I have had a bad experience with OllinBoard

[laurentxr]

Hi,

Here is the story:
I contacted Jeramiah (aka Chaka) about his boards and we found a setup that he could build and arranged for a price, he told me he would be shipping it a month later (and he had found an arrangement with USPS for shipping). I payed the 2th of November '15 and after many "I will send it by the end of the week", out of the blue this 18th of February he still had not shipped and decided to refund me, even tho I didn't ask for it, had waited for almost four months and had bought plenty of parts to make the board rideable.


So that's it. He promises that the shipping will work, you pay, you buy parts for the board, you wait and wait and wait and in the end you just loose time and money.

 

[chaka]

Wow really! Sorry we can't ship the battery pack overseas Laurent.

We did give you a full refund!

If you feel bent out of shape because you purchased parts I did warn you that we could have issues when it came time to ship.

The truth is we had bent over backward for you and answered hundred of emails basically spoon feeding you information you could have easily found for yourself.

 

[laurentxr]

Most of the emails I sent you were asking when you would be shipping, as you where always making promises and not holding onto them. Would you have done what you said and shipped after one month, I wouldn't have had to send you a mail every week, I wouldn't have bought parts, and I would have found a new solution.

 

[spinningmagnets]

This topic will be locked for 24 hours to give the moderators time to review and discuss. Come back on Friday evening.

 

[rmrf]

Why the original conversation was removed?

 

[spinningmagnets]

Publishing private emails without consent.

 

[chaka]

I will admit the release of our deck was a little premature. We encountered a few small issues and it did take some time to get things ironed out. I also offered you a full refund after we knew it was going to be a much longer wait.

I was also very clear that we could have issues with shipping overseas and in the event of this you would be given a full refund.

 

[CSN]

What happened to the board that could not be shipped?

For sale maybe?

 

[chaka]

I already bombed some hills on it yesterday to blow off some steam, she is now thoroughly pitted and mine!

I'll be in your area in a few months and you can ride it. Will be interesting to get your perspective on how the boards are progressing.

 

[Silenthunter]

I had similar issue with Chaka. Purchased the vescs that did not have the bootloader. Asked for info and he ignored. Poor communication, long time and horrible customer support.

 

[206monkey32]

Give these dudes a break. Personally ive had great experience with Chaka and Ollin boards. He has helped this forum grow and contributed like fiend both publicly and in private one on one convos, in addition to driving innovation in the field while building a business and maybe holding down another job. So yea you didnt get the product you wanted --- if the money was returned no harm no foul.....better that from him than you getting a crap product, or him just taking your money which has happened here before- ( with other vendors, not chaka). If nothing else it sounds like you know know more about electric skates and battery shipping free of charge so be gracious and patient please people.

 

[cmatson]

I agree with 206monkey32..

People always just hear the bad; there are tons of us who have great support, but we just don't go bragging about it.

I feel like any time someone has a "bad experience" lately, they turn to ranting on the forum and causing a huge stir up.. I mean, I get it, you're mad, but these guys are all starting eboard businesses from scratch, and are usually run by one guy... cut 'em some slack!

Yes you were expecting an order much sooner, but you've been had your money returned, and overseas battery shipment isn't something entirely in Chaka's control.

There are always going to be people who get off on the wrong foot with these companies that are driving the diy community (ollin boards, torqueboards, enertion, etc), but for the other 99% of us, they are extremely down to earth and helpful.

Again, I'm trying to undermine your complaint, but I just wanted to re-iterate the fact that most of us have had very positive experiences with chaka, and It really isn't fair to ruin a guy's reputation over one issue that has been refunded and resolved.

 

[bobfandango]

No harm no foul? How can you possibly say that? The OP wasted months waiting around for a vaporware board. The OP bought a bunch of components that he may not need (maybe he'd rather have bought a complete board if the Flux wasn't an option?). Chaka got himself an interest free loan for those months (interest the OP probably had to pay out of pocket unless he paid with cash). So yes, there has been harm.

