Is Laam seat still in business?

[mikerider]

Not going well yet...

To recap:

- 12/2014, I filled in web form, called, emailed. No response.

- 03/2015, I called again and was told my build date will be 4/22

- 4/14/2015, called to confirm my build date before I ship so I wouldn't be without a seat for too long. Was told to hold off for another week

- 4/20/2015, called to confirm and was told to send it in and he would take care of it

- 4/22/2015, shipped it

- Fri 4/24/2015, post office notifed me that "recipient not available" (at 1:15pm) so they left a notice. Text Seth and he said he wasn't at his shop.

- Mon 4/27/2015, called Seth and he said he will pick it up today but he said there are 65 seats waiting in front of me and he's not sure when he could get to build mine. (Then why did he tell me to send it in? Asked him and he didn't say)

Not sure where this is going now...

Will update.

 

[MCRIDER007]

It sounds like he is definitely still in business.......way too much business and customer service is suffering. Building seats is a tedious process and he told me he normally does not like to build more than 2 a day.....and its easy to see why after watching the process. My only advice at this point is for anyone wanting a Laam seat is to schedule a ride-in.

 

[mikerider]

It sounds like he is definitely still in business.......way too much business and customer service is suffering. Building seats is a tedious process and he told me he normally does not like to build more than 2 a day.....and its easy to see why after watching the process. My only advice at this point is for anyone wanting a Laam seat is to schedule a ride-in.

I don't mind waiting if he didn't tell me to send my seat in.

Now I don't have a seat to ride...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Not going well yet...
To recap:

- 12/2014, I filled in web form, called, emailed. No response.

- 03/2015, I called again and was told my build date will be 4/22

- 4/14/2015, called to confirm my build date before I ship so I wouldn't be without a seat for too long. Was told to hold off for another week

- 4/20/2015, called to confirm and was told to send it in and he would take care of it

- 4/22/2015, shipped it

- Fri 4/24/2015, post office notifed me that "recipient not available" (at 1:15pm) so they left a notice. Text Seth and he said he wasn't at his shop.

- Mon 4/27/2015, called Seth and he said he will pick it up today but he said there are 65 seats waiting in front of me and he's not sure when he could get to build mine. (Then why did he tell me to send it in? Asked him and he didn't say)

Not sure where this is going now...

Will update.

Sorry to hear of your trouble. Rule #1 for owners is to satisfy customers. You wouldn't go to a restaurant that told you the food would be ready in 30 minutes, when it is actually 3 hours.

Neither would I.

I won't be going to Laam. Sorry for your trouble.

Laam has a responsibility to be honest with customers to tell them the score regarding build date, or turn them away and refer them to a competitor. You don't remain in business unless customer service is number 1. No matter how good you are.

 

[airboss]

Glad I got mine before he got famous.

 

[mikerider]

Not going well yet...
To recap:

- 12/2014, I filled in web form, called, emailed. No response.

- 03/2015, I called again and was told my build date will be 4/22

- 4/14/2015, called to confirm my build date before I ship so I wouldn't be without a seat for too long. Was told to hold off for another week

- 4/20/2015, called to confirm and was told to send it in and he would take care of it

- 4/22/2015, shipped it

- Fri 4/24/2015, post office notifed me that "recipient not available" (at 1:15pm) so they left a notice. Text Seth and he said he wasn't at his shop.

- Mon 4/27/2015, called Seth and he said he will pick it up today but he said there are 65 seats waiting in front of me and he's not sure when he could get to build mine. (Then why did he tell me to send it in? Asked him and he didn't say)

Not sure where this is going now...

Will update.

Sorry to hear of your trouble. Rule #1 for owners is to satisfy customers. You wouldn't go to a restaurant that told you the food would be ready in 30 minutes, when it is actually 3 hours.

Neither would I.

I won't be going to Laam. Sorry for your trouble.

Laam has a responsibility to be honest with customers to tell them the score regarding build date, or turn them away and refer them to a competitor. You don't remain in business unless customer service is number 1. No matter how good you are.

I agree. As of now (Mon 4/27/2015 2:45pm PST), my seat is still sitting in the post office at Redding waiting...

I should have sent it to Russell...

 

[08FJR4ME]

Or do what I did, own two sets of seats. That way I kept riding. Keep an eye out on fleabay or the forum for seats being sold. There is another good reason to do this. I keep my Russel seats up on the shelf for long trips. During the week I use my Yamaha comfort seat as my daily commuter set.

Dave

 

[mikerider]

Or do what I did, own two sets of seats. That way I kept riding. Keep an eye out on fleabay or the forum for seats being sold. There is another good reason to do this. I keep my Russel seats up on the shelf for long trips. During the week I use my Yamaha comfort seat as my daily commuter set.
Dave

Thanks Dave, I may have to now as I'm not sure I will ever see my seat again...

Seeing how hard it is to give him business, I can imagine how hard it'll be if I ever need to have him adjust the seat for free... :-(

 

[ionbeam]

It sounds like he is definitely still in business.......way too much business and customer service is suffering. Building seats is a tedious process and he told me he normally does not like to build more than 2 a day.....

