Batutta
Major Contributor
I avoid eBay like the plague at this point, unless it's shipping within Canada. Shipping takes forever and returns are a hassle. Amazon prime or nothing for me.
Cheap wireless director's feed
- Thread starter Kevin Kelly
- Start date
I avoid eBay like the plague at this point, unless it's shipping within Canada. Shipping takes forever and returns are a hassle. Amazon prime or nothing for me.
Rick R
Veteran
I got the Monoprice system I orderd in a about 5 days after being shipped from Monoprice in Rancho Cocomonga CA to the NYC burbs via "UPS Inovations". I guess it goes UPS ground cross country, then is transfered to a USPS a regional depot, then to the local post office and out for delivery. Monoprice did include a tracking number BTW.
I haven't tried it out yet, but the build quality is better than I expected for 10.. or even 20 bucks.
I haven't tried it out yet, but the build quality is better than I expected for 10.. or even 20 bucks.
graywolf
Well-known member
Yah, but UPS says they handed it over to USPS. USPS says they never received it. Both blame the other. Monoprice did not answer my email within 24 hours as they say they will on their website, nor could I contact them via phone (paypal provided the number). So I have openned a PayPal dispute. If PayPal does not get this sorted out, I will file a credit card dispute against them. One thing you can say about paying via PayPal, is that it gives you multiple levels for resolving things. But, I did not need this crap. To me the aggravation adds a lot to the price.
Rick R
Veteran
Sorry to hear that Tom. Just out of curiously, when did you order it? When I ordered, Monoprice sent an order conformation email. The following day, I received another email stating the item is being shipped which included a tracking number and link. I too paid via PayPal.
In case you have not investigated it already, their customer service web page has two CS phone numbers and a live chat option.
http://customercares.services/monoprice-com-customer-service
In case you have not investigated it already, their customer service web page has two CS phone numbers and a live chat option.
http://customercares.services/monoprice-com-customer-service
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
Tom,
I feel your pain but it seems this is a USPS/ UPS problem so it seems a bit unfair to blame Monoprice.
Mine ended up here in Detroit about a week after I ordered it. Not packed fantastically but good enough.
I agree with Rick, they look a lot better than I expected. Maybe in the next couple of weeks I will actually get a chance to play with them. One small "issue" off the bat is that they use AAA batteries. A bit unfortunate since that would be the only audio gear I own that uses AAA and stocking more types of batteries is kind of a PITA, but certainly not lethal.
I feel your pain but it seems this is a USPS/ UPS problem so it seems a bit unfair to blame Monoprice.
Mine ended up here in Detroit about a week after I ordered it. Not packed fantastically but good enough.
I agree with Rick, they look a lot better than I expected. Maybe in the next couple of weeks I will actually get a chance to play with them. One small "issue" off the bat is that they use AAA batteries. A bit unfortunate since that would be the only audio gear I own that uses AAA and stocking more types of batteries is kind of a PITA, but certainly not lethal.
graywolf
Well-known member
What I am blaming Monoprice for is failure to communicate. Yes it is a shipping problem, but shipping companies respond better to the shipper than to the shipee. Since they just point their fingers at each other, Monoprice is the one who is going to have to solve this problem. All they had to do, is send me an email saying something like, "Thank you for your business. We are checking into this and will get back to your as soon as we find out what has happened to your package." But apparently, that is too much to ask for.
Now as a comparison, a couple years back, FedEx Ground claimed they could not deliver the package. Kind of strange as the apartment is right on a main road. The seller told FexEx to return the package to them, and with out waiting shipped another to me Next Day Air at no additional cost. That is good customer service. But this company went an additional 10 miles (note the 10) and also refunded my purchase price. That was way way more than they had to do to make me happy.
For those who have asked when I order the wireless mic's, I did so on the 6th just before posting about the price reduction here.
Rick, thanks for that link. I do not know why I could not find it on their website. I did find their email, which they did not reply to. I found that first number on PayPal, and tried calling it, and found no way of getting to a live person. That is when I filed with PayPal. UPS cliams they passed the package to my local USPS. The local post office claims they never received it. They both point to their tracking sites to prove this, and do not seem to want to do more than that. I talked face to face with the people at the local post office, UPS's nearest office is an hour away from here, down off the mountain, the other side of the Eastern Continental Divide.
SIGH!
Last edited:
graywolf
Well-known member
Monoprice responded via PayPal, pointing to the UPS tracking. SIGH!
I will give things another week to get sorted out, then escalate the dispute to a claim if I do not have the mic's, or at least a positive indication of where they are, by then. I guess. I now have a pretty good idea of what kind of company Monoprice is, however.
I will give things another week to get sorted out, then escalate the dispute to a claim if I do not have the mic's, or at least a positive indication of where they are, by then. I guess. I now have a pretty good idea of what kind of company Monoprice is, however.
It arrived early afternoon on the second day as promised from a west-coast express company I've never heard of.
What a fun device this is. I'll be using this as wireless a two person IFB for studio broadcast.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
As a transaction I think you are probably in the negatives. I had a disappearing delivery a few months ago but luckily it was an Amazon purchase and getting a refund was easy.
While delivery issues, on one level, are not really "their problem", customer support is. And actually helping to make sure a customer receives a product is a big first step.
Just shipping a replacement on general principals seems like a natural choice. For what they are selling these at their cost bust be a couple of bucks a piece. That would be so cheap for the kind of instant good karma/ advertising etc that they would get for it.
graywolf
Well-known member
Thanks, Scott.
