Ash, don't leave us!

hotpickups

poopot said:

Have to admit I’ve only ordered from ash the once... but I did find his service lacking... 

I called him on the phone to discuss the pup in question and he only spent just over an hour talking to me about the pickup, press calls, photography and previous careers... I understand that I’d never spoke to him previously but did feel that it was a bit much that he cut the call “short” because his dinner was being put on the table...

I mean ffs! Really? Can’t carry on talking nonsense to a customer just because you have to eat? What is the world coming to?

and to add further insult to the transaction it took two whole days for the pickup to arrive in the post!!!!! I can only assume that the handwiring process slowed up the whole deal!...

Ash, to echo what others have said... you leave and this place looses something!...

I couldn't agree more. Ash spent a good hour with me talking guitars, sounds and pickups which I eventually bought a set of and don't regret it. They're up there with the other big name boutique pickups but not at a ridiculous price. Ask has got time for most I would say but also delivers on his promises and deliveries. I ha e no worries going back to oil city for some more 

skullfunkerry

hotpickups said:

poopot said:

Have to admit I’ve only ordered from ash the once... but I did find his service lacking... 

I called him on the phone to discuss the pup in question and he only spent just over an hour talking to me about the pickup, press calls, photography and previous careers... I understand that I’d never spoke to him previously but did feel that it was a bit much that he cut the call “short” because his dinner was being put on the table...

I mean ffs! Really? Can’t carry on talking nonsense to a customer just because you have to eat? What is the world coming to?

and to add further insult to the transaction it took two whole days for the pickup to arrive in the post!!!!! I can only assume that the handwiring process slowed up the whole deal!...

Ash, to echo what others have said... you leave and this place looses something!...

I couldn't agree more. Ash spent a good hour with me talking guitars, sounds and pickups which I eventually bought a set of and don't regret it. They're up there with the other big name boutique pickups but not at a ridiculous price. Ask has got time for most I would say but also delivers on his promises and deliveries. I ha e no worries going back to oil city for some more 

He sounds like a really nice bloke... this is all making me want to phone him just to say hello and have a chat about guitars!

Paul_C

Paul_C said:

For the sake of balance, can we all agree to behave "correctly" when dealing with anyone who earns their livelihood from music-related businesses?

So, preferably contact them during their hours of business, not on a Sunday afternoon or late at night when they might reasonably be expected to be having a well-earned rest from their labours. No-one really wants to be answering emails or texts at midnight, for example (it has happened).

Allow for the fact that they might have had to run an errand for family members (daughters with children of their own in particular) or popped to the shop for milk for their coffee to keep them awake during the long working hours.

Make firm appointments (not "sometime tomorrow") so that people might be able to judge when might be a time to pop out for essentials, i.e. biscuits.

When making appointments, be sure to turn up for those appointments rather than cease all communication for six months before reappearing, with the expectation that they will remember everything about any previous conversations.

Make sure to say "there's no rush" unless absolutely necessary, and mean it.



- - - - -

As for Ash, my dealings with him have always been positive and I hope I have never let him down by failing to observe the niceties above.

. . . and please don't text me at 6:30am asking to drop off a guitar later today !

harrumph.

FelineGuitars

Look can I add my £0.02 to the discussion about response from a small business

I, like Ash am a one man show, and although I do have a couple of able assistants but a lot falls on my shoulders. 

In this modern age ..you have to deal with your email, messages on forums, messages on threads where you were mentioned, on facebook messenger, and someone will still moan that they left a message on some random place and you didn't see it or respond within an acceptable time.

Also remember that January can be a time when 

You are mad busy with dealing with orders that came in over Xmas break,

       (or in my case the slew of repairs that usually come in just after New Year). 

You may also be preparing for a guitar show in Feb 

You most certainly will be preoccupied with your tax return and dealing with your accountant

If you sent an email request and didn't get a response - maybe follow up with a phone call (remember that phones can still be used to call on, not just for texts and emails) as you will get a response from a call as a ringing phone will always get answered if you are in.

I myself am useless with email, but a past life of working in a telephone based customer service role means that I tend to be good on the phone.

Just saying that old methods still work well.

DefaultM

I emailed Amazon recently and they replied every time within a few hours. Unfortunately I couldn't tell what the fuck they were saying to me, what with all the copy pasted paragraphs in different fonts through broken English.
It was fast though! Well, once I'd repeated myself for the 10th time and it was a week later.

I emailed Virgin but they didn't bother to reply at all, so I called them. Couldn't resolve the problem, but at least they tried to sell me all their other products while I was on the line.

