A nice little story about a company called Unicomp.... Brilliant! (not so much)

[SpAmRaY]

And I am that "idiot" customer.  Thanks for all your support Geekhack!

We are all idiots sometimes, some more than others, it is all in how you deal with it.

[ideus]

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 kept me laughing for five minutes straight, LOL.

[0100010]

You know - there is a solution here; Unicomp even told you the MOQ.

Group buy on 7x brilliant white spacebars anyone?

[SpAmRaY]

You know - there is a solution here; Unicomp even told you the MOQ.

Group buy on 7x brilliant white spacebars anyone?

In all seriousness I would wager if we could even get a fraction of that 5000 they might just buy the rest if they think there is enough demand.

[hwood34]

And I am that "idiot" customer.  Thanks for all your support Geekhack!

the truth hurts?

[Snowdog993]

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.

[Snowdog993]

And I am that "idiot" customer.  Thanks for all your support Geekhack!

the truth hurts?

I loooooooove you all.

[0100010]

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

[Touch_It]

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

Weird,  I had no issues getting  one, albeit it was in December.

[berserkfan]

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.

[Snowdog993]

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 involving customer service.  At that moment in time I was very passionate about it, and it showed.  I do like their service as well, (Thank you Jeanne) and they are good people.  I just think this was a true blunder on their part.

[hwood34]

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 involving customer service life

FTFY

[Sygaldry]

[davkol]

It strikes me that more people are concerned about OP's manners than Unicomp advertising something they don't have.

[tbc]

It strikes me that more people are concerned about OP's manners than Unicomp advertising something they don't have.

you know...you have a good point there.

products > people.

**** gh amirite.

trololloloooollo

too bad i'm not a piece of plastic because then you would care me about me calling sarcasticly calling you a dumb ****   i know you're just trolling, but i have a minute for having fun so why not

[davkol]

No, I'm not trolling. In fact, I'm dead serious.

So you go to the Unicomps website to buy a keycap set.
(a) You take a look at Complete Unprinted Buckling Spring Button Set, and learn that it actually ISN'T a COMPLETE set or spacebar isn't a button.
(b) You decide to get something fancy and take a look at Red, Green, Or Blue Legend Keys. The code says FULL, they even make a distinction among 101, 103 and 104 key layout, thus it should be full in actuality. You pick one of the provided options, i.e. Brilliant White 101, proceed to checkout, order the thing… and boom! According to the quote in the OP, you don't get the advertised full 101 key set, because they don't MANUFACTURE a significant part of it. Idk about you, but I call that scam.

[hwood34]

Includes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.

[davkol]

Includes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.

Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

[nubbinator]

Includes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.

Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

Replace your standard black legend keys with Red, Green, Or Blue Font!

When the set only replaces the legend keys, it's a given that the space bar isn't included.  And if every other set doesn't include one, why would this set be different?

What's next on the menu, *****ing at BSP for the lack of 1.25x mods?

[hwood34]

Includes keys only. Does not include the spacebar or support frame shown in the photos.

Is nowhere at http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

Replace your standard black legend keys with Red, Green, Or Blue Font!

[davkol]

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.

[hwood34]

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.

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

[jacobolus]

It is impossible to make it more accurate

I 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.

[hwood34]

It is impossible to make it more accurate

I 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.

I guess it's the same reason companies add "do not drink" labels to bleach, some people don't really think

[Micky Love]

[/quote]
I guess it's the same reason companies add "do not drink" labels to bleach, some people don't really think
[/quote]

Oh please, stop that, just stop... Please

[hwood34]

It is impossible to make it more accurate

I 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.

I guess it's the same reason companies add "do not drink" labels to bleach, some people don't really think

Oh please, stop that, just stop... Please

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 is

[berserkfan]

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.

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.

[0100010]

So, no one up for a GB?

[Touch_It]

So, no one up for a GB?

Are they supposedly still out of stock?  If so I wonder how I got lucky enough to get one.

[Sygaldry]

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.

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.

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...  =p

[fohat.digs]

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

I hate shopping where no prices are posted in writing.

When I have to ask a person for a price, I feel certain that they are just making it up on the spot.

[berserkfan]

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...  =p
[/quote]

Nonsense

Not all Asians are the same (even if Americans usually can't tell the difference between Turk or Japanese or Javanese.)

