Sound Control + Turnkey go into administration...

[Ben]

Just heard about this -

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/news_story/a/news_id/e/2112

[Rockrooms]

Just heard about this -

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/news_story/a/news_id/e/2112

Just seen this to, though the website seems to up as normal, still seems unbelievable, very very sad as I've always had good service from them and the folk were fairly knowledgeable and helpful.

- Joe -
Rockrooms Studio

[Tomadvent]

This should be a headline feature please SOS - the websites are still working - and it will save people much angst if they don't place orders now.

No surprise that the supermarket approach to music retailing did not work for Sound Control - poor product range and staff knowledge etc - and Turnkey have been in turmoil for about 18 months.

Hopefully this will convince people that there is no future in turning music sales in leisure retailing - and focus everyone back on the real music shops.

Over 100+ jobs however have gone - many of whom will be working musicians as well which is very sad and worrying for all involved and their families.

[crofter]

That's coffin chasing in the extreme, Dolphin should be ashamed.

[Steve Hill]

That's coffin chasing in the extreme, Dolphin should be ashamed.

That's business! And being slightly pedantic, but it is relevant, Sound Control are legally obliged to disclose the fact of the administration, and give the administrators' names and addresses, on their website from the moment of appointment.

OK, it's day one, and it take a little time to make these things happen... but I can also say with 100% confidence that if you place an order today (and if the goods are available) the administrators - not the previous management - will honour it. Or they will give you your money back. There's no way a company like Deloitte wants to be accused of defrauding customers in these situations. They've spent 200 years building up a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness, and they only need to trash it once.

[Parker Fly]

That's business! And being slightly pedantic, but it is relevant, Sound Control are legally obliged to disclose the fact of the administration, and give the administrators' names and addresses, on their website from the moment of appointment.

Their web-site is a different legal entity, that aspect of their business was kept quite separate from Most Modern.

[hogberto]

there's a bit of discussion about it here:

http://www.mi-pro.co.uk/news/29485/BREAKING-NEWS-Sound-Control-files-for-administration

[Steve Hill]

Well it's the directors' choice if they want to henceforth trade with unlimited personal liability contrary to sections 216 and 217 of the Insolvency Act 1986 by muddying the waters as to which entity anyone is dealing with. I'm sure it will count enormously in their favour when the administrators file their reports on directors' conduct under the Company Directors Disqualification Act.

[Tomadvent]

What ever the legal ins-and outs of the separate operations under the same name (do any of us have any real idea how the different operations are linked to each other?) - simple common sense (given how bad their respective customer services are/were) would suggest to me that this is NOT a good time to place an order at any of the sites. They may technically be legally and financially seperate but it is hard to believe that the staff will be focusing on the job in hand.

[philetaylor]

Hi.

Does anybody know which stores have closed and which are staying open?

Phil

[Monobass]

It's not a good situation for the employees.

On the other hand, at a personal level over 15 years I've found everyone I had to deal with at Turnkey to either be rude or clueless.

Pretty opportunistic response from Dolphin... but I've never had a bad experience with Dolphin's direct customer service, maybe they learnt their lessons from their own experiences as customers at Turnkey... although to be fair Dolphins website is pretty useless... i just ring them up.

The people I feel sorry for are those small companies whose products were distributed exclusively through Turnkey in the UK like Dave Smith Instruments. I picked up a Prophet Module from Turnkey recently because I had no other choice as to where to buy it from. I even considered buying it direct from Dave Smith to avoid Turnkey, but they recommended I used Turnkey for various reasons.

Turnkey won't be missed, lets hope the decent products find another home.

[nathanscribe]

SC only just opened a big new store in Leeds, where I've spent more time than I should have mucking around on their P08...

Intriguingly, Turnkey were the sole UK importers of DSI and Moog, or so I heard. Wonder who'd take that mantle on now? And what that will do to the prices...

EDIT: whoops, Monobass just mentioned this while i was typing. Still, I agree - although i have to say there was one extremely helpful guy at SC leeds who was never less than brilliant. Sorry to see them go. There's nowhere else convenient for me to try stuff out before I buy it.