How I got ripped off by Monolith Loudspeakers

[Toastfuzz]

The one thing I always did was talk to the customer. I was yelled at, threatened, I had orders canceled. There were some customers who believed in me, and other who never came back.

But they all got to say their peace, I always responded and above all, I was honest.

Been watching the soap opera for awhile now, and while you guys can argue over the merits of the man all you want, the fact is that he runs a business. If you paid money to any business and were given a date to expect a product, you'd expect your product on that date. Doesn't matter if its boutique, mom n' pop, or massive corporation if you ask me.

So while I'm sure Wade's a great guy and all, and had some personal issues affect his workstream, its no excuse for the way the Monolith business treats its customers. Just weighing in that I'm with those posters who stated that this thread, combined with Wade's unwillingness to respond to it (you know that its come to his attention by now), is reason enough for me to never purchase anything from Monolith. And certain individuals should stop bashing people for stating such.

 

[eyeballkid]

Toastfuzz: I was doing no bashing..just trying to strike a balance that to compare this bump in the road at a initial release with a company to being dr. bass is extremely unfair to do in a public forum online forever..it is inciteful, not insightful, it serves only to stir the pot...especially if that person has no contact or involvement with the issues short of a trolling email. If I have an objection it is that and if those same things were being said by the op or some other customer that would be theirs to say from experience.. But to say so from conjecture publicly is rude, in bad taste, quite possibly legally defamatory.

 

[father of fires]

Toastfuzz: I was doing no bashing..just trying to strike a balance that to compare this bump in the road at a initial release with a company to being dr. bass is extremely unfair to do in a public forum online forever..it is inciteful, not insightful, it serves only to stir the pot...especially if that person has no contact or involvement with the issues short of a trolling email. If I have an objection it is that and if those same things were being said by the op or some other customer that would be theirs to say from experience.. But to say so from conjecture publicly is rude, in bad taste, quite possibly legally defamatory.

This is a great point. People with direct experience should be allowed to speak their peace. But people only wanting to bring down another “evil bootweaker” should find something better to do.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

Exactly. There is absolutely no sense in bringing shady businesses out into the open.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Toastfuzz: I was doing no bashing..just trying to strike a balance that to compare this bump in the road at a initial release with a company to being dr. bass is extremely unfair to do in a public forum online forever..it is inciteful, not insightful, it serves only to stir the pot...especially if that person has no contact or involvement with the issues short of a trolling email. If I have an objection it is that and if those same things were being said by the op or some other customer that would be theirs to say from experience.. But to say so from conjecture publicly is rude, in bad taste, quite possibly legally defamatory.

Something can't be "legally defamatory" if it's true.

 

[eyeballkid]

If you dont know it to be true firsthand...probably can...but I see you never like to give up...no matter how bad of form it is to carry on...so have fun trolling and keep stirring the pot...

 

[MSUsousaphone]

Yeah. I totally agree. I can't believe all of these people are trying to warn fellow posters from throwing money into something that seems like a black hole. I mean, what if I started a forum and was all talking negatively about wishing wells? About how there's quite a few wells that you'll throw money in and the wish doesn't come true? That would totally be bad form. Let every poster figure out for themselves, I say. Forums should never be used to share experiences with businesses or anything of that nature.

 

[eyeballkid]

If you have experience then speak up..if you dont, then don't...

 

[Toastfuzz]

I just read this whole thread and it sounds like Dr Bass all over again. Doesn't respond to emails, no product, seems like a nice guy, "personal issues". Good luck to you guys.

+1.

Striking a comparison isn't slanderous or rude. Keep in mind, many of us have interest in the boutique world of products but haven't made the plunge due to stories like these. I, for one, am happy we have a source of information to learn of these companies' shinanigans before plunking down dollars.

I don't think anyone wants to bring down the boutique world of products, quite the contrary I think EVERYONE wants smaller builders to thrive and be successful. But nobody likes to see themselves or other musicians (generally one of the poorer professions, no?) get swindled, and I don't think personal problems or the boutique banner should get you a free pass if you run a business badly.

