[jexby]

Why don't you start an impressions thread, if there isn't already one?

Bingo, Brilliant idea! Will go search to ensure no duplication.

 

[gyx11]

I am quite uncomfortable with the Ponzi scheme reference even if there are admittedly similarities with what's going on here. Only time will tell but I'm quite confident LHL will eventually deliver. It's a question of when rather than if. And of course also a matter of doing so such that all backers get treated fairly.

Anyway i think some of you are missing the point on what Lachlan is trying to achieve on here by opening up a ticket through the 'normal route'.

By not escalating it to Casey or through any special channel of communication, it's basically trying to point out in general that LHL doesn't respond/admit publicly to whenever serious issues with their products surface. Meaning to say that his problem is just an illustration of a lack of transparency in general as a whole. I have some sympathy for this because, from the perspective of what other manufacturers would do, why doesn't alarm bells ring amongst the LHL team that perhaps if a serious problem is occurring with Lachlan's unit, a serious reoccurring problem may be at hand with several units. wouldn't something as dangerous as blowing out of headphone drivers be of sufficient severity to warrant reaching out to ALL backers to come forward with any such problems faced with similar issues rather than to ask him to individually PM and settle things behind closed doors? I mean if every case was settled individually and privately, then as a community of backers we'd never get to see the big picture. And the big picture is indeed important should there be serious issue(s) with the Geek products.

I mean a very good example for reference (pardon me if my accuracy on the details is slightly off) is the whole Schiit Asgard saga. When Schiit Audio dropped a clanger after they realized that their Asgards had a major defect, they issued a statement encouraging people who faced the same issue to return their units for a replacement/FOC. they halted their entire production chain to ensure the product was rectified. This is a case of a manufacturer making things very clear and transparent to their consumers in public fashion. They got absolutely smashed for that incident (and their early staunch denials) but in the end they gained the appreciation of many because of their honesty and earnesty towards their customers and towards their mistakes.

I'm not sure if I'm stating things clearly enough here?

 

[a_recording]

So I had a 20 minute conversation with Casey, and later on joined by Gavin, on Skype. Here's my summary the key points of the conversation.
 
Casey states that as soon as my Youtube video was uploaded, he reached out to me across various channels - which is true. Gavin stated that as soon as he saw my support ticket, he handed my case off to Casey. We failed to arrange a Skype call, and they felt they had fulfilled their responsibility. Casey and Gavin were not able to explain to me how if the case was specifically handed off to Casey, how my ticket could still be passed around to 4 different staff members. They were not able to explain how at the final stage the shipping manager took 9 days to arrange an RMA, and only after this direct contact here. In fact Casey and Gavin insisted they had a lower than 48 hour average turn around time with support tickets.
 
While I'm labouring the point here, I would have to say I am not satisfied with this timeline of events.
 

• If Gavin and Casey knew the details of my support ticket, why would I get a PM last night from Gina asking me what my ticket number was? Why wouldn't I be told through the support ticket that the case was being personally handled by Casey - and why wouldn't the RMA be processed quickly considering I gave all the necessary details in the support ticket?
• It seems to me that Gavin and Casey were aware of the Youtube video, but unaware of the support ticket. In that case I don't see how they can confidently stand by their claim that they have an average 48 hour turn around time on the support tickets. It's clear that to get a problem resolved, you have to file a support ticket, post on forums and then additionally message people who aren't responsible for support. I do not feel that is appropriate for a company to solicit more funding for future projects while making existing customers do a run around for support.

 
I wouldn't be so frustrated if LH would just front up and say that they have a problem with the support tickets and in this case something just slipped through the cracks.
 
As for what is happening with my unit, Casey will arrange for a new Pulse to be sent to me, with a refund note for the return shipping to the United States for my faulty unit. This is a special thing they are doing specifically for my case and not something that they would do for ordinary customers. Again, I do reviews in Youtube. I am aware that I have a big megaphone. I am interested in the experience of my audience and reporting on that. 
 
Gavin suggested that if it turns out that their equipment has a fault that damages other equipment, they have insurance and would have an ability to make an insurance claim and compensate the customer. They will need to examine the unit and determine the cause of the fault.
 
