Austin Video Solutions

They never returned my calls. It’s frustrating to need a service, reply to an advertised service and get no response.

It has been a few years since I have worked with AVS, but I feel as though I need to get my story out there so people know what they are getting into. I initially contacted Ben back in 2011 to get several of my families VHS tapes to DVDs. At the time, Ben seemed to be on the ball and did everything in a timely manner and rather professionally. After watching the DVDs it was obvious that he had messed up the order and forgot one of our VHS tapes in the DVD mix. I let him know and he kindly offered to take it back and redo the VHS for me. It was then that I lost all contact with Ben. After dropping off the VHS he never answered any emails or phone calls telling me it was finished and I never got my VHS back!!! I have tried to return to his SHADY apartment in south Austin to only be told that he has several VHS tapes in his house and there is little doubt that he will find it in the mix! Umm what?! He basically wouldn’t even try to look! I offered to look through them
for him, and he continued to spout off some legal crap that wasn’t real. I’m assuming he has lost my family video, because it has been years since I have heard from him again. This guy is a fraud and will steal your personal home videos and never contact you again. Do not use him!!! I am sick over the fact that I used poor judgement in trusting this guys with such personal items. I wish I would have used some legal help in the beginning for breach of contract as well
to get my personal property back. Since he refuses to be motivated in any other way.

Had some tapes I wanted turned into DVDs and also wanted some backup video files. Made an appointment with Ben and showed up with my old tapes. He had a lot of professional looking equipment (VCRs and DVD players and such) and seemed more than up for the task. Looks like he added some more pieces to his collection since last time. Before I went to pick up the old tapes and new DVDs, I already had my video files in my inbox to download. Videos came out as good as I can expect given the age of the medium. As Ben explained, he can only enhance the image so much and was goes in is what comes out… However, it did look better than before and was enhanced to a degree. Not sure what I was expecting because I hadn’t seen the recordings in so long. Another satisfying visit to Austin Video Solutions.

Decided to finally write my first review due to this guy never replying to my email nor phone call. He had a real nice special before Valentines day. I wanted to have videos of my child made for my wife. I emailed the guy a week before the special was over and he never emailed me back. I called and left a message for him to call me back before the special was over and he once again never responded back. Now the Valentines special is over.
It only takes a business/​person a reply via email or a call back and I wouldn’t have written this review.

Dropped my 30 minute VHS tape off to have converted to DVD at Ben’s home, came back in 35 minutes and it was finished! Plus sent me a link to the video so I could download. I thought the price was reasonable. Ben did an excellent job. I will use him again! Love that I was able to use the chat feature, and he was actually there to answer back!

I would like to post an update to say that I did finally receive my tapes and the completed work in the mail almost 6 weeks after initial drop-​off. I changed some of the wording in my original review to not be considered slanderous and to truly express that my statements are based on my experiences and opinions through my own personal interactions with this business and other parties connected. To this day, I have received no returned communication from Ben explaining what happened, just my tapes, my completed transfers and my receipt. I have personally messaged Adam to express my major concerns and experience with AVS and Ben. I have never been so happy to have VHS tapes again… I didn’t even care any more about the DVD files.

As with Shannon L. my one star comment was hidden from the board. I stand by everything I wrote on Ben, and Adam L’s comments about ‘helping’ Ben out and getting a new location to further spread the business! well good luck with that Adam!
Ben needs serious help.
When my things were given back after a criminal claim was filed (and yes, it was with Travis County Sheriff’s Department Adam), Ben finally called and I could get my things back. But not until he was faced with the file number of my claim.
Rae A.

Bad experience after initial encounter. Did not return phone calls or emails. Only 3 of the 4 DVD will play, those that play only do so intermittently and freeze frequently. The download provided will not load. Should have read the «filtered» reviews. My experience does not appear to be unique, I would not use this service again.

