Dirtbag Alert: Voodooman / Switch King /Black Label Switches

I was a moron and ordered a voodooman switch for my Peavey 6505+. Had I checked a few forums I'd have seen the owner, James Britt, has a history of dicking people around. (http://www.voodoomanswitches.com)

Ordered the switch Nov-8th, received a purchase order, and later a "confirmed" transaction e-mail. Other than that, I have heard nothing from Voodooman since Nov-8th.

I've called three times, e-mailed twice, and am now attempting to contact whoever it is that runs the voodooman ebay store. 20+ days and not a peep from anyone at voodooman. I don't know, maybe I am over-reacting. Just doesn't sit well with me.

From the looks of it though, I'm out $85.95. It really blows when you don't do your homework prior-to transacting with someone. Let this be a warning, check up on people before you hit the "submit" button.

Me >

http://www.voodoomanswitches.com/
http://blacklabelswitches.com/
http://switchking.com/

James Brit has gotten a bit smarter to hide his con-artistry. He's now using Domains by Proxy in order to hide his registrant information for the various websites he's running.

Be assured it's all the same guy & you will get jerked around.

yeah, there are many threads about voodooman stuff. I too had forgotten about all that and yesterday, was about to order a two button footswitch for my Uberschall. But somehow I got distracted and forgot about it. Good thing I saw this thread.

I had a similar issue with Voodooman. I eventually got the switch but it took 2 months and a bunch of e-mails. FYI, I've had better luck with Switch Doctor.

Glad I could jog your memory emperor_black!

Yeah, I will go with Switch Doctor once I see what the resolution on this voodooman debacle results in.

Yep...same gig here with the VDman...I can't even stand to look at that name...and to think the dude called me to ask for my payment information, as it apparently had not work on his site when I ordered the switch pedal, I guess.

We chatted for what seemed to be a 5 minutes about basic minutia, and then he said that the switch would be sent (this is on Thursday February 17th, 2012 that I spoke with the VDman), he said it would be shipped and out to me the following week, maybe by Tuesday or Wednesday.

I called two weeks after that to find out where the switch was, twice, the number he had dialed to ask me about the payment information. I sent a bunch of emails. Now this is a month later and still not word. I spoke to my bank that issued the payment, and started a FRAUD issuance, and they finally, the bank, gave me my money back, $39.95, and now that case is closed.

I would not buy a thing from this business and person. Look at those switch cases, and the box, they aren't painted, they have a sticky that is attached to tell you what is supposed to be going on for the switch...basic cheap crap...it may work if you ever get it, but just order the parts and spend a bit of time to make one...they aren't rocket science...so that is what I am doing.

I bought two metal aluminum cases for $16 with shipping, a couple of diodes, switches, wire, jacks, and under $25 bucks I can have a footpedal switch for A/B and one for Channel/Reverb switching, with diode lights to boot.

So what have I learned from this? I have learned that you need to research to find out if a business is truly what they say they are. VDman has a great website, I will give him that , but what I have read now, and what the Better Business Bureau has to say, I would stay far away from that man and his goods, forever.

Johnne in Seattle

My $0.02 - I ordered a switch on January 29th. Got a confirming e-mail. Called him two days later to ask a question. Heard back in about a week. Nothing since.

I called my bank and they credited me with the cost of the switch and will go after him from their end…….

This is two months later, after endless unanswered e-mails and phone calls. If I knew of a way to sic the Oregon authorities on him, I certainty would.
That would fix his sorry ass…...

Can you believe I finally got mine (2-3 wks ago)? What a freaking joke. Too bad I sold the damn amp I bought it for. Now I have an $85 footswitch I don't need. Fan-freakin-tastic!

Found switchdoctorswitches.com. Great source! Fast, reasonable, and makes me forget all of the trouble and time
that Voodooman cost me. Wells got my money back, so I am happy about that - but this new switch for my Fender
Jazzmaster Ultralight head is very nice, indeed!!! matés for a very lovely Easter present from me to me!!

It took 2 months to receive a footswitch I had made. Claimed he shipped it out a week after it was ordered (paid). No email response what-so-ever.

His products seem to be good, but service is awful. I decided to give him a chance despite all the bad feedback I read, but in the end, I should trust people's judgement.

You're talking Voodooman, right??

je00143":2uok1ipm said:

You're talking Voodooman, right??

Click to expand...

