Look at my other thread about my little project. I actually painted the spacebar.
Oh wow, so you're not just an *******s here, you're also an ******* when dealing with customer service. Whouda thunk?
Oh wow, so you're not just an *******s here, you're also an ******* when dealing with customer service. Whouda thunk?
lol. I dunno snowdog993, or if he acts like an a-hole on geekhack, but I'll take your word for it. And it's true, he could have learned a lesson from Mary Poppins, that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. However, with that said, Unicomp is totally wrong here. If I understand the situation, Unicomp is making and selling a 103-104 set of keycaps without a spacebar? That is ridiculous. I don't care if they are a mom and pop operation working barefoot in the winter, out of their Appalachian tarpaper-roof shack, they should make a spacebar to go with their brilliant white set. Heh. "brilliant". They should call it the "stupid white set", because it's moronic not to include a spacebar.
Oh wow, so you're not just an *******s here, you're also an ******* when dealing with customer service. Whouda thunk?
lol. I dunno snowdog993, or if he acts like an a-hole on geekhack, but I'll take your word for it. And it's true, he could have learned a lesson from Mary Poppins, that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. However, with that said, Unicomp is totally wrong here. If I understand the situation, Unicomp is making and selling a 103-104 set of keycaps without a spacebar? That is ridiculous. I don't care if they are a mom and pop operation working barefoot in the winter, out of their Appalachian tarpaper-roof shack, they should make a spacebar to go with their brilliant white set. Heh. "brilliant". They should call it the "stupid white set", because it's moronic not to include a spacebar.
Apparently they do make one to fit their own 104-key Model M's they manufacture (since 7-2013). Just not the older or vintage ones that Snowdog993 has.
I wasn't upset with them to begin with. It is when I was told that my order included it. Be that as it may, I may have been wrong about not obtaining a spacebar, but they should provide them for future buys.I really don't understand. It clearly says the spacebar is not included. You should have then checked if they had a long brilliant white spacebar before you purchased. That's on you, not them.
If I came across angry, so be it. There are angry customers everywhere you go. Sometimes a push is what it takes.
Now I know why they have problems. They don't even have the parts you need!
That's what is bad. Not me or my temper.
To be fair to Unicomp... with their new bottom row, the only difference between a 103-key set and a 104-key set is the omission of the right Window key, right? So at that point, why wouldn't they offer a 103-key version of everything? The tooling already exists and everything is already being made.
I agree that it's a bit silly to not make the larger space bars in white to complement that set, but from a pure business standpoint it makes less sense to not offer the 103-key set if there's no extra cost to do so.
I agree that it's a bit silly to not make the larger space bars in white to complement that set, but from a pure business standpoint it makes less sense to not offer the 103-key set if there's no extra cost to do so.
I sent an email to Unicomp sympathizing with the support person for having to deal with this tool.
And I must say that all my "customer service" interactions with them have been delightful.
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
I don't think anyone is questioning why you contacted support. That seems totally legit. I think the negative feedback you are getting is because of the way you presented yourself. I'm guessing you are relatively young. You may find that is a difficult thing to keep doing and expect to get the results you want. You burn a lot of bridges when you lash out quickly at people.
FWIW, I think your idea of painting the space bar to match is a good one.
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
I don't think anyone is questioning why you contacted support. That seems totally legit. I think the negative feedback you are getting is because of the way you presented yourself. I'm guessing you are relatively young. You may find that is a difficult thing to keep doing and expect to get the results you want. You burn a lot of bridges when you lash out quickly at people.
FWIW, I think your idea of painting the space bar to match is a good one.
Thank you. It was the only alternative I had.
Okay. I used Rust-Oleum Gloss Protective Enamel in white. That picture is as it was drying. It looks even better now. The color match is next to exact.
Caution with this paint: It actually takes more than 24 hours to completely dry. I'm not touching it for another day to be safe.
Edit: That picture was before I used some Acetone to remove the overspray. That's another thing. Painting isn't easy.