I asked some broader questions about Light Harmonic - specifically, if the initial funding for the Geek Pulse was enough to cover the production cost, and whether or not new crowdfunding campaigns are being used to finish development of previous campaigns. I was told that the Geek Pulse probably broke even, and that the campaigns are separate and there is no overlap in funding. 
 
Gavin seemed bemused that many people seem to be interested in Light Harmonic's finances. I pointed out that the crowdfunding model demands greater transparency. 80% of IndieGoGo campaigns fail, so it seems reasonable that people would be very diligent in investigating their contributions and making sure they will actually get delivery. Gavin agreed this was a reasonable point.
 
Gavin said that while he supported my efforts to get some more numbers with the Google survey, it was not something he would share broadly with contributors.
 
That's where we ended the conversation.
 
It's important to realise that the Light Harmonic campaigns are some of the largest in Indiegogo history. This isn't a tiny boutique outfit - this is a multi-million dollar operation. They should face scrutiny for how they operate, and as Indiegogo points out, "Contributors are solely responsible for asking questions and investigating Campaign Owners and Campaigns to the extent they feel is necessary". 
 
It seems especially urgent to be asking these kinds of questions when a campaign started in 2013 and has not been fully delivered by 2015, and in the meantime the company continues to solicit funds.
 
It's true that groundless speculation isn't helpful, but I can tell you that I would not be so invested in this story if I had not heard some things privately that make me worry a great deal. I am doing my best to investigate and verify the public statements that LH have released, and again I do urge people to share the survey I have set up: http://goo.gl/forms/AR827KTu3t
 
Tired of the speculation? Then help suggest to me ways that we can feel more secure or confident about the money we put into these campaigns.
 
TLDR: I am not convinced LH's support ticket system is working as claimed. I will get special treatment for my faulty Geek Pulse. LH claims there is no overlap in funding between IGG campaigns. They should face scrutiny for their claims.

 

[gilfish]

Anyone here a Vi/Soul backer that opted to still receive their Pulse until the Vi is ready.... and received their Pulse yet?

I'm just wondering if that's still a thing or if LH has changed course on it. I was still expecting my Pulse to ship soon-ish as I am a 2013 backer, but if it is never comming I'd be interested to know

 
I'm a Vi/Soul backer and opted to still receive the Pulse, but I have not received it yet. I actually ordered one Pulse Xfi and one Pulse X∞ and I'm hoping to receive the Pulse Xfi soon!

 

[jexby]

gyx11,
 
a very clear statement and I agree with some of the points/sentiment.
but at the risk of beating the dead horse some thoughts:
 
1.  unsure Lachlan's intent (or soapbox saber rattling) was a social experiment for the "good of us all" to see the Customer Service channel exposed.
 
2. There is not a (known) manufacturer defect in every Pulse, thus the comparison to Asgard 1 is a bit of a mis match.
 
​3.  Exactly which manufacturer does "report" *individual* RMAs or failed unit publicly, much less head-fi forums?
company and customer SHOULD address issues "individually and privately" as cases may vary greatly, and not be serious or reoccurring.
 
4. IF cases become serious and reoccurring- then indeed the Asgard 1 example starts to apply.
 
 
sorry, crowd-designed and crowd-funded doesn't entitle IGG backers, much less the head-fi public a seat at every LH Labs meeting room or a vote on the decisions (or discussions) made by/for the company.
we are not stock holders.

 

[Levanter]

On the contrary, I applaud Lachlan's transparency. And I agree with him on their false claim/ignorance on their support ticket turnaround time. I had 2 tickets which took at least 3 days for a response, and I've seen others who mentioned it took them up to 5 days as well.

 

[jaywillin]

   
understood about the new ticket system, glad that wasn't a factor.
indeed tho:  many hands appeared to touch and pass the ticket, here's hoping Casey straightens out the process and resolution for your Pulse equipment ASAP.
 
ok, back to the music:
anyone HAVE a Pulse Xfi in house and can share (more) initial impressions ?

will my house do ?
have it, love it, love it A LOT !  i had planned on letting it go, now due to some unforeseen circumstances, it may be a while before it leaves here, i'm all broke up about it too ! 

 

[AxelCloris]

  will my house do ?
have it, love it, love it A LOT !  i had planned on letting it go, now due to some unforeseen circumstances, it may be a while before it leaves here, i'm all broke up about it too ! 