Yup

Hey Rig Talk,

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-revi ... a-22426173

http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-revi ... a-22689009

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

letsneck

letsneck":2eqafbdj said:

Hey Rig Talk,

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-revi ... a-22426173

http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-revi ... a-22689009

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

letsneck

Click to expand...

Glad I saw this. I was about to drop $40.00 on a Black Label switch for my E530. Had no idea they were the same company.

Here is what Switchdoctor was able to turn out for me:

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.

Youa re still dealing with Voodooman switches. Why bother?

From my prior post:

"Found switchdoctorswitches.com. Great source! Fast, reasonable, and makes me forget all of the trouble and time
that Voodooman cost me. Wells got my money back, so I am happy about that - but this new switch for my Fender
Jazzmaster Ultralight head is very nice, indeed!!! matés for a very lovely Easter present from me to me!"

I have now put six months of gigging on that switch. Absolutely no complaints.

Warning to all. voodooman switches is also switch king switches (switchking.com) and still ripping people off.

Yeah, yeah, I know... nothing new with this guy. But here's my story, in any case...

I picked up my Genz Benz El Diablo 100 at a local pawn shop for EXTREMELY cheap (I don't think they knew what they had on their hands), but, alas, no footswitch. At the time, I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal... only to get home and realize how ridiculously hard it is to find the footswitches by themselves (for good reason, of course) - and since the El Diablo uses a 6-pin DIN connection, there's not really any equivalents out there.

So I should have known better. I've purchased enough things online (eBay and not-local Craigslist) to know that things go wrong, people can be scumbags, etc. - but nothing tripped my trigger when I found the Switch King website. Yeah, it looked clunky as hell, but I figured maybe the company was light on marketing because they cared more about their products. (I also came across Switch Doctor during my cyber travels and, honestly, thought HE was the scam artist. You have to admit, that website is a little... rough. In any case, he had nothing listed for Genz Benz, so I didn't spend too much time there.)

In any case, I ordered my switch on 5 March, and I got two e-mails - the first was from James Britt (voodoo062@gmail.com), and the second one was from sales@switchking.com. Okay. Whatever. I didn't think much of it. The order status was "Pending." The next day, I received a message that said that the order had been "Confirmed." Uh... sure. Oversharing? Fine. Whatever works.

And then nothing for almost 2 weeks. Not the end of the world, I guess; I figured if it was "built-upon-ordered," it was probably going to take some time. Maybe that just meant it was THAT good. Cool. So on 17 March, I get another e-mail about a status change: "Processing Order." So it was definitely being built now? Or almost done? Maybe Switch King was just under-promising and over-delivering? How refreshing!

Another 10 days, and I get a notice that my order has shipped. SWEET! Even threw in the tracking number, so I could obsessively refresh the tracking page.

...except, um, it just sat in "Pre-Shipment: Electronic Shipping Info Received." It sat, and sat, and sat, and sat. I tried to contact the company via their contact form on the website, which was a pretty good joke. And that's when I came across https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scammed-BY-Voodooman-Switches/681581021862002 - ruh roh. Which led to all the other forums where I found similar behavior, as I'm sure most of you know about by now.

So, not wanting to take any risks (based on the other horror stories I had come across), I immediately contacted my bank to dispute the credit card charge, because I was coming right up on the end of the 30-day window. I filed a complaint with the regional BBB for Mr. Britt's area. I also contacted this police officer:

Thad Eakins, Detective
Washougal Police Department
1320 A Street ● Washougal , WA 98671
Tel: 360.833.7915 ● Fax: 360.835.7559
Cell: 360.518.6093

...who got back to me with a sympathetic e-mail and told me to keep him posted, and to mention that he had been contacted in my communications going forward.

So there's part 1!

Part 2...

I realized that what might be James's personal e-mail address had been in the very first e-mail I received upon placing my order. NICE. So I sent him a stern e-mail, and got this in reply:

This item was shipped when stated, I made sure of it. I am going to call the post office right now and have them do a search for the package. In the meantime I an sending a new one with signature confirmation this time. If the first one shows up please let me know.

James

Click to expand...

Yes, James, I will DEFINITELY let you know if the item that the post office never received somehow appears at my place. And I'm glad you've decided to make sure to have signature confirmation THIS TIME, just, you know, to be safe. The dude has some balls, I tell you: flat-out acting like the product had been shipped and somehow been lost. I mean, c'mon, I know the USPS gets a bad rap sometimes, but this isn't 10 or 15 or 20 years ago - they tend to be pretty competent with package tracking.

