[svtb15]

well today is the day.. lets see if they get here.. i leave sunday... and if they get here i hope they fit

 

[hyperous]

Is there a difference for international orders from those who order within the States?

I see that some of you who order within the States get it within a month, while for most international orders, it takes two to even four months.

Anyone can explain this? Thanks!

 

[warehouse]

Just wanted to let you all know that despite some serious issues with delayed deliveries and customer service in general, Earpiece Technologies did promptly refund my money for my Livewires under the 30-day return policy. I was a little worried that it would be a big hassle but the refund showed up within a few days of them receiving them back.

 

[Baines93]

Well, I got mine in March 2008, and my wait was 4weeks IIRC, and that was hard! Non-US.

 

[svtb15]

FYI.. I was promised that they would be here in time for me to go on tour by the man himself the other day..
After being promised in an email this week, I called him yesterday when FEDEX did not show up, and received another reason that they were not shipped yet.. I am a patient man..
But i was told yesterday that he could ship them to my hotel in England....

What.
I said i dont need my IEMs to be following me around the globe.. thats silly.... So i said to ship them here to my home as we planned, and my girlfriend will bring them when she flys over on Wednesday..

He said for me to call him today on his cell phone "on Saturday" to confirm everything.. I did try.. His voice mailbox was full so it could not take my message... ughhhhhh

my patience is worn thin..

I hate when some one says they will do something and promises it and it does not happen .. especially when my job relys on it....
I should have just anted up adn bought the Futuresonics that everyone else is using .

 

[wildbill]

I'm one of the many who's frustrating and patiently waiting for my Livewires from EarPieace (CA Office). Just want to share what I've heard from a friend also own a Livewires whom had talked to the Lab that Manufacture Livewires. The Lab had frozen the CA office account due to non payment, and so therefore they're not producing any Livewires to the CA office since November 2008. He suggest that if I still want to purchase Livewires than I should contact the Nashville office because the Lab still producing Livewires for them and there are no delays there. I was very pissed when my friend told me the details. The CA office told me that the reason why my Livewires were delayed was because the Lab went out of business. I think that is b/s and that they're just covering their butt. I believed my friend 100% since all I get from the CA office was no straight answer, just the run around. I'm have no more patients and I'm going to get my money refunded. That's just bad business...

 

[markheaps]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildbill /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm one of the many who's frustrating and patiently waiting for my Livewires from EarPieace (CA Office). Just want to share what I've heard from a friend also own a Livewires whom had talked to the Lab that Manufacture Livewires. The Lab had frozen the CA office account due to non payment, and so therefore they're not producing any Livewires to the CA office since November 2008.

I'm not sure I would take that to be 100% true. I placed my order with the CA office (didn't know about the Nashville office at the time) November 26 2008. My tracking info shows they received my impressions December 2 2008, and I got my Livewires February 26 2009. Granted, that's 12 weeks instead of the quoted 3 weeks, but apparently the Lab is producing some product for the CA office.

If you can stand the wait, it will be worth it.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by svtb15 /img/forum/go_quote.gif FYI.. I was promised that they would be here in time for me to go on tour by the man himself the other day.. After being promised in an email this week, I called him yesterday when FEDEX did not show up, and received another reason that they were not shipped yet.. I am a patient man.. But i was told yesterday that he could ship them to my hotel in England.... What. I said i dont need my IEMs to be following me around the globe.. thats silly.... So i said to ship them here to my home as we planned, and my girlfriend will bring them when she flys over on Wednesday.. He said for me to call him today on his cell phone "on Saturday" to confirm everything.. I did try.. His voice mailbox was full so it could not take my message... ughhhhhh my patience is worn thin.. I hate when some one says they will do something and promises it and it does not happen .. especially when my job relys on it.... I should have just anted up adn bought the Futuresonics that everyone else is using .

Please let us know if they showed up at your GF's before she flies out.

 

[Khanate]

They have a triple driver now apparently.. I might just get that for replacement of the one they lost.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khanate /img/forum/go_quote.gif They have a triple driver now apparently.. I might just get that for replacement of the one they lost.

Really? I checked the website and have not see anything about the triple driver. Am I looking at the wrong place?

 

[Khanate]

It's one of the option on the order form!

 

[Baines93]

I must be loyal after complementary livewires! When i'm not saving for a car, and have enough money to be able to justify it, i'll be getting trips/quads. Might not be as impressed this time though, and when paying for them, that wouldnt be great.

