OLCircuits, anyone heard from them lately?

[sonicvi]

disregard

[Toasted]

Yeah, I've heard from them recently. I dunno what might be wrong?

[Mojo-Man]

There hard to get a hold of. ( keep e-mailing)

But Mark and Co. are worth the effort.

Nice stuff.

[rratajski]

I just emailed them last week inquiring about a pedal and info on there. They got back to me on the same day.

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by rratajski

I just emailed them last week inquiring about a pedal and info on there. They got back to me on the same day.

the issue has long passed... this thread was from 6 months ago.

OLC went through some growing pains and has since reorganized the communication and building process.

[dashofchutmeg]

Let's see, where to begin?

I bought the OLC Chunky Cheese kit because my old guitarist had one, and it sounded incredible. Thought it'd be a nice Christmas present for my pops. Just like a Lovetone Big Cheese. Identical. Only this one was $90 for a kit, $170 for a completed pedal: so I figured I'd have some fun and bought a kit. This was November 11th. They have a lead time of 6-10 business days for their kits, so I figured I could be patient until after exam time cooled down after Thanksgiving.

On December 11th, I sent an email to the guy who owns OLC, asking where my kit was. He told me it would be shipped that day, and a $10 refund would be issued to my paypal. Okay, whatever. I told him to keep the refund, but to communicate better when there are delays (or when you forget to ship out something that someone's paid their hard-earned money for).

I received the kit about a week ago, and after going out and buying some necessary soldering equipment, I started fixing the caps and resistors to the PCB. Tidy little kit -- everything looked great.

Then I found that they had forgotten to include an essential diode. So I wrote back, and he said he would ship it out after I had checked the rest of the kit out to make sure there weren't any other missing pieces.

Well, last night I realized that they sent me three pots with identical resistance values instead of three different values. Fun times. I email him and he tells me he already sent the diode, and I should just ship it back to them for a full refund.

Awesome, right? Didn't offer to complete the kit for me after I send it back, didn't offer to ship me a pre-built pedal, didn't even offer to pay for my return shipping. I had to check with him to make sure he'd be reimbursing me for the return shipping, to which he replied:

I've apologized several times. I've already sent you $10 and now I've offered a full refund in addition. I've bent over backward trying to make this right for you. I will not bend over forward. Now you're demanding even more money. I'm not down for being scammed.

Neither am I, buddy. I paid OLCircuits to waste my time, and I certainly am not the only one. Stay away like it's the plague.

[gnasher1993]

You really joined Talkbass just to revive a 2 year old thread and bad mouth a respectable company?

[dashofchutmeg]

Yes. What's respectable about making someone wait a full month for his kit to ship, and then sending a kit that has wrong AND missing parts, and then complaining when the consumer wants to be assured that he won't end up paying out of pocket for getting NOTHING from the company? This is how consumers deal with bad companies, not respectable ones. I've looked around the internet, and it appears as though I'm not the only one who's dealt with cruddy service from OLC. Why should I not share my experience with my fellow consumers?

It's angry consumers that prevented me from buying a Vox AC30 (with a $1600 price tag) with fizzy sounding, Chinese-made Celestion Blues. It's angry consumers that led me away from companies like Digidesign, who are notorious for their laissez-faire approach once they've gotten your hard-earned money. This is how we educate ourselves, friend, so we don't have to buy a pedal before finding out that it has tone suck, or bad circuitry, or -- in this case -- terrible customer service. This is how you don't waste your money or time, like I did.

Next time I'll make a new thread for it. Would that make you happier?

[gnasher1993]

Originally Posted by dashofchutmeg

Next time I'll make a new thread for it. Would that make you happier?

Ecstatic.

[cybersnyder]

I agree with OLC.

[dashofchutmeg]

So you think I should have to pay to have the kit returned to him? I should pay to get nothing in return because of their errors?

What kind of sense does that make?

[warwick.hoy]

I have an operating Chunky Cheese and I love it. Course I bought mine used pre-built off a TBer. I think it was right around 90 bucks too.

You (the OP) seem relatively unreasonable to me. He offered you a 10 dollar refund to make up for any inconveniences and you basically told him where to stick it,...(probably as politely as you could but why would you look a gift horse in the mouth?)

He offered to ship parts to you free of charge. He even suggested that you make sure that there aren't any other parts missing from the kit or other discrepancies. This was your opportunity to go over the kit with him on the phone.

You expected him to build the kit for you or provide you a pre-built kit for $90 shipped free (to and from England I think). Pre built CCs are $170 clearly stated on the OLC website. That's a lot to expect IMO.

Shipping is only 5 bucks from their end which leads me to believe that you can ship back for roughly the same amount. As near as I can tell this is the complaint,...you are complaining about 5 dollars,.....five dollars,.....FIVE DOLLARS???? That's pretty petty in my book.