Edit: and thats my reasoning for opening my mouth in this thread. I personally have no experience with Monolith. I do have a good friend who had a terrible experience with them, which is why I've been lurking. But you're practically telling people to not worry about the fact that he's taking money from people without sending products or communicating, for the reasoning that he's a nice guy and going through some hard times.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

If you have experience then speak up..if you dont, then don't...

Hazzah! We totally agree, again. This shouldn't be a forum...more of a message board type thing where we post announcements. Who wants to see people comment on stuff? That's just lame.

 

[guy n. cognito]

If you dont know it to be true firsthand...probably can...but I see you never like to give up...no matter how bad of form it is to carry on...so have fun.

It is bad form to take money from customers, fail to deliver product, fail to communicate with those customers, all the while provide instant response and doubtful promises to potential new clients.

Defamation (libel in written word) is defined in Wiki. Look it up.

 

[father of fires]

Unsub'd. I have no taste for witch hunts.

 

[eyeballkid]

I know what it is, thanks for clarifying..and what this wikipedia thing? Never heard of it....

To liken this to the dr. bass history and label him as one of "these guys" is innacurate and grossly unfair at this early in the story, coming especially from someone with no experience. lets talk in three years. And that is in printed word that you declare him as such.

 

[eyeballkid]

I think I will follow father of fires lead....have fun being "right"

from wiki for Guy:
Defamation--also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)--is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. This can be also any disparaging statement made by one person about another, which is communicated or published. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).[1]

pay note to the "vilification", "expressly stated or implied" part and the "may give" "a negative image" part.... and you dont KNOW whether the claims you make are true or false.. cos you have no experience..

MSU: again.. if you have experience warn people as you see fit.. if ya dont... then people should keep their opinions out of it...

toast: im not saying that..just given slim margins of start ups it may all work out fine for people, its too early to tell or make such outrageous comparisons... polite persistence is better than "witchhunts" as some actions have been aptly called.

i find it commendable how much grace some posters with actual experience ( who had a negative experience) have had opposed to those with none...
bye all.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

Well I will stay and fight the good fight. I will not stand by and watch countless innocents get warned away from being swindled.

 

[Toastfuzz]

I know what it is, thanks for clarifying..and what this wikipedia thing? Never heard of it....

To liken this to the dr. bass history and label him as one of "these guys" is innacurate and grossly unfair at this early in the story, coming especially from someone with no experience. lets talk in three years. And that is in printed word that you declare him as such.

Like I said man, no issue with your opinion, but "these guys" typically continue to take orders even as their backlog grows, which earlier in this thread was stated is the case. "These guys" often lie to their customers about delivery dates and status updates, and that seems to be the case too. "These guys" will get backed in a corner and just stop communicating with their customers, who have paid money expecting a product... yep thats happening here too. Taking down your website/facebook page... check. Not answering the phone or responding to emails... check. Not caring that the name of your company is being drug through the muck in the one forum where you are hoping to attract most of your customers... check and check.

I wouldn't care if not for the fact that you still think people should send him more of their money. And your only argument against us is to call us trolls and then ragequit the thread. I don't care much for your feelings at being offended on the internet, but I'd like to save someone $1000 and alot of headache if they were on the fence ordering some cabs right now.

 

[eyeballkid]

no rage quit... I dont lump you in as a troll... ( and i think we should be VERY careful who we lump in with Dr. Bass's history) i just see this as pointless and going the way many threads go when people are quick to air their internet court of public opinion verdicts and have no direct insight... i find it very distasteful and pardon me if i dont want to watch.

i dont say people should or should not send him their money... they should make their own informed decisions... but lets stick to what each person KNOWS and not what each of us wants to smear someone as prematurely.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

Like I said man, no issue with your opinion, but "these guys" typically continue to take orders even as their backlog grows, which earlier in this thread was stated is the case. "These guys" often lie to their customers about delivery dates and status updates, and that seems to be the case too. "These guys" will get backed in a corner and just stop communicating with their customers, who have paid money expecting a product... yep thats happening here too. Taking down your website/facebook page... check. Not answering the phone or responding to emails... check. Not caring that the name of your company is being drug through the muck in the one forum where you are hoping to attract most of your customers... check and check.

