I am disappointed

[FourT6and2]

Let me first start out by saying I heard good things about Axe Palace. But my experience has been anything but.

On June 15, I called Axe Palace and ordered a set of Bare Knuckle Riff Raffs, brushed nickle covers, standard spacing, braided 2 conductor wire. Ten minutes later, I emailed Axe Palace to change my order to Black Dogs (same specs as I requested for the Riff Raffs). I was told it wouldn't be a problem and that my order change was all set. Good, I thought.

Let me now say that two weeks prior to this I had ordered a set of Holy Divers direct from Bare Knuckle without a hitch and received them in approximately two weeks.

About three weeks later I received my pickups. And to my dismay, they were not Black Dogs. They were Riff Raffs.

I called Axe Palace and I was told that my order change had been sent to BKP and that it was an oversight by BKP and was therefore their fault. But don't worry, I was told. Axe Palace would have a set of Black Dogs "expedited" to me at once.

It is now August 1st, six weeks later. I just received my Black Dogs. I open up the box to find that they are not braided two conductor, but four conductor. Now, I had confirmed EXACTLY what I wanted with Axe Palace THREE times. And still, my order did not arrive correct.

I don't know whose fault it is, BKP, mine, or Axe Palace. But what I do know is that if I had ordered direct from BKP to begin with, I likely would have the pickups I wanted and most likely a month sooner.

So, now I have to send another set of pickups back to Axe Palace for a refund and I will be ordering direct from Bare Knuckle. And I will have to likely wait another 2-4 weeks for them to arrive. AGAIN.

I am too sick of dealing with bad customer service (not just in this instance) to be angry about this. I am just tired.

 

[FourT6and2]

And before anybody says it, I know full-well that I can use four conductor leads just as well as braided two conductor. But at this point it's not about what will work. It's about what I, as the customer, wanted... and paid for. And was forced to wait for.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

...sooo why DIDN'T you just order directly from BKP again?

 

[FourT6and2]

...sooo why DIDN'T you just order directly from BKP again?

Impatience. I wanted my pickups quicker. Which was my downfall. I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any. Nick, at Axe Palace, said he could order me a set. I responded with, "well I can order a set direct from BKP myself." He then persuaded me to order from him because he could do better on the price. I figured, why not give it a shot.

Lesson learned.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

...sooo why DIDN'T you just order directly from BKP again?

Impatience. I wanted my pickups quicker. Which was my downfall. I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any. Nick, at Axe Palace, said he could order me a set. I responded with, "well I can order a set direct from BKP myself." He then persuaded me to order from him because he could do better on the price. I figured, why not give it a shot.

Lesson learned.

yeah, that's the retail kiss of death. i can't imagine his 'discount' was all that great to begin with, but if you've had flawless results dealing directly with the manufacturer, always stick with them. that way, if there ever IS a problem, there's no middleman telling you they're absolved on any wrongdoing when 99% of the time, it's their fault (especially with overseas companies - it's complicated enough without adding a third party to the scenario). i gladly pay a little more to deal directly with a company and more often than not, the more i order from them, the more inclined they are to start giving me small discounts here and there anyway.

 

[IntenseJim]

I've ordered several times directly from BK and they have been exceptional. I'd have to deduct it's the dealer's fault.

 

[FourT6and2]

...sooo why DIDN'T you just order directly from BKP again?

Impatience. I wanted my pickups quicker. Which was my downfall. I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any. Nick, at Axe Palace, said he could order me a set. I responded with, "well I can order a set direct from BKP myself." He then persuaded me to order from him because he could do better on the price. I figured, why not give it a shot.

Lesson learned.

yeah, that's the retail kiss of death. i can't imagine his 'discount' was all that great to begin with, but if you've had flawless results dealing directly with the manufacturer, always stick with them. that way, if there ever IS a problem, there's no middleman telling you they're absolved on any wrongdoing when 99% of the time, it's their fault (especially with overseas companies - it's complicated enough without adding a third party to the scenario). i gladly pay a little more to deal directly with a company and more often than not, the more i order from them, the more inclined they are to start giving me small discounts here and there anyway.

Yep. I've learned my lesson.

Axe Palace's first response was how four conductor will work just as well as two conductor. And that it's not their fault, blah blah blah. The point is, I am the customer. I paid for a made-to-order, custom product that did not come the way I ordered it.

Am I being unreasonable about the hookup wire mixup? Nick at Axe Palace is urging me to me just keep the four conductor version.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

at this point, i'd just deal with it to save yourself time, aggravation, and more money. the fact that axe palace is in defensive mode and trying to dissuade you from going any further means that either they know it's their fault and they're trying to get you to drop it, or they don't want to go out of their way to help you anymore because they know they should. either way, going further will likely only lead to more frustration (aside from the fact that two screw-ups already doesn't exactly speak to their competency in avoiding another mistake the third time).