Matt

 

[natas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by natas /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm very disappointed with Livewires that I decided to create an account and post my saga with this company so people can get the good, the bad and the ugly along with the success stories. First of Dec 2008 - start researching in-ear monitors to use with my band. Researching Livewires, Ultimate Ears, Senhphonics, Future Soncis, Westones. Middle of Dec 2008 - find some good reviews on the web and on prosoundweb.com forums about Livewires (had not seen this forum yet). Decide for the price and the 30 day money back guarantee, why not try them. They are 400 bucks less than the dual drivers of Ultimate Ears and most people seem to like them. Jan 5 2009 - Email the company with general questions about the impressions. John Diles writes me back. I have more questions so I decide to call his cell phone (since he said "give me a call if you have more questions"). I think he was a little annoyed when I called him direct. He said send the impressions in and you should have your IEM back in about 3 weeks. He was name dropping and said that they did impressions for all the final American Idol contestants and that's why it was 3 week turnaround versus 2 weeks. He also said they have a new manufacturing process and the products they are getting back are a much better than the previous manufacture. He said they are really impressed with the quality and I would not be disappointed. Jan 13 2009 - have ear impressions made & send to Livewires with a check for the 250 bucks. No credit card (now I'm wishing I used my credit card if I have any problems, I can dispute it). Jan 16 2009 - they receive the package from Fex Ex via tracking it on the web. Jan 19 2009 - called Livewires many times with no answer and finally after 4 tries Sarah (customer service rep) picked up and said they did receive my impressions and they were sent off to the manufacture to be processed. Sarah said it would probably be 3 weeks since they were a little backlogged and to call back around the end of Jan to check on the status. Jan 29 2009 - called to check on status, no one answered. Left message for someone to call me back. Jan 30 2009 - called to check on the status, since it had been 2 weeks, and I was thinking they were going to say another week. On the second call, finally Sarah picked up and said that it was probably going to be another 2 weeks. She said they have a new manufacture and they are a little slower than the first but the quality is better. Feb 2 2009 - Sarah called me back from the message I left and I said I talked to her on Friday. So this tells me they have no customer database where they enter in notes on who called and what there problem was. But then again, I was a little relieved that someone actually called me back. Feb 10 2009 - called Livewires and some guy picked up on the 2nd ring. I asked him the status of my order since it had been almost 4 weeks. He said "Sarah is on the other line, but if I take your name and number, she will get back to you". Gave him my info and Sarah called me back with the disappointing news. She said it would probably be another 4 weeks to get my Livewires back and not to expect them before the end of March. I said "the end of March would be 10 weeks". She sugar coated her response and said "I'm telling you the end of March so when you get them back in the middle of March, you'll be happy". WHAT!?!?! I said that's a drastic thing to say when you're whole process was to take 3 weeks!!!!!! I was mad! If they knew it was going to take 8 weeks, why do they keep telling their customers 2 to 3 weeks. Reading through some of these posts, Livewires customers were saying it was taking 8 weeks back in late December and early Jan, so why are they still on the 2 to 3 week kick? Bad business. Sarah said that she was sorry (I think that's a common word for her in customer service there) and the only thing she could do was reassure me that they are working on the process and in the future it should be more streamlined. I was going to grab a pair of these IEM and then have the rest of my band get them also before playing out this summer, but know going through all this process, I'm thinking the 400 bucks more for the Ultimate Ears and the 10 day turnaround time is worth it. At least when you call UE, they can walk over to the lab and tell you what stage your IEM's are in. Sounds like from Livewires, it's a send and forget process. Plus it seems that their turnaround times have been consistent with 8 weeks since October. I'm ok with it taking 8 weeks, there is not much I can do about it now expect cancel my order, but I've invested this much time and effort into it, I might as well go through with it for the price. I'm just going to be at a loss if I receive my IEM and they don't fit perfectly or don't sound perfect. I'm defiantly going to exercise my 30 day back guarantee if they are not perfect and go with another company, even if I have to have another ear impression completed. I just wish they would of told me 8 weeks when I started this process so I wouldn't be disappointed with the turn around time.

More on my story…since I last posted I’ve called the company many times with some success on getting a hold of them, so I think their customer service is getting better, but it's just not there yet.

Last night I called and John (the company owner) answered the phone and told me the whole story on what is going on. I still blame him for the problems, and it's no excuse for the time frame it has taken, but sounds like it’s been a wild ride the past couple of months and the corporate drama that goes along with it between the CA and TN offices.

