Ear Candy Cabinets STOLE MY MONEY... BEWARE

[Audioholic]

I have an Ear candy cab. The biggets complaint for me was the time. He said 6-8 weeks, which of course most small manufactures say something like that even if its gonna take longer, which happens ALOT when small companies are building things. After several months went by, I of course followed up and was given not quite accurate times. But eventually it made it here, like 6 or so months later. Luckily I could be patient, and I dig the cab tons.

In the future however I will go another route where I don't have to wait so long if I ever need another cab. Tim was nice enough, and eventually answered all of my emails and questions. Sometimes right away, sometimes it took another email to bring it to the top again. I wouldn't call thier customer service stellar by any means, as sometimes there was a delay in answer. But this is also common with other small companies that I have experienced, and sometimes even with big companies it is impossible to get replies. I think Ear Candy just suffers from small business syndrome and not enough help. I do think they have every intention of finishing each and every order as best as they can, and one should realize that really the biggest issue is time, it will take longer then they say. But if you can wait, you will get a good cab.

With most CUSTOM orders wherever you order it from, there is usually no return policy or refund.


To the OP, I would of suggested getting your cab and just selling it yourself when it came in. I doubt Tim would take your money and not give you anything in return. though it may take a bit. I would also suggest further bashing of him if this is going to court, as you could possibly make youreslf out to look like just what you are not wanting to look like. Comparing Tim to a child molester and other stabs here and there, I just don't think that will help your case. Just my 2 cents. Sucks to get taken if that is the case, but if you are in fact going to court over you defacing him on the net, you are not helping your case by further posting you know.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Go with Avatar...not as high end as ear candy but they sound great (the vintage cabs). At least they treat their customers right.

My G412 vintage actually sounds better than my Mesa 4X12 standard cab. Much smoother and more balanced tonally.

+10000 Dave is a great guy to deal with!

 

[toddf007]

I have an Ear candy cab. The biggets complaint for me was the time. He said 6-8 weeks, which of course most small manufactures say something like that even if its gonna take longer, which happens ALOT when small companies are building things. After several months went by, I of course followed up and was given not quite accurate times. But eventually it made it here, like 6 or so months later. Luckily I could be patient, and I dig the cab tons.

In the future however I will go another route where I don't have to wait so long if I ever need another cab. Tim was nice enough, and eventually answered all of my emails and questions. Sometimes right away, sometimes it took another email to bring it to the top again. I wouldn't call thier customer service stellar by any means, as sometimes there was a delay in answer. But this is also common with other small companies that I have experienced, and sometimes even with big companies it is impossible to get replies. I think Ear Candy just suffers from small business syndrome and not enough help. I do think they have every intention of finishing each and every order as best as they can, and one should realize that really the biggest issue is time, it will take longer then they say. But if you can wait, you will get a good cab.

With most CUSTOM orders wherever you order it from, there is usually no return policy or refund.


To the OP, I would of suggested getting your cab and just selling it yourself when it came in. I doubt Tim would take your money and not give you anything in return. though it may take a bit. I would also suggest further bashing of him if this is going to court, as you could possibly make youreslf out to look like just what you are not wanting to look like. Comparing Tim to a child molester and other stabs here and there, I just don't think that will help your case. Just my 2 cents. Sucks to get taken if that is the case, but if you are in fact going to court over you defacing him on the net, you are not helping your case by further posting you know.

Thank you for your input. However, I do understand Custom Orders and wait times. I've done A LOT of it. I do think from 2007 to mid 2009 is probably adequate time. He is NOW saying that if I can prove to him that he did not refund the money then he will do that. Now I'm pissed though. I'm not willing to give him my bank statements to prove that. He would have either a canceled check OR a transaction # showing where he did refund the money if he really did that. He didn't and he knows it. It's not my place to dig through all of my bank statements looking for that transaction that I know is not there. That's his responsibility to show me where he has proof that he did pay me. Hey, if he could show me that then I would be all good, but he doesn't have that.

 

[Jack71]

Well, I can't speak to Ear Candy's customer service because I bought mine second hand, but I can say that my ported 1x12 Sovereign sounds huge. I use it on top of a 4x12 for the wet tones in my w/d rig. Most people like to use at least a 2x12 for wet when using a 4x12 for dry, but my Ear Candy hangs with it. I was pleasantly surprised.