For some reason my bad reviews of this business keep getting «filtered» so I will continue to post on here often in hopes that others will not make the same mistake I did. I left a few old VHS videos to be converted to DVD’s and was told by Ben 5 days max… That he would call me when they were ready. No money was exchanged. That was Sept 27^th. Now, almost a month later, I can not reach Ben by phone (his voicemail says full) by email (his website has disappeared) or by physically going to his residence (he doesnt answer even though you can hear someone moving around inside). When I went to his apartment hoping to catch him at home there was a lady sitting on his porch waiting for her confirmed appointment that was arranged just the day before. I’m still not sure how since he has metaphorically disappeared. We both ended up leaving notes on his door when 30 min later he still was not answering. Shocker, no phone call, no email, no reply. I’m at a complete loss as to what he could possibly want with my stuff. I am a total stranger who has no beef with him and just wants my childhood memories on film back. :-(

Ben has 30 of my tapes that he was going to convert to DVDs. I used him based on all of the good reviews here. Just like the other reviewer-​Vadim G. says, he cancelled the appt I had to pick up my DVDs-​he said that his car was stolen and that I could pick them up the next day. I never heard back from him-​have sent 2 emails and left a message on voice mail-​have not heard anything.
Does anyone know where he is??? I need those tapes back-​they are all of my daughter and all of our family memories for the past 10 years. Help!!!

The work was completed on time, it was way under priced (he could double his prices), allowed me to stop by on a Sunday afternoon to pick up my DVD’s despite it not being during business hours, and he even offered to meet me half way to give me my DVD’s as he knew that I had to drive all the way from Round Rock to S. Austin. I will refer everybody I know to Ben and my only regret is I don’t have more business for him.
Oh, and I am calling bs on Vadim’s review below. There is not way Ben lost 13 tapes and is not responding. His businesses address is clearly posted on the website and if someone had lost 13 tapes of their children, they would drive there and knock on the door.

AVS is the go to guy when you are a novice who knows very little about video and sound, especially conversions. Ben walked me through the whole process — taught me so much in such a short amount of time — I owe him majorly!
He is so humble and talented. I had a fashion show recorded by a friend on a «digital» analog camera and of course, it does not plug and play or download to my computer. Went online —
— made an appt and called up Ben at AVS. He is right off S. Congress, just past Wm. Cannon. Came in with cassette in hand, 1 hour later walked out with my newly converted dvd disk and a better sense of video files! Any video or audio needs — I’m going straight to Ben!

I could not recommend Austin Video Solutions more! This was an easy and hassle free experience. I had a 10 yr old VHS transferred to a DVD. Ben was amazing and had it ready for me within the hour. He was professional, kind, and extremely knowledgeable. Great experience!

THIS.COMPANY.IS.AWESOME. I was in possession of all of my family’s cherished home videos for the past few years, which made me very nervous since they are so very invaluable. A few months before Christmas I began thinking about what I wanted to get friends and family. My father is always the most difficult to buy for since he’s a simple guy and doesn’t want or ask for much. Then I remembered the videos and had the brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea of converting them to DVDs as his gift! Since the nature of these irreplaceable, precious captured memories provokes anxiety, I knew I had some research to do. So I turned to Unilocal for help :) After I read all of Ben’s wonderful reviews, I decided to give him a call. I was instantly impressed by his level of professionalism and excellent people skills on the phone and decided to meet him in person for a consultation. After a few minutes of discussing the project at hand, I was sold and found myself surprisingly comfortable leaving my family’s treasured tapes in his capable hands. He told me it would take about a week and half, which I thought was brilliantly brief for the amount of tapes I had, and that he would be in touch. Sure enough he called about a week and a half later to let me know my order was ready to be picked up. I was overcome with joy when I saw how he and his crew had transformed our 8MMs. Each one was specially labeled according to content. All this on top of an extremely reasonable, best in town, unbeatable price? I couldn’t be happier with my decision to go with Austin Video Solutions and I will definitely be back!!! It’s so refreshing to know that businesses like this one still exist and you can have an experience worth raving about!!! Thanks for making this Christmas an extra special one for me and my dad, I definitely won the gift giving award this year: D

Ben is good people. I’ve watched Ben work and listen to him tell me about all the cool things he can do. this is a sign of a true professional who enjoys what he does and takes pride in his work. He is versatile and diligent.
Ben has creativity and integrity on his side; always prioritizing the clients needs.

