[spendorspain]

Hi

I have ordered several times from Welborne Labs and the only trouble I had was because my e-mail address (a yahoo one) was blocked (I don't know why) by some anti-spam filter in their website. Using another alternative (hotmail) address solved the problem. They also have made a couple of mistakes when packing my orders, but they sent to me the correct components when I told them at no extra cost.

Regards
Jose

 

[agile_one]

Update ...

After going three weeks from ordering and paying for a kit with no ackowledgement from Welborne, I sent an email to cancel the order, and request a refund. No response in two days, so followed up with a phone call (no answer, but that is expected) to leave a message.

Just got this in my inbox:
Quote:

Originally Posted by email A message (from <myname@mysite.net>) was received at 21 Feb 2007 20:54:14 +0000. The following addresses had delivery problems: sales@wellbornelabs.com Persistent Transient Failure: Delivery time expired Delivery last attempted at 21 Feb 2007 20:54:14 +0000

I resent the note, but am beginning to think my $185. is lost.

 

[n_maher]

Gene,

I doubt your money is gone but the lack of communication is inexcusable! Please feel free to shoot me a PM if there's anything that I can do. I'll see if I can track down any alternate contact information for Welborne for you and the others stuck in limbo.

Nate

 

[Voodoochile]

According to their website, the email address is:
sales@welbornelabs.com

Your snip from the email server shows:
sales@wellbornelabs.com

One too many "l" in welbornelabs. I doubt he's received any of your emails yet. I hate it when this happens. I did the same thing recently trying to paypal someone, left out an "n". Fortunately, there was no account unter that email address, so the money went unclaimed. Right Nate?

Of course this still does not address why your order, which they acknowledged receiving, has not yet shipped.

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Gene, I doubt your money is gone but the lack of communication is inexcusable! Please feel free to shoot me a PM if there's anything that I can do. I'll see if I can track down any alternate contact information for Welborne for you and the others stuck in limbo. Nate

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voodoochile /img/forum/go_quote.gif According to their website, the email address is: sales@welbornelabs.com Your snip from the email server shows: sales@wellbornelabs.com One too many "l" in welbornelabs. I doubt he's received any of your emails yet. I hate it when this happens. I did the same thing recently trying to paypal someone, left out an "n". Fortunately, there was no account unter that email address, so the money went unclaimed. Right Nate? Of course this still does not address why your order, which they acknowledged receiving, has not yet shipped.

Nate, Voodoochile ...

Thank you both for the information and offer(s) to help. I was pretty sure I cut and pasted the email address, but somewhere along the way it has gotten butchered. I sincerely hope that it was my silly (and embarrasing) mistake when composing the note.

I would rather acknowledge incompetent emailing skills than believe that Welborne is screwing around with my order.

Thanks again - off to resend to proper address.

 

[n_maher]

Please let us know what comes of all of it. I've honestly held off on ordering a couple of things from them recently based on what I've been reading.

 

[bhjazz]

I punted.
I have a case pending with Mastercard regading the portion of the order that never arrived. Fifty bucks. I imagine MC will try to contact Welborne and get the same response as me (nothing) then refund my money. Terrible way to go. I just don't understand how someone could build up a good business in a niche hobby, then just dump it. I truly hope nothing untoward has happened, but I just want out.

 

[Voodoochile]

Although you had the wrong email address for them, they have your CC info, and thus could get hold of you to inform of an unusual delay. I know that many of these small outfits are not capable of large company customer service, but still this has been a good long time without any contact. That's not cool at all.

I have not dealt with Wellborne myself, but I have dealt with Michael Percy, and also Handmade to a lesser degree. I have had great service from Percy, even when I email him while on vacation. I might not hear for the week he is away, but as soon as he returns, I get a confirmation and ETA right away. I'd think that Ron could do the same, as long as he is not on vacation, or at RMAF. And even if he was, he could contact you upon return. Several weeks is just too long to have to wait, let alone anything longer.

 

[agile_one]

Followup and recap.