Technique: The first time, I tried with a wind chime and used the chime itself to hold the spacebar level horizontally. The result was that picture with overspray and runs. Not good.
Second time I got smart. After removing all that mess, I went with duct tape actually attached to the bottom of the spacebar, setting it vertically instead. It looks gorgeous. No runs at all.
I am curious of what paint you used + technique. If you wouldn't mind I'm sure a lot of people would like to see a picture of it. This might be something I am interested in doing myself.
nobody cares
nobody cares
Unfortunately that same attitude prevails within so many companies too. It seems like many people got generous doses of stupidity and/or apathy for Christmas in 2014.
Indeed, nobody cares, and that's a good description for much of humanity in this age that we live in.
nobody cares
Unfortunately that same attitude prevails within so many companies too. It seems like many people got generous doses of stupidity and/or apathy for Christmas in 2014.
Indeed, nobody cares, and that's a good description for much of humanity in this age that we live in.
From outrage to apathy...this thread has gone full circle!
From outrage to apathy...this thread has gone full circle!
Actually, it has gone half circle. Once it goes back to outrage, it will have gone full circle.
It just seems to me that they aren't future-driven at all.
It just seems to me that they aren't future-driven at all.
Welcome to Geekhack, where we've been complaining about this from Unicomp since, what, 2009?
Let's be perfectly honest: You want them to do the "right thing" by you.This isn't about a $3 spacebar. I fixed that already, remember? It's just about the way they should take care of everyone by actually listening to the customers and doing some forward thinking. If that's about me, I'm in! I can use many examples, but the promises made, and never kept. Those are the things that may be the folly of Unicomp.
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.See, I always hated dealing with people who thought they were "an ordinary average guy" with their unreasonable requests. They were usually also the same people that also think that just because they've generated a few thousand in revenue that somehow makes them a "good" customer.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
It just seems to me that they aren't future-driven at all.
Welcome to Geekhack, where we've been complaining about this from Unicomp since, what, 2009?
Damn I’m glad I don’t work in customer service. Dealing with entitled *******s all day must be exhausting.Yeah, it's not so bad after a few years. Having problems that are significantly more difficult than whatever miniscule issue the customer is whining about today gives it a sense of perspective. "your computer may be broken but at least you have a warm place to sleep! And it'll be fixed this week too. Life is hard but not too bad today"
Erm, did you read that thread Dorkvader? iMav bought an SSK from clickykeyboards.com (not Unicomp) which was damaged during shipping and didn’t work when it arrived, so he mailed it back for a refund and ended up out $7. Before claiming the refund he had called Unicomp to ask if they could repair it, and instead they sold him a brand new SSK for $59.Welcome to Geekhack, where we've been complaining about this from Unicomp since, what, 2009?2007 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=3838.msg56944#msg56944)
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.See, I always hated dealing with people who thought they were "an ordinary average guy" with their unreasonable requests. They were usually also the same people that also think that just because they've generated a few thousand in revenue that somehow makes them a "good" customer.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
From a business perspective, of course a guy who buys a lot is in some ways a "good" customer, but they also think they are entitled to more, or swagger in like they own the place, Those guys are always bad customers. The money lost by never dealing with them again is gained back tenfold in happier employees (better retention, less training, good work environment)
I mean, if you offered to buy 5000 white spacebars, I'm sure they'd sell them to you. Anything less is pretty much demanding they take a huge massive loss and recoup less than 1/5000'th of it on one sale to you. This is absolutely unreasonable.
Damn I’m glad I don’t work in customer service. Dealing with entitled *******s all day must be exhausting.
The page (FullRGBKeys) linked by Snowdog993 doesn't say anything about missing spacebars. *If* you order from that page and don't get a spacebar, it's a mistake (or false advertising) on Unicomp's side. Not much to discuss.
And I am that "idiot" customer. Thanks for all your support Geekhack!
Damn I’m glad I don’t work in customer service. Dealing with entitled *******s all day must be exhausting.
