Anybody want to REALLY know what AKA's customer service is about?

[ezrunner]

AKA Customer Service

Man, I hate to see this happened.

Larry and Eileen have been nothing less than OUTSTANDING in the dealings I've had with them. I guess they felt that Calvin would not be satisfied with their product if they replaced it.

At least AKA put the effort out to attempt a refund and correspond with the customer. There are many people in this and other industries that would not have taken that step.

If there is a problem with the anno or reg seats, etc then that is a manufacturing defect.

Everything I've had AKA has been great and to the same high standards I expect from a top notch machine shop such as they operate.

We are only hearing one side of the story here and everyone is entitled to a few bad days. In business you will satisfy customers and you will upset customers. Let's not flame without a full understanding.

-rob

[FallNAngel]

Re: AKA

Originally posted by B-Lazy
Just b/c this one dude had a bad experience with AKA doesn't mean that thier products suck.

No, but it does mean they have poor customer service. The fact that many other people have this problem as well make me question their reliability as a company as well.

Originally posted by B-Lazy
Vikings are the lowest pressure

Like that means anything

Originally posted by B-Lazy
most effecient

There are others that are close

Originally posted by B-Lazy
reliable

That's debatable

Originally posted by B-Lazy
fast shooting markers out right now

There are other markers that are fast. In either case, almost any marker is going to outshoot your fingers without bounce.

[Tunaman]

Re: AKA

Originally posted by B-Lazy


Does anybody else see any humor in that statement? Also, Vikings are awesome guns. Just b/c this one dude had a bad experience with AKA doesn't mean that thier products suck. Vikings are the lowest pressure, most effecient, reliable, fast shooting markers out right now, and the 04's aren't very heavy either.



Tuna... I had alot of respect for you but that is an extremely ignorant statement.

Obviously you dont know what you are talking about. Going back to last year and a little further back, these guns came with boards that didnt work, caps that were bull, and there was no factory fix that a dealer could get done. Entire batches of guns that had the same problems with no help from the factory at all. They may have corrected some of these issues by now but the damage to my tastebuds is forever embedded. I lost quite a few customers over this issue and wont ever get involved in this again. This company has a history of selling products that arent worthy of sale but continue to sell them. I can give you at least 5 people I know right now that bought them recently and trust me...they DO suck. Engineer your product correctly and test it fully before dumping it on the unsuspecting public. That is bad business practice. If you need more testimonials I will be glad to provide them to you. If you got one that works correctly you should consider yourself lucky. I know dealers that have had BAD issues with this line of markers. Dont believe the hype...but some people are truly suckers anyway. And for any customer to have to recieve a letter like the one Calvin did is a disgrace.

[Steelrat]

EVERY company has issues with some products. Flatline reg seats, anyone? Though I am a bit concerned about the tone of the letter, I don't know a thing about the events that preceded those two letter, beyond what we have been told here.

Let me tell you my experience. I had an 03 viking that worked flawlessly. I recently bought an 04 that has a leaky ram and a detent issue. I talked with Chris, one of the AKA master techs, who was extremely friendly and helpful. He asked that I send it in for repair. Fair enough. I also posted on the PBN forums regarding an issue I was having with the detents and small paint. The next day, Dan Voils, the other AKA master tech, announces that AKA will be sending out some beta-test bolts designed to correct the problem. So I have had good experiences with AKA service.

The one issue that I do agree with is the "lifetime warranty." Its an often-mentioned benefit, yet few understand that it only covers the parts, not the labor. Thats why I specifically bought mine from OTE, as they cover both for the lifetime of the product.

If this thread hasnt already been linked to the PBN forum, I'll do it. I think we all want to know what happened, and hear AKA's side of it. THEN we can make an informed decision.

EDIT: BTW, I think AGD has THE best customer service. I really dont think anyone is going to be able to reach the same level, and do it for so long. The fact that Tom Kaye shows up for AO events, and talks with people who he knows do not own his products, is indicative of the outstanding attitude AGD has.

