Do all Boutique pedal companies have good customer service?

[iris186]

Im just wondering. Keeley of course are my obvious reference point, as i havnt dealt with anyone else yet. All Hail Our Keeley Overlords of course. But just curious what other peoples experiences with other boutique companies are?

Yeah, i suppose you are paying through the nose for your pedal, so you expect some tradeoff. Then again, im one of the myriad of people spending €300 on a DL4, and they always sorta, kinda work, straight out of the box, almost half of the time , but im sure 2 years after you buy the product youre guaranteed the same level of accomodation and respect...

Anyways, lets keep this thread for just discussing boutique pedal companies, as i know the obvious outcome of asking what customer service is like with the big corporations.

 

[guit30]

Boutidue stores

I have dealt with 3 or 4 and for the most part they are great, love Pro guitar shop, Pedals plus, pedal geek charges shipping both ways for returns and restocking fees , MF is good in their 45 day,but pro guitar shop has that too.
Bananas.com, another good one
Jim

 

[BellyBoy]

well I have only bought pedals from Keeley, and their service has always been absolutely stellar... that said, Wampler effects has been quite good about answering questions and allowing me to take up their precious time... My pedal board has been pure Keeley for about 6 years now, but that is about to change as I don't think I can resist the Wampler Ecstacy pedal any longer. Brian Wampler is a class act.

 

[guit30]

Wampler seems like a very nice man, a pleasure to deal with
Jim

 

[ibobunot]

My only experience is with Barber Electronics and I can say their customer service is excellent.

Dave Barber is a class act...

 

[kp8]

Steve at Empress Effects backs his stuff to the hilt!

 

[bowlfreshener]

I have had good experiences with Keeley. I have not bought anything from Wampler/Indyguitarist, but I have emailed them a few times and they seem cool. And although not really boutique, but more like build your own boutique, BYOC has been more than excellent.

HOWEVER, I have heard a few things in the past about a few companies that were not so great, however, I cannot recall the name(s), and this was some time ago, so they may have gotten their act together since then...

 

[dhdfoster]

If you have ever spent any time over at The Gear Page, you would find this thread title very, unintentionally, funny.

 

[featherhead]

If you have ever spent any time over at The Gear Page, you would find this thread title very, unintentionally, funny.

+1. No they don't. Some are better than others so do your homework before ordering.

 

[RodeoTex]

One of my favorite quotes (can't remember who to attribute it to tho): Everytime you make any difinitive statement using words like, always, all, never, etc. you are automatically always wrong.

I have never seen a case where that isn't true.

 

[Telegazer]

One of my favorite quotes (can't remember who to attribute it to tho): Everytime you make any difinitive statement using words like, always, all, never, etc. you are automatically always wrong.

I have never seen a case where that isn't true.

True.

As myself being the guy who happens to be the guy who answers all of the mail we get at Moollon pedals and guitars and does a good amount of regular corresponding with other companies, there are often no absolutes in the world of CS. I'm sure most small companies make a good effort to offer the best they can to answer questions and get quality word out, but I've found that such absolutes cannnot completely define the landscape. The sad thing is that technology sometimes gets in the way, and I wouldn't doubt if I'm not the only one:

A few months ago customer from Italy had asked some in depth questions about the Moollon ReVibe (Uni-Vibe clone) that required a very lengthy expanation I had to translate from our designer/builder to explain the details of the vintage circuitry and why it behaves very different from modern pedals. Unfortunately, the mail sent from our corporate server apparently ended up in his spam folder, and he never got it. A few days later we got a scathing letter of hate ranting on how we don't care about our customers or developing our business, to which I had to additionally reply via another email account to make sure he got the message from us that is was a technical error and we feel privileged to be able to answer every mail that comes in. Headache ensued. Fortunately something like that almost never happens, but regardless of my efforts I know our company image will not likely not qualify in his mind in the aforementioned "always" department.

That said, I reckon that consistently bad CS on the part of any company would be the ones we'd have likely heard of by now on forums and such. Strangely, Ishibashi Japan(though not large retailer) has responded more swiftly and succinctly to letters I've sent better than some North American shops from back home.