First, he told me Livewires TN and Livewires CA are two totally different companies now. They use to be one, but John from CA and the other owner from TN had issues running the company together and had a falling out. Because the TN office registered the website, they took ownership of it and started changing it around. If you take a look at the new order form, now all orders go to the TN office and they have dual and triple drivers. John was forced to find a new manufacture for the Livewires and it delayed orders. I’ve read on this website that the manufacture stopped making Livewires for CA because of payment, but I also heard the manufacture went out of business, so I’m not sure what to believe, but something went on that is a little suspicious. I asked the TN office if their manufacture went out of business and they said no, so that leads me to believe that the CA office had an issue with the manufacture the TN office was using. I can understand some mix up if now your two different companies, trying to use the same trademark name and using the same manufacture, but who knows. John said he has worked with the new manufacture and they are getting up to speed on the many orders that have come in and assured me (yes, I've gotten this before from him) that he found a manufacture that has a process that is better than what the TN office use (I think that was a little self gloating there).

I expressed my concern when I get my Livewires back and they don't fit, that I'll have to wait weeks or months to send them back. He said that with the new process, they are making the ear buds a little bit bigger for a fuller fit and in some cases customers may need to take some very, very fine sandpaper and sand them down to make them fit snug. He said an audiologist could probably do this for less than 50 bucks if you don't feel comfortable doing this on your own. I asked him about what if they are too small to begin with, and he said they are making them bigger on purpose for this reason. He also said the material used for the new manufacturing is much thicker and will not crack like the old manufacture (TN plant). He said the armatures are the same that are put into every Ultimate-Ears since there are only a couple of makers of armatures out there.

I also told him his customer service sucked and it was impossible to get a hold of anybody in the office, including him. He said there are many times where his voicemail is full and so many people are calling the CA office there isn’t a line to answer the phone. I told him this was no excuse and he agreed and said all of the customer service will change soon and be much better than before. He is very aware of the many angry people that use this forum and he rattled off about 3 other forums that have issues with him, so he's reading or at least aware of what we are saying.

The website for John's new company Livewires are The Official LiveWires - Custom Fit In-Ear Earphones. I think it looks more professional than Live Wires Custom Fit In-Ear Monitors / Headphones but quality is not about what your website looks like, it's about your product, commitment to customers and customer service. He apologized many times about the delay and said in the future this will not be a problem and said "there are a lot of people that are really mad at me right now and we need to fix that", so at least he recognized that there is a lot of buzz out there about Livewires but they are getting a bad rap becuase of the turn around time and customer service. I asked him if he's going to be in business in a year if I have problems with them, and he said with the new manufacturing process and everything that has been set up in the past couple of months, he has no plans on leaving, but if the buzz is out there for the old Livewires site, he's going to have a hard time competing. I suggest he start over with a new name in the budget custom ear monitor world and be done with it, but he is taking the TN office to court to fight the trademark and rights to the product, so we'll see what happens.

It's a mess. To add insult to injury, when I did ask for the date for my buds to ship I was given Mar 19th, 3 days after the initial ship date. I asked why did it slip and he said, probably Sara gave the 16th as the ship date from the factory in MN to CA. They are working on drop shipping everything from the MN plant and doing only marketing out of the CA office.

So, now my date is probably March 22nd to receive them here in the middle of the USA (2 day ship time from CA on the 19th). We'll see if they actually keep that date, but probably not since they have broken the other two dates they have given me. All I can do is keep calling them asking them whey they are going to ship. John said that I might receive them sooner since they are ramping up production in the new plant and could see a bump in the ship time. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath for this one. I should of asked for a extra cable for free for my troubles, or knock some of the price off of my buds. If John really wanted to make good on his order, he would refund some of the money back to his customers that waited over a set amount of time for their buds, but I don't run the company...

Hopefully these buds will fit the first time and will keep for years to come so I don’t have to go through this again. If I do, maybe Livewires (TN or CA, which ever one wins the court battle) will have their act together.

 

[Khanate]

Well I was with the CA office and sent my new impressions to TN office. This is going to suck so much.

 

[webbie64]

Thanks for the update, Natas.

John seems to be experiencing the double-edged sword that being the initial public face/name of a new product can become.

Apart from the court battle it'll be interesting how we, as customers, differentiate the two versions of Livewires as one maintains the traditional two-driver assembly but with tougher casings versus the other with the traditional casings but a three driver option

.

Time will tell, to be sure. For now, I'm happy listening to my original two driver, original casing Livewires with a Piccolino recable.

