Hi guys...
Finally got my RK today... Had alot of crap happen too... It's been a bittersweet day...
Got my rig home and a button was basically ripped out of the King controller...A washer and a bushing of some kind rattling away on the inside and a spring, button and everything else laying inside the kontroller bag.... I was way jacked....... way jacked...... Fortunately, due to an oversite incurred due to the immense lapse of time since my order was placed, GC was shipped 2 RK2 heads(long story in and of itself). Lucky for me, because there were clearly issues with a few of the tubes torqued and bent out of place. You really couldn't even force them into their sockets. A couple of them would go no farther that an eighth of an inch from setting properly. I know it wasn't boogie or gc.. That is my strong opinion and I feel that way because it's a long haul from Cali to Ohio and I can't imagine how many drop offs and pick ups and hubs and crap there is along the way so, IMO it was banged up during shipping....
ANYWAY.....
Lucky for me they have another setup at gc....
.... but by this time, after my long long wait, much anticipation and let downs month after month I decided I was done talking with customer service and I was going to TRY to contact Randall Smith or anyone higher up that might listen to some of the issues I'd like to discuss...
I'm a first time boogie owner..... I've been playing guitar for 25 years so I know about boogie but I could never afford one...... Not that I CAN now but gc had some good financing, I was gigging pretty regularly, had a few bucks saved and then income tax returns came in last week and put it to bed.... So I was paid in full before I even had my amp....
Never had a boogie but knew about them. Researched the RK, heard great things about their customer service so I went for it.. What bothered me after a while was the vagueness of information and just getting bumped back month after month after month. I was even quoted a Feb 13th receiving date at one point.. Which came and went.... Don't know why that happened..... I was upset that the RK had been on the back burner since last April and they never put any info on the website..... It added insult to injury that after NAMM they updated the RK page with RK2 info but STILL said nothing about the delays...
I really lost almost all faith in mb during this time. I though, theres no way they give a crap about me buying an amp like this... I felt like their attitude was "HEY MAN EITHER YOU WANT THE BOOGIE OR YOU DON'T, EITHER WAY I DON'T CARE CAUSE WE'LL SELL THEM ANYWAY!"
So I see MetalMatt's post about the missing switch and I'm thinking wtf....
I get my amp and have a broken controller and bent up tubes and, after all that wait really hit a low point.. I noticed a little plate over the spot where the pentode switch was and felt that, in a few ways mb misrepresented their product... I was done with customer service and I didn't care if anyone listened or not but I was going to try to go higher..
I called and got the receptionist and she has a very kind voice so I made sure to be polite the entire time. I asked to speak with Mr. Smith and she asked who was calling, I told her, she asked if it was business or personal and I said, well - I guess it's a little bit of both..... She then told me he would be out for two weeks but I could speak with someone in CS.. I told her that I felt they were kind of indifferent to my situation and I didn't feel confident that they would actually be listening. She was surprised to hear that. She told me I could email my issues to her and assured me that Mr. Smith would get them. I told her I would do that.. She then asked me what concerns I had. So I made it as brief as I could and I told her.. You can imagine, if you've read this far, that it wasn't too brief.....
We talked for a while, I told her I was a 1st time boogie owner that after months of waiting got his damaged RK2 today.... (basically).... She was very sympathetic to my situation and was very surprised to hear that I was somewhat dissatisfied with CS and completely understood that for the price you pay for this equipment everythng should be in order....
We wound our conversation down and I told her she would be getting an email from me to forward on to Mr. Smith, a VP and the Director of Sales and Marketing. Before we closed she asked if I was sure I didn't want to speak with Customer Service.... I said, "am I gonna get rolled into voice mail and have to wait for someone to call me back?" she said no, she would page the guy and have him take the call so I said, well ok....
So the rep gets on the phone and I told him everything. I remained very calm and polite. Because I wanted to, I was just so bummed out and also because I was just too tired to argue. There was no point in getting angry anymore man.... I was glad too because he was a very good guy. I really couldn't have caught CS on a better day. He was surprised to hear some of what I had to say but was very attentive and seemed genuinely concerned. We talked for a while and I aired all of my thoughts and concerns. Some he agreed fully with, such as the lack of important and correctly updated information on the website, and some he shed some light on like the switch and the manuals.
He said that new manuals are being made, they still had a stockpile of old manuals and almost all of the information is as relevant as it was with the Series I amps because not alot has changed. I could be wrong but it sounded like an updated manual is being completed and they saw no reason in wasting the ones they already had since almost all of the information is the same.... Made since to me.....
As for the switch... He said that there was such a dramatic change to channels one and two after the revoicing that the pentode/triode switch made almost no difference at all in tone. He said that he's used both versions of the amp and that he's so pleased with the way channels 1 and 2 turned out that he doesn't even miss it.... By this time I had talked with the man long enough that I believed he was sincere about what he was saying.... At no time was he rude or inattentive during our conversation. He was very professional and genuinely concerned with my situation and comments so I believe he was giving me his honest opinion in regards to "THE SWITCH" :shock:
I myself couldn't tell you because I've never used the RKI but he made sense to me and I don't think the guy was even the slightest bit rude or anything. He seemed like good people so I took him at his word....
He expressed an understaning of how the information currently shown on the website could be misleading and also agreed that , in hind site, it would have been a good practice to provide the information regarding the delays with the RK on the web... I also said, that for the money consumers pay for this product, some additional packaging around the kontroller might not be a bad idea to assure that no damage occurs to that piece..
As is my luck, I'm the only one he's ever heard of report any damage like that.. I kind of laughed and told him that I wasn't surprised... That IS my luck....
Anyway guys, I'm not going to sweat the pentode/triode switch. I mean, I did buy the RK2 with many of the features in mind and it did irritate me that one thing was said and another was done. Now I DON'T like that but I also don't know what the amp is like with that feature so I'm not sweating the small stuff anymore..... If/when a Series I owner comes in and goes on and on about how he can't live without that feature then I get jealous, angry and envy him/her but until then... ah.....
All in all I have renewed confidence in MB....... I got my amp.. I have some decent contact information and I feel things are how they should be right now....... and I believe I was heard....
Tomorrow morning I'm waking up, I'm pouring a cup of coffee, I'm kissing my wife goodbye before she leaves for work, I'll hook my boy up with his crack-like chocolate milk, I'll hook him up with some AM toons and then I'll tell him Daddy's gonna go jam for a little while.......
Then I'm saddling up my Road King 2........
I've been waiting for this amp since July, I've had a shitty and stressful day today.......... **** a switch, I'm jammin'......
Much love Bruthas.....
My King is in My Castle........
It's time for me to make my glass glow......... I betcha I feel better..
I'll give you a report after I log a couple hours if you'd like....
Catch you guys tomorrow.......
Peace