1. order placed 2/2 for a psu kit, accompanied by PayPal payment
2. 2/24 no word of any kind from Welborne, so emailed them to cancel (thanks to Voodoochile for catching an email address error)
3. 3/5 got reply from Welborne saying order would be cancelled, to which I immediately replied with a thank you, and I would look for the refund to my Payal account
4. no further contact from Welborne, nor any PayPal refund yet, but it's just been two days ...

I am willing to chalk all this up to small company inefficiency, unless I don't get my refund. In my case, this was going to be a totally optional, fun little project, so it wasn't in any kind of critical path, or of any major import. Therefore, I can just chalk this up to a learning curve of what to expect in dealing with Welborne. My advice - make contact to confirm availability prior to making any payment.

I'll post again when the refund is finally made ...

 

[tcpoint]

I've had good luck with them. Prompt delivery and all the right parts . I like my cerafines in my SOHA.

 

[agile_one]

Final resolution ...

1. order placed 2/2 for a psu kit, accompanied by PayPal payment
2. 2/24 no word of any kind from Welborne, so emailed them to cancel (thanks to Voodoochile for catching an email address error)
3. 3/5 got reply from Welborne saying order would be cancelled, to which I immediately replied with a thank you, and I would look for the refund to my Payal account
4. no further contact from Welborne, nor any PayPal refund yet, but it's just been two days ... <edit> wrote that on 3/7 </edit>
5. 3/9 (morning) no refund yet, so sent polite note inquiring if they needed any more info from me. Response late that same day from Ron Welborne explaining that they have been busy 24/7 getting orders out, and he would take care of next day
6. 3/13 PayPal refund received. Not "next day", but good enough - no complaints

My final take? Welborne makes and sells great stuff, and Ron is a nice and talented guy. Just adjust your expectations to reality when dealing with them. I had never dealt with Welborne before, and expected quick turnaround since I ordered a kit, which I thought would be a quick ship. The big red flag for me was the three weeks + with no contact or acknowledgement after ordering and paying. By that time I just wanted out.

Once engaged, Ron was professional and followed through. I would order from Welborne again, but this time with my eyes open, and with some contact ahead of time to set expectations.

 

[bhjazz]

agile, I'm glad you got resolution directly from Ron.
That's what I was hoping for myself. But after sending nearly 50 (that's right) emails to him (at both email addresses) and receiving no reply of any kind, my expectations continue to sink. Why Welborne would not have their own red flag system for a four month old unfulfilled order is beyond me. Mastercard services is processing my paperwork now, and I should have some kind of resolution by end of March. That's too much effort for a customer!

 

[flecom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanY /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

the second one you linked to was me, and i will definately not be ordering from them after that expierence... they split my order up and charged me twice for fed-ex 2 day air, and sent both USPS?

 

[canister]

I am afraid the 'bad' situation has not changed a bit. I recently placed an order from Welborne for a power supply kit. It was meant to power my hard disk which streams high resolution 24/96 and 24/192 music files to my computer / DAC. I prefer an analog power supply to the switching power supply that comes with the external hard drive.
 
3 weeks after making payment, I inquired about the shipment and got no reply. 2 more emails followed, and a reply came saying that the package had been shipped. I waited 2 more weeks....still no sight of the package. I emailed again and Welborne came back and said "Oh! Your package has just been returned to us marked 'undeliverable'". I have ordered from all over the world; nothing has ever been returned to sender marked "undeliverable". There is a 24-hour porter service at the apartments where I stay and there is always someone to receive mail/parcels even if I am out.
 
I knew at that moment Welborne was playing games again, having read about their past reputation in various internet forums. I told them to cancel my order and quickly turned to my credit card company for help. I was lucky, and managed to obtain a full refund from my card company.
 
Please be careful if you are thinking of dealing with them. Welborne was once a good company with greet products. It is really sad to see what they have now become!

 

[bhjazz]

Sorry to hear that, canister.  Nearly 7 years later and they still don't get it.  Amazing!