Matrix AVS

This guy is bipolar.
I called Joe to arrange a rental package for my wedding and we had a terrific 30 minute conversation that answered his questions about my event (no, it would not be a «rasta-​style wedding requiring enormous speakers and bass output») just a simple affair with two speakers, a mixer, and wireless mic — all for a steal at 195 bucks. Joe assured me that all his components were handmade, so he could vouch for their fine craftsmanship and high-​level performance. We digressed into a discussion about my home audio set up, recommendations for monitors and stereo receivers, all of which Joe was eager to pass along to me, in a follow up email confirming my rental.
Several days passed and I didn’t hear from him, so with my wedding only 2 weeks away, I called at 10am on a Saturday morning (he does weddings, so I assumed he worked on Saturdays) and he
1) did recognize me or remember our conversation
2) complained about my calling him on the weekend
3) said he doesn’t confirm rentals without a credit card number
So I reminded him of our conversation, apologized for calling on the weekend, and asked him if he wanted my credit card info over the phone, or in an email confirming the rental items. He said «you want an email, I’ll send you an email!» Lo and behold, I didn’t hear from him for three more days, and I called him again on Tuesday at 9am, which apparently woke him up, and repeated the same ordeal — reminding him who I was, apologizing for waking him up, and asking how we could confirm this rental reservation.
He said to call him back in two hours, and was obviously very annoyed. All I wanted was to give this guy my business and he was being a total douche about it! Not wanting to risk my wedding’s audio and music set up on this Joe’s incredibly unstable temper and business style, I found and reserved the same exact set up from
for the same price, located much closer to the venue, down in SOMA.
Bottom line, it’s clear from the reviews this guy is hit or miss — do you want to chance it? Go with a known quantity — Avista’s price, customer service, and brand new equipment far outperformed Joe’s calamity of a business.

We made arrangements in August to rent an 8′ screen and XVGA 2100 Lumens projector for our wedding in October. They were cordial when they took my credit card for a down payment for the equipment.
Come the week before the weeding, and they no longer return our calls. Went to their «offices» (70 Parkside Avenue, Daly City, CA, 94 015), and no one answered the door.
Had to scramble to get another set of equipment the day before the wedding. Used MatrixAVS in 2004, and they came through perfect. This time around it seems they’ve skipped town.

Terrible, terrible service. I called on a Tuesday and asked for information and the woman was very nice and explained everything saying I could call back on Thursday when I knew what I wanted to do. I called on my way down there Thursday morning and got a man — the husband and co-​owner apparently. When I told him I was stopping by to rent a projector and was trying to find the place, his response was ‘(pause)… Who are you anyhow??’. To which I responded with my name and that I had spoken to a nice woman on Tuesday saying I could come down on Thursday. He then said ‘well, we are the wrong business for you’. To which I replied, ‘Well I believe I spoke with a woman there on Tuesday yes?’. And he replied with ‘Well we are extREMELY busy this weekend and I just don’t have time for you. You need to find another business’. To which I of course said, ‘Look I am right near you (all the way down in Daly City now from SF) and I will take no time, I’ll just stop by, pay, and pick up the device’. His response: ‘You need to GET IT! I am not going to rent you a projector’. Me: ‘You mean despite what the woman said, you have no projectors at all available’. Him: ‘Pause… Well we always keep two on reserve but I am not doing business with you’. Me — appalled. So I did in fact tell him that I was going to write a bad review on Unilocal.I see other great reviews so maybe those people dealt with his wife who was in fact very nice, but he was a total ass. There you have it.

I was drafted into helping out with the audio-​visual needs of a convention of about 300 people. A powered mixer, big speakers on stands, 4 LCD projectors, 4 screens, etc. Having worked for one of the big local AV companies (many years ago), I was not looking forward to going through the hassle of setting up and striking sets in a strange hotel, much less dealing with an AV rental place (staffed, no doubt, by jaded 20-​somethings on commission).
I could not have been more surprised and relieved to meet Joe and Norma (?), the owners of Matrix AVS. Two nicer, more helpful and honest people in this business you will NEVER meet. Totally on top of things, anticipating every potential need and problem, generous with advice and extra little bits and pieces that I never would’ve thought I would need (until something goes wrong and brings the event to a grinding halt, with everyone in the audience glaring at me).
In short, I can’t recommend Matrix AVS highly enough. And because their overhead is lower than the big rental companies, their prices are far lower. You simply can’t go wrong with these folks.

