VoodooMan Switches Updates And Beyond

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just too add more confusion :lol:

On March 27 2012 I have ordered a Footswitch for my tremoverb via the voodooman website!

I have receive it today and its a wonderful product! thanks James.

during the past 5 weeks James answered every email i have send him.


Anyway glad im one of those lucky customer
 
jazzblaster said:
just too add more confusion :lol:

On March 27 2012 I have ordered a Footswitch for my tremoverb via the voodooman website!

I have receive it today and its a wonderful product! thanks James.

during the past 5 weeks James answered every email i have send him.


Anyway glad im one of those lucky customer

Maybe he got him some religion :)

It's also good to hear you got it.
 
Hey Boogie Board,

I came across some information about voodooman switches, and wanted to share it. The business has a very bad reputation as shown on the Better Business Bureau website. Below is the link, if it will be allowed to be posted....

It has also come to my attention that the owner of voodooman switches is doing business as Black Label Switches. He doesn't have any complaints yet, that are posted, but the address is the same on both business reviews. Go to the addresses and check them out....


http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/amplifiers/voodooman-switches-in-camas-wa-22426173

http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/amplifiers/black-label-switches-in-camas-wa-22689009

Help "Spread the Word", so others do not get screwed.

letsneck
 
I sure do wish I woulda seen this thread before I ordered a 2-button FS from Black Label Switches.

It's been a month and I do not have my switch yet. After two weeks, I called him and he answered! He told me that my switch should ship out that day and I'd have it by the weekend. Nothing ever showed up

A week later, I get an email that says my order status has changed to: completed.
I emailed Jim, told him his price was nice but his delivery was lacking. He replied with a story about his drill press breaking down and him having to wait for parts.

A week after that, I get an email that says my order status has changed to: shipped - yet the tracking number shows USPS has received electronic shipping info, but it has not shipped...for three days now. I emailed him again and said 'I have a drill, you can send me the housing and the prewired guts, if that's easier for you'

We'll see how that goes.
 
dante said:
I sure do wish I woulda seen this thread before I ordered a 2-button FS from Black Label Switches.

It's been a month and I do not have my switch yet. After two weeks, I called him and he answered! He told me that my switch should ship out that day and I'd have it by the weekend. Nothing ever showed up

A week later, I get an email that says my order status has changed to: completed.
I emailed Jim, told him his price was nice but his delivery was lacking. He replied with a story about his drill press breaking down and him having to wait for parts.

A week after that, I get an email that says my order status has changed to: shipped - yet the tracking number shows USPS has received electronic shipping info, but it has not shipped...for three days now. I emailed him again and said 'I have a drill, you can send me the housing and the prewired guts, if that's easier for you'

We'll see how that goes.

I bet it has been finished for a long tIme. NOT SENDING THEM for
The longest time possible IS THE REASON that he sells them!
I fully believe that is his gig - it's that joy for him every time.
 
Well, no sooner did I write the guy a nastygram and the pedal showed up. Go figure...

The pedal works, but I already built myself one with spare parts and a quick $9 trip to Radio Shack. I was tired of waiting, like two weeks ago I was tired of waiting. Mine works, it's ugly, but it works fine. Now I have two.

I don't get it. I had been emailing the guy through his web site, emailing him directly, calling him on the phone, and rather than just email me back with a quick ' oh sh** I forgot to ship it' or some other lame excuse, he waits two weeks, ships it in a hurry, and I have no idea until it shows up out of the blue. I hate that. A little communication - even a few words - goes a long way in a business transaction when you've paid for something and not received anything in return.
 
Number me among the duped. I ordered a switch for my '86 Mk III first week of May. James sent me a tracking number on July 9, but the post office claims they never received anything from him. It is now September 21 and I have nothing to show for my $85.

Lest you think me stupid for ordering in the first place, realize that I saw Voodooman switches on eBay being sold by a vendor with extremely good feedback, and my luck with such vendors has been great over the last 15 years. My switch wasn't listed, so I found the site on the web and ordered from there. It did not occur to me to check them out any further. Well, SURPRISE!!! The eBay vendor is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COMPANY (Freiboth trading) with a license to build the same switches and sell them on eBay. Freiboth is fine -- buy from them -- but Voodoomanswitches.com should be avoided. Freiboth's good record probably clouds the issue somewhat -- I suspect that many who post that they didn't have any problems getting their switch bought from them, not James Britt.

He doesn't return phone calls, won't respond to email. My credit union says it is too late to cancel the charge. I have filed complaints with BBB and the Federal Trade Commission. I even called the local police department where he USED to live in Camas, and they were WELL acquainted with him -- they routinely handle calls from people who don't get their products from him and drive up to ask him to do his legal duty and ship his stuff -- but alas, after his last "relocation to fix his shipping problems" they no longer know where he lives. Apparently, although not shipping his products is illegal, the cops say it is a civil matter and my only redress is to sue him.

