Trouble at Welborne?

[bhjazz]

I ordered some items from Welborne last last year, and they seemed to have some trouble fulfilling the order. A few emails were sent and I was content to wait as it was a supplier problem.
Now it's been 90 days and still no sign of the product. I did get an email from them saying it was being shipped, but that was over two weeks ago, so I can't imagine why the item still has not arrived. Recent emails go unanswered and their website says they cannot always get the phone.

Anyone else having trouble with them? Are they still in business

. I've had good luck with them in the past, but this is silly.

 

[BradJudy]

I haven't had any problems with them, but I haven't ordered in a while. I know their website says the phone isn't the best, but did you try calling them?

 

[soloz2]

I've seen people complain on other forums... so I haven't ordered from them just to be safe

 

[agile_one]

hmmmm ... I ordered something from them last week. Got the order bot acknowledgement, but nothing since. I'll update with news/no news as time goes by.

 

[bhjazz]

Well I think an order from last week should be okay, agile_one. I'll try calling them today and post back.

 

[jbloudg20]

I placed an order with them about a year ago, and it took 5 months and three shipments (and I had to pay shipping each time) to complete it. I only ordered some caps from them as well. That was and will remain my final order from them.

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I think an order from last week should be okay, agile_one. I'll try calling them today and post back.

I wholeheartedly agree that a week is much too early to post any alarms. Just wanted to weigh in, and say that I will keep this thread updated with my experience as time goes on.

 

[mb3k]

Some problems I've had with Welborne was that they gave me less wire than I purchased (often many inches less). They've also forgot to ship a transformer with their power supplies which took only a single email to clear things up.
It's good that you're keeping your eye out, just be persistant and eventually it will show up.

 

[bhjazz]

Update:
Well I called earlier today and...they didn't get the phone (hey, at least they said that might happen on their website!) I'll just keep an eye on my phone for a day or so.


And I just noticed that this is post number 404 for me. Hope that's not a bad omen......

 

[braillediver]

Here's a discussion on Bottlehead about delivery problems from Welborne Labs.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?...ne&r=&session=

Aren't they just north of Seattle?


Mitch

 

[bhjazz]

Who, Bottlehead?

Yes, they are close. West, actually. And I'll drop some kudos for the amazing service through Bottlehead. Wow!!!

If you meant Welborne, their address is in Colorado.

 

[bhjazz]

Quick update: no response. I normally try to do the "right" thing and not run somebody's business, sweat, and blood into the ground, but this is dumb. I've called a few times and sent even more email. Their ignorance towards customers who have already paid is ridiculous. Once I get my money back, I will no longer do busines with Ron Welborne.

 

[AlanY]

Welborne is notorious for having poor customer service, including refusing to reply to emails or answer the phone, taking months to fulfill orders, fulfilling only partial orders after months of waiting and not notifying the customer, etc. You can find complaints about them from different people on various web forums. My own experience with them is described in a response to this thread:
http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/aud...pl?read=390172

Basically, as far as I can gather, Welborne doesn't maintain a lot of stock. If you order something and it's on backorder, he won't tell you. He won't answer your emails. You may see it in several months, you may never see it, or you may get a partial selection of things you've ordered. If you pay for expedited shipping via FedEx, you will get charged for it, but your order may be shipped via USPS standard mail, if and whenever it ships.

I can't fathom how a company like this stays in business, except to say that on the web it seems a strong personality like "Ron" can sometimes generate a sufficient number of positive fans to make the significant number of people who get shafted think it's a one-off thing. It's not a one-off thing.

Take the opinions of people like Doc Bottlehead, Paul Joppa, and other web posters who do not/have not ordered from Ron with a grain of salt. They invariably defend the guy, telling you what a good guy he is, but not being customers, they can't appreciate what it's like to do business with him. He may be a good guy at heart, but his customer service and order fulfillment is terrible. Welborne is just like Drew from Shellbrook used to be, probably not a crook at heart, but there comes a point where willful incompetence and misrepresentation becomes crooked.

There should almost be a sticky warning about ordering from Welborne.

 

[dsavitsk]

This is too bad to hear. I have always had a good relationship with Ron. I have some 300B monoblocks from him, and have ordered probably 5 or 6 other times from him without incident -- including getting some custom and one off stuff. I've also never had any issues with him answering mail, even as recently as about 2 months ago. But, if he's not shipping to people, then he's not shipping. Maybe try emailing from a non yahoo/gmail/hotmail/etc. type account in case there is some spam blocking going on?

 

[AlanY]

Here are a few more links to discussions of Welborne's customer service problems, especially the lack of contact:
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/se...ges/45474.html
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.ph...4&postcount=11
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85648
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/we...ages/2660.html

My favorite is the last one, where the guy just asks what the parts lead time is, and Ron replies, chastising him: "Perhaps if you leave a phone message or drop us an email, instead of complaining on our forum, you might obtain an answer to your question," only to be told that the guy had left two phone messages already.