[cledford]

Re: Re: AKA

Originally posted by Tunaman
This company has a history of selling products that arent worthy of sale but continue to sell them. I

Case in point - the SCM. As much as AKA prides themselves on their use of the internet to reach their customers (Their techs have mentioned it multiple times in the PBN forum - we won't even get into what a real web-presence is ...cough, AO...) There was never one sticky, heck one post, one news item (at their website) that mentioned anything about different generations of SCMs or the need to have generation 1's upgraded to work correctly. After repeated digging, finally a non-factory tech came forward and mentioned this fact and told me how to tell the difference. As soon as I called Christina at the factory and said it was a generation 1 she immediately stated that it needed to come back. IMHO, situations like that give every appearance of a "let's only fix it if they figure out something is wrong" attitude. My feeling is that if you know about a problem you let your owners know as well. The creeping issue could have quite easily led to severe damage to my marker (costing them or possibly me a lot more), or even causing injury to someone - potentially costing a filed owner his insurance. Can anyone explain why they haven't seen fit to make the information general knowledge? I can't figure it out.

-Calvin

[Muzikman]

Calvin, Didn't you have a problem with AKA back in 2002 with the data link cables?

I think it is really bad business to send back a check and a letter saying go away and never come back. I could see if this was in person or over the phone where the person could get a little annoyed and say something like that. In a letter you have time to cool down and re-think things before you send it.

For those who bad mouth Calvin, he is a very stand up guy who just speaks his mind and does not believe things until he sees it for himself. So when things do not work like claimed or like they should, he speaks up. Lots of people do not like this, but it is a good quality to have and shows that someone does care about what they buy.

[cledford]

Originally posted by Muzikman
Calvin, Didn't you have a problem with AKA back in 2002 with the data link cables?

I think it is really bad business to send back a check and a letter saying go away and never come back. I could see if this was in person or over the phone where the person could get a little annoyed and say something like that. In a letter you have time to cool down and re-think things before you send it.

For those who bad mouth Calvin, he is a very stand up guy who just speaks his mind and does not believe things until he sees it for himself. So when things do not work like claimed or like they should, he speaks up. Lots of people do not like this, but it is a good quality to have and shows that someone does care about what they buy.

Thanks Jason.

For the rest of you guy on why I do things like this - I personally feel that the Internet is a huge benefit to our generation. In some ways it sets communication back since most of it is text based, but in other ways it leads to us all having unprecedented access to information to help make decisions with. The information is only as good as the people who supply it, and I feel it's a bit of a civic duty to provide both good and bad experiences to that big pile of data. I personally don't EVER make a purchase anymore without going online first and during at least a quick search. The practice has saved me a lot of time, aggravation, and money. Those benefits only occurred because there were people before me who had a good or bad experiences and who cared enough about everyone else (millions of people they didn't know or would ever meet) to take some of their time to help those others out. I just like giving back. I have a special interest in paintball because of 2 reasons, it's my life's passion and because I've basically been around it almost since the start. It's the only thing I've ever been so heavily involved in, and I feel that it's still in it's youth. In some ways I feel that I've in a small way helped (and am still helping) PB grow into what it will become when mature. My hope is that some day we'll all demand a lot more then lip service from the industry. I'm just trying to help get that started. I have no personal vendetta against AKA - but will let people know if I think a company has done wrong or right.

-Calvin

[punkncat]

I have owned AKA products in the past.I had very pleasant dealings with their customer service department.
I hate to see them treat any customer this way.But as has been stated before , we are only getting one side of the story.Not to say there is no truth to it.
It could have just been a bad day for someone.....

[Steelrat]

So, what are you going to do with your vikings?

On a side note, did you try seating the reg seat with 250 psi? That seems to be the favored method to "break in" the SCM, and get it stable.

[cledford]

Originally posted by Steelrat
So, what are you going to do with your vikings?