This reminds me of when I worked as a Starbucks barista back in college....
Certain customers would come in demanding their nasty Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
Example dialogue:
Customer - "I come here every morning and for coffee and have spent over 1000 dollars on drinks here, I'm your best customer. Why don't you have Pumpkin Spice today? Everyone here knows that's what I order every day!" [Looks around looking for affirmation while all the other customers look away]
Me - "Sorry maam, corporate in Seattle determines what flavors we get each season. This is out of our control, maybe you'd like to try the Cinnamon Dolche Latte instead? We got our last shipment of Pumpkin Spice last week and haven't gotten any more since."
Customer - "Screw you, you're just a barista, I want to speak with someone else. Wheres [Jack], your manager? I want to talk to him right now."
Me - "Maam, [Jack] is currently at a team building retreat out of town right now, if you want I can take a note down for you or you can leave a comment in our comment box over there with your request!"
Customer - "No, I want my coffee! I can't believe I'm getting this kind of service here, I'm a ****ing regular here. I've been coming to this store long before you were even hired! Do you know what that means?! Oh wait, you're just a freaking barista, you wouldn't understand. You're not smart enough to be doing anything else with your life"
Me - Sorry maam, there's really nothing I can do about it. But I can offer you a free drink voucher good for any of our hot or cold beverages."
Customer - "Give me that." [snatches coupon from my hand] "I'm not coming here again until [Jack] gets back so I can give him a piece of my mind, but I'll take that drink for now. I want a Venti Quad Mocha Frappuccino With double mocha and caramel drizzle. Light on the ice but extra whipped cream."
Me - "Sure thing! We'll have that ready for you in just a minute!" [proceed to make drink, but while customer is busy on the phone and not paying attention, spit in her drink and flick some ear wax on top of the whipped cream]
Me - "Maam, your drink is ready!"
Customer - "Finally, sheesh, you're not just stupid, you're really slow, you know that?"
Me - "You have a great day, maam!"
Yeahhh.... this whole thing with Unicomp definitely reminds me of my short tenure at Starbucks.
You know - there is a solution here; Unicomp even told you the MOQ.
Group buy on 7x brilliant white spacebars anyone?
And I am that "idiot" customer. Thanks for all your support Geekhack!the truth hurts?
I loooooooove you all.And I am that "idiot" customer. Thanks for all your support Geekhack!the truth hurts?
There is even precedence for a GB for 7x black spacebars.
http://deskthority.net/group-buys-f50/black-model-m-7-units-space-bar-t8839.html
It's just the principle. A lot of people order something and expect to get what they ordered. In my case, I did expect to get a spacebar with this order. Now they tell me they don't even provide the part to complete the set. Is that my fault?
I don't care if they have to pay a million dollars to get the spacebar. To me, it's just a $3 part. To them, it's because, "Since nobody orders them, we don't need them".
Kinda hard to order a part you don't provide.
The fact that Unicomp is pretty poor at doing business is well known. I am on record saying lots of negative things about them also.
People put up with them because they are fundamentally good, nice people. Which is why I'm always polite to their customer service and never give them a hard time. I have bought the same coloured set as you, I also feel bad about the spacebar, I also feel annoyed that I don't have a brilliant white (especially relevant to me because I dye, and white is better for dying than pebble or gray) - but I never contacted Unicomp to say nasty things. [But if they had satisfied me as a customer I would have written an email to thank them.]
You do have your relevant and good points. But you came across very negatively.
Since most people including me like Unicomp customer service, we didn't like how you treated their guys which led to the general pitchforking that you got.
FTFY
The fact that Unicomp is pretty poor at doing business is well known. I am on record saying lots of negative things about them also.
People put up with them because they are fundamentally good, nice people. Which is why I'm always polite to their customer service and never give them a hard time. I have bought the same coloured set as you, I also feel bad about the spacebar, I also feel annoyed that I don't have a brilliant white (especially relevant to me because I dye, and white is better for dying than pebble or gray) - but I never contacted Unicomp to say nasty things. [But if they had satisfied me as a customer I would have written an email to thank them.]
