EB Acoustics - to Richard Allen

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Gazzip

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iQ Speakers said:
The logic being unless they ordered somthing completely different, they are lying, refused delivery, not paid, disapeared etc, why should on earth EB say, I'm not shipping to these 2 particular people, I will fulfill all my other orders even the ones that came in after and make these two guys wait 3 months. I once worked for a £120M computer company they never shipped anything for 3 months went into liquidation. Funny enough the directors started another company and are both very rich.

Yes, but we don't know the context of any of this. On reflection we have one side of a story posted anonymously on a web forum. That is all I am saying.
 

jonathanRD

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Clearly Richard is very good at designing and making speakers but not so good at customer administration and managing customer demand. I've worked for a number of small/medium sized manufacturing companies as a customer operations manager and some of them (for various reasons) got themselves into all sorts of bother when customer demand got the better of them. It is really hard to get out of a backlog situation - heaven knows what it must be like for a one man band. It's also really hard when you have a successful product that everyone wants and you cannot ramp up your production or invest quickly enough to meet demand.

In all my roles there are always certain orders that just go wrong and get worse despite everyone's best efforts (remember the Elicit saga), so I can imagine that an engineer trying to do everything is likely to experience some customer disasters. It is entirely plausible that our friend in the Netherlands and the one in Czechoslovakia are two of those disaster orders that just have gone wrong, and the fact they are outside of the UK just might makes things even more difficult.

On the other hand it is very worrying that the examples have gone on for so long despite all the communications and publicity. I just hope that these are genuine management issues rather than something more sinister.

The OP needs to confirm that there has been no progress in the meantime.

If I was closer to Kidderminster I would be tempted to call in - although I might be told to mind my own business.

Is anyone close enough and brave enough, or knows Richard well enough to contact him?
 

Vladimir

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omg_smile.gif
 

steve_1979

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Gazzip said:
Just to play devils advocate for a second Anonymous posts are not proof of anything and they certainly do not identify the relative scale of the problem. If EB have sold only 1,000 units then the two or three complaints (0.2%) is a drop in the ocean frankly when it comes to customer dissatisfaction.

Not defending the situation just questioning its severity.

To be fair this is a very good point.

However these are the results from a quick search of this forum. It makes me wonder how many other people there are who've had the same problem but haven't posted here.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/eb-acoustics-again-falls-short

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/whats-eb-acoustics

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/eb-acoustics-please-wait-here

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/message-to-ricky-eb-eb-acoustics

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/what-waiting-time-eb-acoustics

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/to-richard-allen-eb2

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/to-richard-allen-eb-acoustics

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/richard-allen-arcaydis-audio

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/arcaydis-1

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/arcaydis-dm1s-how-long-have-you-been-waiting

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/richard-allen-arcaydis-audio
 

luckylion100

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jonathanRD said:
Clearly Richard is very good at designing and making speakers but not so good at customer administration and managing customer demand. I've worked for a number of small/medium sized manufacturing companies as a customer operations manager and some of them (for various reasons) got themselves into all sorts of bother when customer demand got the better of them. It is really hard to get out of a backlog situation - heaven knows what it must be like for a one man band. It's also really hard when you have a successful product that everyone wants and you cannot ramp up your production or invest quickly enough to meet demand.

How hard is it to stop taking orders until the backlog is cleared? To employ perhaps even a friend or close family member to answer the telephone, reply to emails and update the website? How hard is it to communicate to customers what the state of their order is? It's a real shame, EB Acoustics lost a potential customer in myself...

If What Hifi continue to display the reviews for EB Acoustic's speakers on their website (I haven't checked of late) perhaps they should attempt to seek some form of clarification as to what the current state of affairs is and put an end to this continued conjecture.

I've been a critic but I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy.
 

Gazzip

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Oleglondon said:
It is 7th months since i've paid for the speakers in full. Richard called me in November 2014 and said the speakers would be ready in one week's time, so i paid promtly, and recieved nothing!

After a number of attemptes to discuss the issue, the only answer i've had: they will be ready next week. And now i cant get hold of him at all.

I could go to court and use mediation option but that will cost roughly the amount of speakers

It is under £10K so small claims is your best option.

This will cost you £60 in court fees for a claim between £500 and £1000.....

Also it is not 7 months if you paid in November.
 

Oleglondon

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I've started a despute via paypal despite the 180 days cut off period. If there is no reply from Arcaydis LTD for 2 weeks i will try something else. £60 in court fees is just a start..

and it is almost 7th month, but this is not the case!
 

Oleglondon

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It is almost 7th month since i've paid for the speakers in full. Richard called me in November 2014 and said the speakers would be ready in one week's time, so i paid promtly, and recieved nothing!

After a number of attemptes to discuss the issue, the only answer i've had: they will be ready next week. And now i cant get hold of him at all.

I could go to court and use mediation option but that will cost roughly the amount of speakers
 

hg

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Oleglondon said:
It is almost 7th month since i've paid for the speakers in full. Richard called me in November 2014 and said the speakers would be ready in one week's time, so i paid promtly, and recieved nothing!

Are you in the UK?
 

hg

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Oleglondon said:
Yes, I am in the UK.

The previous people I had seen were outside the UK and could not use the small claims court. If you are in the UK then he would not appear to be selectively targetting just customers outside the UK.
 

Andy Clough

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iQ Speakers said:
Yes indeed, perhaps a member of WHSV could enquire any put the record straight? For the good of every body.

I have today emailed Richard Allen to find out what is happening and to try and clarify the situation regarding payment and delivery. I will also try and call him. In the meantime, and until I have an answer from him, I am locking this thread and have heavily moderated it for legal reasons as a number of unsubstantiated claims were being banded about.

UPDATE 28.04.15

I have tried phoning Richard several times but there is no answer on the phone number given on his website. I have also emailed him asking him to call me directly. As soon as I have spoken to him, I will post a further update. In the meantime, I have added a note about the delivery issues on our reviews of the EB1 and EB2 speakers.
 

Andy Clough

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I have now managed to speak to Richard Allen on the phone and he has told me the following: all existing orders for EB Acoustic speakers will be met (he says that is about five pairs), including the pair ordered by the OP, but from now on he will no longer be taking any further orders and the EB Acoustics range will no longer be made or sold. I have amended our online reviews accordingly and made it clear they are no longer available.
 

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