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it's about James Reed. Need some help brothers.

#21
bobdabilder said:
This does not excuse dude from blatantly lying to people and not delivering.
And i'm not calling you out spidey. Just keeping the thread alive.;)
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If I was James Reed, I would indeed be honest with my customers, up front... Delays? Happens all the time, ie business is good. I would always steer the choice back to the customer, no matter the reason.
Delivery? Items of this value are almost always insured and tracked, which puts the responsibility onto the delivery side of the equation. FYI, did a quick search on BBB, again coming up empty handed.
 
#23
Spidey2112 said:
If I was James Reed, I would indeed be honest with my customers, up front... Delays? Happens all the time, ie business is good. I would always steer the choice back to the customer, no matter the reason.
Delivery? Items of this value are almost always insured and tracked, which puts the responsibility onto the delivery side of the equation. FYI, did a quick search on BBB, again coming up empty handed.
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The BBB is useless. They exist solely to get money from fly by night businesses to give them an air of credibility.

Unfortunately, you are not James Reed, and I've seen enough of his abusive blaming of the customers and the internet for his screw-ups to know this is a person to stay far far away from.
 
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#26
Ijtraista said:
I would appreciate some feedback about what/if I can do anything to get this guy to honor his commitment. I searched the forums and read pretty much everything posted and realized that I am not the only one in this situation.
Here is my short/long story: I came across Jim Reed pickups and have to confess I fell in love with his RJ Neo pickups sound. So I talked to him and ordered a set of dual coils for my six stringer. Payed him what he asked, $257 for the set, back in April 28 /16. He told me:
" Cool as soon as i revive it ill ship out your set of pickups". Then the waiting game started, first he told me that he's grandma died, then nothing at all for a long time. And somehow I managed to get him back on line by buying a set of new RJ Neo on ebay. Then the delivery time passes with nothing at hand other than a non-functional tracking number. First he blamed the USPS only to admit finally that the package was just sitting on a shelve somewhere in the shop. When I finally asked Ebay to step in, I was called (on ebay message), c@&K suc&@r, m f*&%er etc. When I finally got the package, it was the wrong pickups, 5 strings split coils instead of 6 strings dual coils. Got back to him, he said was a mistake and that my pickups were sitting there. Afraid of losing even those wrong pickups, I stupidly fell for paying again for them to which he promised he will ship as soon as he receives the payment. That was June 17...
Then, between all sort of excuses and long silence from him here we are in Sept; same non-working tracking number, blaming USPS, periods of completely ignoring my calls etc... and again another quite colorful language/verbal abuse from him, and few other pearls that honestly I have a hard time believing that anyone in the right mind would use while replying to an ebay open case?? Anyhow, you get the picture.
So I am asking you TB'ers, does anybody have some advise for me on how I can finish this peacefully? There must be some of you with past experiences that might help.
It's really hard for me to understand that somebody that creates something, a product with such a beautiful sound can be so painfully gross and such a pathetic liar. I have read some of you saying that he's actually a nice guy etc which I would really like to believe, but how can I reconcile with the side I see or was revealed to me? How can I open that door and trigger that nice side in him? I just feel that I would like to end this in a peaceful and decent way. Also, I would hope that by reading this some unsuspecting guys (like me) would repeat same mistake I did with this guy no-matter how appealing the sound of his pickups might be.
Any help, ideas, advice etc would be soooo welcome.
Thanks
Julian
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Well well, miracles do happen I guess. After a loooong waiting and some frustration (and then some) I completely gave up on ever having my order or seeing my money back... I also, despite this, I always thought (and say) that such an artist, capable of creating such beautiful sounding things etc, cannot be conman, a thief whatever.
The point is: Jim just delivered his order today; two beautiful neo-vibe dual blades in a P2 shell. And they sound fabulous to the point that I forgot and forgive all the past grievances. I almost swore that I will never touch his products (like few guys around this forum) again. Well, not now. His pups just replaced some Delano's, which I thought that cannot possibly be replaced; well, they are now.
Anyhow, I just thought that it might be worth to share this with you. For me it was worth the wait.
Peace.
 
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#28
Snaxster said:
Hello Julian. Was it also worth the lies, foul insults, and other abusive behavior? Was it worth being toyed with and mislead for more than a year? Based on your experience, would you recommend to others that they do business with James Reed?
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well, I humbly believe that one/we should have a second chance, or it should be nice. Somebody in one of the forums, said that Jim is actually a 'nice guy and that he always will somehow deliver..' (or something like that) and I wanted to believe that. And as you can see, he actually did. It's my impression after all this, that, while he might not have a great communication or business skills, he did not actually try to deceive me and take my little $$. I am a small self-employed business man myself, and I sometimes find myself in need a a bit of understanding and flexibility; I am small operation luthier and builder of shelters. And to be honest, yes, I would recommend Jim Reed to others mostly because there is something in the sound of his pickups that is quite beautiful and unique I would say. It could be said that the sound of Delano's would be quite hard to beat; well, his pickups did just that IMHO. I build my instruments looking for that special acoustical signature that is in the wood used first, then trying to convey that to the speaker in a least altering way. And as i said, after trying pretty much all-I-could-get-my-hand-on, I think his pups does the trick.
A great joyfully earthy thanksgiving to all.
 
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#30
I am amazed to think that anyone would excuse the sort of behaviour described just because they finally got a great-sounding pickup.

Obviously it's great the OP got his pickup, but forgiving and forgetting just allows this Reed guy to keep on behaving as he does.
He may be a nice guy but he clearly has no business running a business.
 
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#35
MultiScaleMale said:
If a customer wanted a build with his pickups would you allow it? Knowing that you're on the hook for the delivery date of the instrument?
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If we are getting hooked into specific certain dates no; that said, sometimes it takes what it takes to get certain things done. But I think I am drifting away from what i was trying to express: I am very happy that I/we somehow manged to conclude a rather unpleasant and charged situation into a rather peaceful and understanding one. That's all.
Peace
 
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#40
Snaxster said:
Granted. But that was directed at the many accounts I see given in these forums, not only at you. Good luck with your new pickups and all.
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That's fine brother. And I only speak for myself. Building and playing my instruments is a real medicine for the darkness, ignorance and misunderstanding clouding the world today, and any ray of peace, no matter how small would/should be welcomed into the mix. And the world of sound/music has a rather very influential role. A hint of understanding toward our brothers in sound would be nice. IMHO.
PS. And RJ pickups does sound remarkable good to my ears.
Peace
 

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