I know OLC has had some issues in the past but in this case; sounds to me that your ill conceived plan for an xmas present fell through and you are blaming OLC for that.

[cybersnyder]

Originally Posted by dashofchutmeg

So you think I should have to pay to have the kit returned to him? I should pay to get nothing in return because of their errors?

What kind of sense does that make?

You want a prebuilt pedal that costs $80 more than the kit you purchased. What kind of sense does that make?

[dashofchutmeg]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

You (the OP) seem relatively unreasonable to me. He offered you a 10 dollar refund to make up for any inconveniences and you basically told him where to stick it,...(probably as politely as you could but why would you look a gift horse in the mouth?)

After I return the item, I'll have made a solid $5 for working through most of a pedal build to find that I have nothing to show for it. Boy am I glad I ordered from OLC.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

He offered to ship parts to you free of charge. He even suggested that you make sure that there aren't any other parts missing from the kit or other discrepancies. This was your opportunity to go over the kit with him on the phone.

Which I did. I went through the rest of the kit and found that another two pots were wrong. I did that. That was my opportunity to check, and I did. He didn't wait for me to write back to him; he just shipped the diode out and was probably pissed he'd have to spend another $5 on shipping the pots he should have included with the kit in the first place.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

You expected him to build the kit for you or provide you a pre-built kit for $90 shipped free (to and from England I think). Pre built CCs are $170 clearly stated on the OLC website. That's a lot to expect IMO.

I expected him to elevate his level of customer care beyond doing what he should have done in the first place (given me the parts that I'm entitled to as a paying customer). For him to complete a half-built kit would have taken him all of what, a half-hour? He would have had a much happier customer who didn't want to tell the truth about his customer care on the internet.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

Shipping is only 5 bucks from their end which leads me to believe that you can ship back for roughly the same amount. As near as I can tell this is the complaint,...you are complaining about 5 dollars,.....five dollars,.....FIVE DOLLARS???? That's pretty petty in my book.

Five dollars. And my time. And the totally awesome present that should have been complete and in my hands by Thanksgiving. This isn't about the money. This is about the principle: when you do business with a company, they should conduct their business well. Not like a bunch of cheapskates who don't give a damn whether you're satisfied.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

You (the OP) seem relatively unreasonable to me. He offered you a 10 dollar refund to make up for any inconveniences and you basically told him where to stick it,...(probably as politely as you could but why would you look a gift horse in the mouth?)

After I return the item, I'll have made a solid $5 for working through most of a pedal build to find that I have nothing to show for it. Boy am I glad I ordered from OLC.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

He offered to ship parts to you free of charge. He even suggested that you make sure that there aren't any other parts missing from the kit or other discrepancies. This was your opportunity to go over the kit with him on the phone.

Which I did. I went through the rest of the kit and found that another two pots were wrong. I did that. That was my opportunity to check, and I did. He didn't wait for me to write back to him; he just shipped the diode out and was probably pissed he'd have to spend another $5 on shipping the pots he should have included with the kit in the first place.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

You (the OP) seem relatively unreasonable to me. He offered you a 10 dollar refund to make up for any inconveniences and you basically told him where to stick it,...(probably as politely as you could but why would you look a gift horse in the mouth?)

After I return the item, I'll have made a solid $5 for working through most of a pedal build to find that I have nothing to show for it. Boy am I glad I ordered from OLC.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

He offered to ship parts to you free of charge. He even suggested that you make sure that there aren't any other parts missing from the kit or other discrepancies. This was your opportunity to go over the kit with him on the phone.

Which I did. I went through the rest of the kit and found that another two pots were wrong. I did that. That was my opportunity to check, and I did. He didn't wait for me to write back to him; he just shipped the diode out and was probably pissed he'd have to spend another $5 on shipping the pots he should have included with the kit in the first place.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

I know OLC has had some issues in the past but in this case; sounds to me that your ill conceived plan for an xmas present fell through and you are blaming OLC for that.

I absolutely am blaming OLC for that. And how is it an ill-conceived plan? I conceived the plan perfectly fine. I ordered the kit a month and a half in advance, and with 72 hours until Christmas, I'm left without the present I had in mind because of his multiple errors: 1) he didn't ship the kit in a reasonable timeframe; 2) he didn't include the necessary diode; 3) he included the wrong pots with the kit. I didn't order this thing a week before the date. The only thing I did wrong was order the kit from the company in the first place. Should I have known better?

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

You want a prebuilt pedal that costs $80 more than the kit you purchased. What kind of sense does that make?

I did not request any such thing. I merely said that he could have offered any number of things. His plan was to get me off his hands as quickly as possible with as minimal expense as possible.

