Do Peluso treat customers badly? (Thread Revived)

[primemeat64]

I started this thread entitled "Are Peluso D*cks" - I presume it got deleted because of the title... although I don't see why a mod couldn't have emailed me and asked me to change the title??

Anyway let's start afresh...

Upon a recommendation, I ordered a Peluso shockmount at the start of October 2007 and never received it - I sent tons upon tons of emails, receiving hardly any replies (and late ones at that) - often getting "yeah sorry, we've been busy, we'll ship it soon" and "you haven't got it? oh! we'll re-ship soon".

So I told them that I'd get one domestically instead (I'm in the UK) - and asked politely for a refund.

I've not had a reply and I've not had my refund... are they just going to up and run off with my cash? Has anybody else experienced a similar example of terrible customer service?

[Matt_Weston]

I haven't dealt with Peluso directly, but I deal with Canadian Audio Distributors in Canada and they are the farthest thing from d*cks.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

[primemeat64]

In replying to a PM I wrote the paragraph below, I think it should be included here...

I think any customer, whether living next door to Peluso or thousands of miles away in a mud-hut in pakistan should get exactly the same customer service. And in this day and age, to not be prompt with emails is bad enough but to not reply at all is simply not acceptable. Unless I hear very good things plus get a refund and my apology, I'm never going to buy from Peluso and in fact I'll warn people away so that they don't suffer the same fate as I.

[primemeat64]

Originally Posted by Matt_Weston

I haven't dealt with Peluso directly, but I deal with Canadian Audio Distributors in Canada and they are the farthest thing from d*cks.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Hi Matt, thanks for your response and positive testimony - shame it wasn't with peluso directly but still a worth contribution.

[Jules]

Members are unable to edit thread titles after a 20 mins or so after posting them, so if the titles have rudeness in them they can get deleted by moderators.

You are also posting in the wrong forum. This could go in the moan zone forum - but Gearslutz doesnt really have an area for business transactions gone wrong as that is between you and the other party.

I suggest you pick up the phone to the company involved and handle this personally if you want anything done about it.

[PelusoMicrophone]

We have tried to ship Leo his mount twice and after the second shipment we have not heard from him. Today I received an email from Leo after changing my spam filter and promptly refunded him.

John Peluso

[warhead]

I hope it's OK to post in here, but I just wanted to say that in our experience John Peluso's operation has been one of fantastic service. There is a list of "bad guys" here, but Peluso isn't anywhere near it.

FWIW also, John is much better by telephone although I still find him reliable by email as well (and for some reason lately by email they are much better, so maybe there was a filter issue!).

War

[primemeat64]

John,

Thank you for getting back to me after my email today and thanks for the refund.

I appreciate that there may have been a spam filter involved here and as such I will reserve judgement either way - although I will say you've been great as of today after my fresh email.

From my point of view, I've explained what happened - I received hardly any replies to my emails and no delivery made it to my door (I would have been happy to pay for trackable) - all I did get were emails saying that it would be posted or that I should have it and it will be reposted etc

Whatever the reason, I am glad the issue is now resolved and hopefully we'll do business in future.

Regards,

Leo

[camerondye]

Problems that have gotten out of hand get fixed a hell of a lot faster when you post here because the manufacturers know it makes a difference. I personally emailed Peluso about this and told them that it makes a difference in my mind hearing about bad service like this, I own a 22-251 and a R14. He emailed me back within about 20 minutes saying that he'll take care of the issue, and then he posted on the board. I'm sure he got emails from a lot of people about the post, I'm just glad it's taken care of. I wish he was more apologetic in his post, but maybe he PM'd or email primemeat...that would be the right thing to do. Gearslutz is our own little union and we got to take care of our own. In my experience, Peluso has been a great reputable company also.
cam

[primemeat64]

Thanks for the replies guys.

As for telephoning - I realise that was an option but frankly, I'm not going to make a costly international call in this case for two reasons 1) It was a small amount 2) I didn't want to spend any more money (even indirectly) - on a company unless they were worth it - e.g. not on the list of "bad guys"...

I'm sure I've read a lot of good things about Peluso so it's great that I've had a good result here and that you've chimed in with positive things to say also.