Actually I can not even get them to talk to me. That is the kind of customer service they have.
I saw that they have knocked the price down to $7.99 now. They must have a heck of a lot of them they can not sell.
It is my fault, I should have checked resellerratings. 2-stars WOW!
Actually I can not even get them to talk to me. That is the kind of customer service they have.
I saw that they have knocked the price down to $7.99 now. They must have a heck of a lot of them they can not sell.
It is my fault, I should have checked resellerratings. 2-stars WOW!
Last edited:
Batutta
Major Contributor
And with this code it knocks them down to 6.79! HEY15
I've ordered from Monoprice several times and never had an issue, and that's delivering to Canada, although it's been about a year since I have. Maybe their service went downhill.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
OK did some tests.
In terms of range neither the Lectro nor the Monoprice crapped out. I started out in my office the front of a big old house and moved around on that floor (second floor) went down stairs and roamed the first flour then to the basement and back into the shop. So at the extreme it was traveling though two flours and four walls including a brick exterior and a ceiling that has a double layer of steel mesh embedded in it. No static hits on either, so that is impressive. I think I had tested the lectro on this before, I'm still impressed.
That is the good. The bad isn't all that bad, as long as you plan around it.
First off there is a delay, and it varies with distance. Right on top of the receiver I was getting about 126ms at the far range I was getting 143ms. The semi good is that about 20 feet away I was getting 142ms so at normal working distances it seems pretty even.
But that is a whopping delay, so one will have to note it and do some post sync to tighten that up. But as a director feed,... probably fine.
The output was low but because of the way I was hooking it up that may be partly me? I was using a TS plug to send it to one side of the recorder and it may not like having the R shorted out so? Also you just have + & - buttons so you have no idea where your levels are set.
Also you can't pair a transmitter to more than one receiver. The description made me think that it might be possible to "fool" it into working but no.
And other than the level being low it didn't sound bad. This wasn't a "sound" test so I didn't take any time playing with it but what I got didn't sound like a cheap toy and that is what I 1/2 expected.
It is much better than what you would expect from a cheap wireless. And I mean a $150 Radio Shack special. At $10 (or even $20) it is a real bargain and something I can see using.
Prime situations would be directors feeds and that special event you got roped into working on and they want a wireless for the speaker... You can hand them this and it will be fine and your not risking your good, expensive, gear on someone who might drop it in their martini. Or maybe that low budget short that has no budget for sound but of course they want you to risk your $$$ on the guy in the canoe who thinks it's funny to fall in.
In terms of range neither the Lectro nor the Monoprice crapped out. I started out in my office the front of a big old house and moved around on that floor (second floor) went down stairs and roamed the first flour then to the basement and back into the shop. So at the extreme it was traveling though two flours and four walls including a brick exterior and a ceiling that has a double layer of steel mesh embedded in it. No static hits on either, so that is impressive. I think I had tested the lectro on this before, I'm still impressed.
That is the good. The bad isn't all that bad, as long as you plan around it.
First off there is a delay, and it varies with distance. Right on top of the receiver I was getting about 126ms at the far range I was getting 143ms. The semi good is that about 20 feet away I was getting 142ms so at normal working distances it seems pretty even.
But that is a whopping delay, so one will have to note it and do some post sync to tighten that up. But as a director feed,... probably fine.
The output was low but because of the way I was hooking it up that may be partly me? I was using a TS plug to send it to one side of the recorder and it may not like having the R shorted out so? Also you just have + & - buttons so you have no idea where your levels are set.
Also you can't pair a transmitter to more than one receiver. The description made me think that it might be possible to "fool" it into working but no.
And other than the level being low it didn't sound bad. This wasn't a "sound" test so I didn't take any time playing with it but what I got didn't sound like a cheap toy and that is what I 1/2 expected.
It is much better than what you would expect from a cheap wireless. And I mean a $150 Radio Shack special. At $10 (or even $20) it is a real bargain and something I can see using.
Prime situations would be directors feeds and that special event you got roped into working on and they want a wireless for the speaker... You can hand them this and it will be fine and your not risking your good, expensive, gear on someone who might drop it in their martini. Or maybe that low budget short that has no budget for sound but of course they want you to risk your $$$ on the guy in the canoe who thinks it's funny to fall in.
Exactly this situation. I so often don't want to use my good stuff. I cringe as I watch someone take the lav off and have the transmitter dangling by the microphone lead as they swing it around to hand it back to you.
Thanks for the test. I am impressed.
graywolf
Well-known member
Now, are they playing games with me?
Just got an email saying they are sending a replacement. Note: first direct contact from them. Not through PayPal, so are they trying to circumvent the PayPal action? I do not have a clue. Guess I will find out one way or the other.
Just got back from the doctor. Just influenza, he says. Past the contagious stage, he says. Get plenty of rest, he says. Drink lots of water, he says. Life is so good to me. Guess I will drink a bottle of water and take a nap.
Just got an email saying they are sending a replacement. Note: first direct contact from them. Not through PayPal, so are they trying to circumvent the PayPal action? I do not have a clue. Guess I will find out one way or the other.
Just got back from the doctor. Just influenza, he says. Past the contagious stage, he says. Get plenty of rest, he says. Drink lots of water, he says. Life is so good to me. Guess I will drink a bottle of water and take a nap.