What's up with ADDAC's customer service?

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:16 am

I have a faulty (from factory) ADDAC207 and cannot get a response from ADDAC on how to remedy the situation. I have tried getting in touch via email, skype and PM.

Has anyone had contact with ADDAC recently?

Fastus · Post by **Fastus** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:28 am

Count me among the waiting customers. What's going on ?

Riggar · Post by **Riggar** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:32 am

I do know that Andre was poorly lately - this as a result of my order emails to and from. Hope he's ok?

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:59 am

According to ADDAC's website and facebook page ADDAC are still in business having just announced new products..

It looks like they are more invested in attracting new sales than servicing existing customers.

I've been more than patient in waiting for a reply, trust me. This thread is a last resort.

EDIT: If Andre is unable to reply to messages he should at least say so either on Muff's, or on his website/facebook page. Surely easier than having to answer to a bunch of annoyed customers?

There were known issues with the 207 that had been apparently fixed in later serial #'s (I'm gathering this by the fact that only modules with a serial # below 70ish needed updating). Due to a bunch of customers complaining that their 207's were buggy, Andre offered a clunky firmware update that not only didn't fix the problem but was an absolute PITA to install. That's all fair enough but what happens next I take issue with: the guy says, here's an app to install the firmware... and then he dissapears! He hasn't posted since admitting there's still bugs..

If he was ill or had personal issues, all it would of taken is for him to tell someone to post on his behalf that's he's out of action for a while. Fuck, I had a stroke last week and I still managed to keep my waiting customers informed in ER. Though we know this is not the case for Andre as he's been busy developing/launching new product.

I believe I am well within my rights to be pissed off. I have a module I paid for two years that's no good to me. Thing is I really want the 207 to work as it should. On paper it's the perfect quantizer for me and it's because of this that I'm still open to accepting a valid excuse, it'd just want to be a good one. If ADDAC had replied to my messages I'd not have aired this in public, which tbh is demoralizing for me to do.

Etan · Post by **Etan** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:02 am

He seems to be active on Facebook, last post was 4 hours ago...

Hirsbro · Post by **Hirsbro** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 2:56 pm

I support this thread, though I promised myself that I would waste no more time, energy OR money on this module

abdul6 · Post by **abdul6** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:59 am

Well, as I got no response here from Addac, I decided to take another quantizer.
Thanks to my shop, they are very nice and comprehensive, they accept a refund - my Addac was 7 months and mint outside (though totally bugged inside)...

...end of the Addac adventures for me. Two months ago I was thinking to pick up some filters and mixers, but I changed my mind after this big disapointment,

too bad

monads · Post by **monads** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:29 pm

Well this isn't good. I was on board with picking up a few of their modules like the 502, 503, 802....but this posting is making me abandon the idea.

I don't get the more active on Facebook and ignoring your customer base???

gottberg · Post by **gottberg** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:53 pm

This is not good.

I bought the 42hp mini case from ADDAC and it was not working - they connected the wrong leads from the jack to the distribution board... obviously no one there bothered to test it before shipping it out.
I had it fixed locally on my expense and never contacted them about this cause I didn't think it was worth the fuss.

I was thinking about buying the 206 switch because of its feature set but reading this thread honestly I don't anymore.

monads · Post by **monads** » Sun Oct 05, 2014 5:32 pm

This is great, no response or update to this thread from ADDAC???? Come on, what's the latest???? I want to buy their stuff

artisokka · Post by **artisokka** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 3:18 am

monads wrote:This is great, no response or update to this thread from ADDAC???? Come on, what's the latest???? I want to buy their stuff

Well... I used to lust after several of their modules (especially the quantizer). No response made me change my mind...

Really surprised about the silence from their side. This definetely is not the way to handle this kind of situations.

dropthedyle · Post by **dropthedyle** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 5:41 am

i successfuly bought a 206 switch and a 703 mixer last week. i had a direct answer to my mail order. i also was able to contact Andre by FB...

