G66 - Update (Europe axe fx II buyers)

I guess it just got my hopes up seeing the huge countdown, a bigger and better unit for only €100 more, the promises of much higher amounts of units being supplied ( " huge quantities " as they quoted ). And then just like with the Ultra, the dates just go further and further back while other units are being supplied to TM and stateside.
At first it didnt bother me but after 8 months of having the dates pulled back combined with emails as long ago as March telling me I was " pretty much top of the list " and " Your unit will be in the next shipment " to this " Well it might be another month and a half - maybe " is a real downer.
Getting the money together aside, you cant buy time ;)
Sussi has always been great at replying. I have no complaints with their customer service on a personal basis. But when I was getting emails saying " We didnt get as many units as we were supposed to " it does seem to branch back to my initial question.
They constantly dont seem to be getting the stocks they are expecting which overtime has created this huge backlog myself and all you other guys n gals are a part of.
It cant be easy running a business when the only thing you sell is in such short supply but once again, I'd rather be told that this is the case and it's going to be a long wait instead of " Yours will be in the next shipment " If they reversed their messages and said " It's going to be a long wait " instead of " Yours will be in the next shipment " I think people would generally be a lot more understanding and a lot less frustrated.
Meanwhile I'll tune out for the next month and a half and hope once again the date doesnt get yanked back at the last minute.
 
DavidN1978 said:
If a company quotes you a date for the availability of a something you need but cannot afford so you need to sell your old rig to pay for the new one, giving yourself 4-6 weeks to advertise and sell to get the funds you need for the new unit doesnt make it your fault, sorry. With the usual list of potential buyers, ebay listings + local adverts it can often take longer than that to sell something. So if the date was true and 4-6 weeks later you hadnt even bothered to try and sell your old rig, and didnt have the sale price of the new product you'd ordered , do you think you could just say " Hey - send me the new stuff now, I'll pay you later I promise !! " This isnt " your flakey mate who might let you down at the last minute ", it's a certified company who should treat its customers fairly.
If you have the luxury of being able to finance an Axe II without selling your existing set up then good for you friend ;) But I'd think it would be fair to say a lot of people are not in that situation. I am out of a rig for 1 reason only. A reputable company gave me a quote that is so inaccurate they may as well have told me it would be delivered yesterday. And that is the entire basis of this enquiry. Would love to hear a genuine reason.
If TM can make a waiting list for a FA product many months, maybe even years after the G66 list started then it'd be nice to get no special favours, no priorities just the same courtesy. 12 units would wipe out the EU wait list poll from November - December and make a dent in the January 2011 backorders too yet they cant even get as far as November 2010 on the list. This to me from a business point of view shows a big problem in the supply ratio ( the inability to even supply the demand for a now, outdated product with no sign of the new one either just the same old dates that come and go and drag on for a time even the most patient people will deem unacceptable ).
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Again, the reason why the units are delayed IS FAS's fault. The reason you're out of a rig is yours.

If you need to sell equipment you need to afford something else you need, then you have to make sure there is an overlap to cover yourself. You have to find the means to do it financially also, or you just have to hold back and not get the new unit. The fact that people didn't find the way to do it is hardly G66's fault. It's their own, and I can understand the anger, but it doesn't get rid of the personal responsibility of the customer.

Also, given the amount of talk on the forum regarding FAS business practices (which I have been very vocal on), it would be hard to ignore the previous experiences of past customers regarding waiting lists. That, combined with the need that a lot of people have for the unit, means that they should have covered themselves anyway.

Personally, I have saved for the unit. It's amazing how much accumulates when you have the discipline to save money. The reason why, is that I had an inkling there would be this furore, and in my job, I cannot go one week without a versatile guitar system, because it truly IS my job. If a person can wait 9 months without a rig, then there is no need, just a want.
 
I suppose that since no one pays a deposit, they are not responsible for anything.

FAS and G66 are great when it comes to customer service and the quality of their products but this point we are discussing definitely needs to be improved.

Complaints are very useful to improve your business, they need to be heard and addressed. The "stop whining" type response will only hide the issue but the problem would still be hanging around. Surely they are not interested in ignoring their weak points.

I hope they find a way to fix this aspect in the future, the customers will be happier and that should translate into selling more units.
 
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Us Canadian's will probably have to wait just as long if not longer than you Europeans because we still can't get stuff shipped to us, and I live less than 1000k north (NE) of their HQ, it's ridiculous.
 
protocosm said:
This is probably one off the worst new product launches ever.
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i think the original point is there are/have been plenty of units now available and they are going to relative newcomers on a relatively new waiting list. while the goalposts keep getting moved on the euros for no apparent reason.
 
