Mod installer advertises but doesn't respond. Just an FYI.

[Hanafuda]

There's not really much I can do about this, just venting frustration at this point. On Aug 30 I submitted an "order" to a well-known youtuber / modder for an NESRGB installation on my AV Famicom. I have the NESRGB kit already, and an excellent AV Fami I bought LNIB in Akihabara in 2013. This is not a cheap service by any means, but the 'desolder pump' tool that would make it possible for me to do this myself costs a little more than the installation service from this guy costs, plus he has well-known skills and experience doing this kind of thing that would substantially decrease the odds of a fuckup. This is a service, by the way, that he explicitly advertises on his website, complete with a checklist for extras and options you want installed.

I put the word order in quotes above because he doesn't actually take payment until the job is done. That make sense. But since I submitted this "order," nothing but crickets. No reply by email, so I submitted a support ticket on his site. No response there either. So I sent him a pm here (he is also a registered gbatemp member). No response to that either, but I know he's been to the site a couple times since. If he was simply swamped or had other things going on that was keeping him from taking new work, I could understand but the professional thing to do would be let the customer know.

No point in pushing the matter any further. Just FYI, things don't always go as advertised even if you're standing there saying, "take my money!"

 

[linuxares]

let the customer know.

Common misconception. You aren't a customer yet, but yes it would be good for him to maybe have an auto-reply. But to each their own

 

[Hanafuda]

Common misconception. You aren't a customer yet, but yes it would be good for him to maybe have an auto-reply. But to each their own

Depends on the definition I guess. If I walk into a store I'm a customer even if I'm just browsing IMHO. And in this case I've communicated intent to commit to a purchase. But yes I acknowledge there's no contract, yet. But if it's a matter of being on a waitlist, then there should be some way of at least knowing that.

 

[Hayato213]

So who is this modder you are talking about?

 

[Hanafuda]

So who is this modder you are talking about?

I'm not gonna drop names because there could always be a good reason. Illness, family emergency, long vacation, etc. But I do feel like if he's had time to stop by this site he could've at least replied to my pm.

Even if it was to say, "it'll be x months before I get to your order #," that's still better than nothing.

 

[Hayato213]

I'm not gonna drop names because there could always be a good reason. Illness, family emergency, long vacation, etc. But I do feel like if he's had time to stop by this site he could've at least replied to my pm.

Even if it was to say, "it'll be x months before I get to your order #," that's still better than nothing.

The community can't help you much if you aren't going to tell us who the modder is, regardless who the modder is, since you decided to ship the item to the modder you take responsibility for trusting the person, regardless if you did or didn't pay them before the work is done. Complaining about them in public doesn't help either since you are not willing to let the public know who the person is.

 

[Hanafuda]

The community can't help you much if you aren't going to tell us who the modder is, regardless who the modder is, since you decided to ship the item to the modder you take responsibility for trusting the person, regardless if you did or didn't pay them before the work is done. Complaining about them in public doesn't help either since you are not willing to let the public know who the person is.

I know what you're saying. But I'm not looking for help by "calling him out." Just wondering what others thought. Is 2 and 1/2 weeks of no response "normal" in situations like this? I would think it is not, but maybe someone else has experience. How long would you think I should wait before I give up? I'm sure I can get this job done myself, but it will cost me quite a bit more and I'll end up owning tools for which I have about zero odds of ever needing again. Not zero chance, but just about. And I would rather pay someone who has done this before, many times.

Also, just to be clear, I haven't mailed the console and the NESRGB to this person yet. When you place the order on the site, you receive an email with an "invoice" which includes an order #, and instructions that the next step is you will receive another email telling you the address to which to ship the console. I've never gotten that email, or any response through customer support ticket or by pm message sent here.

 

[Hayato213]

I know what you're saying. But I'm not looking for help by "calling him out." Just wondering what others thought. Is 2 and 1/2 weeks of no response "normal" in situations like this? I would think it is not, but maybe someone else has experience. How long would you think I should wait before I give up? I'm sure I can get this job done myself, but it will cost me quite a bit more and I'll end up owning tools for which I have about zero odds of ever needing again. Not zero chance, but just about. And I would rather pay someone who has done this before, many times.

Also, just to be clear, I haven't mailed the console and the NESRGB to this person yet. When you place the order on the site, you receive an email with an "invoice" which includes an order #, and instructions that the next step is you will receive another email telling you the address to which to ship the console. I've never gotten that email, or any response through customer support ticket or by pm message sent here.

...

 

[RAHelllord]

Just for the record, you're not actually a customer until you actually commit to a purchase via a transaction of any kind, you're still at the less glamorous stage of "prospective customer", though considering you've already tried to contact the dude through three separate channels before anything even happened there is a chance you got upgraded to "No." already.

Since there's no contract whatsoever between the two of you he's not actually obligated to even acknowledge your existence, much less you trying to contact them via unofficial channels. He's probably not using this site to talk business, which means you've effectively tried to track him down at a coffee shop to ask him if he's got your work mail already. Most people won't be very happy about that, at all.

So, like, I don't know what else to tell you here. Either wait some more and hope he still find it in him to respond, or find someone else.
If it's worth anything you don't technically need a desolder pump for a nesrgb install, I did mine with a ton of solder wick and a cheap heat gun, and while that takes forever it is possible. A soldering gun just makes it much, much easier and quicker.

Edit: though you could also check the store page for a FAQ section or similar to see if he's got anything in there about response times, or turn off the AdBlocker on his page to see if any announcement banners got accidentally blocked.

 

[Hanafuda]

Just for the record, you're not actually a customer until you actually commit to a purchase via a transaction of any kind, you're still at the less glamorous stage of "prospective customer", though considering you've already tried to contact the dude through three separate channels before anything even happened there is a chance you got upgraded to "No." already.

Since there's no contract whatsoever between the two of you he's not actually obligated to even acknowledge your existence, much less you trying to contact them via unofficial channels. He's probably not using this site to talk business, which means you've effectively tried to track him down at a coffee shop to ask him if he's got your work mail already. Most people won't be very happy about that, at all.

So, like, I don't know what else to tell you here. Either wait some more and hope he still find it in him to respond, or find someone else.
If it's worth anything you don't technically need a desolder pump for a nesrgb install, I did mine with a ton of solder wick and a cheap heat gun, and while that takes forever it is possible. A soldering gun just makes it much, much easier and quicker.

Edit: though you could also check the store page for a FAQ section or similar to see if he's got anything in there about response times, or turn off the AdBlocker on his page to see if any announcement banners got accidentally blocked.

Thanks. As I mentioned above, by what I think is the pretty standard and accepted definition, any person who comes upon the premises of or makes an inquiry of a merchant regarding their business is a "customer." If either of us were to take a substantial step/action, in reasonable reliance of representations made by the other, such as making a deposit, or shipping items for service as per the merchant's instructions, such action would solidify a contractual obligation, and then the purchaser would become a "client." I have done nothing to this point which would obligate this merchant to consider or treat me as a "client." There has been no contract made. I already explained that.

As for the pm sent, that was not sent until quite a few days had passed after I had submitted the support ticket (and received no response) on his website.

As for "he's probably not using this site to discuss business," well, yes he does actually. Anywhere he has a presence on the internet he does, which is what anyone serious about being in that profession would do.

I don't have anything against the guy, this is just frustrating. I was really looking forward to him doing the job. Once I spend a penny on getting supplies myself, that's out the window though. So, just wanted to see if people here thought I was being hasty. Is 18/19 days after placing the order with no contact being hasty??