That being said, since we're throwing out the names of companies with stellar customer service, John Suhr and the guys at CAA come to mind.

 

[Audioholic]

Thats cool, then try to get your money back in a small claims court or something and let a judge decide how to proceed. I would try to do that before any court case HE takes you to personally if they decide to go through with anything. I appreciate the wanting to warn others, my experience with Tim was slightly different and thought he acted like a stand up guy most of the time, just long wait. But If YOU are being taken to court for publicly defacing him, I would be very carefull what you post further you know, as to not help his case. Best of luck and hope you get your money back. In the end, its just money, and I while losing money sucks big time, there are probally much worse things that could happen.

 

[Shark Diver]

my experience with Tim was slightly different and thought he acted like a stand up guy most of the time, just long wait. .

I hear what your saying, except knowing it will take 6 months, and telling someone that there is a 6-8 week wait just to make the sale is not stand up. And then put a no refund policy on that is ridiculous - since you know people will want a refund after not getting their product when promised.

So, you want all my $ now, you'll take 3-4 times longer than promised, and when I need a cab and decide I want my $ back so I can go else where you are gonna tell me no. Sorry, I just see this as standup.

No fight with you, but I waited 4 years for a guitar that was suppose to take 6-8 months from PRS, and there is nothing anyone can ever tell me that would make that ok. I also, couldn't get a refund. Flat out not right.

 

[Audioholic]

I was almost in a position to ask for a refund from Tim, and he was very nice and said he would refund my money since the cab was taking longer, but said that my cab was almost done, in which it was, so he was willing to work with me when it took longer. I can't comment on the OP experience, but Tim seemed more then willing to work with me, and offer a refund when things went longer then said.

 

[joshsage]

I agree, that is CRAZY! Show him the statements, block/blur out anything that isn't any of his damn business and show up several months statements just to shut him up. If ya don't it'll be a drag I promise. But if ya do, it makes him an ass and everything much easier. He is just fishing to see if you lost documentation. If you lost documentation it'll be harder. But there again, you don't have to prove he refunded you or didn't, he has to prove he refunded you! As long as you got your receipt you are cool. Proving he didn't refund you via your statements will only expedite the process.

Unfortunately somethings take time. A year and a half is CRAZY. I had a customer wait 6 months on a custom amp and I felt TERRIBLE because my manufacturer did not meet deadlines. There just was nothing I could do. I let him know up front but still, it feel terrible when a customer accepts such a wait because as a gear whore myself, I know how anxious we can get!
Josh

 

[rynnce]

I bought a buzzbomb last year after doing lots of online research. I ordered it in the fall of 2008 and it took about 4 months to receive. Most every review I read said that it was a great cab but took forever to build. KNOWING THIS, I went ahead and placed my order. Tim said it would be 6-8 weeks but made it clear that that was just an estimate. We kept in contact and he did give some questionable reasons for missing the estimated date, but I suspected this was going to happen and just rolled with it. I ended up getting a cab I was very happy with (appearance & sound). We agreed that I would pay half down and pay the rest when the cab shipped. I would consider buying another cab from Tim but would expect to wait several months.

I'm sad that someone had such a horrible experience with Ear Candy.

 

[dfrattaroli]

I had a similar dealing with Tim, but he finally came through (9 months later) with my cab. He said to me at most it'd take 8 weeks. I emailed him when I never got a status update, etc. etc., and he went silent on me also. I had to escalate things with him by doing very similar things as you did, and he finally came around. But it still took 9-10 months to build a cabinet. The buzzbomb is a decent cab, but honestly not worth the money. I would NEVER recommend his cabinets to anyone. They look good, but tonally I thought my buzzbomb was not that great. My Egnater TM212 cab smoked it w/ using the same speakers.

I highly recommend not dealing with Tim, as I agree, he's not as "customer oriented" as he thinks he is. I'd much rather work with folks like at Stone Age...He keeps you in the loop 100%. I felt Tim was definitely a "snake" myself, bordering a "thief" in my case too.

Eric

Coming from Eric, this is saying alot.

