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The Exogal saga continued....

As the owner of the Comet Plus/Ion combo, I have been a vocal critic of Exogal for fumbling the ball on the absence of applications needed to run them. They made the Comet without an illuminated window and reading it is difficult, and the remote, by their own admission, is inadequate. So the apps were indispensable, period. They have claimed for months that a new, improved remote "module" was in the making and about to be released immanently. I actually tried out a prototype they sent me and it wasn't very good. As time passed I tried to communicate with them via their website (on which they advertise a streamer line that they don't make!) and by phone, and was ignored.

So I chased down their sales manager here on Audiogon and he put me in touch with the CEO. The CEO admitted there was a problem and offered a range of excuses--a knee operation, a major internet hacking of their site, the pandemic, poor Chinese-sourced parts, an inability to get parts, etc. [In retrospect I am surprised that he didn't claim the same aliens who started the forest fires in California had attacked Minnesota] I said that I had the Ion packed up in a box as it was unusable and requested a remote for the Comet which he said was ready and would be shipped. He further stated that a new product line was in the making and that when it was released those who had the misfortune to purchase the Comet/Ion could trade those units in for "generous" credit toward the new line. Very well, I have spend thousands of dollars on this stuff so how long do I have to sit on it until I can change it out? There is no timetable for the new offerings--possibly by the end of the year, possibly not. Basically I got the old "trust me, I'm working on it" speech that they give everyone.

Two weeks went by--no remote. At that point I demanded a refund for the Comet and Ion which of course the CEO denied. He claimed he didn't send the remote because he assumed that I had packed both the Comet and Ion away until the unspecified time that he would so generously exchange them for his new products! He said he would send the remote immediately.

Yet another week has gone by--no remote. So I pass all this on to the court of public opinion. But it is ironic that the CEO of Exogal, in one of his own public postings right here on Exogal wrote: 
 "Too many audio companies announce a product, start selling it, and then frustrate the paying customer with BS excuses. Meanwhile, they've got your money." That sounds remarkably like the situation I find myself in. 
128x128rtorchia
Post removed 
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
I have a Pulsar unit I am assessing.  So far woks flawlessly.  I will try to produce a brief update at Dagogo.com very soon.
rsf507
2,313 posts
 
I now see said the blind man as he pissed into the wind and it all came back to him.....
rtorchia's avatar
rtorchia OP
138 posts
 
Jeff we are all weeping out of sympathy for you. Some of you seem to have a predilection for this company but from the above response the owner admits his many failures and expects customers to accept them. Personally I couldn’t care less about his trials and tribulations—I simply want a functional product. Amazing that he blames everything on the dealer! Had they answered their phone and email in a timely manner none of this would have occurred. He never intended to do a thing but to avoid me and hope I would go away. Yes, as I have said repeatedly here I loved the product and never anticipated this would come to pass. I hope that you you find all this so acceptable will have the same experience. 
rtorchia's avatar
rtorchia OP
138 posts
 
Refutation of Exogal CEO Point by Point--readers look this over carefully and please feel free to tell me if I am wrong. 

1. CEO is annoyed that I criticized him in this public forum. Had he answered my email made the Thursday before last none of this would have happened and all would have been settled amicably. 

1a. I requested and was told I would get the new functioning remote shortly. Over three weeks have passed and no remote. Above Doug Schroeder says he has an operating remote he is in the process of assessing. Is that the "SR 71 Smart Remote" that Exogal describes in detail on its website? Or is this like the Vortex series, something that is currently advertised but never produced? CEO refuses to address the remote issue and when asked to produce one doesn't respond. But he did admit in print that "It didn't work out" which is about as self-incriminating a statement as one can make. 

2. CEO feels entitled to sympathy over a number of business misjudgments. His chronic business mismanagement does not absolve him from contractual obligations to his customers. Do we hear elite companies like Primaluna, Wyred 4 Sound, Benchmark, Rogue, etc. whine that they want our sympathy for problematic products? No, they make great products (and continue to do so even in these challenging times) and stand by them. 

3. CEO "gets it" that I am annoyed about the application loss. But I and others bought the units because we were assured there would be apps to run them and that's why we weren't concerned about the cheap remote and unlit, obscure window. All of the reviewers drew attention to this as did the CEO himself. This is an extremely serious issue that comes close to invalidating the products.

3a. CEO tries to wrangle out of the application loss issue by saying that the majority of buyers didn't download them. I don't believe that but even if true he has a contractual responsibility to furnish the applications. He still advertises the downloads on his website with links that don't work. That's just plain false or misleading advertising. Suppose you ordered and paid for a pizza with anchovies, they made it properly but then picked out all the anchovies prior to serving it--shouldn't you be annoyed? 

4. CEO states my issue is with the dealer, not him. Really? A company makes a problematic product, engages dealers to distribute it, and then passes the blame off to them when the product has glitches? That is an outlandish assertion but it explains why many of the dealers on the current Exogal site no longer distribute the product. The CEO has a habit of passing the blame for his company's many failures along to others--me, the dealer, the competitiveness of the market, etc. 

5. The CEO considers me "uncivil." I have taken pains to maintain civility and discuss this in a rational, fact based manner. I have even said how much I liked Exogal before the app loss. "Steakster" kindly went and found all the positive statements I have made about Exogal in the past. So what does that prove? It proves that they have turned a good customer very much against them through bad business conduct. "Steakster" if you look on the Exogal site you will find a statement by me recommending their Comet/Ion combo so you can add that to your list. 

6. The CEO makes a product that becomes problematic for a very fundamental reason. What does he do? He tells the customer to sell it and he will assist the new buyer. He is simply annoyed that I went after him and this is his petty manifestation of pique. On the website they tour their high level of customer service!

I could go on but all the CEO did in his response was make himself look ridiculous and back himself into a corner. If you try to defend what is beyond defense you collapse. Despite these criticisms I don't that the CEO is an intrinsically bad guy, quite the opposite. He is typical of the very talented hobbyist who tries to make it in a competitive and difficult business environment and can't hack it. As I said above, those of you who defend all this obfuscation need to suffer it. Fortunately I have other and more conventional remedies for this situation. 
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