Still waiting on a reply from PRS and Gibson for some emails I sent last year. The auto reply said 24 hours though so I'm sure they'll get to me.

Can't believe this pickup prick is making people wait for a detailed and well thought out response before delivering exactly what they needed and on time. Pickups are essential items you utter twat.

Adey

Ha ha! (I presume that was meant to be ironic... if not, I retract my ha ha's)

Three-ColourSunburst

skullfunkerry said:

I wouldn't have heard of Oil City without being on here - and the same goes for Feline Guitars. I'm definitely going to be speaking to Ash about pickups at some point, and I'd love a Feline guitar, although that's out of reach at the moment (I bought some strings though, woo-hoo!). I'd heard of Peach Guitars before joining tfb, but it was interacting with them on here that made me decide to drive to Colchester to get an amp and a guitar rather than order them online from GAK...

Which all goes to show just what an effective marketing strategy it can be for businesses to post on here. (And perhaps also illustrates the 'hive mind' tendency of many forums.)

Speaking as someone who has seemingly upset Ash in the past, the bottom line is that no one has never suggested that Ash - or anyone else who uses this forum as part of their marketing strategy - is not a 'nice' guy. No one doubts the quality of what they sell either. However, it still needs to be remembered that when someone shares their 'wisdom' on here it is still part of the process of selling their product, and naturally they are just as likely to try to argue that 'X Y and Z' makes what they sell better than the competition as anyone else in the folk-science, mojo and BS infested world of the electric guitar.

It is a basic human tendency to defer to authority figures (in the wider sense of the term). However - as with 'The Monkey Lord' and 'The Captain' trying to sell their guitars on the supposed quality of the 'tone woods' they are made from - what they say might not be entirely correct, despite their 'authority' status and their personal belief in the correctness of what they say.  As such I see nothing wrong with anyone picking up on something someone says that does not appear to entirely hold water, even if it seems that some don't take having what they say being questioned very well.

Perhaps I should just try to get past my autism, surrender to the hive mind and hone my fawning skills instead!

sawyer

I hope he doesn't leave. I found out about his company through this forum. Have one of his P90's in a dc Junior and its fantastic! Be a shame if others didn't discover him through the forum as i did.

GoldenEraGuitars

Three-ColourSunburst said:

However, it still needs to be remembered that when someone shares their 'wisdom' on here it is still part of the process of selling their product, and naturally they are just as likely to try to argue that 'X Y and Z' makes what they sell better than the competition

Utter bullshit. If that is how you perceive the business sellers on here then that is the biggest insult I have ever read on this forum. If me sharing my “wisdom” constitutes drumming up sales and business then I don’t really know what to say. 

If I want to promote my product, it is done in the “made in the UK” section. Otherwise, I’ve tried to genuinely help people in the “making and modding” area or I am trying to join in the conversations elsewhere about anything and everything. I have been spending less and less time here because of how busy I have become since Xmas which is amazing in itself. 

I came on here to answer a message about the competition body I donated last year but tbh I think I’ll leave it a while before coming back. 

prlgmnr

If someone leaves the forum every time someone ignorant makes an ignorant comment there'll be no one left who actually knows anything about anything, just let it flow right by you.

GoldenEraGuitars

prlgmnr said:

If someone leaves the forum every time someone ignorant makes an ignorant comment there'll be no one left who actually knows anything about anything, just let it flow right by you.

No ones leaving. I said I’d leave it a while  before coming back. If idiots keep making arsehole comments then what do you expect?

Bridgehouse

prlgmnr said:

If someone leaves the forum every time someone ignorant makes an ignorant comment there'll be no one left who actually knows anything about anything, just let it flow right by you.

I’m not a trader and I actually found the comment quite insulting - it suggests everyone in business has an ulterior motive for giving their advice freely. 

@ICBM is an amp repairer - every time he solves someone’s problem is he touting for business?

I give up.

prlgmnr

lonestar said:

prlgmnr said:

If someone leaves the forum every time someone ignorant makes an ignorant comment there'll be no one left who actually knows anything about anything, just let it flow right by you.

No ones leaving. I said I’d leave it a while  before coming back. If idiots keep making arsehole comments then what do you expect?

Hopefully that everyone will ignore them until they stop bothering.

prlgmnr

Bridgehouse said:

prlgmnr said:

If someone leaves the forum every time someone ignorant makes an ignorant comment there'll be no one left who actually knows anything about anything, just let it flow right by you.