[primemeat64]

Originally Posted by camerondye

Problems that have gotten out of hand get fixed a hell of a lot faster when you post here because the manufacturers know it makes a difference. I personally emailed Peluso about this and told them that it makes a difference in my mind hearing about bad service like this, I own a 22-251 and a R14. He emailed me back within about 20 minutes saying that he'll take care of the issue, and then he posted on the board. I'm sure he got emails from a lot of people about the post, I'm just glad it's taken care of. I wish he was more apologetic in his post, but maybe he PM'd or email primemeat...that would be the right thing to do. Gearslutz is our own little union and we got to take care of our own.
cam

Thanks for the reply camerondye, my suspicions are the same and I am in 100% agreement with everything you've said here - but I am not prepared to flame a company for no good reason... and yes boards and blogs have a lot of power... when Engadget accidentally made an incorrect post about Apple, Apple's stock changed dramatically within hours! - I presumed that somebody would either know John or put a word in somewhere...

[pbell]

Happy to hear that everything got resolved in the end. Just want to add my support for Peluso, I deal with Canadian Audio Distributors as well and they are fantastic!

[Plush]

John Peluso is one of the good guys.
All Hail Peluso!

[NathanEldred]

He's always been excellent and A++ to any customer service issues we have had. Very quick to move and without any complaint, just happy to do his job.

[bitman]

Some years back I found John's site before I knew about his fame.
John was very gracious and sold me 4 capsules for an ambisonic mic I was building. I got them right away and they were perfect.

A+ Customer service.
thumbsup

:Ron

[primemeat64]

It's good to hear all this, I'm glad that my case (thus far) seems to have been a simple bit of bad luck.

[Solafide]

I sent in a set of CEMC6's for warranty work. And I have never had such a nasty experience. To be Balanced here is the good:

1. John responded very quickly by email, then we talked on the phone (very nice guy).

2. After receiving the mics in July 06 He quickly let me know that they would be covered under warranty as they were defective.

3. By the end of October I was told they were ready to be sent and I could expect them November 06 (I was very pleased with all of this, and I would have rated the service very high).


Now the Bad. (I still have not received the mics as of April 08)

1. When Nov. 06 and Dec. 06 went by with no mics I began to try to get in touch with John. It wasn't until May 07 that he finally replied. He told me that they were lost in the mail. (I have no way of knowing this is true, but have way of knowing it is not true either)


2. Back in May 07, John stated that he would send me a replacement set. Still nothing!



3. I have talked to Him on the phone once since. I was told that he had recovered my mics from the mail mishap and again stated He would have new mics sent to me. I have sent an email every couple of months asking politely if he has sent the mics yet. The only reply I have received was after sharing my frustration over the whole situation (still tried to be polite, but direct as well). His reply was back in November 07.


John's last reply in Nov. 07 was that the mics would be shipped right away. Still nothing and no responses.



So to sum up from my perspective I have lost a set of mics (it was the whole package with all the capsules), and I highly doubt I will ever see them. I was fully intent on buying other peluso mics (as my 22 251 is one of my favorite mics) - safe to say I will not be going that route.

[primemeat64]

Bummer!

I think posting here was a good thing for two reasons:

1) as you say, it balances out the good

2) as a previous poster mentioned, GS can function a little like a union (or at least have a great impact seeing how many hits it gets - and they type of people who read / post around here)

I wouldn't say never.... hope you get sorted soon man!

[idylldon]

I've had good experience with Peluso, though there was one issue that was never resolved with my 2247.

The good: I bought one of the first 2247 mics when John initially started selling mics during his introductory price sale (I sure wish I would've bought two at that price!). I used the mic for quite a while and thought it sounded excellent on pretty much any source I used it on. At one point, I inquired about getting another matched one so I could have a set, and John mentioned that he had upgraded the mic since I bought mine and that he'd do the upgrades to mine for free if if I sent it to him. I did and the turnaround was FAST. It was excellent service all around.

The neutral: Since my mic was a very early one, John didn't have the engraved barrels yet, so my 2247 has a plain barrel and there aren't any identifying markers on it to show it's a Peluso. It's kind of a brown-paper-bag version. When I purchased the mic, John said he'd send along an engraved body when he got them. That didn't happen even after I sent quite a few emails asking about it. When I sent the mic in for an upgrade, I assumed that John would put an engraved barrel on it at that time, but the mic came back with the original barrel.