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:56 am

dropthedyle wrote:i successfuly bought a 206 switch and a 703 mixer last week. i had a direct answer to my mail order. i also was able to contact Andre by FB...

If you're able to get hold of him could you notify him of this thread?

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:56 am

double!!

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:57 am

triple!!!

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:57 am

quadruple!!!!

now my phone wants in on the action

monads · Post by **monads** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:55 pm

dropthedyle wrote:i successfuly bought a 206 switch and a 703 mixer last week. i had a direct answer to my mail order. i also was able to contact Andre by FB...

Regarding direct contact.....maybe because it was a 'sales order' and not a 'service inquiry' on a previously purchased item???

That's what prompted this thread, a last ditch effort since service inquiries to ADDAC have received radio silence.........I'm scared to buy their stuff if 6mos-2yrs later a module doesn't function properly and I find myself on the same abandoned island other's are currently in.

etherline · Post by **etherline** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:06 pm

dropthedyle wrote:i successfuly bought a 206 switch and a 703 mixer last week. i had a direct answer to my mail order. i also was able to contact Andre by FB...

Did you get any email confirmation of your order after you paid?

ADDAC System · Post by **ADDAC System** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:50 pm

Dear all,

Hope everyone is well.

Sorry it took me this long to get back to all of you, I'd like to apologize for not doing it sooner and telling you that we never did and never will put aside any customer service, while at the moment the quantizer is the exception to this.
This pertains to the fact that, as we haven't yet found any development to the situations that have come to our attention, it would be unnecessary to elude you with unnecessary replies.

Please bear in mind that none of your contacts has been forgotten.

Also, we'd like to ask you to understand that we are a very small team and these last months have been ultra busy. Literally, if i would stopped my schedule to handle the 207 issues at this time, ADDAC could easily slip into an unruly mess!

We absolutely warrant there's no lack of goodwill in both our efforts of bringing you new stuff, as helping you cope with matters pertaining to our modules.
We have been replying and giving customer support for any other modules besides 207 firmware issues which for now it's still at the same stage as our last firmware update. We're planning on re-programming the whole firmware from scratch in the next months.

Hoping for your best understanding!

all the very best
andre

READYdot · Post by **READYdot** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 2:24 pm

Andre, I have sent you my 207, some time ago and haven't heard news from you?

Fastus · Post by **Fastus** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 3:56 pm

While I appreciate finally hearing something, it isn't exactly good news that the whole firmware needs to be re-written. Certainly this means the resale value of this module just hit zero, while it's useability in the meantime isn't much better.

And now, even more waiting...

etherline · Post by **etherline** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:18 pm

ADDAC System wrote:
Please bear in mind that none of your contacts has been forgotten.
..
Hoping for your best understanding!

all the very best
andre

I'm sure everyone understands the pressures a small business works under and wishes you well, but you understand the principle of handshaking in communication protocols. You might know that you have received our communications but we don't know that you received our communications or our money or our modules unless you respond. I would respectfully ask that you bear that in mind. It is important to communicate with your customers.

Ginko · Post by **Ginko** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:47 pm

I'm really confused as to where the 207 is at - I have been planning on getting one, but was put off by the original problem and I thought that new ones from ADDAC had new firmware and old ones could be upgraded, with a bit of a workaround - is it fixed or not, or is there a separate issue?

meatbeatz · Post by **meatbeatz** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 10:36 pm

ADDAC System wrote:This pertains to the fact that, as we haven't yet found any development to the situations that have come to our attention, it would be unnecessary to elude you with unnecessary replies.

Andre, this equates to ignoring your customers. Since when was replying to a customers multiple calls for help unnecessary? I wasn't asking to be eluded, all I wanted to know was if you DO actually intend on fixing the firmware or whether it will be left as is. I highly doubt ADDAC Systems would've fallen into disarray if you'd taken 2 minutes to update the 207 thread.

