Victoria accordions

[96Bass]

I live in Silver Bay Mn. located on the north shore of Lake Superior. I play a variety of music, but my favorite style are the jazz standards. After hearing Frank Marocco playing the Victoria accordion, I was very much attracted to the Poeta line. I discovered this forum while researching Victoria accordions. I ordered one in early July of 2021 and as of this posting have heard nothing about when to expect to see it. I have contacted Elke, but I hesitate to make myself a pest, so I'm reluctant to be persistent. Does anyone out there have any advice? I'm not used to Italian business norms, is this acceptable practice by their standards, or have I just spent a lot of foolish money? Thanks for any advice any of you might offer.

Sisu

Very sorry to hear that you have not received your accordion. That has to be extremely frustrating! I hope that you receive it soon.
I ordered a Petosa Artista Pro in November 2021 with an expected delivery date of December 2022. From what I understand, they make limited runs of this model and that they are sold before they are manufactured. This too is a premium maple accordion with Blue Star reeds
I had to make a relatively small deposit to hold the accordion. I will most likely make the trip to their store once it arrives to try it out and take delivery in person. I feel more comfortable dealing with a dealer/manufacturer in my own country than making an international transaction.

 

[Sisu]

Today I received my accordion. It is nice to look at, but it is not what I ordered. I ordered a reduced key size of 18mm vs. 20mm agreed upon in writing by Elke. I ordered a low G in the Bass, also agreed in writing. Neither of these features did I receive. Also the accordion doesn't even have any bellows straps. I assumed, incorrectly, that any Poeta model would come with a bellows protector. It did not. Other than all of that it sounds great except for the C in the Bass which has some issues. Oh yeah, and I got slapped with a customs fee of $41.20. Shipping was supposed to be included in the price. I was so glad to get this accordion, 6 months after it was due, but now I don't even want to play it. I'm waiting to hear back from Mr. Breccia at Victoria, hopefully he will resolve these concerns by sending me the accordion that I ordered and pay for me to return this one.

 

[Dingo40]

Sisu,
It's hard to get good help these days.
I recently had some work done on my car.
When it was done, it had a new set of odd noises coming from under the hood (bonnet).
I queried this at the time and was assured it was simply due to a new fan belt settling in.
Two months later, with the problem getting ever more prominent, I brushed the receptionist / office assistant aside, demanding to talk to a mechanic.
Turns out, someone had forgotten to tighten the nut setting the tension of the belt running the alternator. After two months of running, the nut had fallen off altogether, leaving the alternator dangling (rattling) loosely on the belt and the "tightening adjustment thingy "!
The mechanic immediately put my car up on the hoist and had everything sorted in 20 minutes.
They didn't charge extra for the service!
That's life as a customer these days!
Hopefully, they'll sort things out for you too, soon!

 

[debra]

Today I received my accordion. It is nice to look at, but it is not what I ordered. I ordered a reduced key size of 18mm vs. 20mm agreed upon in writing by Elke. I ordered a low G in the Bass, also agreed in writing. Neither of these features did I receive. Also the accordion doesn't even have any bellows straps. I assumed, incorrectly, that any Poeta model would come with a bellows protector. It did not. Other than all of that it sounds great except for the C in the Bass which has some issues. Oh yeah, and I got slapped with a customs fee of $41.20. Shipping was supposed to be included in the price. I was so glad to get this accordion, 6 months after it was due, but now I don't even want to play it. I'm waiting to hear back from Mr. Breccia at Victoria, hopefully he will resolve these concerns by sending me the accordion that I ordered and pay for me to return this one.

Sad to hear you did not receive quite what you ordered. It is always a danger with "mail order" instead of going through a dealer or going to the factory in person... but still, it should not happen.
It's normal for the accordion to come without bellows straps. More and more accordion makes start doing this on all of their higher-end models. I would not consider it normal for this accordion to come without a bellows protector. I recently did tuning on a ladies size Victoria Poeta (120 bass in the case that normally holds a 96 bass accordion) with just 41 keys. It did have bellows straps, but they could have been special order. I'm not 100% sure whether it came with a bellows protector or not, but believe it did.
As for a replacement accordion... it may be a long process. They do not have large numbers of accordions just waiting to be shipped... so they will need to produce a new one. It seems that what you received is a pretty "standard" one so they can easily sell that on. They cannot quickly make you another one I'm afraid...
Italian accordion makers are great when you can deal with them in person. I have so far gone through a local dealer who goes to Castelfidardo in person several times a year to collect orders, inspect them on the spot, and do the transport himself. That's what you need to do to reliably get exactly what you order from any Italian accordion maker.

 

[Dingo40]

Almost seems as if our member Waldo
( see his thread " Killer Accordion ") can consider himself very lucky!
See here:

KILLER ACCORDION

Following is the email I recently sent to Beltuna Accordions describing my dismay regarding a recently purchased accordion. Included below are photos illustrating the several defects included with said accordion. The last 3 pics demonstrate what would have eventually happened had I not...

www.accordionists.info

 

[EMan]

This entire issue is really unfortunate; although I can't say I'm surprised. Not necessarily by Victoria but by business practices in general. The thing that troubles me with this is you were not provided with a tracking no or ship date. Showing you a pic of your box and saying that it's ready to go proves nothing. I agree with Knobby. Companies furnish garbage customer service and don't think anything of it. I don't think it's inherent of just italy. I just did a transaction with Claudio Sabbatini at Music Tech. He was polite, communicative and EFFICIENT. I rcvd my part about 10 days after our conversation and payment by paypal. Honestly, I would call Victoria and look for a CSR that is willing to help you out. If you don't find one today, call again tomorrow and keep calling until you get that tracking No. That's important. Don't give up on your money. You worked hard for it. I would also be hard pressed to think that Victoria is trying to screw you out of your money. They've been around too long for that.