On a side note, did you try seating the reg seat with 250 psi? That seems to be the favored method to "break in" the SCM, and get it stable.

I plan on keeping the Viking - unless someone with an Xmag wants it plus some cash

I did try seating it with 250psi. Both RevBubba and I think TargetIndy suggested that. I just took a dual sided ASA and put a guage on on side and a check valve on the other. Ran the Sidewinder up to 250 and put it back on the gun. "Hit it" with 500 from the Flatline through a slide check - no dice.

-CAlvin

[Steelrat]

That SCM is a tricky bugger. I think the 04s with the SCMs stock are working a bit better than the SCMs added to the 03s. Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with AKA.

[QUINCYMASSGUY]

cycle

Is that 250 CYCLE pressure into the SCM or setting the sidewinder at 250 so the operating pressure is 250 to seat it? I have an SCM sitting unused that AKA just "updated" and I'm a little nervous I'm going to encounter stuff like this, but I want to make sure I go by the book and know it's not me causing the issue if one exists.

I'm shocked that letter actually came out because you know Eileen wouldn't have mailed it without at least a few others there agreeing that they should do it. I definitely think it's bad business because this is a defect and they basically got tired of fixing their own mistake without finishing the job. How my SCM reacts and if any other customers have encounters like this will have a great effect on whether I continue with AKA or not.

[Steelrat]

I would just recommend calling Chris at OTE and asking him, or posting the question on the AKA forum at PBN. I dont want to get it wrong. I think its 250 from the sidewinder, but im not positive. If, by cycle pressure, you meant 250 out from the SCM (operating pressure), then I know that aint it.

Out of curiosity, if the SCM was creeping, would you see massive variance in the velocity of shots? I dont have a toolkit, so I cant check the pressure. Both of my SCMs (one on an 03, one on an 04) have seemed to work fine, with the chrono readings being +/-3 usually. Is the creep gradual, or totally random?

[Crighton]

Thats crazy. I could see refunding the money and a letter of appology for the trouble. I could see them requesting he send in his entire marker to be tested and have the smc installed at the shop. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they would purposely tell a long time customer to take a long walk off a short pier.

[cledford]

Originally posted by Steelrat
I would just recommend calling Chris at OTE and asking him, or posting the question on the AKA forum at PBN. I dont want to get it wrong. I think its 250 from the sidewinder, but im not positive. If, by cycle pressure, you meant 250 out from the SCM (operating pressure), then I know that aint it.

Out of curiosity, if the SCM was creeping, would you see massive variance in the velocity of shots? I dont have a toolkit, so I cant check the pressure. Both of my SCMs (one on an 03, one on an 04) have seemed to work fine, with the chrono readings being +/-3 usually. Is the creep gradual, or totally random?

The creeping was linear and constant. I would set the SCM at ~75psi and before update it would rise to over 95 (at which time I would degas) in about 4 minutes - with no sign of stopping. Once it was back from upgrade it would creep from 75 to 85 in about 5 minutes then continue to over 95 during aprox 35 more. Just the change from 75 to 85 would cause hot shots. Leaving the marker in the car gassed up during lunch (which is an hour at Pevs) could well lead to a blown 'noid. I also noticed very weird behavior (which I posted twice at PBN and no "master techs" responded to) in that the SCM took FOREVER compared to the LPR to recover fully (like 5-6 seconds) - and during rapid (9bps or so) fire would NEVER climb to over 65 psi. I've found the opposite with the LPR. It recharges to 75 almost instantly and drop off during full-auto (debounce set to 1) is only about 5psi. I can't say whether the funkiness I saw with the SCM was part of the over all problem, or normal. I suggest getting the LPR kit and testing for yourself. What I noticed in the AKA forum was that plenty of people would yell about their SCM working fine, but nearly everyone had no way of verifying it. The funny thing was that the few with the kit seem to be seeing what I saw. The only way to know for sure is to check it out yourself - although I'd like to hear how it goes.

-Calvin