The Whistle Shop

wd40 · Post by **wd40** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:20 am

While this thread has been going My wife had ordered and received her order, no sweat. I need to make a new order so I've been watching this thread hoping that someone from The whistle shop would show up here and respond. We'll shop elsewhere this time round. Hope alls well and he works this out.

Kelhorn Mike · Post by **Kelhorn Mike** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:07 pm

I'll probably ruffle some feathers here but what else is new. I feel
compelled to defend Thom and the Whistle Shop. We've been doing
business for several years now and my only experiences have been
with a very forthright, honest, hardworking gentlemen. What finally
got me in this thread was Dale on Sept. 25th suggesting letting this rest awhile and on Sept. 27th he's "reccomending" to his "friends" that
they don't do business with the Whistle Shop because Thom had not responded to his emails in all of 2 days and the concerns of 2
customers. Dale was his usual tactful, seemingly compassionate
self but I'll just suggest there are many here who don't need his
omnipresent judgements to come to a conclusion on what to do. His
friends are certainly free to take his advice. I'll counter that by
suggesting to all get your Susato Whistles from Thom and the Whistle
Shop as you cannot in MHO deal with a more honest, forthright
internet merchant. All the best everyone!

Kelhorn Mike

thomlarson · Post by **thomlarson** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:33 pm

Hello All,

I'm very sorry about the recent problems that some have you have been having in contacting my shop. Please contact by email at "info at thewhistleshop dot com" - I'll reply as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your patience,
Thom Larson
The Whistle Shop

Post by **Dale** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:48 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote:I'll probably ruffle some feathers here but what else is new. I feel compelled to defend Thom and the Whistle Shop. We've been doingbusiness for several years now and my only experiences have been with a very forthright, honest, hardworking gentlemen. What finally
got me in this thread was Dale on Sept. 25th suggesting letting this rest awhile and on Sept. 27th he's "reccomending" to his "friends" that they don't do business with the Whistle Shop because Thom had not responded to his emails in all of 2 days and the concerns of 2 customers. Dale was his usual tactful, seemingly compassionate self but I'll just suggest there are many here who don't need his omnipresent judgements to come to a conclusion on what to do. His friends are certainly free to take his advice. I'll counter that by suggesting to all get your Susato Whistles from Thom and the Whistle Shop as you cannot in MHO deal with a more honest, forthright internet merchant. All the best everyone!

Kelhorn Mike

Mike, this is remarkably snide and I don't appreciate it. I founded and run a very large whistle site. People look to it for advice on a range of things, including where to buy. In 10 years, I have very, very rarely had to report on any significant difficulty with a vendor. In this case, you don't know (and I certainly had no duty to report to you) what communication I have received about the efforts people made to reach Thom regarding this situation. Now, I said that I had had good experiences with Thom and so had most others. But, I could not (and still cannot) make any sense about what went wrong here and so I made that post. I said that if I learned that this was all some terrible misunderstanding, I'd retract my recommendation and apologize. And I will.

many here who don't need his
omnipresent judgements to come to a conclusion on what to do

Well, that's ill-mannered. Now, I joke about being the Undisputed and people know that the whole comic core of C&F is that sort of mock gravity. I also claim to ride around in a jet and most people are smart enough to know that's a joke. But any sensible person knows that people are free to take or leave my advice and, believe me, they do both of those.

I've been hammered more than once about not being critical enough and for fostering a tone on this board that doesn't permit criticism. The former is probably true and the latter is false. So, with much reluctance, I made this highly tentative statement about The Whistle Shop and I get this from you. I really don't appreciate it.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:07 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote:Dale was his usual tactful, seemingly compassionate
self

Only seeming, eh? This claim calls for pretty significant evidence or a retraction. Are you up to providing us with either, Mike?

Kelhorn Mike wrote: .... but I'll just suggest there are many here who don't need his
omnipresent judgements to come to a conclusion on what to do.

Thanks for clearing that one up, Mike. (But are there also many who do need his judgments?)

Kelhorn Mike wrote:His
friends are certainly free to take his advice.

Phew, you had me worried for a minute. Are we also free to reject it? I mean, we really have options?

Doc Jones · Post by **Doc Jones** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 4:34 pm

Dale wrote:I also claim to ride around in a jet and most people are smart enough to know that's a joke.

What?!

Daleforce One is just a joke?! I need to go lie down.

Doc

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:40 pm

A JOKE.

You mean it just might be a bird, plane or Superman, and not the Daleforce1.

