A friend of mine referred me to a thread on The Gear Page forum about Faustine closing its doors. Then I went to the Faustine Amp web site, and lo and behold, the site is gone and in its place is a heartfelt letter from Tim, Faustine’s founder. I really feel for Tim, having come close to bankruptcy 10 years ago, so I’m familiar with the pain and anguish he must be feeling.
What is clear is that there are lots of unhappy people who have lost their deposits. Some are rather nasty about their anger, and perhaps understandably so, but as others pointed out, the $550 deposit was discretionary for most people, so yeah, it’s a pisser, but it’s probably best to move on. I call experiences like this a “learning tax.” Got that term from a former business partner when we were ripped off of over three grand in a bogus server purchase. You get angry, you call the FBI for wire fraud, but in the end, there’s not much you can do about it. No, I’m not apologizing for Tim, but I’ve been in this situation, having given my hard-earned money to someone; only to lose it due to fraud. And I’m not saying that Tim was intentionally fraudulent either; a bad businessman perhaps, but not necessarily fraudulent. That’ll be up to the courts to determine, considering lots of people are trying to get their money back from their credit card companies.
But I think there’s an over-arching issue here from which we as boutique gear lovers can all learn. There was a LOT of hype built up over the Faustine Phantom attenuator, and several well-respected professionals personally endorsed the product. As a result, a lot of people pulled out their wallets and dropped $450-$550 on their down-payment; knowing full well that they’d have to wait – a long time, and in some cases over a year.
Obviously, wait time wasn’t an issue, but a good lesson to take away from this would be putting a down payment on any gear; especially on gear from a small shop; not necessarily that the proprietors are dishonest, but at least for me, I have to call into question why you’d need a down-payment in the first place. Experience tells me that when there’s a down-payment involved AND a super-long wait time, it’s clear that the company has cash-flow issues. What appears to have ended up happening with Faustine is that Tim had to “rob Peter to pay Paul” as he indicates in his letter:
“I continued taking new orders and attempted to maintain a tight control on my cash-flow so that production could continue while I searched for new funding to get Faustine back on track.”
Tim’s cash flow issues aside, here are some things to consider when getting gear:
- Personally, I’d avoid ever having to pay a down-payment unless it was absolutely clear what its purpose is; and more importantly, only if there weren’t any issues surrounding the down-payment. There was lots of discussion on the boards about the requirement of a a down-payment for the Phantom. That would be a red flag for me.
- If you’re willing to wait, then wait. I waited 6 months for my Timmy, but Paul Cochrane didn’t require a down payment, and once it was done, I had the option of not getting it. So for me, there was very little risk.
- I’ve said this many times: Don’t buy into the hype! Do your research, play the gear if you can, and if you can’t, talk to as many owners of that gear as possible. The Timmy was highly hyped, but while I didn’t have the opportunity to play it before I got it, I did have an up close look and listen to it being used by a professional guitarist at a concert. After that, I knew I had to have it, and I haven’t looked back.
In closing, I do feel for Tim, though I’m not apologizing for his actions in any way. At best he was naive in how he ran his business; at worst, he knew full well what he was doing when taking people’s money. Either way he’ll have to answer for it. But personally, he’s a really nice guy, and I have been in his position, starting a company that was completely funded by myself. It was just more work than I could handle. I wish him well as a person. I’ve played his amps, and they’re very nice. Never cared too much for the Phantom, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t build a quality product. He in way over his head.
Guitar Gear 
Bottom line…he STOLE money from his customers. End of story. Zero sympathy.
Don’t know where that comes from, but I will say this again: I am not apologizing for Tim. But I do have some empathy for him because I was in a similar financial position. I will tell you that desperation can make people make some very questionable choices. Tim obviously made some bad choices and he will have to reconcile those choices. Does that lessen the impact on those whose money he took? Not at all. But that’s something that he will have to face for the rest of his life. In any case, I get the anger, but to me, it’s a waste of energy.
The moment he had to use customer’s money to pay any expense other than building the actual product is the moment he should’ve called it quits. No matter what his intentions were from that point he crossed the line from being a businessman to becoming a thief, His sob letter is pathetic, And don’t put this on customers saying it’s our fault for buying into hype or putting a deposit down. He took our money and used it to pay his own personal bills while he gambled on whether he’d find an “investor” to bail him out. Criminal charges should be brought against him.
From a moral standpoint, what Tim did was wrong, and in no way do I condone what he did. Not sure what the legal interpretation would be, as the expenditures could be termed as business expenses (the tax law is pretty open on this). But in no way am I “putting this on customers” saying it’s their fault. What I’m suggesting is purely for future reference. Having been burned badly myself, while it stings, it’s better to move on.
Again, I do wish Tim well. He’s a nice guy that got into a bad situation, and perhaps because of pride or shame wouldn’t own up to the truth of what really was going on. My guess is that he was in such dire personal financial shape that the temptation to dip into business funds was just too great to ignore, and “crossed the line.”
Criminal charges may indeed be brought against him if it is in fact found that was he was engaged in fraudulent behavior. But that’s going to be up to the lawyers, and it will seriously depend upon how badly the credit card companies want to go after him.
Goofydawg,
I understand you weren’t putting it on customers, I just found out about it before writing that so needless to say I was a little pissed and not thinking entirely clearly. I apologize for implying that and I understand you were just trying to help. Anyways, your page is an excellent resource and thanks for your work!
No worries, Dave! It’s all good!
He is a thief and his plase is in jail. He stole my money – full prepayment for fantom- – 867 USD. For all my letters he and his woman answered that everything is ok and I will get the stuff but now afted his pathetic letter on site he is keeping silence. It will be very difficult for me to restore the justice – I’m too far away from US for now, but I hope that THERE IS THE LAW in US and this Tim and his woman will be punished and will go to jail for a long time.
I’m not disagreeing with you. Tim really did screw people over; with that there is no doubt. I’ve read through many of the posts, and reviewed a lot of his explanations, and frankly, things just didn’t add up, as many people have probably figured out.
But while criminal charges will probably not be brought against him, one thing is for sure. People will not buy from Tim Gregoire for a long, long time; perhaps never again. Hard to put your trust in a guy who literally pocketed tens of thousands of dollars and lied to his customers. From a business standpoint, he screwed himself over.
I’m so sick of America’s liberal policies when it comes to conducting business. If TIm would have pulled this shit in say China – he would have been executed for betraying the public trust. That’s what they should do with this shit-stain!
Someone needs to take a chill pill…
I’ve been a lawyer for 40 years. I understand bankruptcy laws and business ethics. “Deposits” are not earned by a company until the product is shipped.
If Tim took deposits and used them for any general operating purpose (including his own salary) before the product shipped, then in my opinion, he is a thief. If an attorney did that to their customers, they would receive disciplainary action from their State Bar Association. But other busineses can get away with it . . . go figure. Don’t feel sorry for Tim if he stole your deposit.
Wow! Can’t believe this post is still in circulation.:) While I communicated a certain empathy for Tim in my original post, no way did I sympathize with him. He just made some bad choices. And looking back on it now, I think he spent way too much time on The Gear Page boards where faceless names and talking heads go to debate about gear. He was caught in the middle of the attenuator wars and people took sides, and orders came crashing in, and he couldn’t keep up. But as I found with the Gear Page, what could start out as a meteoric rise in popularity, can soon come crashing down just as fast.