Deadbeat Churches?
Sad but True!
Each of the churches below has been billed for services rendered, and notified of their delinquency, but the bill remains unpaid! All bills were extremely reasonable (none was over $400), and they had no dispute about the quality of work.
This Page is provided to warn any companies that may do business with these churches in the East Tennessee area.
Suzuki Corp - San Diego, CA - Invoice Date: 8/4/03. Has repeatedly ignored requests for payment of a warranty repair they asked me to do for them. I found oil under the tactile key contacts and took pictures, which I emailed to Steve Miller at Suzuki. The customer (a church) claims they did not spray anything on the keys, and I believe them. And if they did, it couldn't get under the rubber seals as the pictures show. This type of keyboard is known for oil leaking out of moving parts onto the contact board. This also agrees with the description of how the dead and very loud notes progressively worsened over the first 8 months of ownership. The customer was upset with Suzuki's slow response to their problem, but I wasn't informed about it until July, and I was there in less than two weeks.
New Life Christian Center - Brock Street - Knoxville, TN - Pastor is J.W. Dukes - I had to make at least five needless trips because the organist would forget our appointment, and I waited thirty minutes each time and left. This "church" also owes Knox Keyboard of Knoxville, TN for organ repairs. Organtek Invoice Date: 5/30/96. Pastor changed his phone number to a private listing, and the organist had her phone disconnected. This church closed shortly thereafter.
First Assembly of God - Sevierville, TN - Invoice Date: 3/19/94. This story is a real jewel, proving that you never really know how SPIRITUAL someone is until MONEY is involved. Suffice it to say that when I described all the problems I found in the organ after I had it playing again, I asked the pastor if it had been transported in a truck or moved in some other manner. He vehemently denied that the organ had been transported in any way, even though it had water stains on it and parts inside were broken completely loose, some jammed into the wood from a severe blow. I also gave them a discount because the pastor's wife is a piano teacher and I had tuned her piano for years. He complained about the $180.00 invoice (I drove 70 miles round-trip and worked over half the day), and only agreed to pay HALF of it. Needless to say, I will never tune his wife's piano again.
Park Street Church of God - Madisonville, TN - Invoice Date: 2/5/88. Organ hit by lightning. Made three trips to complete all repairs. I gave them a huge discount of more than 50% because they were a small struggling congregation (the pastor washes dishes at the University of TN cafeteria in Knoxville).