[cybersnyder]

Your gripes would hold more value if you didn't join the board just today. As it stands, it looks more like a smear campaign by a whiner. There have been plenty of people here that are more than happy with OLC orders. I wouldn't hesitate to order from them.

I will post no further.

[Explorer]

Having bought a kit and having returned it, the purchaser was made whole (got all of his money back), including all shipping costs.

Do I have that correctly?

----

Someone who has never thought it worth joining TalkBass joined just to necrobump. The necrobump was to complain after being returning a product and being made whole. There is a bit of anguish that it isn't just about being made whole, but wanting to receive almost double what one had paid for.

Again, do I have that correctly?

----

On the positive side, anyone reading this thread will have confidence in the admission that the necrobumper received a full refund from OLC, including all shipping costs he might have paid.

On that basis, if they had something I wanted, I also would have no hesitation in ordering from them.

[dashofchutmeg]

No, I did not ask to be made double. I asked that OLC go above "everyone breaks even for me wasting my time" in any fashion, and they did not do that. You can reread my post to check for these supposed assertions that I am entitled to these things. Good companies go above the call of responsibility when they inconvenience a customer.

It seems that the posters on this board are so deeply satisfied with OLC (or with defending terrible service) that words are being put into my mouth. I suggested things that he could have possibly done to resolve the situation. I did not, in any email, suggest these things to him. I asked for my money back, and surprisingly, I got it. The point is that I should never have had to ask for the money back in the first place. This was not a kit defect, nor was it "ill-conceived" on my part. There were three errors made by his company, and no, I don't feel that me breaking even on the transaction should make me a satisfied customer. There's no discussion about that point -- only the presupposition that I believe that I am unquestionably entitled to a new kit.

Keep ordering from OLC, and enjoy the experience when you do.

(And let me put it this way: he's getting back a half-soldered kit, which would take him how long to complete in full and ship back to me? It would take him no longer than a half-hour to complete the rest of the kit. Is that a large price to pay for a satisfied customer?)

[JamesHommersen]

Buyer beware! I don't buy pedal kits just to avoid unnecessary problems such as these. It was a mistake and you decided to piss off the only guy who could help you. Buy a pre-built pedal and quit whining.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by JamesHommersen

Buyer beware! I don't buy pedal kits just to avoid unnecessary problems such as these. It was a mistake and you decided to piss off the only guy who could help you. Buy a pre-built pedal and quit whining.

We have a winner.

If you need to have something done in a timely manner a kit from any company is a bust, unless you are giving the unbuilt kit to a DIYer as a gift.

Lead time problems with OLC are well documented; there are even red flags on the home page of OLC's site. Demand has increased to the point that "Lead times have suffered" OLC has to have complete pedals built by a subcontractor; Caution,...buy a Boss Pedal from Guitar Center, at least you'll know you have it in time.

Had the buyer in this case done the due diligence of even a slight amount of research (I can't be the only one that does this when I'm about to spend $100 on the interwebz) he would have known to go a different route. Instead the buyer discovered Talkbass only after he became disgruntled and decided to slag a reputable company (I didn't say a good rep).

I know that OLC has its problems,...but the products are worth the hassle to me. I would expect a complete and properly QCed' kit as well, but I know better to count on it. I would expect to get my kit in a timely manner,...but I know better to count on it. I'm sorry that dashofchutmeg had a bad experience but I think it was perfectly preventable.

As to putting words in dashofchutmeg's mouth,...I saw no such thing. No one said he requested a half priced prebuilt pedal. We are saying he expected it, and to me customers with that sort of entitlement are a bane.

If I were the CS manager (owner) of OLC I'd by trying to get you off my hands for the least amount of money as well. You got your refund (which for some reason has you surprised) and in return OLC got a mangled and unsellable product. What more do you want?

[dashofchutmeg]

To most of your points, fair enough. I suppose that despite the ostensible simplicity of putting together a pedal kit (for which he would receive several dozen US dollars), I shouldn't have expected a full kit. But yeah: I guess I should have just gotten him a kit or a pre-completed pedal. I don't think there's any value in, y'know, making something for someone for a gift. I think I'll just get him a gift certificate to the Olive Garden instead. Nothing says I love you like a voucher. I'm reminded of a great scene from The Office UK...

Also, don't assume that I hadn't done research about their lead times and customer service. The issues with timeframes has, to my research, only appeared in cases of pre-built pedals. The missing pieces issue only showed in kit purchases. I just got hit with a double whammy, and no, I don't think I should be complacent, thinking that just because I made out with the money I had in the first place, I should be happy.

Like I said, the nominal effort it would take an experienced pedal-builder to finish a half-completed kit would have made me consider doing business with them again based on the quality of their pedals alone. That way, he keeps the money and I have a working pedal for my dad. Plus, I come onto an online forum and say, "Hey, OLC messed up, but they provided great service despite their errors." Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas story?