You do have your relevant and good points. But you came across very negatively.
Since most people including me like Unicomp customer service, we didn't like how you treated their guys which led to the general pitchforking that you got.
I'll work on being more pleasant with issues involvingcustomer servicelife
It strikes me that more people are concerned about OP's manners than Unicomp advertising something they don't have.
Includes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.
Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeysQuoteIncludes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.
Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeysQuoteIncludes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.
Replace your standard black legend keys with Red, Green, Or Blue Font!
Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeysQuoteIncludes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.
Replace your standard black legend keys with Red, Green, Or Blue Font!
Please, share your crystal ball with me, at least sometimes.The title says "legend keys". The picture is of the legend keys. The description says legend keys. The product is a set of legend keys. It is impossible to make it more accurate
Or, you know, perhaps it would help, if they provided pictures of *everything* included, listed it as well, and picked accurate titles. I mean, even Asians with broken Engrish are capable of that.
It is impossible to make it more accurateI think Unicomp should definitely add their standard red “this set does not include a spacebar” disclaimer, since apparently people are still confused. Still though, I agree I wouldn’t have expected this to include a spacebar. Better pictures (on all their pages) showing exactly what’s included would also be very helpful.
I guess it's the same reason companies add "do not drink" labels to bleach, some people don't really thinkIt is impossible to make it more accurateI think Unicomp should definitely add their standard red “this set does not include a spacebar” disclaimer, since apparently people are still confused. Still though, I agree I wouldn’t have expected this to include a spacebar.
Or add "do not attempt" warnings before Jackass movies? They're both things that obviously shouldn't be done. I don't see what your problem with my analogy isOh please, stop that, just stop... PleaseI guess it's the same reason companies add "do not drink" labels to bleach, some people don't really thinkIt is impossible to make it more accurateI think Unicomp should definitely add their standard red “this set does not include a spacebar” disclaimer, since apparently people are still confused. Still though, I agree I wouldn’t have expected this to include a spacebar.
Please, share your crystal ball with me, at least sometimes.
Or, you know, perhaps it would help, if they provided pictures of *everything* included, listed it as well, and picked accurate titles. I mean, even Asians with broken Engrish are capable of that.
So, no one up for a GB?
To be fair I often went shopping with American friends while studying in Hong Kong and I noticed that the initial prices offered to non-Asians was considerably higher than what was offered to locals. Something like 5 times more expensive. My non-Asian friends had to pay nearly 500HKE for the same pair of sunglasses my HK friends could have gotten for 100HKD from the same vendor... =pPlease, share your crystal ball with me, at least sometimes.
Or, you know, perhaps it would help, if they provided pictures of *everything* included, listed it as well, and picked accurate titles. I mean, even Asians with broken Engrish are capable of that.
Speaking at somebody from Asia who has often seen neo colonial arrogant and aggressive Westerners trying to force their way around and hounding people who have poor education and struggle badly with a language that is totally foreign to them just to get minor bargains (which often represent a big part of someone's wage)...
I'm quite tolerant of language issues and small mistakes and inconsistencies.
One has to use one's brain effectively. EG spacebar has no legend, so of course it is not going to replace anything. When I bought I wondered if the set would have a spacebar but wasn't industrious enough to check with customer service. When set turned out not to have spacebar I was not pleased but hardly saw reason to get angry. That's why I described Unicomp as bad at doing business, but still did not consider it a scam.
YOU, Davkol, are sounding like OP in his earlier posts.
My non-Asian friends had to pay nearly 500HKE for the same pair of sunglasses my HK friends could have gotten for 100HKD from the same vendor... =p
This whole incident upset me to the point of just giving the entire keyset and the painted spacebar to another Geekhack member that could actually use them for their needs. I would not have ordered that particular set if I had known beforehand that I could not get the spacebar to begin with. I would have ordered a set like the pearl/pebble and order the spacebar separately.