$.02

-Andi

 

[outlier]

Like anything else, there is good and there is bad. So the answer would be "no."

A certain nameless boutique builder got high marks for replying to emails, sometimes seemingly within minutes. Gave me a good price on the pedal too. So far so good.

There was also some shtick in at least one email about penning a review for H-C and if you do so, let them know and they'll send you a free gift. Hey, that sounds cool and it's definitely doable as in an earlier life, I was a music reviewer for a big newspaper.

So I write the review, send 'em emails, nothing. Send 'em another email. Nothing. No response, nothing, forget the "free gift," emails just disappeared down a black hole. I think I let 'em know several times, gave up.

Several months later, I email 'em again to let 'em know: "Hey, check it out, I think you'll like what I had to say." Nothing. Dead silence.

I even sent the emails from AND to different accounts, just to see if it was being marked as spam or something from one account. Still nothing.

Finally, kind of tired of all the gushy "OMG. Best. Customer. Service. Ever." posts, so I call 'em. "Gee, we're sorry, but yeah, we'll get a T-shirt to you."

Again, nothing. OK, I give up.

Now, before anyone says it, I am perfectly aware that no one, least of all them owes me anything and I certainly don't expect them to fall prostrate in gratitude or anything, but if you're gonna offer something and then not fulfill your promises, well, maybe you shouldn't do that in the first place....

Another builder, contacted him about pedals of his that were being offered on eBay as a BIN for $25.00 less than his member pricing. I asked if he'd be willing to sell it at his eBay price directly.

One sentence response and I quote: "I have no control over what others sell it for."

What??? Here I thought it was HIM that was selling it, especially as the eBay name seemed like it could be his.

Was it him? Another terse reply that wasn't clear.

Well, should I not buy it then from this eBay seller, since you're sorta making me think that maybe this is not you? Is this someone misrepresenting themselves as having these pedals without actually having them? Is this fraud? Do you even care that someone is making people think that the seller is you, is writing in first person and is quoting your website as if they are you?

More terse replies. I was never clear and trying to find out if this was the actual builder, some dealer affiliated with him or some outright fraud was near impossible to determine. I practically had to beat it out of him... Literally like pulling teeth.

So, I won't be buying his pedals, as he doesn't seem to care all that much to respond to legitimate inquiries. Maybe he thinks some people have enough money to toss $200.00+ away on a dubious seller that may or may have not been him, affiliated with him, or whatever, I don't think I ever found out. I'm not one of those people though...

 

[roby]

As others have mentioned, it's a mixed bag. Some are great - way better than the big guys. Others are not so great. I've had a couple that simply never replied to my emails. I won't mention the negatives, but I've had great experiences with Barber, Retroman, Skreddy, Bob McBroom (Pedalworx), Ulbrick, and Rob Keeler. So, lots of good ones out there!

 

[outlier]

Eden Analog and OceanEFX: Outstanding communication and product.

Feel like I should mention that as well.

 

[octatonic]

Voodoo Lab are well meaning but frankly their customer service is patchy.

Often had to wait for 2 weeks for an email reply.
If you ever need them, call them (although that means calling around 11pm if you live in Europe to account for the time difference in Kali-Four-Ni-Ay (c) OlFuzzy).

 

[11 Gauge]

I kind of base the potential for good CS on how they respond to my questions before I commit to a purchase.

If they can't or don't respond, or set off any red flags in the way they do respond, I'll typically contact the next one.

What's great is that there's so many options that you don't have to limit yourself to one or two of them.

And yes - kudos to Mr. Wampler - a TRUE gentleman, very enthusiastic, and also great about sharing circuit tweaks (LOVE his SD-1 into Eternity conversion). I also like that he's great in being able to translate things into layman's terms, which gives a prospective buyer a good idea as to what they're getting.

 

[teleclem]

i've only really dealt with home brew electronics. and i must say joel is really concerned with cs. he gives me detailed instructions when something seems wrong or needs to be fixed. i live in a different country, so he really guids me all the way as he cant repair it himself.