I've never played an Ear Candy cab, but I've always found some of the aspects of those cabs odd. First of all, the round speaker grills are cheap looking and a cheap part. And the way they use 3 legged corners on the back corners where one leg of each corner has a screw going into the rear cover. So if you want to open the cab from the back, you need to remove the 4 rear metal corners. It just looks like a cab someone one built at home. (That said, the ones I build look absolutely pro especially compared to the Ear Candys) And his prices are high considering what else you can get for the money. Lastly, who in the world wants to wait 9 months for a cab. My Suhr Moderns were built in 4.

PS

Have you ever gone to their site and viewed the "Sustain, clarity and frequency test" video? They basically make a guitar feedback for half an hour like it means something.

Dave

 

[dfrattaroli]

Go with Avatar...not as high end as ear candy but they sound great (the vintage cabs).

Don't sell the Avatars short. Their wood and tolex boxes are just as good as Ear Candy's.

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

Go with Avatar...not as high end as ear candy but they sound great (the vintage cabs).

Don't sell the Avatars short. Their wood and tolex boxes are just as good as Ear Candy's.

+1

Avatars are really nice cabs!


Splawn is my choice for super high quality at a fair price.

 

[Variable]

I have an Ear candy cab. The biggets complaint for me was the time. He said 6-8 weeks, which of course most small manufactures say something like that even if its gonna take longer, which happens ALOT when small companies are building things. After several months went by, I of course followed up and was given not quite accurate times. But eventually it made it here, like 6 or so months later. Luckily I could be patient, and I dig the cab tons.

In the future however I will go another route where I don't have to wait so long if I ever need another cab. Tim was nice enough, and eventually answered all of my emails and questions. Sometimes right away, sometimes it took another email to bring it to the top again. I wouldn't call thier customer service stellar by any means, as sometimes there was a delay in answer. But this is also common with other small companies that I have experienced, and sometimes even with big companies it is impossible to get replies. I think Ear Candy just suffers from small business syndrome and not enough help. I do think they have every intention of finishing each and every order as best as they can, and one should realize that really the biggest issue is time, it will take longer then they say. But if you can wait, you will get a good cab.

With most CUSTOM orders wherever you order it from, there is usually no return policy or refund.


To the OP, I would of suggested getting your cab and just selling it yourself when it came in. I doubt Tim would take your money and not give you anything in return. though it may take a bit. I would also suggest further bashing of him if this is going to court, as you could possibly make youreslf out to look like just what you are not wanting to look like. Comparing Tim to a child molester and other stabs here and there, I just don't think that will help your case. Just my 2 cents. Sucks to get taken if that is the case, but if you are in fact going to court over you defacing him on the net, you are not helping your case by further posting you know.

It seems I'm hearing more and more of these EC related stories lately, which is sad. For the record, I love my BuzzBomb and would never sell it. It's easily the best 2x12 cab I've ever heard (and held its own against a G12 65 loaded Landry 4x12 at the Waterloo Amp Fest, which was also fucking brilliant). But IMHO Tim needs to get his act together. Or, get someone else to run his business so he can work on cabs without having to be a manager as well.

Regarding the cancellation policy, this is from their site:

Payment in full is necessary to start your cab build and reserve your cabs ingredients
All cab orders are Non cancelable after 24 hours. If a order is charged back or sent back with no RA, it will be refused and a 15% restocking fee will apply. Any and all costs of collection will be charged to you.

To the OP: If he hadn't made that clear to you over the phone, then he's in the wrong. You can't expect everyone to dig through your website looking for the terms.

Now, if you hadn't received a cab after the time frame he gave you, then you had every right to call up your CC company and report him for fraud. My cab took two months to make, but that was nearly two years ago, and it seems like the guy is much busier than he was then. And Tim was in communication with me the whole time. Honestly, what makes more sense? Posting inflammatory comments on a YouTube video, or talking to your CC company getting your money back for services not rendered?

People do some fucked up shit when they're stressed out from too much work; I'm not defending Tim by any means, I'm just saying that he's human like all of us. Still, as a BuzzBomb owner who actually had a better than average experience, I think Tim needs to publicly apologize for what's been going on to a lot of his pissed off customers. And he needs to get a new shop, because this is not the first time it's flooded. This shit has been going on for a while now, and I recall him posting on TGP apologizing for all the things that were happening back when I originally ordered my cab.

