Any update on the opening of the US store? I've been without a ac powercord for about 3 months, and am goin insane waiting for it to open so I can get a new one.

Try this one. It's cheap and works perfect. I have 2. 1 for work, 1 for home.

Yep I have a couple myself. Cool place too, all kinds of electronic junk cheap...

Dave Clark
Austin, Texas
12g Blue MK2
S/N 80000329

Yep I have a couple myself. Cool place too, all kinds of electronic junk cheap...

Uhhh, yeah. What HE said.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

ditto... =]


|| loren.cox ||

The US store has been open for months - they just don't seem to have any accessories for sale. There's nothing I can do about that, but feel free to complain loudly to the store.

Rob

Would that type of complaint be best directed to the email address: customersupport@sonicblue.com?

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

I guess so, although that will go through to SONICblue's support center in Albany. They're nice people there, but I suspect they will forward any car related problems to Cambridge - and we don't have an answer.

In practice, the issue is known about. I can't imagine what problem has delayed it for so long.

Rob

They've been up for months and no accessories. They don't seem to respond to emails either. It's getting quite ridiculous.

Which email address have you written to without receiving a response? That's one problem I can trace quite easily.

Rob

Actually, I have called the store to compain and I always get the same response, "Call the 1-800 number and they can help you". I don't call the 800 number because I know I am just going to get you guys, you can't do anything because of how Sonic|Blue has you set up to support US customers, and you are going to say I have to use the online store. I really feel sorry for you guys because it sounds like you are stuck in the middle. We also know that the online store/Digital River have stock of some of the accessories and they don't list it on the website. Our yelling at Digital RIver isn't doing anything to get these items online.

On the other hand, Steve is yelling at people who can do something about it. Eventually they may even do so.

Rob

This could get ugly when the tuner module is released.
I can deal with manufacturing delays and parts shortages, but delays due to red tape or problems with Digital river are unacceptable. A company is worth nothing if they cannot get the product to the customer.

John

I actually broke down and called (from the US) the Presales/Customer Support number posted on the store.sonicblue.com (800-967-2450) who directed me to another number (877-259-5295), which I think is answered in the UK. They told me that the tuner might be available mid-August, but no likely until end of August. :-( And, other Empeg accesories wil not be posted on the US site for another few weeks. :-(((

Everyone I talked to in customer service seemed completely in the dark on this issue and equally frustrated as I was, but couldn't do anything about it. This is getting pretty bad...

I personally think the tuner will be available much sooner than that, at least to mk1 owners who upgraded to mk2's and also to non-US customers. The US store is a law unto itself, though :(

Hugo

is there any way we (US customers) can order from you guys and have it shipped here? Kinda like I did with my empeg before the sonicblue purchase?

I would prefer to do that anyway, because as I'm sure many will agree, sonicblue is getting a little obnoxious with this unreasonable delay in their store.

tom

We can't ship to any destination serviced by the eStore. Now you could say that they are not servicing any areas at all if products are not in stock, but I wouldn't want to argue it. The empeg store is already something of a departure from policy. In any case, most of the products out of stock in the US are also out of stock at the empeg store right now.

I plan to copy this thread to every manager in the chain from production to eStore, just to make sure they are all fully customer focussed.

I should mention that the eStore itself is outsourced to a third party. I couldn't say for sure where the problems lie.

Rob

I think that is the stupidest part of this if the items are in stock why can't we call and order them over the phone. what did mail order companies do before the internet. I wanted to order something from newark today they didn't have it on their website so I called them and ordered it over the phone no big deal.

all sonicblue is doing is losing sales I wanted to buy a carry case and ended up buying one from someone on the bbs

32Gig MK2 In 2001 VW Golf TDI

The only item that the eStore physically has in stock but which is not listed is the extra car mount.

Carry cases are available from the empeg store because we happened to have some empeg branded stock left. There aren't enough of these to ship any to the eStore.