Your HK friends presumably speak Cantonese with a local accent.

Any non-local will get offered high prices and must talk down aggressively. My Mandarin is fluent enough that I am usually taken for a PRC citizen, but since it's just a vaguely standard Southern Chinese accent that would qualify me as a TV announcer but doesn't actually fit anywhere, everywhere I go in China people try to screw me over with ultra high prices and I need local proxies to do the bargaining. In fact sounding like a TV announcer isn't that good, because it means I'm educated, from some major metropolis, and therefore have more money. Real locals in China are much like real locals in UK - they all have their very distinctive regional accents that can't be faked.

[taylordcraig]

YAWN
I skipped reading the bottom half of this last page because you people are booooooooooring.

 http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/FullRGBKeys

ON THAT PAGE IT SAYS "Replace your standard black legend keys with Red, Green, Or Blue Font!"
When was the last time you saw a legend on a spacebar? [*cough* poker *cough*]
They have to distinguish the layout with 103 and 104 because there are different sized keys.
I feel like some people are trying REALLY hard to read between the lines and be in the right, when in actuality, it was quite obvious unicomp didn't have the space bar.

[Snowdog993]

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.

[Micky Love]

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.

Hey man, relax, it's just a keyboard you know... I'm with you on that one... as a newbe myself, I would have think that the space bar was include.
I think that when you search for a 104 pieces, legend or not, it should comes with a space bar. Anyway, I will tell you one thing: I will not order from
Unicomp, thanks to you and you post.  It's clear that Unicomp website lack some important infos/description of the products they sell... That doesn't
mean that I agree about being rude with Unicomp... Anyway, just sell the damn thing, you will never be happy with this set. Or if you keep it, close the
thread and move on.

[hwood34]

Anyway, I will tell you one thing: I will not order from
Unicomp, thanks to you and you post.  It's clear that Unicomp website lack some important infos/description of the products they sell

If 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

[demik]

Unicomp not including a spacebar is bull****. Them not specifically stating they are not including a spacebar is bull**** also.

Therefor unichump is bull****.

[Macsmasher]

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.

I used to be in commercial development and construction before becoming a software engineer (I know...strange career migration) and we used the term 'intentional deviation'. The term applied whenever trying to match colors with different materials. For example, walls would be a certain color. It would be impossible to exactly match the paint color with other materials. So rather than trying to exactly match color and miss, you selected a color that complimented the first. That way it looked like the design intent was to use a complimenting color.

If you paint the spacebar, it will never exactly match the other keys. Even if it does initially, over time UV light and oxidation will age the materials differently and the color will be off. It will look like you tried to match it and missed the mark, making the keyboard look amateurish. Add to that the wear differences between the two materials and you're fighting a losing battle.

Why not use the bright white keys for your alpha keys and get a spacebar with the modifiers in a complimenting color? This is the most common color mixing with keycaps anyway, many even coming this way from the factory. I think it would look great. In fact, better than one color for all keys.

[dante]

Unicomp not including a spacebar is bull****. Them not specifically stating they are not including a spacebar is bull**** also.

Therefor unichump is bull****.

[demik]

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

?

[fohat.digs]

I will not order from Unicomp, thanks to you and you post.

Unicomp is an exceptionally excellent company in the customer service department, and the "Spacebar not included" bit is plainly posted and visible in many (but perhaps not all) places. Do I wish that they would offer old-school sized space bars in bright white? Yes.  I would buy 1 for sure, and possibly 2.

They are a niche provider, in a tight place in a small market, and they deserve respect and support for what they do.

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?

PS - the red/green/blue legend sets are awesome - buy them in pearl/pebble and don't worry about the sapcebar!

[dante]

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?

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?

*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.

They need to also stop regurgitating the same 5 year old NPR article over and over again as the sole source of their "marketing."

[faceyourfaces]

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.

[jacobolus]

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.

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.

[dante]

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.

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.

The problem is - the existing tooling IS worn out.

The above video was taken in - 2012 - and there is no evidence the tooling has been replaced yet.

Maybe you're right - and there's no money in it.  I guess I would do what they are doing ... produce as many keyboards as they can until the machines just won't produce anymore and then close up shop.

[Snowdog993]

Seems that's what's happening.  Oh well.  They could have really brought the company back to life several times.
This thread has gone full circle.  I do care about the IBM keyboards.  I've used them for many years.