Switched On Switches Off – For Now?

Over 300 pieces of electronic music equipment were left in limbo last May when Switched On owner John French was asked to vacate his 5013 Duval storefront. Since then, a makeshift team, including former employee John Paul Bohon and original co-founder Chad Allen, have been scrambling – without much help from French, they say – to locate the owners of synthesizers, keyboards, audio equipment, and more before the premises are cleared. 

“Where we can find documentation – and there’s very little left in the space – we’ve been able to return things,” says Allen. “The main problem is that most of the things are undocumented completely. John [French] has a computer in his possession. Various people have reached out to him about getting the computer, [or] at least all the work orders that specify who owns what. But he’s been unwilling to do that. He says he’ll take care of it, which obviously he hasn’t.”

Allen and French co-founded the music repair and resale shop in 2010, along with Guy Taylor, who left the business shortly after opening. Allen left in 2018, citing burnout and frustrations with French’s customer service. 

Clients stymied by a lack of response from French when the storefront closed last spring began to reach out to Bohon, who worked at Switched On as a repair technician for 10 years. He looped in Allen several months ago for assistance juggling equipment returns amid sparse communications from French. 

French told the Chronicle that landlords Knight Real Estate asked him to vacate because the building needed repairs during a difficult financial period for the small business. Bohon and Allen have reason to believe missed rent payments were responsible for the lockout. KRE did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment. 

Last spring, shortly before KRE locked the doors, Bohon says he became increasingly aware of broad financial issues, missing customer payments, and long overdue equipment repairs. He attempted to confront French and eventually withdrew his services to focus on his independent vintage synth repair business, Double Heart Audio Repair.

Frustrated accounts shared on Reddit and other social forums illustrate the complaints Bohon was hearing. Seth Tiven and David Hollander shared similar stories with the Chronicle. After giving French his Roland RE-150 Space Echo for repairs and paying an upfront deposit, Hollander stopped hearing from French altogether, no matter how he tried to reach him. “I tried to file a police report but was told that it is a civil, not criminal matter,” he wrote. Tiven says that, when French continually dodged paying him roughly $3,000 in consignment sales, he also filed a police report in an effort to collect insurance on nearly 20 other items, valued between $20,000 and $30,000, he’d left for sale at the shop. APD similarly told Tiven this was a civil issue.

French says he’s aware of these claims, which echo those made in four civil lawsuits filed against the business owner since 2021, and that “complete resolution on every detail of this to [the client’s] complete satisfaction is really, honestly, my only goal.”

“I started the company. I’ve been the one that managed every single repair that we’ve ever had. Every repair client has always gone through me. Every single thing they needed or they were charged for, [or the] length of time it took to do it, was all navigated by me,” French says. 

According to the Texas Comptroller, the owner forfeited his LLC status in 2024 due to “missing reports, information reports and/or payments,” meaning that French has not been conducting business legally since. French says he believes the forfeiture was a result of unfiled property tax information. He plans to rectify the situation and, eventually, reopen Switched On. 

KRE has continually extended the clearing date to allow equipment to be returned, but those extensions are running out, according to Allen and Bohon. The owner and the team of past employees are both encouraging repair clients or consignment customers to contact them. French can be found at 512/565-0663 and [email protected] and Allen and Bohon can be reached at [email protected].

The post Switched On Switches Off – For Now? appeared first on The Austin Chronicle.