Too harsh?

[Gasp100]

I sent this note to my sales rep from Sweetwater today after he provided a new date of 2/7 for KPA arrival. I'm just really curious as to how all of this goes down, not really angry at anyone - I anxiously await a reply:

I'm just curious but do you get reports concerning shipping estimates/delivery directly from Kemper themselves? I mean, are they literally telling you that Sweetwater should be receiving the units on 2/7? Or is this Sweetwater guesstimating when they feel it should hit. What is the form of communication? Do they email or call the dealers in the US each time there is a delay? Is Sweetwater actively inquiring on scheduling/shipping/inventory on behalf of it's customers? As far as I understand there are at least 3 stores in the US that are supposed to be carrying this unit and there is word Guitar Center might join the ranks soon too.
I ask this because sitting on ~$2K for a piece of gear and being told "another 2 weeks" for 14+ weeks is getting old. I might have to cut bait and try something different.
Do they provide any reason for the delay's? Customs, UL certification, shipping issues?
Have they at least confirmed that they will be able to fulfill there entire initial shipment in the first go round? You told me there were to be 38 units in the first shipment and I signed up on the list as getting the 37th unit.
If I was the dealer and I had ~40 customers ready to drop $1850 a pop on something I would start asking the tough questions of my manufacturer to get clearer information for my prospective clients/consumers.
Please let me know,

 

[randombastage]

You forgot to post the harsh part.

 

[steadystate]

Too harsh for Sweetwater???? One of their reps literally insulted me and hung up the phone on me when I didn't want to buy an extra $1100 piece of gear I didn't need (after I spent over $4000 on the rest of the system). Another refused to sell me a synth unless I loaded it up with expensive options that I didn't want or need (I had recently already purchased the same synth from them LOADED with these options; that's the reason I didn't need them in my second unit). The two people I dealt with were money-hungry commission seekers who couldn't give a rat's ass about customer service.

I'll spare you the details of my dealings with them. They are, in my opinion, unbelievable....the worst of the worst in music retailers. "Two weeks" is just BS. I'm surprised they haven't tried to get you to give them the money anyway.

 

[atquinn]

If you don't like playing the waiting game, you might try waiting until the product ships and then ordering it. Whining about it is a bit self-indulgent. IMO
-
Austin

 

[DigitalTube]

I'll spare you the details of my dealings with them. They are, in my opinion, unbelievable....the worst of the worst in music retailers. "Two weeks" is just BS. I'm surprised they haven't tried to get you to give them the money anyway.

Wow! sucks you've had those experiences with them, I must say i've dealt with them for many years and never had any problems at all, I've had problems with some other stores shipping me wrong items, and then refusing returns etc, but not Sweetwater, I can usually get much better prices from other stores, but Sweetwater always delivers very fast, and never had problems with them, i guess it depends on who your salesman is, as far as the KPA being available it's sort of become a joke, after giving me lot's of dates, last week he just said" I have no clue, but will contact you as soon as they come in" Also I had asked about their return policy for the KPA, and he told me 30 days.

 

[Gasp100]

If you don't like playing the waiting game, you might try waiting until the product ships and then ordering it. Whining about it is a bit self-indulgent. IMO
-
Austin

Got my answer and a very good explanation from my sales rep, Thanks.

 

[ptgold]

If you don't like playing the waiting game, you might try waiting until the product ships and then ordering it. Whining about it is a bit self-indulgent. IMO
-
Austin

This

 

[78deluxe]

If you don't like playing the waiting game, you might try waiting until the product ships and then ordering it. Whining about it is a bit self-indulgent. IMO
-
Austin

If you do, you will be in for an extremely long wait on a limited run unit like this from Sweetwater, from my experience.

(i.e. when that 1st batch ships you won't get one, when the second batch ships, you might not get one, etc)

 

[Gasp100]

If you don't like playing the waiting game, you might try waiting until the product ships and then ordering it. Whining about it is a bit self-indulgent. IMO
-
Austin

It's not playing the waiting game, it's getting REAL answers to be able to gauge if a date is soft or hard(er) and making decisions from there. If anyone is interested, here is my response. I think some people on this forum will find this detailed information HELPFUL... glad I whined...



These are dates given to us by Kemper, or rather, Access the distributor. Our purchasing office HOUNDS the manufactures that we deal with for proper information You asked for it so here is the detail that have for the last few months. Other than the initial date for when the order was placed, Sweetwater was proactive in getting the dates that were provided from Kemper.
09/01/11 - New ETA given
11/03/11 - We will get a handful of ProfilingAmp shipping late this week, the rest will be a couple of weeks later.
11/18/11 - Requested updated status from rep
11/22/11 - Requested updated status from rep
11/22/11 - "Still in a holding pattern" We were promised a new ETA soon
11/27/11 - None will be shipping for a few weeks yet
01/01/12 - ProfilingAmp is in very final stage of UL approval and that's all that remains. Units are built and will be able to ship upon UL approval (hopefully in 2-3 weeks).
Every date I've given to you has been committed to by the rep, and then missed. We have 53 people in line and 58 that are supposed to be here 02/07/12.
I'm not sure there is anything else I can say other than the fact that everyone is in the same boat. We've not charged your card for this, and we will not charge the card until it is here to ship.