Tim, if you're reading this at all, I think it's time you made some changes to your business model. At the very least, you shouldn't be promising a time frame you know full well by now you cannot deliver with your current workforce.

-Russ

 

[Hollywood]

Go with Avatar...not as high end as ear candy but they sound great (the vintage cabs).

Don't sell the Avatars short. Their wood and tolex boxes are just as good as Ear Candy's.

+1

Avatars are really nice cabs!


Splawn is my choice for super high quality at a fair price.

I agree with you on the Splawn cabs 100 percent. I also want to say that things don't always go the way we want. I had a complete screwy series of events take place back when I had a custom amp ordered. My dealer and I ended up in a strained position due to the fact that even though we both thought we were going to handle it great and endure the situation, it got the better of us. Both of us. No ugly words or anything like that but we at the time were of the same opinion that we were done dealing with each other. But after a few short months we got together and talked it out like grown adults and now 1 or 2 years later I forget exactly how long ago it was, we talk all the time. He even trusts me as much now as ever before. And I also give him the same respect and trust back. He called me at work this afternoon. This dealer I am talking about is one of the most well liked guys out here and I will not name him. But if he chooses to come forward I have NO PROBLEM WITH IT. Not to rehash the whole deal but to just let others know that even WITH REPUTABLE COMPANIES THINGS CAN GO WRONG. We both are WAY PAST that crazy string of events and looking back yes we both could have done a few little things different but neither one of us is guilty of being stupid enough to NOT DO THE RIGHT THING. Hind sight, I learned a great deal from it. And I would think the two of us are better friends if that makes any sense.

 

[Variable]

I was almost in a position to ask for a refund from Tim, and he was very nice and said he would refund my money since the cab was taking longer, but said that my cab was almost done, in which it was, so he was willing to work with me when it took longer. I can't comment on the OP experience, but Tim seemed more then willing to work with me, and offer a refund when things went longer then said.

This is also the experience I had. Again, this was a couple years ago, so I can't comment on what's going on now.

 

[Moshaholic]

That whole story just sucks.... Sorry to hear you got taken by this guys lame business ethics...

I thought the name Ear Candy was just gay a shit anyway but thats just me...

On another nother note.... WTF do people go with and constantly talk about and buy all this non main stream crap from these closet garage amp and cab builders as if this is was the only way to get a great 4x12 or 2x12 cab or amp...???

I have been playing for ages and IMO if you can't get a Mesa, Bogner, VHT or some other main stream cab to make you happy tone wise then WTF???

I made one attempt at buying an amp from a non main stream amp builder and the entire experience was the worst ever from start to finish including taking longer than promised, shitty packing, poor quailty, lame excuses, greedy customer service ethics to right out complete theft at the end of it all...

 

[TTripp]

Sorry to hear it, but thanks for the warning.

After getting ripped off by a pedal builder and an amp builder (nobody associated with this board), I'm a brick and mortar buyer only. If I can't walk in to a store and grabbed it off the shelf, I don't buy it.

 

[killertone]

On another nother note.... WTF do people go with and constantly talk about and buy all this non main stream crap from these closet garage amp and cab builders as if this is was the only way to get a great 4x12 or 2x12 cab or amp...???

I have been playing for ages and IMO if you can't get a Mesa, Bogner, VHT or some other main stream cab to make you happy tone wise then WTF???

+1. Marshall cabs for some reason get absolutely no love (in fact total hatred) around here but I have been gigging constantly with my pair that I have had since 1998 and have had ZERO issues. They have been as solid as any cab out there. Period. The bottom line is that a lot of the guys around here just want to have something that nobody else has, Marshalls are everywhere so they get bashed. I went through that as well, I had one of the very first (if not the very first) ENGLs in Austin and liked that no one else around here had one. Now I could give a shit and play my JVM or Blackmore either way because they both kick ass.

 

[eternal_idol]

k, i only read about half the page worth of posts and I NEED to say one thing..


IT TAKES NO ONE......AND I MEAN NO ONE, 6 weeks to build a cab.

That is absolutly stupid. A cab can be built and shipped inside one week.

Plus cash up front??? no thank you...

 

[TX6Strings]

[/quote]Some GREAT guys to deal with are Josh Sage at Rebel Amps.[/quote]

+1!

Very cool guy to deal with and even just to shoot the shit with. I'd recommend him in a second!