My experience with Chaka very closely mirrors that of the OP except I didn't wait months to get my money back. I understand we can't post email here. So, suffice it to say, I ordered a board, was ignored when asked about an ETA for delivery, was ignored when asked for pictures and/or a layout mockup showing dimensions of openings, was even ignored when I tried to see about expanding the battery I paid for (12s4p) to 12s6p. At any rate, I saw the OPs post before it was edited down and it sounded pretty familiar. I also know of one other endless-sphere user who told me they have had a board on order since October and has never received it since Chaka keeps putting him off saying he's making design changes.

So I saw that post, emailed Chaka referencing the OPs post and just said, hey, this is sounding familiar unfortunately, and I've asked you a few times, can you give me a firm ETA? His response was to just refund my money telling me "we don't have a whole lot of free time for messages or custom orders."

Wow, okay, so this is interesting... Chaka allegedly has a board that he completed but then couldn't ship. However, he doesn't offer it to me since I've already paid and am 2 states away from him (i.e. UPS Ground is works for shipping)??! Why not? I don't think the OPs board was ever made, I'm sure he never lifted one finger to make mine. I saw the post above from CSN... He appears to be the only person who has ever received a board from Chaka. But how do we know it's even a real person/delivery? Oh, and no time for messages? Seems to have plenty of time to post on endless-sphere and esk8 builders.... But yeah...

Anyhow, bottom line, he's being dishonest.... telling different things to different people.... He tells one customer, Hey, I'm making design changes and want you to have the best.... for months. He tells another user (again, after months), hey, sorry my bad, can't ship to you but then doesn't offer that board to someone who has paid who he can indisputably ship to. Then he gets online and admits that the release of the board was "a little premature" and now I note it is not for sale on the Ollin website any longer. I believe the board is vaporware.

@cmatson, Chaka has done all these things to various people. It is *he* who is ruining his reputation, not me and not the OP. He has screwed up, yet meets that with arrogance and defiance rather than trying to make it right. Just a bad business person is all... There were red flags flying here even before I plunked down my money. But the board just looks so awesome I took a gamble and it didn't work out. Everyone, caveat emptor.

 

[chaka]

@Bobfandango I do not know who you are but I have never sold a board to anyone named Bob. It is starting to become very clear a witch hunt has begun.

Bobfandango=torqueboards? Is this you Dexter?

 

[torqueboards]

Chaka...please...Go ask the mod to check IP.

For you to think this makes me wonder what's going on in your head.

Like I really have time to do that...LMFAO I'm shocked you would think that. Partly, offended. I feel like I'm part of some teeny bopper movie.

 

[chaka]

I went through all my orders and you are the only person that bought a board and lives two states away...??

 

[torqueboards]

I went through all my orders and you are the only person that bought a board and lives two states away...??

What does that even have to do with anything? I'm confused...

Like I said.. Why would I bother man.. You act like I got all the time in the world to worry or slander you. Trust me.. this is the last of my worries.

We were always good and have been good.

Your making a false accusation and you can look at whatever your looking at.. I'm sure, you'll see mr Bob here respond and tell you who he really is.

Why you would post this on the public forum is beyond me.. You should of just taken my word.. lol Now your just making me laugh.

 

[bobfandango]

@Bobfandango I do not know who you are but I have never sold a board to anyone named Bob. It is starting to become very clear a witch hunt has begun.

Bobfandango=torqueboards? Is this you Dexter?

Wow, more dishonesty... You can't possibly *not* know who this is purely from context. Yet you choose instead to disparage others in the business.

Look, this is easy to prove if you will consent to my releasing our email correspondence. You refunded my credit card Thursday, I'm in Southern California. But you already know that...

 

[smashapotamus]

I may only have a few posts here, but I've read this site nearly daily for months now while planning my own build. I've currently got an order for VESC's with Chaka, and have purchased parts from Torque as well. I may not be the most active member of this community nor one of the big contributors but let me tell you what I think....

I think that this thread should be locked and deleted. I find it in astonishingly poor taste that the moderators of this board have allowed this VERY public lashing of a respected member to continue in this manner. This serves as not only a disservice to a respected contributor of this board, but as an embarrassment to the community itself and undermines the integrity of this forum community. If the moderators of this board insist on continuing with this pretense that they should serve as some sort of a judge and jury in a trial presiding over the business transactions conducted between members of this community they should do so in private where the distraction of ugly accusations will not hover over the community like a dark cloud.