I was looking for an audio/​visual consultant and happened to call Joe. While this isn’t what Matrix AVS does, he was super smart and very very helpful. I can’t believe helpful and knowledgeable he is. I know what to find a reason to rent equipment so I can use Joe’s services.

I had to rent a portable mic and speakers for an event, and just wasn’t having any luck with some of the better known vendors. I stumbled on Matrix avs thanks to my fellow Unilocalers, and I’m so glad I did! Joe provided me with a system that even a techno-​phobe like myself could use, and it cost me more than $ 100 LESS than any other company had quoted. Really good guy.

Full disclosure: I’ve arranged to rent equipment but haven’t had my event yet. However, HOLY CRAP, I have never met a nicer guy than Joe. And I think if you scan my other reviews, you’ll see I’m not the easiest person to impress or get along with. I love this guy, I wish he were charging me more. He knew exactly what I wanted and made the whole thing 100% easy and now I’m that much less stressed about this whole wedding boondoggle.
He’s also a huge Jeff Beck fanatic, so if you have any desire to learn minute trivia about the Yardbirds guitarist, you will have extra super bonus fun talking to Joe.

This is my 1^st review ever on the Internet, and I felt compelled to write. This service is the most personable and thoughtful experience that I have had in dealing with a «business.» Joe & Nora are kind people that care about you and your event (s). I wish them continued successes and they deserve it. I would use their service every chance that I get in the future.

While I still have mixed feelings about our decision to do our own wedding music, I am very happy that we chose this vendor to do our sound equipment. Everything was set up great. He labeled everything to make it super easy.
Before our reception my husband had literally an hour long conversation with Joe, which mainly consisted of geeking out over electronics. I think he made a new friend. The positive reviews here say it all.

Joe was great! I found him on Unilocal in a pinch for a party and he was able to come through quickly and for a fair price. He made my technologically-​challenged self impress my friends with the equipment set-​up as he gave such a thorough and easy explanation. He also made himself available if I came across any problems along the way, which I didn’t. I highly recommend using Matrix for whatever audio visual needs you may have.

I had no idea where to even start looking for audio equipment for our wedding and after doing a couple searches online I also checked to see what Unilocal had to offer. I’m so glad I checked Unilocal because Matrix AVS ended up being the most affordable option by far. Joe will definitely talk your ear off about all the details you ever wanted to know about audio visual equipment so while the guy is long winded he will definitely answer every question (even the stupid questions) very thoroughly. Joe is responsive, knowledgeable and economical so it’s definitely worth at least calling to get a quote.

Just got off a 30 minute phone call with Joe and must exclaim, «That is what customer service is all about!»
Even though early in the conversation he acknowledged he didn’t have the equipment to sell me, we talked over all my concerns with projectors, screens, etc.
It’s obvious that he’s very passionate about what he does, so if you’re in the need for AV, definitely give this guy a call — he can work through anything with you.

If you’re looking for an honest, audio-​visual guru, Joe is your man.
We just had a local wedding reception and needed a sound system, wireles mic, lcd projector, ipod hookup, and 8 foot screen. This was a small job, and the estimates we got from wedding djs etc were insane (900 dollars and up… the minimum for the projector rental alone was 250/​nt.)
Enter Joe from Matrix AVS… Joe gave me a crazy deal… i won’t list the actual price here, but let’s just say it was a fraction (a small fraction at that) of what everyone else wanted. Joe gave us top notch equipment (3000 ANSI Lumen projector) etc… he had us over at the office and put together all the equipment in front if us, explaining how everything was done.
In addition, he let me pick up the equipment on Thursday and return on Monday.
We had had a bad experience with the AV equipment at our first wedding reception in HI (From a different AV company). Joe put us at ease and even gave us a second projector as an emergency backup – free! He even doubled all the connection cables so we had backups.
This guy runs an honest business. When we left, he told me to call his cell if anything went wrong, and he’d be there.
I think Matrix AVS specializes in big corporate and large function AV needs… where he and his staff are present and supervise the whole thing. But i can tell you that he also rents his equipment for smaller, do-​it-​yourself projects and his rates were insanely cheaper than everyone i spoke with (about 15−20% of what others charged! Yes… like 80% off what others quoted.) The equipment is top-​notch, and most importantly Joe’s an honest, hard-​working dude who won’t let you down!
I just wish we had him in HI for the first wedding reception…