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Hammersmith K waitlist club

#125
Guh, what a position to be in. I feel bad for those who ordered, AND I feel bad for Marco being in a position where he can't do anything. I agree he should communicate more, but I also know all too well the feeling of reluctancy to communicate with someone(s) who is(are) upset at you - the more days pass, the worse that reluctance gets, out of self-preservational instinct.

I'm glad I didn't preorder one, but I still super want to demo a K when they arrive in the wild.
 
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#126
I might be the only person who doesn't feel bad for Marco. Literally all he had to do to prevent this mess was to be honest and forward. Instead he hid from his customers, which I don't know about you guys but that's unforgivable in my eyes. Delays happen. You can't always control that, but one thing you always have control over is how you treat your customers. You've all been beyond patient yet he shows you no appreciation.

Another thing to consider is how long it's going to take him to assemble all of your orders. He's already behind on his regular build que. If you think he's going to turn out 40 basses on top of his typical work load in one month considering his current turn over rate you're still thinking in what I've come to refer to as "June delivery terms".
 
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#128
Just saw this on Hammersmith Facebook post.
upload_2017-11-13_13-11-12.png
 
#130
ole Jason said:
Why did he take everyone's money before he had a product to sell?
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That's usually how pre-orders go. He was clear in the beginning how things were supposed to go, but delays beyond his control occurred. People didn't get upset until he neglected to update anyone on what was going on for a couple months. He's since returned to talkbass on a different forum where he has made noticeable improvements in communicating with his customers. I requested a refund when the lack of communication became too much to handle, but I intend on contacting Marko once official word comes in regarding parts arriving. As mad as I was before I still want a K, I've just decided I'm going to wait till he has production ironed out first. It would be nice if he offered it to me at the promo price for the inconvenience, but I'm not expecting anything.
 
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#132
Vltir Sarnat said:
I might be the only person who doesn't feel bad for Marco. Literally all he had to do to prevent this mess was to be honest and forward. Instead he hid from his customers, which I don't know about you guys but that's unforgivable in my eyes. Delays happen. You can't always control that, but one thing you always have control over is how you treat your customers. You've all been beyond patient yet he shows you no appreciation.

Another thing to consider is how long it's going to take him to assemble all of your orders. He's already behind on his regular build que. If you think he's going to turn out 40 basses on top of his typical work load in one month considering his current turn over rate you're still thinking in what I've come to refer to as "June delivery terms".
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Marko may not "show appreciation" out in the open forum. But when my bass order was getting all ironed out at the end, he sent me quite a few emails to confirm little details and give me pics of the progress. And every single time he thanked me for my patience. Other concessions were made and I'll leave it at that.

He also has had a ton of major business dealings in the last year both in and out of the bass world. Then there was a back injury that had him laid up for quite a while as well.

I am not the official Marko apologist. But I do know the man has made recent huge commitments to really pushing things forward with the brand and bass production. I won't go into what they are because they were shared in confidence. Hopefully we'll all get a good chuckle out of the company's "rough start" in a few years. Throwing your hat into the ring with the big boys in any field is daunting to say the least. There will be pushback. (Read up on the history of the auto industry sometime.)

Either way I'm still pulling for the guy for two reasons.

1) He puts out a good product. My bass is simply fantastic. 'Nuff said there.

2) It's not only another player in the game giving us more options, but one that seems willing to try something other than another P or J copy.
 
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#133
two fingers said:
Marko may not "show appreciation" out in the open forum. But when my bass order was getting all ironed out at the end, he sent me quite a few emails to confirm little details and give me pics of the progress. And every single time he thanked me for my patience. Other concessions were made and I'll leave it at that.

He also has had a ton of major business dealings in the last year both in and out of the bass world. Then there was a back injury that had him laid up for quite a while as well.

I am not the official Marko apologist. But I do know the man has made recent huge commitments to really pushing things forward with the brand and bass production. I won't go into what they are because they were shared in confidence. Hopefully we'll all get a good chuckle out of the company's "rough start" in a few years. Throwing your hat into the ring with the big boys in any field is daunting to say the least. There will be pushback. (Read up on the history of the auto industry sometime.)

Either way I'm still pulling for the guy for two reasons.

1) He puts out a good product. My bass is simply fantastic. 'Nuff said there.

2) It's not only another player in the game giving us more options, but one that seems willing to try something other than another P or J copy.
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The comment you're quoting is several months old. Marko and I have since add multiple discussions. Most ugly, some more civil. While I'll never excuse wilfully ignoring paying customers for months I have since calmed down about the matter. My most recent comment in this thread better reflects my current attitude.
 
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#134
Vltir Sarnat said:
The comment you're quoting is several months old. Marko and I have since add multiple discussions. Most ugly, some more civil. While I'll never excuse wilfully ignoring paying customers for months I have since calmed down about the matter. My most recent comment in this thread better reflects my current attitude.
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My apologies. I did not notice the date.
 
#135
two fingers said:
My apologies. I did not notice the date.
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It's all good, you make good points. I still think it's very important to hold him accountable for his missteps, and I don't think we should be too quick to forget about this, but growing a business is hard and sometimes you're better at one aspect than another. I've let Marko know that I'm not a big fan of his approach to customers, but I'm interested in keeping tabs on this whole situation because I'm hoping it comes to a positive conclusion and I can consider order from him in confidence once again.
 
#137
selowitch said:
Not to pile on Marko at all, but he and I had a discussion sometime back about the fact that his website (not the Facebook page, but hammersmithmusic.com) has been "under construction" for an awfully long time. I told him that I find that really unprofessional. He was less than thrilled with my comments.
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In fairness, you didn't say "I find that really unprofessional". It was a slightly more incendiary choice of words and since you later apologized, perhaps my "less than thrilled" was a suitable response?

As for the website - I have stated here on TB and elsewhere that I later decided it was a good thing the site was not completed, as it would have only created a demand that we couldn't keep up with, considering the supply issues and delays we were experiencing. It would have been worse for us as a company to have a more robust web presence and then not be able to support it, and that's why you don't see us with a busy Twitter, YouTube or Instagram presence either - it's deliberate. I'm fine growing the brand more organically through networking and whatever contacts have been coming, and (respectfully) re-iterate that if anyone feels personally offended that we haven't committed 100% to our online visibility or aren't keeping up with brands in terms of our growth patterns, then they should do what feels best for them and support the brands whose web presence most aligns with their needs.

We have some more important issues to deal with in the short term so as far as the website goes, we'll get there when we get there.
.
 
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#139
What I find appealing about the Hammersmith basses is they are interesting in appearance (refreshingly different) and from the clips they sound excellent and it wouldn’t surprise me if they play great, too.

I want this company to succeed because the products are exciting—with the potential to become a TalkBass favorite (if they aren’t already). That K bass is just so killer. The fact that the basses are built in Canada is another plus.

I fully respect Marko’s right to de-prioritize the website if that’s what he feels is necessary. He’s the boss. Maybe my thinking is outdated on that.

It’s nice to have an alternative to Fender that’s got some sizzle and is priced reasonably.
 
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#140
jumbodbassman said:
i dont buy basses because i like their websites. i buy them because i like the basses. a bad website makes it tougher to get the bass but not any less of an instrument. the loaner bass i had was a sweet bass. thats what matters to me.
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My point about the website is a minor one. Marko has addressed it and I am happy to move on.
 
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