Open post to GHL about IOND

Scdell · Oct 8, 2021

Where to start with this?
I'm going to start with the total lack of communication on GHL's part.
We the people that trusted you and signed up in good faith for the IOND that you said was ready to be shipped in a few months are tired of this. I personally have been promised shipment within weeks for months now. To no avail.
This is more than procuring parts. I'm in the boat repair business and I've had to wait 3-4, sometimes 5 months for parts from Yamaha, Mercury, Suzuki. Not two years!!
We are your future investors and we are the ones that have bought GHL products because of the quality.

We are the ones that have put up with the time it takes to get equipment from Germany and we have endorsed your product. We are the ones that have established a following with you. The ones that persuade others to buy your product.

Now it's time for you to be honest with the ones that support you and come forth with the latest information on the IOND and an actual date of when we can expect to have it in hand.

Like this thread if you agree. The more likes we get? The more they have to answer us. We've put up with enough.

Scdell · Oct 8, 2021

Hmm. Not one like. Y'all are sheep. You wait to be told what to do and how to "wait" for things. How to act, how not to act. No backbone. Except when it's time to prove yourself right on social media and hide behind a keyboard, Whatever you do? Don't stir the right pot.
I'll stand by my convictions even if it gets me banned. It makes me who I am. Integrity, dignity and self respect. Challenge it. It won't change me.

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

Just so people know....... I also sent a response to the email I've received about the progress and the shipping notices. These were from Vinny@ghl. I asked for an explanation of what's going on so we can make a decision as to keep waiting or seek a refund. Twos days and not a response.
I don't know about anyone else but that's plain rude.

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

I have for the most part supported and defended GHL all this time. But my stance has changed.
Two years and not one IOND is in use in the states except for the ones that were beta testers.
There are pallets of IOND's sitting in Wilmington NC. They aren't being shipped. Why is that????
There's only one explanation.......design flaws. All I'm asking is for them to tell us what's going on so we the people that ordered in good faith can decide to wait or get a refund. Before we can't get a refund. It's happened before.

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

Scenario........ The IOND's are sitting in Wilmington. Send them out telling people they will get a new probe at a later date. The probes are made, they are just going to be thrown away. It's not the ideal scenario, but it will show some good faith that they will have the issues under control. A lack of communication is not a show of good faith. It's a sign of failure.

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

They owe us an explanation at this point. It's the right thing to do. Period!

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

I didn't order the IOND as a first item. I have about $4000 worth of GHL equipment that I absolutely love. That is why I ordered it. I had faith that GHL would do right by us.

Scdell · Oct 12, 2021

People should stop telling me what I should be thinking and doing as they haven't walked in my shoes. Here is the latest email I received from Vinny.

Hello,

IOND shipment update #4 (Arrival / sensors info)

Our shipment has arrived safely a few moments ago. Now the unpacking and sorting begins. Meanwhile, we have learned that we will be receiving a separate rush shipment of sensors to be included with your IOND. As mentioned in our recent newsletter, GHL is continuously checking and optimizing sensor batches for the best possible performance given the variances in shipping conditions and handling. We are currently waiting to hear back from them with an expected ship date. When we know more, we will contact you once again.

This was dated Sept 16 2021.
Expedited shipping for the sensors. Yet no word since. This is what's frustrating.
4th email saying I should expect it soon.

Daniel@R2R · Oct 13, 2021

Per our feedback policy, this thread has been moved to the feedback forum and outside comments have been removed (as well as responses directed at those comments). It is our policy that only the seller/vendor (in this case, @Vinny@GHLUSA) and the buyer (in this case, @Scdell) will be allowed to comment. As in all cases of negative feedback, our staff wishes for a mutually beneficial resolution to both parties.

If anyone has any questions regarding our feedback policy, please review the policy as stated in this forum and/or our site rules. Please reach out to me or any of our staff with any questions. We are happy to help in any way that we can.

Best regards, and happy reefing!

Daniel

Scdell · Oct 14, 2021

It's quite apparent at this point that GHL either doesn't read these posts or they choose to ignore them entirely. Nor do they respond to emails. Nor do they care about customer satisfaction. That's fine it's their choice as it is my choice to never spend another dime with them.

It's sad to see how this is turning out. It's a fiasco for them and us. One they don't seem to care about.

Vinny@GHLUSA · Oct 14, 2021

*** Posting for transparency ***

Update #1 clearly stated you are in-line to receive your device.
Update #2 clearly stated what the situation was and provided a direct link to that newsletter.
Update #3 clearly stated the shipment is coming to the USA.
Update #4 clearly stated the shipment arrived and we are waiting for the optimized sensors to arrive.

