dr s.. in the beginning

[allicio]

Hi Ryan
It would seem theres another farndurk saga going on over at tgp, this time with a klon klone type pedal. It seems a lot of payments were taken to buy parts for pedals yet to be produced but the chap can't keep up with demand.
It seems a few builders end up in this trap when starting out.

I was just wondering how you and Tanya managed when starting Dr s?
Did you do small batch runs, sell them all and do another batch?

[jaydee]

I'm caught in the middle of that debaucle.
It's not so much the alleged problems that he's had along the way,
it's the utter lack of communication and lack of truth when you do get any info.

He could take a few pages out of Ryans "customer service book".

I'm interested in what Ryan has to say about their start up too.

[allicio]

Sorry to here that man
Hope you get sorted out soon!
Surly it can't be that hard for him to just go on tgp and talk to people. I would imagine Most are pretty understanding, if you explain and keep people up to date.
Ryan should write the book and post it on tgp
The 10 commandments of customer service!

[jaydee]

I feel for the guy, because I think that he got in over his head.
Not owning up to it, on the other hand, is inexcusable.

[Ryan]

That Farndurk saga is way way more than just a guy getting in over his head and having a hard time keeping up. I've followed that drama since the beginning and that just isn't the case.

When we started out in 2006 we made some mistakes... we were taking full payments up front, all custom finishes mind, but our lead times got out of hand really fast. We started selling in August 2006, I had no inventory ready, and we immediately started getting orders. By December we were over 3 months behind. I started out telling people 2 weeks lead time and before I knew it it was 3 months lead time and not everybody was happy about it. And it got worse... by summer 2007 we had a 6 month lead time. We could only make about 30 or 40 pedals per month as they were so time consuming back then, the builds weren't optimized at all, way too much off board wiring, too much SMD stuff by hand, and Tanya would be lucky to get 2 boxes finished in a day.

I was sloppy with our website and our ordering system was really crude.. a lot of customers placed orders without checking in with me first and weren't happy to hear about the 1 month or 3 month or 6 month lead time. Lots of upset people, lots of refunds, lots of apologizing. But through that time, every week, we shipped pedals and customers were happy with the pedals they received. That's how you get through a big backlog, you build pedals every day and you ship them as often as possible.

We got through it by working hard every day. We got through it by constantly communicating with all customers. We didn't take days off, no holidays, no weekends off, we just worked. I did emails and I built pedals. Same as I do today, that's all it takes to be successful. Hard work and open communication, it's easy too! You guys are wonderful to talk with and I love making pedals, it's a no-brainer! We worked then much like how I work now, small batches. I make 10 or 15 pedals every few days or so and get 'em shipped. And we got through it by making changes where we could to make our jobs easier without compromising quality/specialness. Smarter pcb layouts, smarter wiring schemes, simpler finishes. (notice how the really early finishes were crazy complicated with tons of layers, like the pirate day delay.. that finish took a whole day, it stopped being made)

That's not Farndurk's tale and you can read it all along from the beginning, it's all documented and discussed. He's a lazy habitual liar and con artist who has fleeced people out of money and then talked shit about them and disrespected them. He spent his time typing out multiple page rants against the people who gave him money, spent his days goofing off on motorcycles and enjoying his hobbies. When it got really bad, when people had waited over a year, he just complained about them and made snarky comments about them on his blogs.

It was only when his state police and BBB got involved that he started actually filling orders. Because he had to by law. I'm sorry but I get really frustrated when I read the TGP apologists saying he's a good guy that got in over his head, that's bullshit. He's a bad guy who stole from people and didn't give a shit about it. There's others like him who get supported on TGP too... I guess there's just something about getting a pedal that other people can't get that makes it worth it to some people but sometimes I wish they'd be more responsible with who they support.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I live and breathe customer service and guitar pedals.. it's my life and I love it and it upsets me when you guys get treated poorly. I'm not very fast to forgive that kind of stuff... I'm 36, I've worked for 20 years, I've got a mortgage and real responsibilities, and I know how hard it is to make ends meet, keep bills paid, especially when times are tough... it's a flippin serious thing when somebody trusts me with a few hundred of their dollars and I'm never gonna screw that up.

When Tanya and I are sitting on your money we're STRESSED about it. It worries me greatly in multiple ways. And it makes me answer emails fast and work hard to do the right thing for the customers that I love and respect and appreciate.

[allicio]

WOW!!
I'm kinda lost for words which isn't like me!
Thankyou!

[goroth]

WOW!!
I'm kinda lost for words which isn't like me!
Thankyou!

[fungalattack]

Ryan you kick ass!

[madmax1012]

link to this TGP fiasco?

I still think Farndurk is a kind of pokemon.

[jaydee]

Thanks for the info and insight Ryan.

It's not Farndurk, btw.
I'll try and get some links up, but as per usual, I can't get into that stinking site yet.

In no way was I trying to be the apoligist for this character.
There's no excuse for what he's pulled, so far.

[jaydee]

Ok, here are the three threads.
First one got locked, turned into a bitchfest between members,
second is ongoing and the third is a compellation of who's paid and on the list.
You might want to put on a pot of coffee first.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... ?t=1150824

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... ?t=1160330

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... ?t=1163630

[fungalattack]

French press of your finest beans!

[Casavettes]

Ryan...

[hollowhero]

Someone in Canada, buy this man a beer!!

[sylnau]

Ryan is real.