Frequently Asked Questions

The waiting is over
My survey has been reborn as

(click on the above graphic to go to the new survey)

I figure for every person that askes me a question, there are 50 people that wonder the same thing, but don't bother to ask. Hopefully, this will help those people out.

What is the Audio Mail Order Survey?
Why are you doing this?
Are you affiliated with a mail order company or another company affected by the results of this survey?
May I link to your site?
Will you link to my site?
Will you give me your price list?
Why don't you have price comparisons for model XXX for all the companies?
Can you sort the dealers from best to worst based on the votes?
Will you add feature XXX to your survey?
Will you recommend a mail order company for me?
What should I know before making a buy?
I got screwed by a company on your survey. Can you help me get satisfaction?
May I ask your advice on equipment?
Can you tell me what mail order company ships to my country?
Is this survey available in a foreign language?
I submitted a vote and comment, but I don't see it. Is your page broken?
Your page has been updated since my submission and I still don't see it on your page. What's up?
Why do you need my e-mail address? Is this just some big marketing outfit?
I submitted a vote and comment, but only the vote appeared on your page. Why?
Hey! You edited my comments. Are you into censorship or what?
May I cast a vote for my own company?
I'd like to add a/my company. What do I do?
Does my company qualify to be on your survey?
I added a new company and you didn't put them on your pages. Why?
May I change the objective information for my company?
I have a complaint about a vote or comment someone made about my company. What can I do?
Will you contact me every time anyone casts a vote for my company?
Don't you feel I have the right to know who is saying these things about my company?
What's with that damn cat I see everywhere?

What is the Audio Mail Order Survey?: It's a forum for people to vote and comment on thier experiences with audio mail order companies. Please see the Introduction to learn more.
Why are you doing this?: I'm not real sure.
Are you affiliated with a mail order company or another company affected by the results of this survey?: No. Please read the Introduction to see how this list came about.
May I link to your site?: Yes! If you do please link to http://www.visi.com/~nau/ or http://www.visi.com/~nau/mailorder/. You may want to consider using one of the available Logo Graphics for your link.
Will you link to my site?: If you provide a service that is useful to my readers, I will consider adding you to the Related Resources section of my list. If you are a company in my list, you get a link in the company specific pages. Otherwise, it's unlikely that I'll link to your pages.
Will you give me your price list?: For the millionth time, I don't sell equipment. You'll need to contact individual dealers for that information.
Why don't you have price comparisons for model XXX for all the companies?: It requires a level of cooperation with the companies that just isn't available right now. It also requires resources that I simply can't afford. Maybe someday.
Can you sort the dealers from best to worst based on the votes?: Yes, I can. However, I won't. While I believe the votes are an important part of the survey, I believe the comments are more important. I'd rather you look at the comments to see why people voted the way they did. The voters may have had different priorities than your own.
Will you add feature XXX to your survey?: I dunno. Send me a message and I'll consider it. My pages have changed greatly due to user suggestions. Sometimes it's taken months, but it's happened. Keep in mind my concern for the Best Viewed With Any Browser campaign.
Will you recommend a mail order company for me?: Um, no. That's what the survey is for. Please refer to it.
What should I know before making a buy?: I try and cover that in the Before You Buy and After You Buy sections. Please refer to those sections before making a purchase. If you think it needs to be extended, let me know.
I got screwed by a company on your survey. Can you help me get satisfaction?: I'm really quite powerless. I can't do any more than provide a little advice and (hopefully) common sense. Most of what I know is in the Before You Buy and After You Buy sections of my survey. Please refer to them first. You may also want to check the survey page on that company and see if they have designated a contact person.
May I ask your advice on equipment?: You can try. I'm not an idiot (just ask me) and I have opinions. I also don't claim to be an expert (be wary of anyone that does). You're going to get my subjective opinion and take it at that. You may want to try my Related Resources section for other sources of information.
Can you tell me what mail order company ships to my country?: If you don't live in the US, go to my Search page and enter the keyword 'international' (no quotes). This will give you a list of the companies that claim to ship overseas.
Is this survey available in a foreign language?: Foreign to who? At the current time, the survey is only available in (US) English. You can try using Digital's Bablefish Translation to translate it to your favorite language.
I submitted a vote and comment, but I don't see it. Is your page broken?: Probably not. Votes and comments don't get posted until I personally review them. Check the update date on the main page to see if I've updated since you submitted your vote.
Your page has been updated since my submission and I still don't see it on your page. What's up?: What probably happened was that I couldn't contact you for verification.
Why do you need my e-mail address? Is this just some big marketing outfit?: No. I need your e-mail address so I can contact you concerning your vote. I may relay a message from the company or I may simply need to verify your submission. Your name or e-mail address will not be distributed to others. Internet SPAM (not the Hormel product) is a great evil and I will not contribute to it.
I submitted a vote and comment, but only the vote appeared on your page. Why?: Chances are that your comment contained offensive language or was too long.
Hey! You edited my comment. Are you into censorship or what?: I may edit (or omit) comments that contain offensive or questionable language. I may edit (or omit) comments submitted with the caps lock key stuck. I may edit (or omit) comments that contain unnecessary private information. I may edit (or omit) clearly false comments. I may edit (or omit) comments that are too long. If you believe that's censorship, then yes I am into censorship.
May I cast a vote for my own company?: Absolutely not.
I'd like to add a/my company. What do I do?: Some companies have multiple names. The company you want to add may already be in my list under another name. Do a Search of the company descriptions to make sure they're not here. If they're not on my list, go to the Feedback section and click on the Add New Company link. Fill out the information as complete as possible. Give me as much information as you can.
Does my company qualify to be on your survey?: This survey is for companies that do mail order for consumer audio equipment. What does that mean? It means it must be for use in the home or personal vehicle. Video equipment only stores don't qualify. Stores that deal only with professional equipment don't qualify. Stores that deal with vaguely related accessories (ex. surge suppressors) don't qualify. Media (prerecorded or blank) only stores don't qualify. You can sell all those things, but you must also sell consumer audio equipment. I may expand in the future, but those are the restrictions for now.
I added a new company and you didn't put them on your pages. Why?: Give me a little time. I may take a week to add a new company. Was your information complete? Giving me a name and a phone number isn't good enough. You have to do a little research.
May I change the objective information for my company?: Absolutely yes! Companies are more than welcome to keep the objective portion of their information up to date.
I have a complaint about a vote or comment someone made about my company. What can I do?: Contact me. Every situation is different and is handled on a case by case basis. Please understand that I have limited resources and can only do so much. Also, while I'm willing to work with the dealers, my survey is for the consumer.
Will you contact me every time anyone casts a vote for my company?: I'm currently testing system to automatically notify you when a change is made to the page about your company. Contact me and we'll talk about it. Currently, I don't see a reason to provide this service for non-dealers.
Don't you feel I have the right to know who is saying these things about my company?: I understand your concern. In a (US) court of law, you have the right to know your accuser. This is not a court of law. In a (US) public election, the voter has a right to privacy. This is not a public election. There are two conflicting ideologies at work. I've chosen the later as the lesser of two evils. Sorry if you don't agree.
What's with that damn cat I see everywhere?: Fuzz Head is the Audio Mail Order Survey Mascot! I'm a cat lover, but can't have one in my apartment. For Christmas 1996, I got a computer generated kitty to play with. I have to take care of him and play with him or he gets downright annoyed with me. He's a lot of fun and the best Christmas present I've gotten in a long time.

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