ADDAC System wrote:We absolutely warrant there's no lack of goodwill in both our efforts of bringing you new stuff, as helping you cope with matters pertaining to our modules.

Please tell me, if ignoring your customers is not a lack of goodwill then what is it? I'm not interested in your efforts to release new stuff while you ignore your existing customers.

ADDAC System wrote:We're planning on re-programming the whole firmware from scratch in the next months.

I think you owe it to 207 owners (and prospective buyers seeing as it's still for sale) to make this a priority.

Personally for me the most important thing is for the 207 to accurately quantize to the selected scale on receipt of a gate/trigger, on all four channels simultaneously and with no glitches or interaction between channels. I can do without all the other features (micro-tuning etc.).

Post by **Paranormal Patroler** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 3:56 am

I'm flabbergasted by the torch-ready responses I read.

Common' guys, don't you see how everybody is mishandling the situation here? I own a 207 myself and I'm equally dissapointed by its non-working status but lets take a step back and face some facts before things do get uglier. (By the way, I'm in no way affiliated with ADDAC Systems other than being supportive of their products 'cause I own quite a lot of their modules)

a) ADDAC fucked up the communication. A bad move, we can all agree to that. Non-responsiveness does not help in any way and claiming replies are "unnecessary" is a no no as well.

b) The only module that reportedly has an issue is the 207. Apart from wiggler gottberg facing issues with his case (and not contacting Andre about it) nobody else had any issues with any other modules as far as this thread is concerned. If that is the case and Andre wasn't responsive to that please be specific of your problem. Claiming that ADDAC products can turn sour down the road is total bullshit and people who post this shit need to grow the fuck up immediately. I own a lot of ADDAC modules and I never had any issue (207 not withstanding). Be fucking responsible with what you post. Eurorack is small business, its not the first time a manufacturer runs into a problem, we've been through this shit before. If you are dissuaded by the lack of responsiveness vote with your money and shut up.

c) Saying that, ADDAC is indeed a small business. This means ADDAC people need to get paid so making new products and selling stuff is top priority in order for ADDAC to stay alive. What about your 207? Buhuhu! If the company goes bankrupt your 207 gets fuck-all resale value and nobody wins. So being patient but staying vigilant is the best way to handle this.

d) Andre just promised a 207 overhaul, which is much much better than getting nothing at all. It sucks not having the 207 do what we were promised it would do and shame on ADDAC for releasing it before bug-testing it extensively. But now its in our cases and its still a very useful quantizer as it is. Have you even tried working with the module and not use the triggers for the rest of the channels? The 207 is much more advanced than anything out there right now. Did you only pay for that functionality? Hell no! Should we get what was advertised? Hell yes! But going crazy doesn't help. Be precise in your accusations. I'm not saying we're not right, I'm saying that losing our calm helps nobody.

So let's start suggestions instead of going for flaming. What needs to be done? How can we handle it as customers? My personal suggestions:

a) ADDAC gets its act together and specifies an approximate date for the release of the new firmware. We need to know when we can expect it. No excuses, no bullshit.

b) Customers need to be kept up-to-date on the revision. No feature-creeping for the new firmware to get this thing out as fast as possible, but keeping us up-to-date means people are more patient. Keeping us in the dark means flaming.

c) No new 207 should be sold in the meantime. Selling a buggy module is unethical.

d) An ADDAC official post needs to be made about the 207 reprogramming and people should post there. We only focus on the 207 and we keep it civil, raining complaints directly to ADDAC only stalls things for all of us.

e) If more people complains pile up Andre needs to give replies in that thread. But do know that getting the ADDAC mastermind to spend time on replies stalls firmware update. Saying that, Andre, keeping people in the dark is the worst possible thing you can do. Remember the Plan B situation?

I am a firm believer that we can get good results out of this.

MUFF WIGGLER

MUFF WIGGLER

What's up with ADDAC's customer service?

What's up with ADDAC's customer service?