KATaylor5 · Post by **KATaylor5** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:55 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote:What finally
got me in this thread was Dale on Sept. 25th suggesting letting this rest awhile and on Sept. 27th he's "reccomending" to his "friends" that
they don't do business with the Whistle Shop because Thom had not responded to his emails in all of 2 days and the concerns of 2
customers.

Kelhorn Mike

Excuse me but I'm not upset that my emails weren't responded to in "all of 2 days". I'm upset because they have gone unanswered for a month and a half. The guy from Japan has waited for a response for over 4 months! I am not unsympathetic to hard working business owners such as Thom or others. I understand people are busy and they may not be able to respond right away; that's fine. But when days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, just how patient are we supposed to be?
Order confirmation and delivery times have been excellent in my dealings with the Whistle Shop but returning merchandise and getting information on backordered items has been a totally different story. Anyone spending hundreds of dollars should expect good customer service both at the beginning and end of their order.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:07 pm

I hesitate to weigh in here, because I like Thom. But he isn't working alone anymore. When I needed to return something to the Whistle Shop (because it didn't play well), communication was not good. It took quite a while to get a refund, and each time I asked about it, the person who responded to my e-mail would ask me to describe the situation, having no knowledge of it. It was a bit of a drag. I did finally get a refund check, though.

C age ing · Post by **C age ing** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 5:59 am

It is said that the first time you really hit trouble in a small business, is when you get your first employee, as it is not their business.
Bill

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:34 am

No Dale Force One....no Dale Force One....

Kelhorn Mike · Post by **Kelhorn Mike** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:01 pm

Well Dale I'm sorry but I stand by everything I said. You opened a
can of worms with me for sure and maybe others. I understand you get
caught in the middle of many things but this is an illustration of why
you should stay in the middle and not make a judgement and then
say you'll retract it if proven wrong. IMHO You and many here take
yourselves way to seriously and you weren't joking when you suggested
folks don't do business with Thom. For guys like me and Thom who are
trying to scrounge out an honest living making and selling whistles
it is SERIOUS business. So, when people in IMHO are wrongly maligning
me or a valued client I will speak up when I feel it's necessary.
My advise, Dale, and you can take it or leave it is "IF YOU CAN'T STAND
THE HEAT STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN", I seem to handle the
heat just fine. To Wombat, hey buddy you're in the gutter just like the rest of us. I'll go crawl in my hole for a few months as this does this for me. To everyone else, please support Thom and all other reputable
whistle makers and dealers who have earned your trust and respect.

Kelhorn Mike

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:20 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote: To Wombat, hey buddy you're in the gutter just like the rest of us.

Let's see if I've got this straight.

You make an unsubstantiated allegation against Dale. OK, I'm sceptical, but I challenge you to provide evidence or a retraction. Fair enough isn't it?

Now look what we have. Still no evidence, (just as I predicted.) Still no retraction, (just as I predicted.) A NEW unsubstantiated allegation, this time against me. But not only is this one unsubstantiated, it is so vague as to be completely contentless. I not only share a gutter with you; everybody else here is apparently in it as well. What gutter would that be Mike?

I said nothing about being faultless, in case you misread me as doing so. I made a very specific allegation against you—you insulted Dale without providing us with ONE SCRAP OF EVIDENCE. I provided a very clear piece of evidence for my allegation: A DIRECT QUOTE FROM YOU. So your allegation is snide and unsubstantiated while mine is direct and supported by evidence from your own mouth. From where I sit, there is quite bit of difference.

So, I ask again; if you really stand by what you said, let's have the evidence on which it's based. What else could 'standing by what you said' mean?

Post by **Dale** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:11 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote:"IF YOU CAN'T STAND
THE HEAT STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN"

If you're talking about your little outburst, Mike, the kitchen ain't that hot. I'll be just fine.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:28 pm

Kelhorn Mike wrote:So, when people in IMHO are wrongly maligning
me or a valued client I will speak up when I feel it's necessary.

People were asking questions due to some demonstrably valid concerns about their experiences, and were civil about it. Read their posts again and try to not let the fluff get up your nose this time.

Kelhorn Mike wrote:My advise, Dale, and you can take it or leave it is "IF YOU CAN'T STAND
THE HEAT STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN", I seem to handle the
heat just fine. To Wombat, hey buddy you're in the gutter just like the rest of us. I'll go crawl in my hole for a few months as this does this for me.

Nothing civil about this, never mind that it doesn't address any points brought up.