Everyone who ordered before june had ordered a standard or an ultra, right? Now there have been plenty in the sale section and in the bay and low pricing and still are. When you need it that fast, why don't you just buy one?
And give me your place in the waiting list, please! :)
 
for those who think this matter is whining or something please stop reading and replying its useless.there are more topics to criticize.
 
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Isn't their profit margin higher in the us?
If so, as long as it's sold out stateside there's no reason to supply the European market with these new units.
At some point the production will catch up and they'll start shipping but for now they can afford to 'buy time'.
I may be wrong but that'd make sense.
 
southpaw68 said:
Isn't their profit margin higher in the us?
If so, as long as it's sold out stateside there's no reason to supply the European market with these new units.
At some point the production will catch up and they'll start shipping but for now they can afford to 'buy time'.
I may be wrong but that'd make sense.
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The Axe II is 48% more expensive in EU than in the US.
20% is import tax. I doubt the other 28% is postage.
Clarkydaz got my point. I've never had an issue with profits + pricing policies for FA or G66.EU and never will - I doubt I'll ever get an answer to the simple question I asked though.
 
DavidN1978 said:
I've never had an issue with profits
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Unless you try to understand my reasoning and realize that profit may have to do with your simple question being unanswered.

The Axe-Fx II is victim of its success.If the release date in Europe is constantly being delayed it means there's more to it than meets the eye.
What's simple for you is not as simple for those who run a business.

Whine away and good luck...
 
southpaw68 said:
Unless you try to understand my reasoning and realize that profit may have to do with your simple question being unanswered.

The Axe-Fx II is victim of its success.If the release date in Europe is constantly being delayed it means there's more to it than meets the eye.
What's simple for you is not as simple for those who run a business.

Whine away and good luck...
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If asking a valid question about the official EU supplier is " whining " then I guess you'll have a field day on these forums ;)
For people with rational minds however foreign this concept might seem to you, it's perfectly okay to ask a business who has constantly let you down why this has always been the case and what if anything they plan to do about it.
Newsflash - without paying customers, businesses cannot operate. So it would be sad to see G66.EU who have clearly put a lot of time and effort into making these products their livelyhood go under because they cant make any profit if they cant make any sales.
 
I'm waiting too but I thinks this boils down to business and supply and demand factors! The Unit is heavily in demand and there is a limited supply. Quite rightly Cliff put the price up. He is not in this purely for altruism! He is clearly going to service the US first. Its much easier for him to box up and send the units to US customers first. He has to box up a batch of units and schlepp them over to Germany, that takes time and effort and he is already desperately trying to feed the demand locally. I think G66 is trying to keep us informed but the reality is that until the production levels and demand levels reach equilibrium there is going to be no incentive for FA to prioritise Europe. We do not have any rights or entitlements it is as it is. I genuinely think Sussi is as frustrated as us and trying to be a little optimistic, which is better than pessimistic.

We are just going to have to suck it up folks....:eek:ops

James
 
G-66 To whine or not to whine..

It is a fact that demand is much greater than supply. Look at the AXEII selling on Ebay to a much higher price.

Its a fact that Fractal is slow on the supply-side especially when it comes to new exciting products like the AXE II. They could have had the AXEII mass produced in China to meet the demand. They have chosen not to - Thank you for that.

It is a fact that delivery dates changes(Not to the good side:)

....................

Asking about delivery times is not whining.

"I sold my rig because I thought I could get an AXEII tomorrow - Now I cant play - Shame on you G-66 and FA" and comments like that IS whining.

TOO much of this has been going on in the forum the last couple of months.

That said, I am also waiting for my AXEII. - It will be as a christmas present when I get it. -

In the meantime I will be playing around with my first FA-Love: The AXE ULTRA. - I did a gig yesterday directly to FOH. GREAT sound.

Kind regards

AAEN
 
Yeah, that part about Christmas present, sounds just about right considering the delays :p
Although I'm in the same state as many others (sold my standard cause I couldn't afford the II and don't have a backup), I consider myself lucky that I will be able to have the axe in the near future, because I've owned the G1 and I know what Cliff is capable of.
Sure, I'd love to have it right now, but if this is the way things are, this is the way they are... Complaining won't speed up anything. Besides, there have been some minor problems with the first production units (as far as I can see in this forum), so the whole delay thing might end up being not such a bad thing after all...
Bad news for me is that I just received my custom made guitar for which I've been waiting for almost a year and now I can't even plug it in somewhere!
Oh well, if it wasn't for the damn crisis (especially here in Greece) I wouldn't have sold my standard until the II was readily available, but the way things were 2 months ago (and the way they still are), I just couldn't take the risk of keeping the standard and then being unable to get the II if something had happened to the economy.
Good news is though, that now I get to practice more, (since I can only play unplugged) and that's a "healthy" change for a guitarist who usually spends his playing time tweaking sounds on the axe...
 
