Complaint Review: Extreme Mastering Studios

Mastering is the art of taking a basic original music mix and eq'ing, compressing, normalizing, and making all final tracks sound nice and consistent from one to the next. To be done right, it requires skill and knowledge that only experienced ears can deliver.

I scanned the internet for mastering studios which were not outrageously priced. . .the fees can be out of this world. I narrowed my list down to about five studios, all within a $100 to $300 per album price range, which was about what I had budgeted. I listened to samples from all sites and was overall pleased with the price and sound from a company called Extreme Mastering Studios located in Memphis Tennessee. They had their physical address listed, as well as an 800 number and an email address. They also had a very cleverly worded paragraph about how they know it's hard with so many companies out there to know who you can trust to deliver (incidentally I don't see that paragraph on their website anymore).

Here's my timeline:

March 18 - I placed an order for one album to be mastered.
March 24 - Email sent to inquire about an ETA on the finished product.
March 25 - Email response saying the master would be completed shortly. ***Note: I found out over the months that ALL their email responses are generic, pre-written responses.
March 27 - Order placed for a second album.
March 30 - First order received. ***Note: During the ordering process, you are asked to print out a list of all tracks and what you would like done to each track. Absolutely none of my directions were followed. The only thing they did was raise the volume of all tracks and boost bass (way way too much bass) to the tracks. By this time I had already paid for the second album, so I continued the ordeal with another email regarding A)revising the first project according to my original instructions, and B)whether or not they had received the song information for the second project. . .I sent it via email.
March 31 - Another generic pre-written email response.
April 7 - I send another email about progress.
April 9 - Another generic pre-written email response (this email confirmed my suspicions that all email responses were set on autopilot. . .this email's wording was down to the letter exactly the same as their last email response).
April 16 - Still no word and no finished project for the first or second orders. I send out another email.
April 17 - Generic pre-written email stating that the masters are completed and en route.
April 24 - Still no word and no finished product. I send out another email.
May 5 - Still no word and no finished product. I send out another email demanding the masters.
May 8 - Still no word and no finished product. I send a final email giving another seven days before I pursue legal action to get my money back.

I also called Extreme Mastering Studios throughout this time period. No one ever answers and the messaging service is full. Almost like the Shelby County (Memphis) court system. Apparently all the courts in Memphis have been nuked as no one will answer the phone or return messages. I'll begin a small claims suit as soon as someone gets back in touch with me. If you are a victim of this fraudulent company, let's put our heads together and figure out a way to get our money back. Post a return to this message and I'll get an email response. The same goes for Tennessee attorneys who would like to contact me about this case. Feel free to post too.

Tripp
Thomson, Georgia
U.S.A.