Problems with Ray Wu?

UPDATE..


Status has changed to shipped overnight so at least were are getting somewhere..


With any luck DHL won't lose it and I will be very busy on the weekend

 

Let us know when you get the order. Ray said my order will ship out this Friday but that doesn't leave me much time so I asked if he can hurry up and he said he will send it out Wednesday. Would be nice for it to arrive before the weekend but I doubt it.

 

You guys are all lucky... I sent Ray $4300 on September 2nd (good amount of custom pixel spacing strings, but everything else was extension cords and power supplies, etc)... still don't have a shipping confirmation (he said he would ship each of the last 3 weeks)... That was my 4th order of the year...

The thing that kills me is that I placed another order (my 5th of the year) on October 10th and was told that it was going to be a month... which was obviously a week ago... and the 9/02 order hasn't even shipped...

Not really too much I can do... I need the lights... where else would I get them from?

-Louie

 

Sorry to hear about your dilemma. It's gonna be kind of tough finding reasonably priced lights, this late in the season. You could try adafruit, they carry strips and strings, but they are costly. Holidaycoro and diyledexpress might have some. I've also seen a few people in the states that sell on eBay. Best of luck

 

I think this is a classic issue with a business growing too quickly to be able to cope.

Given how many extra people are getting into these sorts of products, and how we all recommend a single supplier, it's inevitable that the supplier is going to hit a point that he can't cope with

I've chatted to him about it a little bit, and he said that he's had quite a few people get angry at him - obviously some people cope better with this than others - perhaps he's taken offence..

Anyway, I've strongly suggested that he look at ramping up his staff for next year, and he's definitely planning on doing that. Hopefully that helps things next year.

But I'll continue to say the same as we always say - get in as early as you can, to reduce the chance of being disappointed!

 

perhaps ray might find a vendor in Aus to act as a distribution for his items....... (sure its gonna be fairly expensive) but with the increase in popularity, there is always scope i guess.

 

Ray's claim to fame is that he's the small orders guy. As soon as you're looking at importing in bulk, you'd be better off sourcing your own supplier over there and bypassing him, I would say!

You then have to deal with warranty etc - so you have to charge much more, and then find everyone bypassing you and going back to Ray!

The reality is that he just needs to add to his team, to ensure that most orders are getting out without him being involved.

 

To summarize

1. Always place your orders well in advance of when you actually need them (like 2 months)
2. Don't wait until November to order
3. If you want quality and support buy from a local suppliers who have the items you want in stock. yes you will pay 2-3 times more for the same item as they have to make a buck, hold items in stock, pay taxes and shipping from the supplier and support you when you cannot get it working or it goes bad. There a number of vendors that have advertised on this board as well DIYC that can supply local and support you.
4. With buying from Ray Wu you get what you pay for. yes its generally not a bad product but when it doesn't go to plan then make sure you have lots of time to resolve the issues. He does provide a service for those who only order small orders, once it gets bigger then you need to go direct and learn how to deal with china yourself. Ray hides a lot of those issues dealing with the factories for you behind the scenes.
5. when it goes wrong remember you got what you paid for.

 

My order is missing the 4 pin pigtails completely, and the locking rings for 3pin pigtails + the lil red rubber seals. Replies to emails are around a week apart.

 

As it has been mentioned many times before, This time of year is busy, Try and have orders in well before now to avoid disappointment of not receiving goods in time for the season.

 

Mine went back n forth in emails for a month or so before they got sent, that was a few weeks ago.

 

if that is the case you would've been asked to extend the order then? Im not saying its right im just saying to try and have orders in early to avoid disappointment. Please if there is anything that I can help you with, just let me know

 

There has certainly been more order mistakes than should there should be. Slower supply times I can accept, but ignoring emails and items missing from packages is bad form.

 

Haven't heard anything about extending order. I'll find a way around it, but I'll have to cut up and resolder the starting points on each lead to get the locking ring on whenever they arrive. Worst part is 3-5 days between replies to emails, and for my order it took a few weeks to find out something wasn't available...Hopefully this is just a once off issue.

 

Not just ignoring E-mails but saying things have been sent when they haven't is even worse! I got told mine was sent and it was nearly 2 weeks later before it actually was sent. I expressed my dissapointment to Ray and told him I wasn't happy with the service this year and I hoped he picked it up next year.