Malekko discusson has been moved to the Gear forum.

[veteransdaypoppy]

I'm not trying to organize a witch hunt against Malekko.
Just tell ya what happened to me.
I pre-ordered the 616 from pgs and so I got one from the crappy batch. Sent it in for repair before Xmas. Josh said the fix had a "day turnaround." I had a very difficult time contacting him (both before and after NAMM,) but then I received my pedal back in early February. I'd sent him four e-mails, two to his main Malekko e-mail, one to a different malekko e-mail I'd found on the website, and one to his facebook account. I actually wrote on his malekko facebook wall "Check your e-mail!" before I received any reply. At that point I was pretty fed up. I probably would have received it back even if I didn't pester him. I'm just a nervous nancy and I like to know the mailman didn't fail, and that he's actually working on it.
I really just found it frustrating. I bought a broken pedal and it took him a while to fix it. And I was recording a single and playing shows, so I got cranky. No big deal, all's well now. I'll probably own a few more Malekko pedals in the future because they're fantastic. I just really, really hope they don't break down. I never wanna have to get in touch with Josh again. It's just very difficult.

[01010111]

Though I have yet to own a Malekko pedal, something that's soon to be corrected, I have contacted them about their pedals in the past and they've been really fast to respond to my emails. Like within the hour I sent them my email. I think they might be slow in responding to repairs, and give overconfident estimates of their repair times because, respectively, they're two people and because they're trying to increase the confidence of potential customers in their products.

It doesn't really surprise me that they're so slow at the moment. Where they're a small group, and where they had to repair almost all of that first batch of who knows how many 616's in addition to their usual repairs, I think slow responses to repairs and such aren't really uncalled for or surprising. I am a little surprised about how fast they responded to my emails though

[oinkbanana]

Josh's story is just full of false assumptions.
I can understand his choice wording, but the man refused to move an inch even after i called him about that post.
i know he had it back in november because we exchanged emails about it.
His statements on me "making moog pay for the repair" are just rude. (his logic is that if i hadn't brought my pedal back to moog they wouldn't have paid, resulting in me making moog pay like really?)
something there's not right.
and it's not because english is my second language.
He should be embarrassed to treat his customers like this.

josh might be an alright guy, and maybe it's only the shipping department that's the rotten apple spoiling the bunch.
"Pedal companies are just people" is an unprofessional excuse. he's got to quit using it.
I expected to be dealing with a professional who would have just shipped back something he didn't want to repair without flipflopping.
Moog would have just given me a new one months ago.




I'm not someone who likes to harp and keep grudges. i'm just waiting for my pedal back to finally move on from this.
i've got patience... so please tell me how much longer i should wait before bringing this up again.
he said he fixed it january 24th. on the 26th of february when asked about shipping he said "you should see it in a few days".
It's not at the store, i was there yesterday. & they received a shipment from malekko march 4th, my pedal not included.
fucking lame fiasco.

[nbabmf]

I think the instant gratification, constant contact, and impersonality of the internet has created a social disease. I see people expect reality to be as instantaneous as a mouse click, and then they don't exercise the same sensibilities online as they would in person with someone because of this impatience. It has me hesitant to enter into the pedal business with complete strangers for customers. I fear that no matter what I do, I may never satisfy enough of them for it to be worth the constant e-mailing, messaging, calling, etc.

[oinkbanana]

you shouldn't let that discourage you.
if you want to avoid the seedy underbelly just avoid the internet with your business.
but you won't get all the added benefits.
i'm sure there's a few pedal builders that are mail order only, that have no youtube clips, that don't have emails.
it's a different business model and there's no reason you can't make it work.


businesses are as guilty as the consumers when it comes to the social disease of instant gratification.

[Malekko]

Josh's story is just full of false assumptions.

Uhhhh, name one thing that is "false assumption" I made things perfectly clear when you called me...and we both agreed that everything i said was how it happened.
And nice to play the "victim" yet another time but i'm afraid i'm going to have to smack you down a bit again as i know for a fact you were contacted from Moog audio who has your pedal. They CCd me on the email they sent you.
Another thing i didnt point out in the HC response is this guy didnt even buy the pedal at Moog...but 2nd hand, then when he blew it up (even though the manual clearly states not to use a 1-spot) you bring it back to moog...I honestly dont understand why moog audio was brought into the equation.

And far as univalve goes...you bought a pedal, pedal didnt get to you...we refund your money...and you still have the gaul to complain...most companies would not take responsibility for the shipping company, i did...yet you still complain....and were out product and money..

meh.

[oinkbanana]

Hey Josh.
what companies don't take responsibility for their shipping (even if it is subcontracted)?
moog does NOT have the pedal. i was cc'ed on the fact that it's been "shipped", but they don't have it yet.
do you know when it was shipped? can you provide me with a tracking number? provide moog with one?

you keep it up with the 'meh"
i'll keep waiting for my pedal.
hopefully this will be over one day soon. seriously.

