As for Hagmanns, does the one on the right look clean to you? It sure doesn't to me.

Actually, yeah.. that looks really clean. No chunks, nothing green and scaly. I don’t want it to look polished, that means wear and metal removal. I want people to do only do exactly what is needed to keep it from having problems. Especially on valves with large surface areas that need to seal (hagmanns, Thayers, trubore, etc..).

Now, if it still wasn’t working right, that is a different thing. Needs to work right first, look good second.

Cheers,
Andy

[ZacharyThornton]

^this!

[tbonesullivan]

I actually wonder why the top of the left one looks so shiny. That usually means material removal or rubbing on the valve internals. If they used an ultrasonic cleaner when it was broken down, that generally is what results.

[ZacharyThornton]

I think that is just lighting.

[LanceHandsome]

Oh. In a way, I'm relieved. I ain't getting my money back, after all.

[ZacharyThornton]

Oh. In a way, I'm relieved. I ain't getting my money back, after all.

But now you have made a week established repair shop look bad perhaps for no reason... so damage has been done.

[harrisonreed]

Yes, this has been sort of a terrible topic. CIOMIT had done great work for me, relatively recently. Please don't bash craftspeople who actually do good work (based on the photos, it just looks like you use the F valve a lot more than the second valve), when you just don't know what the job is supposed to look like.

[LanceHandsome]

Point taken, and I'll take down the picture if I can. However, I had to have the valves re-cleaned because the tech used some kind of kerosene-based oil that about made me sick, not the oil I told him I've been using. The slide had to be re-trued, too. So I maintain the shop isn't what it used to be.