 

[cardinal]

Sucks man. I've had good dealings with Nick. Orders get messed up sometimes. I wouldn't keep them if they're not what you wanted, though.

 

[racerevlon]

Forgot that!! Get what you paid for and make the dealer eat their mistake. The only way they learn and improve is if you hit them where it hurts... $$$$

 

[FourT6and2]

at this point, i'd just deal with it to save yourself time, aggravation, and more money. the fact that axe palace is in defensive mode and trying to dissuade you from going any further means that either they know it's their fault and they're trying to get you to drop it, or they don't want to go out of their way to help you anymore because they know they should. either way, going further will likely only lead to more frustration (aside from the fact that two screw-ups already doesn't exactly speak to their competency in avoiding another mistake the third time).

Well my plan is to return them and order directly from Bare Knuckle this time so I get exactly what I want. Even if it takes another two or three weeks. Maybe they will actually expedite a set for me for real this time if I tell them what happened.

 

[Mizati20]

Yea it sucks and everything but honestly just use the damn pickups instead of waiting another two weeks...

 

[rupe]

First off, it sucks that you didn't get exactly what you ordered...never a cool thing. That said, why put yourself through more aggravation at this point? Unless you enjoy frequently opening up your control cavity and staring lovingly and longingly at your braided wires, just slap the Black Dogs in your axe and get back to playing rather than being miserable over a non-functional issue.

 

[rlord1974]

First off, it sucks that you didn't get exactly what you ordered...never a cool thing. That said, why put yourself through more aggravation at this point? Unless you enjoy frequently opening up your control cavity and staring lovingly and longingly at your braided wires, just slap the Black Dogs in your axe and get back to playing rather than being miserable over a non-functional issue.

Agreed.

If they're defensive and trying to talk you into keeping them, you've got them over a barrel. Hum and haw with them a little, and then agree to keep the pickups if they knock $40 off of the price for them not being what you had ordered. If they are paying for shipping these ones back - and then potentially shipping the correct ones to you in a few weeks - they'll deduct the $40, take their loss and close the transaction out. You get pickups that accomplish what you want (albeit not in the exact configuration ordered, but...), you save a few bucks and you can just rest easy knowing that you won't deal with a similar issue in the future - because you simply won't be dealing with THEM again in the future.

Back to rockin'.

 

[OUTLAW1969]

I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any.

Hypothetically, when initially searching for them, if Axe Palace had the four conductor Black Dogs in stock, without having to special order again from BKP, would you have bought them?

If your answer is NO, then send them back to Axe Palace, and order them from BKP.

 

[FourT6and2]

I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any.

Hypothetically, when initially searching for them, if Axe Palace had the four conductor Black Dogs in stock, without having to special order again from BKP, would you have bought them?

If your answer is NO, then send them back to Axe Palace, and order them from BKP.

My answer is no. There were a few places that had four conductor. But I wanted two. I will be returning them and buying through Bare Knuckle, directly.

 

[cnote]

I had a really great experience buying from Nick recently. Made a great recommendation on a cab, and it arrived undamaged. Never dealt with him before, and was impressed.

 

[FourT6and2]

Do 2 conductor sound different? If so please tell me more..

Not that I know of.

In any event, I contacted Bare Knuckle to see if I could get a set quickly. Which they basically implied that I could not. They also implied that places such as Axe Palace don't put in orders as they receive them. They wait until they have a bunch of orders and put them all in at once. So all this time, over the course of six weeks, when I've been told by Axe Palace, "your pickups are in transit, should be here any day!" it has really been, "I have not yet placed your order with Bare Knuckle. But I'm going to tell you that I did."

Bare Knuckle also confirmed the order specifications. Axa Palace is the one who messed up the order both times, not Bare Knuckle... according to BKP.

Who do I believe? Doesn't matter. But no more middle-men for me.

 

[rupe]

I called all the BKP dealers in the US, looking for a set of Black Dogs. But nobody had any.

Hypothetically, when initially searching for them, if Axe Palace had the four conductor Black Dogs in stock, without having to special order again from BKP, would you have bought them?

If your answer is NO, then send them back to Axe Palace, and order them from BKP.

My answer is no. There were a few places that had four conductor. But I wanted two. I will be returning them and buying through Bare Knuckle, directly.

Your control cavity will love you for this

 

[DoomBuggi]

Expectation leads to Disappointment.