The empeg store will reopen on July 1st, offering car players and accessories to customers who are not currently served by the SONICblue eStore.

Without giving too much away, I can mention that there will be a summer special offer (which will also apply at the US store from July 1st) which I think will be rather attractive.

A mailshot about this will go out in the next week or so, and I'll post it here at the same time (Announcements forum).

Rob

HURRAH! I just hope the special offer is what I think it is.

_______________________

Steve - 18GB Mk II Amber

Probably not, but I think it will be worth more than what you think it is.

The what-you-think-it-is won't be available until later in July.

Rob

Rob,
Have you updated you resume to include mind reading? You guys never cease to amaze me :-) Great news, what ever it is!


-Doug
Mk2-12G Blue (Now A/R Green)

The empeg store? Does that imply that Rio could not get over the hurdles with the international store on their host's site? Random curiousity.

Of course, you realize that you have probably single-handedly wiped out new RioCar sales for the rest of the month. Everyone who is on the fence, deciding, reading this board will now wait until July 1...

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Clear)

Argh !!

And my headache was just subsiding ...

Cheers,
Hans


Mk2 - Blue & Red - 080000431

In the interest of fostering the first-ever, virtual "It's a Small World, After All!" Empeg owners sing-along, I would note that "customers who are not currently served by the SONICblue eStore" don't have too many reasons to be jealous of those who presumably are, at least in the case of current Empeg owners (you *can* at least buy a whole new Empeg/RioCar on the site).

In anticipation of the arrival of my new wheels, I queried SonicBlue about docking sleds and received an e-mail on May 31 saying that "the US eStore should have docking sleds in stock by the end of next week". I fear someone was being overly optimistic as that date (June 9) has come and gone. I check the store every day, but it sounds like I may just want to wait (or perhaps I have no choice?) until July 1 (or do I then risk my order falling into a backlog? Will the "special deal" appeal to existing or prospective owners??).

Well, the new car, a Subaru WRX wagon, is quite cool, but it cries out for real music. I have a road trip through Oregon scheduled for the July 4th holiday (you know, ironically, the one to celebrate Uh-mehr-i-cun [ptang!*] indeependence from British tyranny**) and would dearly love to avoid deinstalling my one and only sled from the boat to add to the car for that trip.

I appreciate that getting this stuff available is complicated. Not just adding items to the site itself, but getting that container shipped from _______ (wherever these are now made) and even getting them manufactured (allowing for the possibility -- possibly to the good -- that Rio has contracted with different shops to lower component prices). Anyhow, while the Empeg is the center of *my* electronic universe, I understand that is, and will likely remain, a relatively low-volume manufacturing job (compared to any other doo-dad I own anyway) and that availability issues, well, they happen.

I remain, as always, over-eager,

Jim

* Ptang -- the sound of soggy, hopelessly carcinogenic material hitting a brass spitoon.
** Presumably, any tyranny I'm currently experiencing is directed from the Dark, Forbidding Corporate Headquarters in Vancouver, Washington. I'll be stopping in Portland on my roadtrip. Would it help to drop by and beg???

Edited by jimhogan on 21/06/01 07:26 PM.

It shouldn't be at all complicated. I shipped them to Rio UK, Rio UK shipped them to the eStore, and now... I have no idea where they are. They should have been in place weeks ago.

I assume this hold-up is not helped with the loss of Tim. I will forward your post to Steve (product line manager) incase he misses it.

Rob

Everyone who is on the fence, deciding, reading this board will now wait until July 1

Yes, I think that would be a shrewd move. Those who are not yet even on the fence might want to start heading toward it, with a view to maybe crossing over next month

Rob

Rob,

Thanks as always for your insight and help. Sounds like it may just be a problem with getting the items into the eStore system (I keep hitting the "force refresh" in my browser, but sleds do not magically appear!).

For what it's worth, it's only a 3-hour drive to Portland/Vancouver, so if they would like me to drive down tomorrow with cash in hand for a couple of sleds, I'll do it! Can you tell I'm excited about the new wheels? I had my last car, a VW GTI 16V for 13 years. It was time.

Jim

It looks like SonicBlue uses Digital RIver to do the eStore.
http://store.sonicblue.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry10?SP=10024&PN=16&V1=39400&xid=25971&DSP=&CUR=840&CACHE_ID=0 is the only page that lists anything with RioCar. Is there someplace else we should be looking?

