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Bit of a beef with ALO - Page 2  

post #16 of 211
8/3/07 at 3:01am
That's not quite what I meant. I'm looking to buy an mini-RCA cable to replace my $20 JVC one's. So if I see a thread like this, I think okay, there's an issue with ALO. I read on it and see how things are handled (Mr. Ken replying to this thread in a professional matter quickly tying loose ends), and I say to myself: "okay every product I buy in my life is bound to have a potential to fail, and now I know how ALO handle situations like this, hmm maybe I'll buy from ALO." And if he gives some information on shipping charges, then I can compare it with other companies.

What if warrior decided to email ALO. The public has no idea how things worked out.

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post #17 of 211
8/3/07 at 3:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Assorted View Post
That's not quite what I meant.
Apologizes, wasn't really directed at you, more of an in general comment.
post #18 of 211
8/3/07 at 4:09am
Sweet, an Internet fight.

Perhaps the best thing that the OP could have done instead of posting this specifically here on the Member's Lounge is to have instead done it on Ken's sponsor forum, or even on the feedback forums.

Of course, the obvious reason the OP made his post here was to get the most attention, and he sure did so. We all know we are waiting for Ken to come in here though, so have fun bickering in the mean time!
post #19 of 211
8/3/07 at 4:48am
Have you talked to Ken about this? If you have and I missed it, sorry. Ken is a great guy. He has gone out of his way in the past for his customers. Open dialogue is important, but I would contact him before I started a thread. Just my two cents, and if I don't make sense then I apologize for staying up too late.

Take care, Ed.
post #20 of 211
8/3/07 at 6:28am
Well.. I've bought 2 cables from ken (a cyro dock and a micro cyro) before the price was jacked up
Before the price increase, it was expensive but probably worth it.. after the price increase i doubt i'm going to buy another one new.. but i guess that's the business of cable making

I found one thing odd though.. micro cyro is currently $110 while the normal cyro dock is $85 (diff: shorter cable and different ipod connector)

He offered decent shipping prices though (only $2 or 3 more than the real shipping cost back when global priority around)
So yeah, no shipping complaints from me.. but half of the internet 'shops' out there charges outrageous shipping international costs so i guess that's a plus
post #21 of 211
8/3/07 at 8:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by colonelkernel8 View Post
Im sure Ken at ALO makes a lot of great products, but honestly, stop treating him like he is a messiah and can do no wrong.
Or worse, assume that it is acceptable for there to be sub-par workmanship. Here's an analogy: Whenever you next go shopping for fine dishware & glassware, take a look at the 'B-stock', 'reduced' or 'seconds' items. You'll notice that the majority of them look near perfect. I bet that some of them do indeed look perfect until you spot that minuscule drop of paint on the underside of a dish (the typical "is that a bit of dirt or just my eyes playing up?"). That's enough to make it a 'seconds' item. The same level of scrutiny should apply to a Wedgwood champagne flute or Villeroy & Boch pasta bowl or indeed, to a premium line-out dock. When you start charging premium prices, perfection is expected.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherwood View Post
We as consumers are absolutely free to buy from him or not. With that freedom comes the freedom to express our opinions here.
Agreed. If we're allowed to sing praises about a product, we should be allowed to do the opposite.

Regarding the shipping charges, I think there is no reason for one to expect a seller to charge exactly what the postal label says. It takes time, effort and energy to go to the post office, package everything (which costs money) and finally send it off. A seller should be free to charge a slight overhead above what the actual postal price is, within reason.
post #22 of 211
8/3/07 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by milkpowder View Post
Regarding the shipping charges, I think there is no reason for one to expect a seller to charge exactly what the postal label says. It takes time, effort and energy to go to the post office, package everything (which costs money) and finally send it off. A seller should be free to charge a slight overhead above what the actual postal price is, within reason.
As stated, I have no problem paying handling charges. I just felt in this case it was simply too much.
post #23 of 211
8/3/07 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
As to the point of freedom of choice - currently, ALO is the only one making the required iMod dock and docking connectors. And, as stated, I was given no choices in regards to shipping.
post #24 of 211
8/3/07 at 9:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by biged View Post
Have you talked to Ken about this? If you have and I missed it, sorry. Ken is a great guy. He has gone out of his way in the past for his customers. Open dialogue is important, but I would contact him before I started a thread. Just my two cents, and if I don't make sense then I apologize for staying up too late.

Take care, Ed.
No, I didn't talk to Ken first. I don't see the point. I'm stating two facts and bringing them to our community's attention so we can A) have an open forum about it and offer Ken a chance for rebuttal, and B) to let our community draw their own conclusions and make a more informed decision if considering purchasing from ALO.

I put a lot of effort in my original post to simply provide constructive criticism of his work on one of his docking connectors and his pricing on shipping for a particular item. Some have construed this as an attack on his customer service. Not the case. In fact I've had first hand experience with his level of customer service and applaud him for it.
post #25 of 211
8/3/07 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by warrior05 View Post
I went back and forth about posting this and even discussed it with a fellow Head-Fi'er who felt I should.

