The drama happened yesterday. I'm a classical music critic and educator, and suddenly my beloved 1980s Luxman audiophile amplifier conked out. Right while I am in the midst of preparing a a lecture course, and with a deadline looming. This is bad. Now what?
I remembered HomeStars, and suddenly I found myself reading accolades about an electronics fix-it fellow named Oscar, who even makes house calls, and so I dialed his number and left a detailed message. He returned my call promptly, and said he could drop over in about 3 hours. Sure enough, a pleasant fellow came when he said, and assured me my receiver could be fixed, or if I wished he could sell me a replacement. He said he would call me the next day, after assessing the repair at his downtown workbench. If I wanted to go ahead with the work, he would then have it fixed and returned to me the same day! I had a good feeling about this, and a handshake sealed the deal.
Sure enough, everything unfolded today as anticipated. This morning I gave Oscar the go-ahead for a substantial $350 repair/cleaning, and indeed he returned my amplifier and reconnected my stereo system some hours later. He could not have been more pleasant or professional, and clearly enjoys his work, which he has been doing in Toronto for 30+ years.
Most astonishing to me has been neither the speed of this repair (though it is remarkable), nor the willingness of a bench-repair guy even to make house calls. No, the most startling is that my Luxman receiver now sounds substantially better (30%-40%?) than it did before it broke down! In short, I asked for a repair and instead I got a major improvement. The sound is both warmer and more present, given all the circuitry and filters Oscar replaced.
The word "wow" springs to mind. And the phrase "thank you." I need to use consult the HomeStars website more often.