Anyway, I will tell you one thing: I will not order fromIf you look a few posts up you'll see that they accurately describe everything on there website. That certainly shouldn't be any reason not to buy from what has always been a pretty good company
Unicomp, thanks to you and you post. It's clear that Unicomp website lack some important infos/description of the products they sell
I am a good customer of Unicomp. I have purchased several things from them, Cables, keys etc.... I have been very happy with their support, and one person, Jeanne, comes to mind. She has always come through. If I were to buy the RGB set in Pearl or Grey I wouldn't have a complaint at all.
This is why speaking out makes sense. I'm not **** or **** or what other expletive you see me as.
I'm just an ordinary average guy.
I don't think anyone is questioning why you contacted support. That seems totally legit. I think the negative feedback you are getting is because of the way you presented yourself. I'm guessing you are relatively young. You may find that is a difficult thing to keep doing and expect to get the results you want. You burn a lot of bridges when you lash out quickly at people.
FWIW, I think your idea of painting the space bar to match is a good one.
Thank you. It was the only alternative I had.
Unicomp not including a spacebar is bull****. Them not specifically stating they are not including a spacebar is bull**** also.
Therefor unichump is bull****.
Unicomp not including a spacebar is bull****. Them not specifically stating they are not including a spacebar is bull**** also.
Therefor unichump is bull****.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/LvLyJdn.jpg)
I will not order from Unicomp, thanks to you and you post.
And if they revived the SSK, they would sell somewhere between 100 and 1000 of them in the first month, saturating the market, and then the orders would trickle in a few per month for half a decade, at best. Worth it? Who knows?
They need to also stop regurgitating the same 5 year old NPR article over and over again as the sole source of their "marketing."It's six years old now.
You could make the same argument for their existing product; Is it worth it to keep peddling the same boards with slightly tweaked color keycaps? Seriously, how many could they possibly be selling?What? With their existing product, they already have all the tooling set up, and can continue production relatively cost effectively until the tooling completely wears out. A totally new product requires a huge up front capital cost. There’s no “same argument” here, the two things are completely and utterly different.
*If* a SSK is released to market they need to market the hell out of it - get a booth at CES - sell through MechanicalKeyboards.com - sell through MassDrop.com - etc etc etc. Maybe open up and invite the keyboard community to their shop once a year for a tour.I’m sure if you do the work to locate a few thousand interested customers who will sign on to buy one, and then go talk to Unicomp, you can at least get a conversation with them. Otherwise, I don’t see why they should take any of your recommendations as any kind of reliable business advice. Paying for tooling for a totally new keyboard is very high risk, for a company with a tiny staff and not many extra resources, and spending massive amounts on marketing just amplifies that. They don’t “need to” do anything.
You could make the same argument for their existing product; Is it worth it to keep peddling the same boards with slightly tweaked color keycaps? Seriously, how many could they possibly be selling?What? With their existing product, they already have all the tooling set up, and can continue production relatively cost effectively until the tooling completely wears out. A totally new product requires a huge up front capital cost. There�s no �same argument� here, the two things are completely and utterly different.Quote*If* a SSK is released to market they need to market the hell out of it - get a booth at CES - sell through MechanicalKeyboards.com - sell through MassDrop.com - etc etc etc. Maybe open up and invite the keyboard community to their shop once a year for a tour.I�m sure if you do the work to locate a few thousand interested customers who will sign on to buy one, and then go talk to Unicomp, you can at least get a conversation with them. Otherwise, I don�t see why they should take any of your recommendations as any kind of reliable business advice. Paying for tooling for a totally new keyboard is very high risk, for a company with a tiny staff and not many extra resources, and spending massive amounts on marketing just amplifies that. They don�t �need to� do anything.
With that said, they have claimed several times in the last few years to be working toward a numpad-less keyboard. They�ve just provided no evidence of any kind of progress, so it�s hard to take those claims seriously.