Update #4 also clearly stated that we will contact the customers when we have more information.
We didn’t forget about you.

No new email means there’s nothing new to share at the moment.
We communicate new info when we have something new to share. Our apologies if you are not satisfied with that.

If we had shipped the unit as-is and you happened to receive a bad sensor, you would not be happy. It would not be fair to you or others, if GHL sat with the current sensor state of the sensor and shipped it just to get it out. As you know, quality comes first for GHL. We are not going to rush a product until we are satisfied with the results we’re getting from the sensors.

As we’ve mentioned numerous times, you have the option to forfeit your spot in line and cancel your order at any time before shipping.

Just let us know what you want to do via email and we’ll get that handled for you.

Scdell · Oct 14, 2021

For transparency also:

Hey,

We have good news!

You are next in line to receive your ION Director!

Earlier today, GHL Germany confirmed the number of ION Directors they will ship to the USA during the first week of August. The current transit time once shipped is about 2 weeks, depending on carrier availability, load and customs.

With best regards,

Vinny Altamirano

GHL Representative North America
Hello,

I don't know how other people but I read this as expect it end of August.

IOND shipment update #2

Some of you may have received a recent newsletter from GHL Germany stating the current status of IOND shipments. In this newsletter, GHL shared the details of our new sensor findings and causes of the delay.

You can find a copy of that newsletter here:
ION Director-sensors - Delivery situation and sensors (mailchi.mp)

Even though the newsletter mentions additional months of waiting time, rest assured this timeline does not apply to you. In our last update, we said we were waiting for the shipment to be picked up from Germany. Due to the sensor findings, GHL decided to postpone shipping our IOND batch until more was learned.

As of now, the shipment containing your IOND is expected to be picked up from Germany end of next week. Once it arrives at our warehouse (2-3 weeks once shipped), we will begin making preparations to get your order sent as soon as possible.

As always, we appreciate your continued understanding and support.

With best regards,
GHL USA Team

Hello,

Again, other people may read this different. I read it as I'm still getting it soon. But yet another delay

Just an update on the status of the IOND shipment…

We are now waiting for the shipping carrier to pick up our IOND shipment from GHL Germany which should be any day now. This means we can expect delivery to be had at our warehouse by end of the month, possibly sooner.

You will receive a tracking number once we have your unit ready to ship.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

With best regards,
Vinny Altamirano

GHL Representative North America

Hello,

IOND shipment update #4 (Arrival / sensors info)

Our shipment has arrived safely a few moments ago. Now the unpacking and sorting begins. Meanwhile, we have learned that we will be receiving a separate rush shipment of sensors to be included with your IOND. As mentioned in our recent newsletter, GHL is continuously checking and optimizing sensor batches for the best possible performance given the variances in shipping conditions and handling. We are currently waiting to hear back from them with an expected ship date. When we know more, we will contact you once again.

A quick photo of some of the IOND units that arrived:

Again people may read differently. I read expedited shipping for the sensors and expedited to me means days, maybe a week. This was sent a month ago.

Now........ Originally it was supposed to start shipping around April after we got an email stating how successful the beta tests went. April to October by my math is 6 months. And a little over a year and a half of pre order announcement that it will be available soon. Yes Covid hit and we all gave you the benefit of the doubt there. What apparently never happened was the IOND being tested before announcement or during the whole Covid thing. It was rushed to the market and touted as working and tested.

I wouldn't have a problem waiting except for the lack of communication from GHL of which I'm sure others would agree. As a matter of fact the wait isn't the biggest complaint I'm seeing from people. It's the lack of communication.

As far as I'm concerned I find this response quite lame as it doesn't address anything to do with the sensor/probe issues. The same sensors that were supposed to be perfectly fine upon announcement. And it doesn't address the issue of a time frame for the people that invested in this to have a reasonable delivery date. We have been certainly patient with GHL . According to what I been told by GHL I should be enjoying my IOND right now.

As I previously stated, all I'm looking for is some information that I and others can use to make an educated decision on whether to wait it out or seek a refund. Is that too much to ask after almost two years? I have a time frame in my mind as to when I'll be asking for a refund. It wont be another year from now, it won't be six months from now. It may not be two weeks from now if I don't hear some good faith news from GHL. I'd hate to get the refund knowing it's so close, but I also hate waiting too much longer. Conundrum. GHL isn't making this easy. We've been patient. But everything runs out in time.