Perhaps having an original without an engraved barrel will ultimately be "the kind" when I'm long dead and the mic becomes "vintage." I can just see the ebay listing now: "Early run Peluso 2247 microphone PRE engraved body." I'd better not lose my original receipt, though, because there's nothing to prove it's a Peluso other than that!

All in all, I wouldn't hesitate one minute to do business with John again. His mics are well put together and work well. In the near future I plan to get one of his capsules to use in an MXL V69 that I've modded extensively, which I'm sure will be a sonic improvement over the stock one.

As to airing customer reports about mfgs., I don't think there's a thing wrong with it when it's done without overt aggression. I know it's extremely frustrating when a mfg. seems to be ignoring you, and I know on the other end that communication via email doesn't always get through. The way I see it is that the customer has a problem, and to the customer it's HUGE; on the other side, the mfg. has many problems to deal with all the time while trying to keep things happening on all fronts of the business, so stuff falls between the cracks. In an ideal world this shouldn't happen, but in the real world, especially when companies are in the start-up or ramp-up phases, lack of attention to detail can happen. It doesn't mean it's malicious at all, though it might appear that way to the customer who is being ignored. When it does happen, it should be dealt with IMMEDIATELY, because good news travels fast but bad news travels faster.

Then again, there's Solifide's experience, which kind of throws my rationalizations right out the window.

Cheers,
--
Don

[Solafide]

I think posting here was a good thing for two reasons:

1) as you say, it balances out the good

2) as a previous poster mentioned, GS can function a little like a union (or at least have a great impact seeing how many hits it gets - and they type of people who read / post around here)

I wouldn't say never.... hope you get sorted soon man!

Honestly, the only reason I would post this, is because I've come to grips with the fact that I will probably never see the mics. I have tried through all of this to not be one of "those customers" - I've tried not to bug him with repeated emails (I figured every couple of months would be enough of a reminder, without being a pest). So again, the only reason to share my experience in "public" is because it doesn't seem like it will be resolved. If it does get sorted out it would be a real bonus.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[stagefright13]

Well I ordered a new U87 from Nashville last week and it came Tuesday. I also ordered a shockmount from Peluso last week (same time and day) and has yet to arrive even tho they are closer. (like 1 and a quarter state over) So I asked to cancel my order. I got it from miketube on ebay. wich is peluso mic lab. The auction clearly stated 1 available.

I know i AM impatient but I expect fast delivery from anyone on ebay. I ship anything I sell same or next day. Because it is expected...

If I knew front end audio (Warhead) stocked them I would have bought it there and have a working setup earlier this week.

Follow up: I DID end up receiving my shockmount. Actually I received 2. I emailed Mr. Peluso and he said "I guess you have a spare now" Obviously I am really excited about that! And I love the shockmount. The nickel matches the mic exactly. And has a real nice soft pad that won't possibly scratch.

Thanks Mr. Peluso!! I am now looking at one of your U47 styled mics....

[slapswan]

To add my two cents: I can say without hesitation that I received excellent customer service/support from John Peluso after discovering some unknown noise in a new mic I purchased. To make a long story short, the issue turned out to be a grounding/rmf issue in my studio and not a problem with the mic. Nonetheless, John was very helpful and quick to service the mic, and to give me some leads, which resulted in me finding the issue in the studio. Thanks again John!

signed,

one happy Peluso customer

[Solafide]

After two years, I finally have my mics!!

Not long after posting here, Bob from Canadian Audio got a hold of me and straightened everything out. I am only waiting for my wide cardiod capsules now, that should be arriving soon.

Thanks again Bob!!

[Empty Planet]

Just saw this thread, and here's my two cents.

I've dealt with John Peluso directly a few times.

In my experience, he stands behind his work a thousand percent, and his service with me has always been top-notch. I only have good things to say about the Peluso mics I own -- the 2247 and his luscious ribbon, the r14 -- and the man himself.


Cheers.

[kirkhawley]

Having worked for small technical companies for many years, you come to realize that the downside of having a CEO who personally tries to handle all customer problems is a certain lack of organization. One of the first things that happens when a company tries to get organized enough not to lose orders and such is to take the CEO out of the line of fire so he has the time to handle CEO stuff.

So it sounds like maybe Mr. Peluso is trying hard to handle everybody's problems, but occasionally things get a bit disorganized and somebody disappears into the cracks. Maybe having him that involved is worth the occasional problem.

That's just a guess, I don't actually know shit.