So I got another tracking number from him, and I cringed for the next 24 hours until I saw that it had actually been accepted at the Washougal post office. MIRACLES! I was so intent on making sure it landed in my hands that I decided to work from home that day and when I missed the mailman, I chased him around the block with the missed delivery card, but lo and behold, he had a switch-sized package for me! My hands nearly trembled as I unpacked the switch and its convenient detachable cable, and I plugged it i-

It wouldn't fit.

I spun it around without, you know, forcing it - I know that much, at least. Nothing.

I pulled it back out and examined the pin layout. 5 pins. Looked just like a MIDI cable, actually. So I looked closer at the amp input. Nope. 6 holes. Okay, maybe it didn't need ALL those pins, maybe James had the secret sauce, maybe-

Nah. Not happening. Different pin layout. So I pointed this out to him, via e-mail. He responded:

Okay, glad it arrived. I built this from the Genz Benz El Diablo 100 schematic that shows a 5 pin
plug. I contacted Fender who owns GB and who sent me the schematic. Fender said the docs
they sent were all they have on these amps.

I apologize because I assumed the amp schematic was correct and apparently it is not. I can fix
this but need your help to do it. Find a paper clip and bend it so you can stick each end into the
holes of the footswitch input jack. On a 6 pin jack the center hole is usually the ground and the
other ones control the functions of the amp. Stick the paper clip into the center hole and one of the
other holes and note which function changes on the diagram below. Do this for each hole to find
all the switching functions. If the center hole is not the ground then try different combinations till
you find the ground. The function on the amp will not change unless it switched to ground. This will
not harm the amp at all.

According to the schematic the shell of the plug and jack is the ground so you may need to stick
the paper clip into the round ring where the metal part of the plug goes into the jack. I would try
this first. See diagram below.

James

Click to expand...

That's right - James hadn't bothered to verify that he had the right schematics, that the switch he built would work, and best of all, was essentially asking me to gather the information he needed to fix it. It occurred to me that this would be like GM engineers having a non-mechanically-inclined teenager dive into a fuel injector system with a set of tools he got on clearance from the grocery store. (Yes, it's a pretty bad analogy, shut up.) Nevertheless, I figured I'd play along, and I did as he asked, and sent a diagram of what each connection appeared to do. He replied:

Thank you for the diagram. I will make a replacement cable using the
information you sent. The switch end will still have a five pin plug and
the amp end will have the required six pin plug so you may operate
the amp with the footswitch.

I want to do one more thing to make sure the LED's are wired correctly
because at this point I don't have a lot of faith in the schematic. Take
two paper clips and put one in the ground hole on the amp, the other
into any one of the remaining holes. Plug the cable into the footswitch
then make the ground contact on the metal shell of the cable plug and
the other paper clip with any one of the 5 pins on the cable to see
if the LED lights while switching the function with your foot.

All LED's are wired the same so I only need one verified.

James

Click to expand...

Oh, okay, good. I DEFINITELY trust you to modify this correctly NOW.

Last week, then, I got this from him:

I have someone sending me a hand drawn schematic from the actual footswitch. I should have it
soon and then I can make sure we get this right.

James

Click to expand...

And at that point, I realized I was going to have to 1) luck out on buying footswitch on eBay (probably what I should have done from the start, had I been patient enough to keep checking) or 2) figure out how to wire this whole thing up myself. I'll give James credit for this - his paperclip switch method DID point me in the right direction, and he was truthful about the lack of documentation for the El Diablo heads (or anything, really, that wasn't bass or acoustic guitar - one downside of trying to work with a discontinued amp and a functionally out-of-business company, I guess.) After a couple of days of trudging through forums, I had a rough idea of how I could maybe make it work, so I ordered a 6-pin DIN connector for the footswitch and 2 connectors to replace on both sides of the cable.

I had opened the footswitch up once, immediately after realizing the connection issue, just to verify that he hadn't sent me an empty box. Well... there were wires and things WERE soldered, technically. But once I opened it up again to take stabs at rewiring it, I came to realize just how WRONG James was - like, not anywhere near how even a basic 1 or 2-button TRS footswitch would be wired. James had essentially sent me metal box (very sturdy! I'll give him that!) with switches securely attached. But after what I learned in order to fix it, there's no way he was even close to having it wired correctly - not even in the ballpark.