Stopped by Austin Video Solutions to get an old VHS tape converted to DVD. Since I had driven across town and didn’t want to come back to pick up the DVD, Ben said he could get it done in about 20 minutes. So, I hung out for a bit while as he did the conversion.
Ben offered me a water as we chatted about video editing and he explained all the aspects of his business. He does all kinds of stuff like videography, editing, conversions, etc.
If you’re seeking someone for video editing or to convert your VHS tapes to DVD, I’d definitely recommend AVS. After searching around they were the best price in town.

I contacted Ben while I was in Austin for week visiting from Chicago. I found him on Google and he just so happened to be conveniently located in South Austin where I was also staying. I also read his amazing reviews on Unilocal (see filtered below) and his website was also very informative so I decided to give him a call.
I had several VHS-​C tapes that I brought with me and I wanted to convert to them to DVD while I was in town.
Ben was very responsive. He agreed to convert them all to DVD and have them ready for pick up before I left town.
I stopped by to drop them off — we had a nice rapport too — being he was originally from Chicago! I asked to put several tapes on one disc and separate them by chapters. He said it wouldn’t be a problem and that they would be ready in 2 days! I couldn’t pass up his prices too, so reasonable! And way more affordable than any other company I found in Chicago!
After 2 days, we stopped by to pick up the DVDs. It was a fast, seamless and smooth transaction. And we immediately went home to watch the videos. The quality was great — the chapters were laid out exactly like I asked, everything was just as I had hoped. And to top it all off — they were completed before I left. That was my biggest request!
I have several more VHS-​C tapes and even some cassette tapes from my College DJ days that I would love to have converted to DVD and CD. I am so confident in Ben’s skills and impeccable work — that I will probably just mail him a box of tapes from Chicago so he can convert them — rather than using a local (more expensive) Chicago company that I have never worked with before!
Overall — very pleased!

I was about to hop in my car and head to Wolf camera (where they charge over $ 30 per tape!!!), but decided to do one last search for a local company to transfer my two VHS tapes to a DVD.
Luckily, I came across Austin Video Solutions! Ben was so awesome and met with me that day. He was able to complete the transfer quickly and return my tapes and DVDs the next afternoon… all for $ 12! That’s a FIFTH of the price I would have paid for two transfers at Wolf!
Ben is professional and treats all clients with respect… even if your project is as small as mine! I will definitely be a return customer and wouldn’t waste my money anywhere else!

I had close to 20 old tapes (video8 and VHS) that needed transferring to digital format. Doing it myself was taking hours I really didn’t have so I started looking for places around town that could do it for me. Most places wanted an arm and leg for it, but AVS was very reasonably priced (starting at $ 5.00 a tape) and the customer service was exceptional. Ben drove across town to meet me and pick up the tapes, went over all the options to help me decide the best format to get them in and had them back to me within just a few days. Quality was great, and he even cleaned up a few where the tape quality was not so good. Lucky for them, I have about 40 more DV tapes I need transferred and I wouldn’t even consider taking them somewhere else at this point.

I have been a client of Ben’s and Austin Video Solutions for almost a year now. He has transferred old vhs tapes and mini camcorder tapes onto dvd for me. Just recently he transferred all of my old college radio show cassette tapes to cd, which was a major undertaking of time and precision to produce.
First off, he has always maintained a constant level of professionalism and efficiency in getting all of my tapes transferred to dvd. You can easily see the quality of work in the finished product and I have been always happy with the end result. He is extremely fast in his turn around time to complete tape-​to-​dvd transfers for me. He is very easy to work with and is very good at understanding your needs.
I have been a repeat customer of Ben’s for almost a year now and proud to be one of his first client’s because I can trust him with my personal videotapes of my honeymoon, family vacations, and my other home videos. That is why I keep going back to him for any little project, big or small.
With the recent undertaking of producing all of my old cassette tapes of my college radio show from 1997, he painstakingly restored the sound of my old shows and the end result sounded even more crisp and clear than how it originally sounded on the original cassette tapes. This was such a tedious task and he separated all of the music, station ids, and public service announcements into their separate tracks with detailed labeled info in each mp3 file. I have had so much fun listening them in my car and on my ipod these past couple months.
Ben has proven to me over and over again that he can handle any job well and at an affordable price. That is why I keep coming back to him and why I would not consider using anyone else for my audio/​video needs. Thanks again Ben!