I feel sorry for those of you who are having to endure the effects of these corporate dramas on your wait times. But hopefully John and Earrpeace will rebound for you and it won't be too long before you can switch from this 'made for TV Movie' and get back to what we really all enjoy - music!

Quote:

Originally Posted by natas /img/forum/go_quote.gif More on my story…since I last posted I’ve called the company many times with some success on getting a hold of them, so I think their customer service is getting better, but it's just not there yet. Last night I called and John (the company owner) answered the phone and told me the whole story on what is going on. I still blame him for the problems, and it's no excuse for the time frame it has taken, but sounds like it’s been a wild ride the past couple of months and the corporate drama that goes along with it between the CA and TN offices. First, he told me Livewires TN and Livewires CA are two totally different companies now. They use to be one, but John from CA and the other owner from TN had issues running the company together and had a falling out. Because the TN office registered the website, they took ownership of it and started changing it around. If you take a look at the new order form, now all orders go to the TN office and they have dual and triple drivers. John was forced to find a new manufacture for the Livewires and it delayed orders. I’ve read on this website that the manufacture stopped making Livewires for CA because of payment, but I also heard the manufacture went out of business, so I’m not sure what to believe, but something went on that is a little suspicious. I asked the TN office if their manufacture went out of business and they said no, so that leads me to believe that the CA office had an issue with the manufacture the TN office was using. I can understand some mix up if now your two different companies, trying to use the same trademark name and using the same manufacture, but who knows. John said he has worked with the new manufacture and they are getting up to speed on the many orders that have come in and assured me (yes, I've gotten this before from him) that he found a manufacture that has a process that is better than what the TN office use (I think that was a little self gloating there). I expressed my concern when I get my Livewires back and they don't fit, that I'll have to wait weeks or months to send them back. He said that with the new process, they are making the ear buds a little bit bigger for a fuller fit and in some cases customers may need to take some very, very fine sandpaper and sand them down to make them fit snug. He said an audiologist could probably do this for less than 50 bucks if you don't feel comfortable doing this on your own. I asked him about what if they are too small to begin with, and he said they are making them bigger on purpose for this reason. He also said the material used for the new manufacturing is much thicker and will not crack like the old manufacture (TN plant). He said the armatures are the same that are put into every Ultimate-Ears since there are only a couple of makers of armatures out there. I also told him his customer service sucked and it was impossible to get a hold of anybody in the office, including him. He said there are many times where his voicemail is full and so many people are calling the CA office there isn’t a line to answer the phone. I told him this was no excuse and he agreed and said all of the customer service will change soon and be much better than before. He is very aware of the many angry people that use this forum and he rattled off about 3 other forums that have issues with him, so he's reading or at least aware of what we are saying. The website for John's new company Livewires are The Official LiveWires - Custom Fit In-Ear Earphones. I think it looks more professional than Live Wires Custom Fit In-Ear Monitors / Headphones but quality is not about what your website looks like, it's about your product, commitment to customers and customer service. He apologized many times about the delay and said in the future this will not be a problem and said "there are a lot of people that are really mad at me right now and we need to fix that", so at least he recognized that there is a lot of buzz out there about Livewires but they are getting a bad rap becuase of the turn around time and customer service. I asked him if he's going to be in business in a year if I have problems with them, and he said with the new manufacturing process and everything that has been set up in the past couple of months, he has no plans on leaving, but if the buzz is out there for the old Livewires site, he's going to have a hard time competing. I suggest he start over with a new name in the budget custom ear monitor world and be done with it, but he is taking the TN office to court to fight the trademark and rights to the product, so we'll see what happens. It's a mess. To add insult to injury, when I did ask for the date for my buds to ship I was given Mar 19th, 3 days after the initial ship date. I asked why did it slip and he said, probably Sara gave the 16th as the ship date from the factory in MN to CA. They are working on drop shipping everything from the MN plant and doing only marketing out of the CA office. So, now my date is probably March 22nd to receive them here in the middle of the USA (2 day ship time from CA on the 19th). We'll see if they actually keep that date, but probably not since they have broken the other two dates they have given me. All I can do is keep calling them asking them whey they are going to ship. John said that I might receive them sooner since they are ramping up production in the new plant and could see a bump in the ship time. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath for this one. I should of asked for a extra cable for free for my troubles, or knock some of the price off of my buds. If John really wanted to make good on his order, he would refund some of the money back to his customers that waited over a set amount of time for their buds, but I don't run the company... Hopefully these buds will fit the first time and will keep for years to come so I don’t have to go through this again. If I do, maybe Livewires (TN or CA, which ever one wins the court battle) will have their act together.