I’m not a trader and I actually found the comment quite insulting - it suggests everyone in business has an ulterior motive for giving their advice freely. 

It reflects wholly on the poster that they have such a low opinion of others.

p90fool

I wish all you traders would stop flouncing every time Three Colour Troll has a dig, you're becoming as pathetic as he is. 

GoldenEraGuitars

p90fool said:

I wish all you traders would stop flouncing every time Three Colour Troll has a dig, you're becoming as pathetic as he is. 

No one has “flounced”. The word has lost all meaning, seems to only exist on this forum.

I said it would be a while before I post anything again. I haven’t been posting as I have pretty much tied up all my business dealings here (for now) and I’ve become so busy via my other social media channels that interacting here hasn’t been at the top of my priority list.

Id like to point out that a number of members (who just so happen to own guitar related businesses) do not post under their business name. I was a member here before starting my business. My membership here was always mainly used to shoot the breeze. It’s also 9pm, I’m not a trader or business owner right now. I’m trying to “down time” but that particular comment made above pushed the red button. 

@Bridgehouse I apologise for overreacting and overthinking the comment posted above. I’m certainly not leaving. I will just have one more on the ignore list than I did this morning.

FelineGuitars

I know that we as traders shouldn't take stuff seriously but the trouble is as a "sole trader" that has built a business out of your own passion , whereby you ARE the company and the company IS you , it can be hard to be that teflon coated all the time. 

And sometimes these same people have their own challenges going on that nobody knows about (because it is none of their business) which they are getting on with and dealing with quietly whilst still trying to keep one foot in front of the other business wise. 

These can be the same challenges that we all face from poorly children or elderly parents or family emergencies to the car breaking down or your landlord giving you problems with your home or workspace, or your accountant going AWOL the week before your tax bill is due in.

None of us ever want to let anyone down but sometimes complaints fall when you are already possibly pushed to your limit with something unrelated, and it makes you irritable.

p90fool said:

I wish all you traders would stop flouncing every time Three Colour Troll has a dig, you're becoming as pathetic as he is. 

Maybe those affected by it just pop him on ignore then.

Three-ColourSunburst

lonestar said:

Three-ColourSunburst said:

However, it still needs to be remembered that when someone shares their 'wisdom' on here it is still part of the process of selling their product, and naturally they are just as likely to try to argue that 'X Y and Z' makes what they sell better than the competition

Utter bullshit. If that is how you perceive the business sellers on here then that is the biggest insult I have ever read on this forum. If me sharing my “wisdom” constitutes drumming up sales and business then I don’t really know what to say. If I want to promote my product, it is done in the “made in the UK” section. Otherwise, I’ve tried to genuinely help people in the “making and modding” area or I am trying to join in the conversations elsewhere about anything and everything...

When I said that I had some specific examples in mind. Beyond that I would say that most people are in the business of selling themselves in most everything they do, not least because - if you are business - being perceived to be 'helpful' or 'a good bloke' is a crucial part of building that all-important customer-friendly image. Anderton's are the masters of this, with their carefully-cultivated 'your ideal guitar-playing mate down the pub' thing that helps to build a (perceived) relationship with potential punters, so making the ultimate goal (emptying your wallet) so much easier to achieve. Sure, this might not be done cynically or even consciously, and people can be genuinely trying just to be helpful, but this doesn't mean it isn't a part of the selling process.

lonestar said:

I came on here to answer a message about the competition body I donated last year but tbh I think I’ll leave it a while before coming back.

Or, 'I call for the wrath of the forum to fall on your head'. 

Three-ColourSunburst

p90fool said:

I wish all you traders would stop flouncing every time Three Colour Troll has a dig, you're becoming as pathetic as he is. 

Be fair, they might not be 'flouncing', they might just be (very) easily upset. I think the modern term is 'snowflakes'.

GoldenEraGuitars

Three-ColourSunburst said:

p90fool said:

I wish all you traders would stop flouncing every time Three Colour Troll has a dig, you're becoming as pathetic as he is. 

Be fair, they might not be 'flouncing', they might just be (very) easily upset. I think the modern term is 'snowflakes'.

Or how about this - as business owners in the guitar community we are all extremely passionate about providing quality products for the likes of yourself (do you even play? Or are just an annoying little keyboard twerp?). 

We have lives that do not involve being business owners which also includes posting here. When someone like yourself keeps poking and prodding the members who own businesses and TELLING us that we are simply here to line our pockets that’s when I believe we are allowed an opinion. 

You have offered little to this conversation as far as I can see. You are one of a number of members who need to filter your assumptions before posting them on here.