EDIT: Pedal received march 11th

[univalve]

And far as univalve goes...you bought a pedal, pedal didnt get to you...we refund your money...and you still have the gaul to complain...most companies would not take responsibility for the shipping company, i did...yet you still complain....and were out product and money..

yes yes yes I'm a believer...
bought nov 2009, now march 2010 refund came 235 $ but paid 255 $
Nothing ever showed up... I'm frustrated of this! In europe people ship insured. We pay extra fees. No problem, because everybody knows, who's the one to blame - and that one takes care (and pays!). By tracking i assume everybody sees who is the one to blame (and who has to pay).
If you do not manage to do direct sales - ok. No problem. Stop it. Do not offer it. I never received anything and in my honest opinion(see quoted usps above) you are a liar. There is no evidence that you ever shipped any pedal...
Don't take the lousy quote of usps as an evidence! That states nothing! Not a shipped neither a delivered pedal - just "there will be a package"...
With me you lost a customer(willing to buy a lot more pedals from you and) that already owns two pedals. And i assure you, i will do my best to convince anybody else around here that there is a better alternative than buying malekko. But this is europe so you might not care. I would not wonder, tough.

greetz
univalve

P.S.: and don't get me wrong, the pedals you make are (as far i now) awesome, but in contact and direct is scope for improvement.

[Malekko]

And far as univalve goes...you bought a pedal, pedal didnt get to you...we refund your money...and you still have the gaul to complain...most companies would not take responsibility for the shipping company, i did...yet you still complain....and were out product and money..

yes yes yes I'm a believer...
bought nov 2009, now march 2010 refund came 235 $ but paid 255 $
Nothing ever showed up... I'm frustrated of this! In europe people ship insured. We pay extra fees. No problem, because everybody knows, who's the one to blame - and that one takes care (and pays!). By tracking i assume everybody sees who is the one to blame (and who has to pay).
If you do not manage to do direct sales - ok. No problem. Stop it. Do not offer it. I never received anything and in my honest opinion(see quoted usps above) you are a liar. There is no evidence that you ever shipped any pedal...
Don't take the lousy quote of usps as an evidence! That states nothing! Not a shipped neither a delivered pedal - just "there will be a package"...
With me you lost a customer(willing to buy a lot more pedals from you and) that already owns two pedals. And i assure you, i will do my best to convince anybody else around here that there is a better alternative than buying malekko. But this is europe so you might not care. I would not wonder, tough.

greetz
univalve

P.S.: and don't get me wrong, the pedals you make are (as far i now) awesome, but in contact and direct is scope for improvement.

Let me preface this with an apology to univalve, it's not excuse but we ship about 700 items monthly and occasionally things "slip through the cracks" yours was one of them, i was tardy in my replies to you and with shipping. But as far as calling me a "liar" that is simply uncalled for. As i stated earlier, i ship a shit load of items a month and i know USPS "tracking" all too well...it's worthless....especially international. I've seen it say 'The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on XXX to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. No further information is available for this item." even if the item was delivered!

Last month we shipped a pedal that said the same thing...the guy called our local post office and they told him simply, yes the package showed it was scanned at their location but was never seen again. What did we do...send out a new pedal...at our expense.

We do make mistakes, dont get me wrong, were three people doing the job of 10...not an excuse, but if we fuck up (or even if the United States Postal service) we try to make it right.


Kevin call Moog. Your pedal was received in Toronto with other repairs, they said in an email it was being sent to Montreal. It should be there by now.

[veteransdaypoppy]

I think the instant gratification, constant contact, and impersonality of the internet has created a social disease. I see people expect reality to be as instantaneous as a mouse click, and then they don't exercise the same sensibilities online as they would in person with someone because of this impatience. It has me hesitant to enter into the pedal business with complete strangers for customers. I fear that no matter what I do, I may never satisfy enough of them for it to be worth the constant e-mailing, messaging, calling, etc.

If you're referring to me, well, okay.
But I believe that a business owner should make themselves available to be contacted, despite the subject matter and regardless of the means of communication. I think a full month is far too long a time to go without responding to an e-mail from a concerned customer. I'm not saying I wanted the repaired pedal back in twenty minutes. I just wanted to know if I needed to start worrying about it getting lost in the mail.
Honestly, I have every right to be cranky. I pre-ordered a product, attempting to avoid high re-sale rates. It was to be used on my band's single, but because it was still being repaired I didn't get the chance. Then I had to pay extra to have the pedal shipped to him.
I mean, really? I'm not the type to expect a hand-out, but the smart business move is to throw in some small goodies or reimburse me for the shipping. It's just polite. I don't like paying for other people's mistakes. That's all.

Most of the time, I'd say the folks at Malekko seem pretty alright. I just wasn't happy about the lack of communication.

[Ghost Hip]

I'm closing this thread. People should know about negative experiences with companies and for the company to defend themselves, But now it's just stuff that should kept in emails or private messages.