 

[nutnspecial]

As far as this thread, I'm only noticing a few unsubstantiated complaints towards chaka; and in reference to him 'accusing' another, all he did was 'question' an identity imo. Sure, buyers should really always beware, but his handling of this thread and a few commentors here in no way negatively impacts my impression of him, or would keep me from considering doing business if I was in the market for such products.

From what I've read, I wouldn't worry about the unhappy non-customers chaka. You'll only improve your business practice as time goes on allowing to weed them out earlier and hopefully giving them less to be dramatically unhappy about. I really look at it like 'selecting' customers when there's custom work and deeper than standard business relationships needed for it.

 

[laurentxr]

I think that this thread should be locked and deleted.

Well Sir, I dealt with mister Chaka and apparently others as well, but you seem to have just ordered VESCs and have yet to be delivered so how could you rate mr chaka business? From what I've read most of US based VESCs order have been honored so it should turn out great for you.

But apparently most of the guys who ordered a board from chaka didn't receive it for various reasons, and it seems reasonable to think that if someone had received one, he would have bragged about it, or at least showed it off on the forum, this one or any other (I would have bragged soooooo much).

Chaka claiming that Dexter from diyelectricskateboard is trying to impersonate someone to discredit him out of the blue?

Not a single board on any forum?

It just doesn't add up, does it? (Ok I'm a big fan of conspiracy (it's so much more fun than real explanations)) But this is a bit suspicious, at least.


Chaka, please, tell us what's up? You gave up boards and just sell VESCs? Great! Please enlighten us!

I ordered from Jason from Enertion: quick and the correct motors.
I ordered from Dexter from Diyelectricskateboard: quick and amazingly well manufactured motor mounts and pulleys. ``
Both with quick, professional and friendly email answers.

Please don't tell me that one man company are hard to manage, I have one myself, Jason has one, Dexter has one, Longhairguydude and many more exists. It's not hard to have good customer service.

 

[smashapotamus]

Chaka, please, tell us what's up? You gave up boards and just sell VESCs? Great! Please enlighten us!

He pulled the boards from his site right? And he did so while also making the following quote on this very thread....

I will admit the release of our deck was a little premature.

What more do you need to know? What is it exactly that YOU think YOU are ENTITLED to? More explanation? Does the guy need to write out his memoirs for you? He got ahead of himself and started offering a board for sale that he wasn't entirely ready to produce. You were an early adopter of a product that wasn't ready for market yet.

What do you want? You want him run out of town? You want him hanged in front of the member base for everyone to see? You had a bad business transaction, you got a refund, get over yourself. This isn't yelp.

With every passing post this looks more and more like a witch hunt, and the moderators should stop it. What is the purpose here? There isn't one, just a group of people trying to publicly trash a guy because they had a bad experience with him. In a couple of decades of various forum community membership i've NEVER seen this type of unhealthy activity allowed.

This should be closed and deleted. Take your grievances to a more appropriate time and place.

 

[RogerD]

It's an open forum. No one HAS to reply. Thread deletion is extreme censorship unless there is case for libel, which I can't see happening here.

 

[whitepony]

Bobfandango=torqueboards? Is this you Dexter?

dragging in the nicest guy on the whole forum, wut?

I have nothing bad to say about chaka - a very resourceful member of this board. I think its honourable that he returns the money instead of delivering a potentially problematic product. apparently customer relations could be better, but then again I can only imagine what kind of messages he has to go through every day.

 

[smashapotamus]

Extreme censorship? You're posting on a privately owned and operated message board on the internet. You dont have freedom of speech here.

Ive said my piece. If the moderators of this board want to see their community dragged through the mud by allowing senseless and off-topic drama like this to exist on their board out of some misplaced sense of duty then I cannot stop them. I just hope the self entitled trolls dont come to rule the roost here or this place wont be good for anyone for long.