 

[saundersbp]

So sorry to read about these experiences - that sort of service is unacceptable. I have found the brand name means little as companies can change so rapidly today and names come up for sale and people come and go.

However to be positive about the Italian companies, I have found them to be excellent customer service and quality wise, and I've deliberately only dealt with the big boys - Pigini and Bugari buying instrument for myself or instruments for work. In both cases I dealt throughout with the MD of the firm, communication on phone and email was excellent and what arrived was what was ordered complete with high quality straps and hard cases. (The Bugari case was slightly too generous for the instrument I was ordered and this was addressed immediately by the MD with a no problem, many apologies, we will make a new one, give us a few weeks, it is free of course with our compliments. And true to his word it arrived a month later.)

 

[Dingo40]

Generally speaking, it's a big temptation to cut out the middle man. After all, what do they do for the money ?
Until, that is, something like this happens

 

[Giovanni]

I don't know. If you are. Aware but in Italy most factories close down for the month of august... You are unlikely to get any response to phone calls ,emails etc...
.I hope it all turns out ok for you.....good luck

 

[EMan]

Generally speaking, it's a big temptation to cut out the middle man. After all, what do they do for the money ?
Until, that is, something like this happens

You know Dingo there's an old saying that the only thing that gets you into trouble is "trouble itself". In other words this transaction with Victoria was fine until there was a problem. The middle man many times takes this sting out of doing business. Can't say that I wasn't tempted recently with the new Bugari to go right to Bugari, but once you cross those international borders you lose a lot of control Truly when the transaction is longer than arms length you lose control, even in your own county. I sincerely wish she gets her accordion and this issue is put to rest.

 

[jozz]

thanks for sharing this ordeal

this story reminds me never to undertake such a thing myself

I would expect to be treated like a king, if I'm to spend that kind of money UP FRONT

hopefully they will sort it out

 

[Scuromondo]

When I purchased my new accordion last year (probably only half the value of your Victoria) I purchased it through a dealer who only wanted 40% up-front. I did not have to pay the rest until the dealer had received the accordion through customs, checked it out, and was ready to ship it out to me. I agree with &EMan that buying something so expensive from across the ocean is a big risk; working through a dealer did not totally eliminate the risk but it definitely helped to know that the dealer shared in the risk, which would help motivate him to work on my behalf in the event of a problem.

I sincerely hope you are able to eventually work through these issues and get the accordion that you want, that you paid for. It sounds like a very frustrating situation

 

[Sisu]

As of today I still don't have the accordion that I ordered. This past July they did send me a nice Poeta, unchecked for flaws, but it is very nice. The accordion I ordered is held up on parts for the reeds I am told. Last July I was allowed to keep the accordion sent to me until the right one is delivered. It came to me with a bass mechanism flaw, a sticking reed, and in need of final tuning. It is a beautiful instrument with a nice balance between the bass and treble side. My hope is that I will eventually get what I ordered. Stay posted.

 

[JerryPH]

Let's hope that they don't feel that they fulfilled the "order" by sending you something that you did not want.

 

[debra]

Let's hope that they don't feel that they fulfilled the "order" by sending you something that you did not want.

I agree: good idea to keep reminding them that you are still waiting for what you really ordered. This delay is really excessive, not at all what I would expect from Victoria.

 

[JerryPH]

Also, you can add a little pressure on this, let them know that you are sharing the story on an international accordion forum, share the link here. Them knowing that a potentially international stage is watching them and have it hurt their reputation and sales by inaction can be very serious for them.

 

[Sisu]

Thanks guys for your support. I was told this past July that they would have the right accordion ready for me by November 2022 for sure. The supply chain seems to be the problem. The point of this post is not to complain, but to inform. I'm not sure of the best way to order an accordion from abroad without going there, but wow, that is a bit out of my financial parameters. It is sad to me that we can no longer afford quality instruments made in our country, USA. Folks at Victoria have been apologetic and I trust their integrity, but as they say here in MN. ufta!

 

[Ventura]

but this is 2023

and as far as buying in person, i assure you the cost of the
plane ticket is way less than the savings you can negotiate
with a pocket full of Dollars

cash talks louder in Italy than even the politicians

 

[jozz]

Thanks guys for your support. I was told this past July that they would have the right accordion ready for me by November 2022 for sure. The supply chain seems to be the problem. The point of this post is not to complain, but to inform. I'm not sure of the best way to order an accordion from abroad without going there, but wow, that is a bit out of my financial parameters. It is sad to me that we can no longer afford quality instruments made in our country, USA. Folks at Victoria have been apologetic and I trust their integrity, but as they say here in MN. ufta!

I'm gonna tease you a bit. Below you see me testdriving a Victoria last month. It's with every bell 'n whistle they have: double-cassotto, convertor, master and chin switches etc.

There is a really nice backstory to it: the previous owner 'granted' this to the new owner for exactly one euro (€1).

Currently the instrument is in Spain.

Sorry, I hope you get yours soon....

 

[JerryPH]

I actually have a bit of a funny story about a very similar accordion... I was at the accordion museum a few years ago and played a Victoria very similar to this. I had put on the accordion and played a few notes, reached up to change the registration and the button fell clean off and bounced on the floor. I was HORRIFIED thinking I had just broken a $15,000 accordion.

Paul the owner looks at me and chuckles saying that it will easily glue back on... and it was likely loosened by the last person that played that accordion... Cory Pesaturo.... LOL