See... so now not only do I have a better idea as to what is holding up the most recent date, I can also do a rough estimate on how long it might take to finish/ship/receive/inventory the units. I also know about how many people are waiting and how many "should" be delivered (and if I'm included in that bunch). I also see a history of Kemper promising and pulling the chain AND a history of Sweetwater being proactive in trying to get the skinny. I also see that Kemper and Access are NOT completely seperate entities which leads me to believe Access, being a long time player in the MI business, should be able to keep up with demand once things get cooking.
You're welcome...

 

[sheguitarplayer]

Looks like it shouldn't be too long now gasp.
Hope it happens quickly.

 

[RayRay]

Looks like it shouldn't be too long now gasp.
Hope it happens quickly.

Looks like they said the same on 11/3...

 

[shasha]

Stressing over it will only make it take longer, make your life shorter and that short life will be miserable. Relax, play some music and when it's ready to ship you'll be one of the first to know.

I just hate seeing people get all worked up over this kind of stuff because it's not healthy.

Stuff happens and you've got to be able to let things that are outside of your control be taken care of by those that can take care of it. The only thing worse than being frustrated about something is being frustrated AND powerless to fix it and that's the position you are in right now. I'm sure that they're just as anxious to get them to you as you are to buy it.

 

[Gasp100]

Stressing over it will only make it take longer, make your life shorter and that short life will be miserable. Relax, play some music and when it's ready to ship you'll be one of the first to know.

I just hate seeing people get all worked up over this kind of stuff because it's not healthy.

Stuff happens and you've got to be able to let things that are outside of your control be taken care of by those that can take care of it. The only thing worse than being frustrated about something is being frustrated AND powerless to fix it and that's the position you are in right now. I'm sure that they're just as anxious to get them to you as you are to buy it.

Agree. It only is gear. I just wonder why people don't set correct expectations and if dates miss, just state why they were missed? Not all businesses run like the MI business, that's for sure.
I say mid March or so.

 

[stratotastic]

LOL - grown men whining about not getting a new toy when they want it. Reminds me of my 4-year old daughter (the 8-year old knows better already).

 

[thisHEREgiraffe]

LOL - grown men whining about not getting a new toy when they want it. Reminds me of my 4-year old daughter (the 8-year old knows better already).

Come on man your 4-year old daughter isn't dropping $2k on a toy. If that doesn't seem like a large transaction to you then I think you are a little out of touch with reality.

I don't see any 'whining' here I simply see people who want more information about a large purchase they are trying to make. With 53 people looking to drop that amount of money you'd think the dealer would be a little more informed and keep their customers up to date instead of just saying '2 weeks' for 4 or 5 months.

 

[shasha]

Agree. It only is gear. I just wonder why people don't set correct expectations and if dates miss, just state why they were missed? Not all businesses run like the MI business, that's for sure.
I say mid March or so.

Oh I agree 100%

There's probably a mix of unattainable, overly optimistic goals compounded by unexpected delays from external sources (such as the UL thing). Theres such a rush to get the word out on a new product today that sometimes things like being realistic, 100% honest and open and keeping people informed is less important than getting some buzz going.

I mean if you think about it the hype surrounding some of this stuff before it even hits the store shelves is better marketing and advertisement than having it available for someone to actually touch. And the penalty for missing some suspenses basically amounts to some verbal backlash, but it's far outweighed by the anticipation and even those that are angry will be buying it.

 

[Gasp100]

LOL - grown men whining about not getting a new toy when they want it. Reminds me of my 4-year old daughter (the 8-year old knows better already).

Instead of the KPA, replace the item with anything... Car, outdoor grill, couch, kegerator... Would you expect consumers to be so forgiving? Would you consider them whiners if they had to continue to ask the salesperson at the store the same questions to try and get real answers?

 

[Julia343]

First world problems.

Me thinks the KPA isn't ready for prime time yet. I wouldn't get my hopes up about this next date either.

I've been dealing with Sweetwater for years, and have not had problems. It depends upon the sales rep. There are good and bad everywhere.

 

[Gasp100]

First world problems.

Me thinks the KPA isn't ready for prime time yet. I wouldn't get my hopes up about this next date either.

I've been dealing with Sweetwater for years, and have not had problems. It depends upon the sales rep. There are good and bad everywhere.

Well, this is not a problem per se, maybe an annoyance. Sorry, I do live in a 'first world' though... I assume you do to by the fact you can reply to a silly thread on a silly guitar forum using a computer, Internet connection and electricity. So much piety on TGP, it's laughable.

 

[mdme_sadie]

01/01/12 - ProfilingAmp is in very final stage of UL approval and that's all that remains. Units are built and will be able to ship upon UL approval (hopefully in 2-3 weeks).

So what exactly is UL approval? Just safety checks? The trouble is the Kemper is loud, so you'd have to hope it doesn't involve making any changes specific to the US for the unit (i.e. dumbing down, or reducing the max volume while profiling to fit their dB certificate), it would be hilarious if we ended up with : "Kemper Lite - Twice the money, half the features!" or have a situation where they changed the sonic or profiling characteristics for the US version so as not to get sued either by other manufactorors or people who deafen themselves with dumb amp settings. Still it being America on the plus side they could always make sure that no matter what it sounds like an 80's metal amp with every effect on all the time, i.e. the same as a Pod 2.0.

OK, maybe that would just be tragic. As soon as someone gets one of these in the US they need to find someone else who got theirs imported from Thomann and compare the two to see if there are any differences.