[the kid]

It's time for a discount. Come on Tom put your paws into thee pockets and pull out a discount or freebee for this guy. Your messin with his drum for too long.

[Tom]

Ha. Boy, if you only knew the reality. All I have in my pockets is a little bit of lint and I can't even afford one of our djembes myself. Oh the irony. But I'll call Galen tonight to see where things are at. Stay tuned.

[shawnguess]

i'm certainly not looking for a handout -- my point is that better communication methods would definitely be in the best interest of the business. thanks again, Tom.

[haworth]

I finally got to see my Wula "redo" on my good drum and they did a WONDERFUL job! Gorgeous sound and gorgeous work on the body. Very pleased.

And, since no one has created a "backpacker's model" yet, I had a smaller, thinner, lighter one made that Wula worked on as well. (With impressive "Cobra" design) Designed to be an "everyday" drum that's not so hefty to move around.

After two years and hundreds of drum lessons, I am coming back to the US tomorrow. When I get home I'll figure out how to post some pics here.

P.S. I disagree entirely that their designs are "over-the-top." I saw a tree-design on one of their drums that I literally DREAMED about for several nights. Whoever got that drum - congratulations! It's a piece of art.

Janice
Dubreka, Guinea

[shawnguess]

i got some nice pics of my almost finished drum a week ago, but no tracking number yet -- hopefully not too much longer. but. . . its already been 12 weeks, whats a couple more, lol.

[Dugafola]

i took my first shot at ordering skins from Wula NYC. i normally don't order skins online as i like to fondle and smell them before i purchase, but the price was right and i'm in need of quality guinea hide. they should arrive tomorrow.

[shawnguess]

well, another week, no drum and no tracking number. i think i bought a pink unicorn.

[rachelnguyen]

You know, Shawn, when you first started posting on this issue, I nearly messaged you to suggest you take care of customer service issues privately and then report back with any comments after the fact. But I have to say, this has been really incredible to see this unfold in real time. I am truly stunned that it has been 3 months and still no drum.

If it were me, I would be asking for a refund and be shopping around for another drum. If I were WULA, I would be sending you the drum, a set of ksinks and maybe a bag...for the bubble. (ie, free.)

This is a train wreck that is doing serious damage to WULA's otherwise spotless reputation.

Here's hoping this gets resolved.

Rachel

[shawnguess]

My initial post was just to see if my experience was common with wula, because i wasnt getting any response from emails.

[rachelnguyen]

The crazy thing is that I don't think this kind of experience is common with them at all. I can't remember anyone ever complaining about their service.

[bkidd]

This is a train wreck that is doing serious damage to WULA's otherwise spotless reputation.

I'm not so sure they have a spotless reputation. Wula came out with two instructional DVDs called Wamato about one year ago -- at least that's when they first announced it and started selling them through their website. I ended up purchasing both DVDs back in January of this year and while I received volume I, volume II has yet to show up. Vol II is currently not available from their online store and Michael recently sent out an update saying it would be shipping soon, but this is after a number of emails back and forth with them and ~7 months after paying for the product. This is my only experience with Wula and I have to say that I've been somewhat disappointed with their customer service in handling this issue.

[rachelnguyen]

Wow, Brian. That is really unbelievable. Usually if stuff is backordered, you are given the option of a refund right away. Seems to me that 7 months is a tad bit too long to wait for a dvd.

[e2c]

I hope that both Galen and Tom will have something for us...

[bubudi]

i think there are 2 issues here. firstly, the drum not being made or finished in a reasonable time, and secondly, the customer service from wula. i can empathise that wula's drums are hand made, often by one carver and then finished off by someone else. in guinea there are many more unexpected things happening all the time which delay the process. therefore you cannot expect anywhere near the same level of service as we general enjoy in the west. with the dvds, the company that handled the production had many technical issues and they weren't able to finish vol 1 for months. this was not in wula/magbana's control.

after i sent only one email to michael, he started sending regular updates about it to everyone who ordered, until they sent vol 1 out. i have not received any updates about vol 2. it's very disappointing and disrespectful to customers to keep them in the dark and wait for them to chase you about orders they made months ago. there have been a couple of other occurrences of delayed drums with lack of contact from wula, and they were resolved, but only after the customers got on this forum. i am sure that tom, michael and galen will do the right thing eventually, but please get it together guys! the mods on this forum encourage customers to contact you directly, to give you the opportunity to handle your affairs and avoid this kind of embarrassing exposure on the forum.

[michi]

I ended up purchasing both DVDs back in January of this year and while I received volume I, volume II has yet to show up.

I ordered both DVDs (and paid for them) on 25 May 2011. The order confirmation I received stated that the production process was expected to finish in early June 2011. I received volume 1 late December 2011, seven months later. Volume 2 has not arrived yet.

On 14 June 2012, I received an email from Michael Markus saying that "it should be three weeks" for volume 2. On 6 July 2012, I received an email saying the Wula "will have the DVD in hand in about 10 days."

I've had a few email exchanges with Wula, and they've been very prompt to reply and they apologised profusely for the delay. I agree with Bubudi in that there was apparently a major problem with the production process for volume 1. And I do understand that a project of this magnitude can raise far more problems than one might anticipate. The volume 1 DVD is very good in my opinion, and I'm happy that I bought it.

But the problem I see here is that Wula took full payment from customers who had the expectation that they would receive the DVDs within a few weeks. I waited 7 months for volume 1 and now, after 14 months, I still have not received volume 2. That's stretching the friendship a bit.

My volume 1 DVD had an insert that promised that I would be able to download the DVD soundtracks free of charge from Wula's website. I've enquired about this once or twice. Same thing: 14 months later, the free tracks I was promised are still outstanding.

Moral of all of this: I don't think there is a conspiracy here. It's just a stuff-up. But, to Wula: guys, be professional enough to not collect money from people until after you have the product available for shipping. Standard practice in the mail order industry is to take orders, but to not charge people's credit card until the product actually ships.

Cheers,

Michi.