Did he rip you off too? Would you be willing to work with me and others he has victimized to pursue legal action against him? Are you, like me, disinclined to let fellow musicians get ripped off year after year after year without doing something about it? Do you know his new address (The one on his website -- 3510 NE 3rd #109, Camas, Washington -- is a pay-as-you-go P.O. box company) so we can get Camas Police back on his case?

If so, email me at [email protected]. My name is Bill and I am just a 50-something guitarist who is not inclined to lie down and get ripped off.
 
7thquitbeam said:
The eBay vendor is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COMPANY (Freiboth trading) with a license to build the same switches and sell them on eBay. Freiboth is fine -- buy from them -- but Voodoomanswitches.com should be avoided.
This makes a lot of sense. I bought a lonestar footswitch from the ebay site and it came in a few days. The solo switch actually broke after 3 months and I emailed them. They responded that it was a defect and mailed me a new button free of charge. I soldered it in and it works great. I only read of these posts after the fact and I couldn't figure out how I lucked out. I thought the guy was bi-polar but I guess there's one legit guy and one ****** bag. I will vouch for the ebay guy.
 
I agree with all the Voodooman horror stories in this thread. I had a nightmare experience with Voodooman Switches in 2012. Avoid them. They have a long history of poor service and poor customer relations, and a bad track record with the BBB in the states they've done business in. I only found this out *after* I had ordered with them.


Happily, I found equivalent switches independently manufactured and distributed by Freiboth's Trading at www dot freibothstrading dot com. They gave me prompt and quality service, and they have a good ebay ranking. They had clear and timely customer communications. Go with them, instead.


I wasn't aware of Switch Doctor until I read this thread.
 
MORE ON VOODOOMAN... If you Google the phone number he lists on his web page as his customer service line, you will see that he has THREE, count 'em, THREE web sites set up to take orders! Try it! Google 360-989-9565. You'll find three websites: Voodoomanswitches.com, blacklabelswitches.com, and a new one, stompboxswitches.com. Voodooman and Black Label both have F ratings from the Better Business Bureau. Stomp Box Switches didn't appear when I searched BBB, but if the customer service number is the same for all three, one might want to consider whether the customer service will be any different. Anybody who is thinking about buying a switch from any of these businesses owes it to themselves to check them out on the BBB website first. Stick with Frieboth on eBay!
 
So, I am willing to bet Freiboths Trading can be pretty sleazy too, seeing as how we have two sockpuppets who each registered, posted once in each voodooman thread to pump freiboths, and then disappeared. James is a liar who can't get his **** together but you should sell based on your product, not on running down your competition by pretending to be your own customer.
 
CoG said:
So, I am willing to bet Freiboths Trading can be pretty sleazy too, seeing as how we have two sockpuppets who each registered, posted once in each voodooman thread to pump freiboths, and then disappeared. James is a liar who can't get his sh!t together but you should sell based on your product, not on running down your competition by pretending to be your own customer.

Boy, are you paranoid. It looks like you posted positive stuff about James' switches and how many you had a while ago -- were YOU doing it as a shill? Didn't think so.

1. Your whole premise is faulty. Frieboth's is a LICENSEE of Voodoomanswitches.com, NOT a competitor so there is no way that they are "running down their competition". I presume (but do not know for a fact) that James got thrown off of eBay and thought it worthwhile to have somebody sell his designs there for him. I further presume that James gets a cut of the switches they sell.

2. I HAVE posted more than once to this forum, and as this posting makes plain, I have NOT "disappeared". I am still actively pursuing a refund or my switch, and when I have progress to report, I will post again. I never pretended to be a Frieboth customer -- I praised them based on their feedback rating on eBay and I believe that I made that plain in my post.

3. I have NO RELATIONSHIP WITH FRIEBOTH'S TRADING. They are in California and I live on the East Coast. I contacted them when I thought they bought their switches from James. That is how I know what I know about them. I only posted my info here because I was tired of seeing people saying, "Gee, I had no trouble with Voodooman", which encouraged others like me to fall into the Voodoomanswitches.com trap. I have no idea whether they are happy that I have posted about their good service or not. My sole purpose is to keep people from falling into the trap.

IF I get a refund, I will buy a switch from Frieboth's and report on it here. That posting will not be from a shill, either.

I have no idea whether Frieboth is "capable" of sleaze, but their eBay feedback would argue against it.
 
Wow, I hadn't seen this thread until after I bought a switch for my LSS of of eBay. I thought I'd messed up when I hadn't heard anything after paying the auction. They did show 3 in stock. I sent them an email thru eBay, they apologized, said the 3 in stock was a mistake and they were covered up but mine would be built and shipped out in five days. I had it six days later.
With all that said. I think they knowingly showed 3 in stock would draw bids better than saying they build to order. They were honest in our email and I got the switch. I'd order another.
 