I wouldn't care if not for the fact that you still think people should send him more of their money.

The problem you're having, TF, is that you're not putting yourself in the viewpoint of the business.

Now, imagine, if you will, that you were a business that couldn't possibly fulfill all of the orders that you took in. Then more people call saying they want to give you money. Should you turn down this money? Heck no. That's not fair to you. You should lie and tell people that you can have their stuff out sooner rather than the actual 6 months to a year to never deadline that is actually possible. And of course you wouldn't want to deal with the people who have already given you money. Why on Earth would you want to do that?

Now imagine that someone then went on an internet forum and posted negative things about you to sway people away from giving you money. How would you feel? Your inability to put yourself in the eyes of the shady builder is your disconnect from this topic.

To make things worse, people without actual firsthand knowledge of you start trying to spread the word to others. Can you believe that? Totally unfair. Only people who are directly ****** over should have the right to spread warning to others. I mean, how would you possibly be able to swindle other people if this is allowed to continue?

There's always two sides to the story. You should never believe just the many people who have had bad experiences. You should also take into account the PoV of the guy ducking calls and avoiding these threads.

 

[Toastfuzz]

no rage quit... I dont lump you in as a troll... ( and i think we should be VERY careful who we lump in with Dr. Bass's history) i just see this as pointless and going the way many threads go when people are quick to air their internet court of public opinion verdicts and have no direct insight... i find it very distasteful and pardon me if i dont want to watch.

Np. I don't really wanna see you leave either since like you said, you're one of the few with a direct experience. I think its hard to not lump him in with some past builders, even though its only 1 bad experience, its the first and probably a gamekiller. If anything, I wish I knew Wade so he could hire me as a temp PR contractor to sooth his customers' concerns with honest answers and to clean up the problem threads like these, if Monolith had done the proper PR work this thread wouldn't exist. We bassists have been proven to be damn patient with our product builds... we're less patient with non-communication from builders holding our money. Right?

For instance, I've seen some people have issue some Iron Ether products and some Fuzzrocious products, and they're active on the forums and jump in to solve any problem as soon as it arises. I bet Wade's a great engineer to clone a Sunn Beta pre-amp, and a great builder to do the cab work he does. What he really needs is someone with business sense to A.) deal with his customers and B.) deal with his crappy supplier and get THEM to front the bill for all this mess. Harder than it sounds, probably requires legal muscle, international communication, etc. etc. that would be hard to muster when you're a 1 man operation. But like I said, thats not really an excuse, a business is still a business.

 

[eyeballkid]

MSU:
again.. someone with no experience "deciding" someone is "shady"
again.. you dont know.
neither do I.

that should be a fair starting point of agreement...
sorry... i guess nobody has heard that of the cries of "MOOOOOORE WITCHES!!!!!"

Toast: you have points and try to be balanced in your view.. I respect that..I even agree that the communication thing is the biggie.. its what I said earlier made me quite pissed... but I was mad thinking he had me and a few guys from the stoner thread to handle when the crap hit the twirler... but it seems bigger than that and as a one man show I wouldve been even more patient than I was.. as a matter of fact, my magma has issues, and I have been in contact with Wade about it, and he has returned my texts, emails and phone calls, many times in the same day, sometimes after a delay or prodding. I spoke with him today about my magma. i didnt ask about any of this cos its not my "business" with him. I am one of the people that gave him money who needed and needs his attention and ive been getting it. He did "go dark" for about a month during january-february due to "the perfect storm" as it has been called... he apologized for that, gave me a date about a week in the future from that communication when he said he would have things settled that he could return to correspondences, and he did, he has been responsive to me everytime..I dont know why others havent had the same experience. Their experience and opinions are important. Maybe I just was nice to him, and didnt rush to judgement about him. I sincerely hope Wade does see this and respond, I dont even know when he's been on talkbass last.