AAEN,
If you already had an ultra to fall back on that's just fine. Just like the people who are in the lucky position of not having to make sales to finance a new unit. As for those of us who dont have ultras to play with and who arent in a position to buy one the moment it is actually available we have to make plans. I have never blamed Sussi or expeceted any sort of priority to anyone else - but why would G66 do a huge countdown promo in conjunction with FA when at the end of it they have nothing to offer while TM who as far as I know didnt do a countdown and threw together a waiting list much sooner are selling them. If any company for any product gives you a date that is completely off the scale with no definite release date in sight as a customer you are allowed an answer. And if the same company gave you an initial date which you have no choice but to act on since you couldnt finance this new product any other way why shouldnt questions be asked as to why it wasnt the case when the units clearly are available and this is the legitimate EU supplier ? Given the mindset of people I have faced apparently I'm " whining " because I didnt instantly assume a highly recommended business would constantly let me down and fire dates at me that werent even close to realistic. Silly me - so I should have set out to order an Ultra ( now Axe II ) telling myself " This company is useless, of course they wont be able to supply me a unit and there's no chance their delivery date would be accurate ". Given that over the years ordering many different products from many different companies and when it's said next day delivery, I've got it next day. Available in 3-5 days and voila, 3-5 days it arrives. So you're telling me by choosing to pursue a product I heard about online, tracking down the recommended supplier for my part of world ( who I'd heard nothing but good things and praise about ), ordering it, being given an availablity date and acting on it makes it my fault ?
In business the customer is #1. Having worked for many businesses myself this is a matter of respect that defines your businesses and its reputation. If I told a customer I could get them a product in the timeframe quoted, it would be only in the knowledge that I could make it happen.
If that timeframe passed just once I would expect nothing less than for the customer to ask me why and I would follow all the channels to find the same answer. The answer is there and as a responsible business owner it would be my duty to find it.
If I told my customer to " Stop whining " not only would it be very disrespectful but it would be a very bad business ethic. A customer who acted upon information I gave them to be let down at a cost of their hobby / career / whatever is not a situation I as a business owner would wish to put them in.
In this case, the quoted date has past so many times I've lost count and the latest date is still a guess. I'm well aware I have to wait. No problem.
But as a customer it is not whining to ask for a legitimate availablity date. Especially after being beyond patient and watching the latest release date fly past once again.
 
David N

I agree in almost everything you say.

Customers are no !. If they find themselves mistreated they find new suppliers. In this case there is no relevant competition to FA. So this is not an option(for most of us anyway)

I would note though that it is I who says "No more whining" - Not Fractal or G-66. I am sure that they are doing what they can to meet the high demand for the AXE II. To think anything else is absurd.

As far as G-66 participating in the countdown: It is understandable because the only product they sell is Fractal(AFAIK). It would be more strange if they didnt. It would raise the question if G-66 is a part of the fractal-team or not.

@ Johna156: I am pleased to hear on the news that the EU has decided to help Greece in the financial situation and hope the best for you and your country.

Kind regards

AAEN
 
I'm so glad I f**ked off the idea of getting one of these things. If I was still on that G66 list and having to read there crap emails every few months it would have driven me nuts. Life is just too short.

Here's the email that G66 should send:

"Dear possible AXE II owner,

We get a lot of folks emailing us saying "Hi Sussie when do you think I might get my axe 2" well “customer” the honest truth is we don't have a clue."

Thing is if you all received the truthful email a lot of you would probably do what I did and spend the money on something else. I think G66 don't know there ass from there elbow in regards to when orders will be filled.
Life has been good since I left, I seem to be playing a lot more guitar probably because I’m not thinking about a little black box.
Any way hope you all get one soon as I’m sure 2011 will be your lucky year.
 
Hey Mork,
I dont blame you buddy - am " this " close to going down the same road, just a shame it's looking like the better option when all I've ever asked for and needed was a realistic release date for an old product ( which took so long it became a new product ! )
Above and foremost am a musician and love all types of music so hit me with a pm when you get your 11R up and running, will be great to hear what you get up to !
Latest quote for us EU Donkey carrot chasers is " August - maybe " so I'll be sitting tight for potentially 41 days or so. The thing that makes me bemused is I've seen more than a few people in the US who are lucky enough to get one so quickly say " Oh, I dont need this " and then sell it for a profit without even playing it. Grass is greener and all that jazz ;)
Nice to see you back !
 
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