Unexpected success is usually --- unexpected --- and therefore always unplanned for. Recovery from over booking is tricky and often unsuccessful. These are growing pains that a business needs to overcome with a solid business plan. At the same time, a craftsman can't let down quality to meet the needs. This guy is in a tough place, the cusp between "Ahhh, I made it" and never recovering. Best wishes for the seat maker, and the patience of Job for the buyers. In the end, hopefully it will harmoniously work out. Sending good ju-ju.

 

[mikerider]

It sounds like he is definitely still in business.......way too much business and customer service is suffering. Building seats is a tedious process and he told me he normally does not like to build more than 2 a day.....

Unexpected success is usually --- unexpected --- and therefore always unplanned for. Recovery from over booking is tricky and often unsuccessful. These are growing pains that a business needs to overcome with a solid business plan. At the same time, a craftsman can't let down quality to meet the needs. This guy is in a tough place, the cusp between "Ahhh, I made it" and never recovering. Best wishes for the seat maker, and the patience of Job for the buyers. In the end, hopefully it will harmoniously work out. Sending good ju-ju.

Thanks and I sure appreciate that.

I'm an engineer and I'm not a business man or craftman so I may miss something obvious:

it doesn't seem too hard to estimate. If he has 65 seats sitting in his shop (as he said), then he sure knows how many he makes in a day.

Let's say 2, as a poster pointed out, then it's 10 seats/week, it'll take him 6.5 weeks to complete. So when I called to confirm last week, he should say so, instead of "send it in now and I'll take care of it" (his words).

Hope it'll come out ok.

Thank you all!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Just posted, Good deal so you may want to jump on it quickly.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/162963-stock-2011-fjr-seats/?p=1226037

 

[Spud]

I think MikeRider has shown way more patience and reasonableness than a customer should have to endure. Yes, his seats are good, but to find out there's now 60+ in front, when he was told specifically when to send it---I'd probably be blowing a gasket about now. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[mikerider]

Just posted, Good deal so you may want to jump on it quickly.
https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/162963-stock-2011-fjr-seats/?p=1226037

Appreciate it. But I was too late when I saw it.

 

[mikerider]

I think MikeRider has shown way more patience and reasonableness than a customer should have to endure. Yes, his seats are good, but to find out there's now 60+ in front, when he was told specifically when to send it---I'd probably be blowing a gasket about now. Good luck and keep us updated.

Thank you! I was upset but I wasn't sure how to deal with it. He now told me that I have to be patient and wait in line.

Now the seat is still sitting in Redding post office as of now (Mon 4/27/2015 @ 4:27pm PST). If I could have the seat sent back to me now, I would. I'll just go to Russell who seemed to be a lot more professional.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Call him and ask him to leave it at the post office, so it gets sent back. Tell him why. Then you're only out shipping.

 

[mikerider]

Call him and ask him to leave it at the post office, so it gets sent back. Tell him why. Then you're only out shipping.

Thanks for the suggestions. I just text him asking him not to pick it up so it stays on record. Appreciate it!

As soon as I receive it, I will call and pay Russell and schedule a build date.

 

[mikerider]

Update: 2 minutes after I sent him the text asking him not to pick it up, he text me and said "will get it done and shipped back to you before May". Ha! we'll see! Check's in the mail, right?

Thank you all for your support. This shouldn't be this hard...

I will buy everyone who posted in this thread a beer when I meet you guys (to thank for your moral support. I was so upset before I posted it up here and now I feel so much better with your support)! I appreciate it all!

PS: however, just checked usps and it's still sitting there and they are closed for today... We'll see.

 

[n7myr]

Mike

I feel for you. I went through your spot a couple months ago. He does good work but he needs to get someone to handle the admin side of the business. he told he was not good at the business side and I agree. but if he wants to come though this he needs to let people know just how long it will take and needs to have someone man the phones and email. he needs to just build seats and let someone else send, receive, pack, answer, call ect.

he does great work but dealing with the problems might not make it worth the trouble.

anyway I hope you get it all figured out.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

I feel for you too Mike and I ALSO like beer. Ha! This might have been a bad place to post that. You're going to have a LOT of new friends!!

We'll see how well he takes care of his ride-in customers in a month. I'm scheduled in on the 27th. Hopefully he gets a little caught up by then and stops accepting new orders until he does.

 

[Twigg]

I'm posting for beer too

On the substance though ... I am on record as being a firm adherent to Russell seats. What is not lost on me however is that everyone who has a Laam seat seems very happy with it, and they do look good.

Part of me thinks it is simple about the kind of riding folk do. For the guys who do multiple 1000 mile days most swear by the Russell. The picture is not quite the same for shorter distances, even if those distances would be considered a long way by many.

I just completed 550 miles on Wednesday, 1070 on Thursday, 1250 on Friday, 300 on Saturday and 550 on Sunday. The only parts that didn't at least ache a bit were my butt (Russell) and hips (lowered foot pegs).

So I hope you get your seat resolved, and I also hope Seth is able to make his obviously valued service just a little more efficient.