Greg

Yea, I know replying to my own post is bad but .. .

I just called the eStore for info on this and they said the following:
Funny thing is I had another gentleman call me on this issue today and I know the answer (So you beat me to the punch Jim). Call the 877 number for the UK and they will be able to take an order for you.

I find this dubious that they are saying we should call UK when I know you guys shipped them stuff.
So my question is should I . . .
a) just wait until next week and order sleds from the international online store
b) wire money to jim when he drives down to pick up sleds at the meet next weekend
c) call the 877 number for the UK and try to order a sled

Greg *very confused*

The 877 number is *us*, not Rio UK; if you call now you'll be speaking to David.

Not sure on the position of taking orders for US delivery here at the moment, but it's worth a try :)

Hugo

When Jim drives to the meet? Different Jim? Which meet???

Anyhow, Steve (if you read this), I honestly would drive down to Vancouver tomorrow with *real* cash (none of this unreliable "E" stuff!) in hand for 2 sleds if in fact Vancouver is where they is at -- just 402 more miles to finish my break-in, so a drive to Portland would be perfect! Just shoot me an e-mail if this is in the realm of possibility.

'Course, in this E-age, who knows where the sleds are. Digital River's co-branded fulfillment warehouse in Minot, North Dakota?? Failing other options, maybe I'll give the 877 number a shot.

Jim
jimhogan@drizzle.com

As the tuner is told to be ready in mid-july you are not speaking about the tuner module which will be the "very-special-offer"..


TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

I'm a little confused by the posts under this one.. to clarify..

Digital River run the SONICblue eStore. They ship only to North America.

The international store will be run by empeg. We will ship only outside of North America. There's no point trying to order anything from empeg if you're in the USA. I don't know who told you otherwise.

In any case we have NO sleds here in the UK, I shipped every last one of them to the USA. Apparantly there is some kind of pointy haired battle going on to get them listed on the eStore.

We will get sleds into stock here in the UK as soon as we can get them from the manufacturer. I hope that will be by the time the store opens on July 1st but I suspect we will be out of stock for a couple of weeks.

Rob

I'm not sure where the eStore is physically located, but it is run for us under contract. I doubt there is any stock at Tigard (we moved) and I'm certain there won't be a Rio procedure for cash in hand transactions

For what it's worth, we're as frustrated as you are.

Rob

The "pointy-haired battle" sounds interesting... I have an image of 2x Dilbert's boss scraping the floor with their feet and charging each other, head down....

Might just be me, though.

Hugo

I wonder if they will get a Mt. Dew out of the battle. I need to watch less TV.

Sorry if I confused anyone with the post.

I'm a little confused by the posts under this one.. to clarify..

Digital River run the SONICblue eStore. They ship only to North America.

Got it

The international store will be run by empeg. We will ship only outside of North America. There's no point trying to order anything from empeg if you're in the USA. I don't know who told you otherwise.

It was a customer service rep from Digital River as I am under the assumption they probably sub-contract 1st and 2nd lever service requests from DR just like my company does. (We also use DR for US and INternational distribution of our eStore)

In any case we have NO sleds here in the UK, I shipped every last one of them to the USA. Apparantly there is some kind of pointy haired battle going on to get them listed on the eStore.

I didn't doubt that you did that. I am just wondering which pointy hair we need to apply pressure to in the US to get them listed on the eStore seeing how we know they have them. A friend suggested DOS their phone system but I thought that would be a bit extreme *JJ*

We will get sleds into stock here in the UK as soon as we can get them from the manufacturer. I hope that will be by the time the store opens on July 1st but I suspect we will be out of stock for a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the info and sorry again for the confusion.

Greg

Those responsible for getting the sleds online are already very motivated to move this forward - shouting at them probably won't help at this stage. I'll keep everyone updated.

Rob

Jim,

I've got an extra sled that I bought with my MkII. I'd be happy to send it to you so you can do your road-trip. Just buy me a new one when-ever (if ever) they come available and send it to me.

Drop me a note: mp5a2@home.com so I can get your address.

Cheers!

=-Clarke

______________________________________
Queue 351, Now Mk II #60000022 18gb, Blue

Clarke,

What a nice offer! I will e-mail you.

Jim