 
Still loving the FTM filter? Man, I wish that the GO SE had that filter as an available option. That'd just make it the perfect portable DAC/amp stick.

 

[jexby]

will my house do ?
have it, love it, love it A LOT !  i had planned on letting it go, now due to some unforeseen circumstances, it may be a while before it leaves here, i'm all broke up about it too ! :wink_face:

Wow I am "sorry" for the dilemma for having to keep the Xfi a bit longer!?

If you need a temporary holding spot until clear decisions are reached, send it my way please.
Haha

Do tell more about that FTM!

 

[a_recording]

 
1.  unsure Lachlan's intent (or soapbox saber rattling) was a social experiment for the "good of us all" to see the Customer Service channel exposed.

 
This is always complex when you consider that I am a) a reviewer with a interest in presenting an objective evaluation of a customer b) a contributor with an active interest in getting satisfaction. After this experience I now realise why in the parallel world of gaming journalism a new policy has arisen of reviewers not contributing to crowdfunding campaigns.
 
I'll put it simply. Even before receiving my faulty unit, I have taken a dim view of LH's practices. I got in very very early, and since then I have been increasingly bewildered and wary of the constant parade of perks and campaigns. At best, it feels like LH has a strategy of getting people in early and then pumping them for increasing contributions. If they deliver in the end, that's a clever strategy. If it all goes belly up, then you can see why you would draw the comparison with a Ponzi scheme. As the Wiki suggests, many Ponzi schemes start off as legitimate businesses and then realise that the only viable strategy for staying afloat is to keep the machine humming along.
 
I am not saying that LH is deliberately defrauding people, only that we should be very wary of how these campaigns are being run concurrently and how dependent they seem to be on perks. If contributions dry up or any of the later campaigns fail or enough people bail out, it will be the people who contributed last who get shafted since the project goes belly up and they don't get hardware. Given that 80% of all IGG campaigns fail, it is more likely than not that there will be a problem. This is why it's pretty critical that LH can demonstrate they can fully deliver on campaigns.
 
Of course, no one is being forced to contribute anything to LH. At the same time, I believe it's a positive thing to make sure the there is accountability and transparency.
 
You can call that my agenda, but honestly and sincerely: I did not try to engineer a situation around my faulty unit. If any of the 4 people who handled my support ticket had said "you need to talk to Casey to get this resolved", I would have. I was trying to see how an ordinary customer would deal with this situation without having the benefit of a social media following. So I opened a ticket and posted on their forum - both things that LH suggested - and I didn't get a resolution for 1 month.
 
I'll put it this way: do you think LH would have allowed this to blow up like this if there was clear lines of communication with the support system, and support was a priority? It's a very small team. All someone needed to do was poke their head up and say, "Yo, got a ticket: someone headphone got blown. Let's arrange an RMA." 48 hours, done. I do not believe this happened here, which means that there is a failure in communication, which means that there may be issues that LH is unaware of. This is relevant to anyone who is receiving a Geek Pulse now.
 

 2. There is not a (known) manufacturer defect in every Pulse, thus the comparison to Asgard 1 is a bit of a mis match.

 
That's right. As I understand it, the Asgard issue was a design choice to leave out relays, not a production flaw. So in that case it makes sense they would stop production and recall them all since the issue was designed into every unit. 
 
This popping on my unit might just be an isolated production flaw. Even then, I would expect all kinds of alarm bells to go off in the event of damaged headphones and an RMA arranged ASAP. I'd expect them to be as proactive as possible on this.
 

​3.  Exactly which manufacturer does "report" *individual* RMAs or failed unit publicly, much less head-fi forums?
company and customer SHOULD address issues "individually and privately" as cases may vary greatly, and not be serious or reoccurring.
 
sorry, crowd-designed and crowd-funded doesn't entitle IGG backers, much less the head-fi public a seat at every LH Labs meeting room or a vote on the decisions (or discussions) made by/for the company.
we are not stock holders.

 
True, LH isn't accountable to the SEC. But it is accountable to IndieGoGo. As the terms of service state, 
 

Campaign Owners are permitted to offer Perks to Contributors. Campaign Owners are legally bound to perform on any promise and/or commitment to Contributors (including delivering any Perks). Campaign Owners will respond promptly and truthfully to all questions posed to them by Indiegogo or any Contributor. If any Campaign Owner is unable to fulfill any of its commitments to Contributors (including delivering any Perks), the Campaign Owner will work with the Contributors to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution, which may include refunding their Contributions. Campaign Owners will comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the use of Contributions and delivery of Perks.