Lessons learned from dealing with Mr. James Britt (the person behind voodoomanswitches.com, blacklabelswitches.com, and presumably stompboxswitches.com):

1. Whenever you go internet shopping, check this and other discussion boards on the web to get a feel for how reliable the seller is. Don't be fooled by a competent looking website. If a seller of the product on eBay has great feedback, do not presume that a website selling the identical product is also reliable. As stated earlier, the seller of voodooman switches on eBay (who is reliable) is a completely different person than Mr. Britt.

2. If you find out after ordering that you have ordered from a questionable seller, immediately ask your credit card company how long you have to cancel the charge and get a refund under their buyer protection policy. If you do not ACTUALLY RECEIVE your product (promises and/or tracking numbers DO NOT COUNT) by that time, cancel the charge while you still can and take your business elsewhere.

3. If you don't cancel the charge in time, your item does not arrive, and the seller is unresponsive, PLEASE DO EVERYONE A FAVOR AND TAKE ACTION! DON'T TAKE FRAUD LYING DOWN! Here are some actions you can take:

a. It helps warn others if you file a negative Better Business Bureau complaint, report the seller to the Internet Crimes Complaint Center, and report them to the Federal Trade Commission, but taking your case to these complaint centers won't likely get you timely satisfaction, especially if the seller has been reported before and had nothing bad come of it. The key that worked for me was to complain lower in the chain (see below).

b. I am not an attorney, but both my local police and the Clarke County, Washington, Sheriff's Department informed me that taking orders over the internet, accepting payment, not shipping, and ignoring attempts to work out the issue constitutes fraud by wire, and that is a criminal matter (it is NOT merely a civil matter as I was told and reported in an earlier post). File a complaint against the seller with your local police and obtain a copy of the report (or a letter from the police documenting the report). Unless you are local to the seller's location, they will probably tell you right out that they won't pursue the matter themselves, but the report can be passed on to people who can help. If nothing else you may be able to use the letter to make an insurance claim or for tax purposes.

c. Call one (or more) of the local police departments with jurisdiction over the seller. The police informed me that Mr. Britt is at 3038 I St., Washougal, WA, 98671, so in this case options include the Clark County, WA, Sheriff's Department and the City of Washougal Police. Since his advertised business address is in Camas, Washington (his Postal Plus post office box -- 3510 NE 3rd #109, Camas is still listed for Black Label switches) you might also get help from the Camas, Washington police. The more people you get involved, the more likely somebody will help. Once you've made contact, write to the person you spoke to, forward the complaint copy and any other evidence (such as a CAREFULLY CENSORED bank statement/credit card statement showing the transaction, email order confirmations, tracking numbers and tracking reports, etc.), and request that they contact the seller about the complaint. BTW, if you paid by credit card, check your statement or with the card issuer for the record of the purchase -- you may find an alternate phone number you can pass on to the police to help them contact the seller. The 360 area code phone number associated with the charge on my statement turned out to be Mr. Britt's personal phone number.

d. In my case, the police in Washington State were very helpful -- God bless them -- because they contacted the seller. On the morning the police visited him, he called me and promised to send my switch and a new tracking number that very afternoon. I agreed that I would not pursue the matter further if he did that. A week later, after I received NO tracking number and no switch, I let the police know that he had failed to live up to the deal. They contacted him again, this time to have him write me a refund check. Of course, the police department in the seller's jurisdiction may not be willing to help this much-- but it worked in my case, and if they get many complaints about a particular seller they will eventually move to arrest them if the problem persists. Squeaky wheels get greased.

e. If you opt for a refund, do NOT provide credit card info to process the refund, and avoid accepting a check if possible (U.S. Postal Money orders work well). But if a check is the best you can get, take it to THEIR bank and try to cash it. If the check is no good and you deposit it in your account, you will likely incur a returned item fee.

f. If you HAD to take a check or get nothing and the check is bad, go back to step a. above, file check fraud charges (yes, according to several legal websites I checked, writing NSF checks is check fraud) against the seller, and repeat the process with the new charges.

I hope this helps! Mr. Britt finally sent my switch after SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS. I now have my switch, a bounced check from Mr. Britt, and a $35 hit for his bad check. As others have posted, the switch is a good design and seems to work fine, but I must say it was NOT WORTH THE HEARTACHE and I will NEVER do business with this person again. The email account I posted earlier seeking other folks who paid for switches they did not receive will be deactivated.
 
This is incredible isn't it? Talk about a screw-up! James, you had it all buddy. I hope I can learn from this post more about what not to do than to be mesmerized by someone's incredible "Piss Poor Planning" because there is more to that I assume, but wow-wee Jimmy. The tiger-by-the-tail metaphor........
 

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