What set me off was purchasing their iMod Female Mini Dock for the 5+ gen iMod. This is a physically tiny piece of hardware yet I was given no choice but to pay $15 for shipping. This to me is a bit exorbitant. I have no problems paying a company handling fees but having to pay more than $10 (this would be $4.60 via Priority Mail) for handling on such a tiny piece doesn't sit right with me. I do realize that ALO is a small operation but I think they need to revisit their shipping calculations.

My other issue is what I found when repairing one of their iPod docking connectors for a fellow Head-Fi'er. The problem with this particular piece was a broken solid silver wire that I ended up replacing. To do so I had to take apart and desolder both at the 1/8" plug end and at the dock end. The workmanship that I found left a lot to be desired. The soldering was very sloppy and at the plug end one of the wires was bent at a rather acute angle. Of course sloppy soldering doesn't necessarily affect the ultimate performance of a product but I was pretty surprised considering the premium ALO charges. Perhaps what I saw was an exception and most of their product is professionally assembled. But looking at some of their own pics posted on their site, I find myself not impressed with their craftsmanship. With the kind of prices ALO charges, I expect quality work through and through.

I realize that ALO has a good reputation here and I am not trying to derail business. My purpose here is to inform people of a couple of specific experiences. Again, I understand the sloppy workmanship I discovered could be an exception. I certainly hope it is. But in regards to ALO's shipping calculations, I would hope they would revisit them. And if any of you were wondering, yes, it is verified that they shipped my mini dock via USPS Priority Mail.
warrior0,

I am very sorry to hear about your problems. However all you had to do was email me or ask me to call you and I would have just sent you a replacement. It hurts me that people would post a poor reflection of me on such an open forum. I take my job seriously. I back my stuff up and have people do this all the time and I value and up hold my good customer service.

We are working the bugs out of the SH program and while $15 is more the Priority mail charges we have to account for shipping and handling. Moreover we have to account for the lost items that I have to “eat”. We are amending the rates now as we so along and that item was amended a while ago and he must have bought it from the NEW website one of the first days, before we tweaked the SH values.

As for your critique of our soldering. I don’t think its far to equate “pretty” soldering with good sound. I have never had much issues with this until your post. I don’t know what to say about all this?

Please send it back to me and I will refund you your money.

Ken
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post #26 of 211
8/3/07 at 11:57am
As I read through this thread I was formulating my own comment, until I came to Ken's reply which then altered my thoughts.

At the outset I thought the OP put forth his concernes in a non-derogatory way. Yet, when the person who these comments are about responds with "all you had to do was email me or ask me to call you and I would have just sent you a replacement", it appears to me that no real resolution was attempted and that whatever "bugged" the OP was stated.

I always make many many attempts to rectify a problem before I go "public" in a forum (or whereever) to voice my opinion. I purchased a Cryo Dock based on Ken's repurtation in this forum. I had a choice not to purchase. Honestly, not knowing "everything" that goes into such a product, I felt I was paying more than I should, but I say that with no true benchmark. I generally won't pay for something I'm not happy with at the outset and then complain about it. So I paid, w/shipping, and am happy reagrdless of the price, because I chose to pay it.
post #27 of 211
8/3/07 at 12:36pm
Did any of you think that Ken would come to this thread and not offer refund or free repair?
He will do everything possible to keep himself looking good in the eyes of public.
This is his business and he is not stupid enough to come to a public forum and bash his customer, no matter how much he wants to. There is not a single manufacturer who will fight with a customer in public unless the customer is trying to scam the company.
post #28 of 211
8/3/07 at 1:01pm
Unbelievable… seems like it doesn’t matter what Ken’s response was… damned either way!

colonelkernel8 – What’s your deal? If you don’t think the price of something is worth its value to you don’t buy it… same goes for shipping, and yes there is always a choice! If you can do better, put up or shut up. No, Ken is not a god and yes there are plenty other cable and doc makers out there so go somewhere else if you want to. This is about as valid as RS-1 complaints… if you don’t think the RS-1 is worth $700 buy something else. Jeez, this is like arguing with an 18 yr.old.

warrior05 – No you are not stating fact. You are like an independent car maker talking about one defective Toyota and then trying to claim that there is a quality issue with the company as a whole that people should be aware of. And it’s not the same has buying b-stock flatware, where appearance if almost the main focus of such a purchase. I don’t care how carefully and neat they assemble my cheeseburger as long as it tastes good when I get it. ALO’s cables look good on the outside and sound great.

It’s pretty obvious what the point of this thread was… it’s really a shame that one guy (who makes his own cables) with one bad doc and a trivial gripe about shipping can merit such an argument, placing ALO’s quality products provided to so many on the stand.
post #29 of 211
8/3/07 at 1:14pm
If the problem is poor worksmanship, then the response is irrelevant, isn't it? He sent out a cable that was poorly made. Since HE made it, he knew what it was like. It obviously passed his standards, because he sent it out. The cost of materials for any ipod dock is going to be well under $20, so when you pay a premium for the item, it's because you're paying for workmanship.
post #30 of 211
8/3/07 at 1:22pm
Should you give a manufacturer an opportunity to remedy a problem? Maybe, but you paid for the right to complain when you gave them your money.
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