 
I would assume IGG would like to see people confident in what they are contributing to, since otherwise they won't get their cut. But they can't police every campaign, so they expect us do due diligence. Well this is what due dilligence looks like for a bunch of amateurs on a forum. I mean, I guess you could run another crowdfunding campaign to get LH independently audited.

 

[kugino]

On the contrary, I applaud Lachlan's transparency. And I agree with him on their false claim/ignorance on their support ticket turnaround time. I had 2 tickets which took at least 3 days for a response, and I've seen others who mentioned it took them up to 5 days as well.

3 days?! 5 days?! hell, i had a ticket that took 11 days before they responded...and all i asked was whether they could change the shipping address for my unit. 48 hour ticket turnaround time? please.

 

[jaywillin]

first, let me say as fare as the campaign goes, i wasn't pleased with EVERYTHING,  i'm sure lhlabs isn't either, i'm sure they'd rather be doing something other than putting out fires.
second, the one thing that really bothered me,(transferrable warranty) i spoke my piece , and i did not feel the need to accuse lhlabs of anything, and i did not feel the need to protect the "defenseless masses"
i'm a relatively intelligent , adult human being, i can take care of myself, if i think lhlabs, or anyone is doing anything "illegal" committing  fraud,running a ponzi scheme) there is a proper way to handle that.
 
example- i worked  a well known, mid-upper scale hotel chain. once, a lady was not happy her reservation for a reward(free) night was "lost" , how it got lost, and by who, we didn't know.
well, this lady was so upset, she started "warning" all the other customers in our lobby at the top of her lungs, and would not stop, the end result was, she was escorted off the property
and the other "customers" where standing there, moths wide open, and the first lady that walked up to be checked in called her a nutjob . 
moral of the story, even though she had been wronged, the method she chose to protest, and warn other's about our "shady" business practices ended up with her having to leave, not choosing to leave. 
just because you didn't get "your room" doesn't allow you to yell in a lobby, if she would have been quiet, and come into the office and allowed us to try and accommodate her
she would have still gotten to stay at the nicest hotel in town, and for free

 

[mscott58]

As someone with personal experience in product design, customer service, technical sales, production engineering, quality control, global strategy, venture capital, private equity, executive leadership, entrepreneurship, etc. I hesitate to take as gospel the guidance and viewpoints of a "University student in my 20's, completing a Postgraduate degree in Media Art" who "started doing reviews to improve my videography and presentation skills, as well as to learn more about social media." [source: http://www.lachlanlikesathing.com/p/about.html] As a single data point sure! More than that? Not at all sure, even with ~30K followers. I seriously applaud the desire to make things right, but the point has been made already and some of the methods employed (e.g. the survey) are well intentioned by seriously misguided. Doing what you think is right when you were wronged - great! Defending the good name of IGG against risky LHL (oh wait, they're already an established company with successful products in the marketplace) - much better places than LHL to do that on IGG IMO (such as firms with almost no background in electronics or production claiming that they're going to develop the worlds next smartphone/tablet). Sorry for the sarcasm, but to suggest an independent audit. Really? Even with a emoji disclaimer and a reference to IGG's policies. Enough is enough. Let's move forward and help drive this thing to the point where we get awesome gear, such as the Xfi's that are currently shipping and which I was fortunate to hear personally because I made the effort to do so and decided through personal interactions that Larry, Gavin and Casey are good people trying to do the right thing, even when they trip up now and then (and now and again). Cheers. 

 

[kugino]

@jaywillin hey, don't sell yourself short. i think you're at least "reasonably intelligent" 

 

[jaywillin]

   
Still loving the FTM filter? Man, I wish that the GO SE had that filter as an available option. That'd just make it the perfect portable DAC/amp stick.

still really haven't spent a lot of time playing with stuff, i kinda made a brief run through, and i've just been listening
 

Wow I am "sorry" for the dilemma for having to keep the Xfi a bit longer!?

If you need a temporary holding spot until clear decisions are reached, send it my way please.
Haha

Do tell more about that FTM!

oh it's just fine here while the situation straightens out, oh first world problems, i'll take them