I saw the first Rio case last week, and those are in manufacture now in the far east.

Rob

In reply to:

---

The only item that the eStore physically has in stock but which is not listed is the extra car mount.

---

Which sucks because I bought a new car and have been trying to buy a sled for it. I emailed every address I could find to see if I could get a sled - no one knows anything about them other than "they should be available soon". That includes the folks in the UK (who were very apologetic).

Sigh. And I thought that the Rio purchase of empeg would be a "good thing" (tm).....

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

I don't think many small MP3 companies will survive the next twelve months. Market conditions are very difficult right now, the economy isn't great, and the growth of compressed digital audio products is delayed by problems in the content distribution industry (3G, availability of chart content etc).

Sigh. And I thought that the Rio purchase of empeg would be a "good thing" (tm).....

Rio are not a small MP3 company - we're the market leader. Do you see how this could be considered a "good thing"?

There are certainly problems, but that's because Rio have always relied on highstreet sales channels for their bread and butter. That doesn't work for the early adopter products that empeg have brought to the range. We're working on it.

(One thing that has occured is that Car Toys might have some stock of extra mounts - I'll check).

Rob

I am in the same boat. I have even tried bribery. Desperate for a 2nd sled for the boat, but summer is almost over here :-(

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

Rob,
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all of your hard work. You and Hugo (and others) have spent years developing your relationship with us consumers.

Hopefully Rio gets everything straightened out soon, as it's not fair to you to have to keep apologizing for something out of your control.

I remember the excitement as my turn got closer and closer in the queue to get my empeg, and I'm treating the tuner module the same way. I don't actually have a need for the tuner, but I want one, just like I did with the empeg. I will wait for it until it comes out, but I do share others frustrations with the delays.

Keep up the good work!

-Trevor

-----
Mk 2, Green 12GB 080000349

Wooohoo! Looks like we have sleds and AC adaptors available on the US store!! Rob thanks for kicking some major booty upstairs to make this happen!!
--Andrew

MK2, 30Gig, red, 080000202

I'm glad I bought an extra sled before the empeg store shut down.

Sean

Greetings!

I am glad I did as well. Still, I think empeg was taking a loss on every extra sled sold in those days. Hopefully this will make it up a little.

I do have a few comments about the store.

a) Should these new items be under the "Accessories" section?
b) Maybe these should be listed at the end of the page, thus highlighting the player a bit more.
c) I know the color panels are delayed, but what about the Rio branded remotes? Are they available yet for accessory purchase? Even without stun/kill, I would still like to replace my Kenwood remotes for the upgraded remotes.

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (96GB Smoke)

Please, don't change *anything* until I order sled number 3!! ....wait one..... DONE! OK, you can change it now.

Yippee!

Thanks to Andrew and Rob for leaning on SonicBlue to get these up there!!!!!!

Woohoo!! Very cool to have the adapter and extra sleds online. Now if we can just get some red faceplates on there...(At this very moment my empeg is being installed in my '97 A4, and I can't wait to see if the red faceplate matches the dash, as there seems to have been conflicting reports)

-Adam

"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care..."
-office space

I have a few hundred coloured panels in the UK now, which we are starting to package. I would guess that it will take about a week to get them packaged and into stock in the empeg store, and a little longer for the SONICblue store.

Rob

Once again our saviors have come through. Those guys deserves a raise!

$129? I guess I won't be using a sled in the component box I've be planning to build after all. anybody know if you can buy the mating connector for the dock from an online electronics outlet?

- John

30 GB - Mk2a (Rio Car) - BLUE

This is unlikely, though you're welcome to try and find one: it's a Hirose QR/P6-24P-C connector in the sled. It's crimp only, and needs a special crimp tool, also available (for about $500 I believe, the automatic ones that are used in making our harnesses are several thousand) from Hirose.

Previously, sleds were being sold at a loss (the wiring harness is more expensive that most people imagine!); obviously, this isn't something we could continue doing.

Hugo