What do you call a company that has a well-endowed web site and gladly takes your money for merchandise, and then, after they send the wrong items, refuses to answer their phone or respond to multiple e-mails?
In my opinion, such a company is either horribly understaffed and disorganized, or they are crooked scam artists, and I’m leaning toward the latter.
I recently discovered that my old microphone doesn’t work worth a damn on my brand new Dell XPS 600 with a SoundBlaster Audigy ZS card. I found out that I needed either a pre-amped microphone, or a USB microphone.
I did some research and settled on a Samson C01U mic. I did some more research and found a vendor with a good price for the mic as part of a whole podcasting kit complete with mic stand, shock mount, and pop filter. Then I discovered the same kit with the newer Samson C03U mic, so that’s what I finally ordered from Skilex.com.
When the box arrived, I eagerly opened it and removed all the wonderful new geekware. Much to my surprise, even though I had ordered the C03U model (and more importantly, paid for the more expensive C03U model), Skilex had sent the C01U model instead.
I tried to call the phone number listed prominently on their web site, only to get a message that “all mailboxes are full.” Over the course of a week, I sent multiple e-mails to their support, sales, and webmaster addresses, hoping for a response from someone. All I got was silence.
Being a smart consumer, I had used a credit card in the transaction, so I disputed the charge and am waiting for the bank to research the dispute. Perhaps they have a magic phone number with which to contact the vendor.
The issue is currently unresolved to my satisfaction, and I have a box full of interesting audio gear that I’m not going to use until I get what I paid for, or are credited for the cheaper model received. Until then, I’m going to publicly slam Skilex “Professional” Audio & Video in as many web locations as I can, in hopes of finally getting some attention, and in hopes of making other consumers shy away from this potentially crooked company.
Remember the name: Skilex Professional Audio & Video, www.skilex.com — save the time and aggravation and spend your money elsewhere.