aristotele1, I feel your consumer pain my friend.
The problem we all face is that there are only a few suppliers of sets available for us to buy from. Therefore there is not much competition and a reduced feeling of urgency by them to keep the quality bar high and the price reasonable.
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as in many other business there is a period during which you make some mistakes, and have to rectify a couple of things, and I thing that CB is on the right way, but still have some issues to improve. Just my opinion.
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you may be right on this point.
that is right eyechess, and consider also that from europe HoS, and the other US vendors, are not even an option.
Mike, I also do not understand why they cannot get the design right, but my idea is that they are not doing business with well estabilished and experienced carves (which would charge a premium), and rather they are relying on a group of carvers which are learning by trials and errors. So I guess that also their designs will improve a lot.
Maybe someone on this forum has more information than me on this point?
Okay ... I have read this thread throughly. I'm kind of nervous. Waiting for my first set to be delivered from CB on Friday. It's a Luxury set, the Arabian Knight Series. Great price for the comparable sets at other places. Will let you know how my story turns out.
In the meantime, MySeT, you said you bought two sets from them before this last purchase from them. Which sets were those? Luxury sets? Possibly pictures posted of those ?
Anxious ...
Also most European countires have walnut and maple readily available just like when we used to make sets in the USA decades ago. Rosewood,padauk, and ebony are not readily available to Europe or many other countries. I feel it is more a matter of what is at hand. That is why you will not see a set made in India made of Walnut and Maple. If they had that wood readily available they would make the Dubrovnik and wreak havoc with certain sellers.
Myset, two months is way too much, you can probably try to ask a refund through paypal. Good luck
I really hope that you'll get an answer, but be careful: i think that paypal has a time limit for refunds
Myset, two months is way too much, you can probably try to ask a refund through paypal. Good luck
Thanks aristotele1... and i really think i have been patient because:
I send a mail on 06/05/16...no answer,
i send another email on 15/05/16... still no answer
i send a last email this morning to Vik directly...hope i have a answer this time.
I absolutely do not know what to think of that
I tried doing business with these people back in 2013. Received a set that even a blind man could tell was massively defective. Sent 5 e-mails over as many days with absolutely NO RESPONSE. I ended up filing a complaint with American Express, who immediately put the charge on hold to investigate. And guess what? They didn't even respond to them! Needless to say, the charge was deleted and I ended up giving the POS (piece of s***) away. And though I may be tempted by some of their sets and by their frequent discounts, I absolutely refuse to ever do business with these people again. As far as I'm concerned they're BAD NEWS!
Remember, a great deal on inferior merchandise is no deal at all! Caveat Emptor.
It is a pity that your problem is not solved yet.
From my experience with CB and HOS, CB is cheaper and more dynamic in bringing a lot of new models into market, but not the same level as HOS in quality and product uniformality control. The felt is not cut perfect round, the glue is not complete, the shape is different from what they show on website, etc.
For me, since I can only afford to Econic to mid-range models, I am OK with this kind of discrepancies.
I just got two sets of House of Chess Galaxy 3" sets and find that the wood polishing and finish is superior to CB 3" ebony sets. It seems that HOC also has very good chessman products.
I just got two sets of House of Chess Galaxy 3" sets and find that the wood polishing and finish is superior to CB 3" ebony sets. It seems that HOC also has very good chessman products.
I've purchased six (6) sets from the House of Chess (HoC) in India, and I've been pleased with every purchase. When there were problems, they responded quickly and replaced the defective pieces without a hassle or delay. I can't vouch for the quality of all their products, but I can recommend the sets that I've purchased.
4.5" Encore
3" Fierce Knight
(3) 4" Monarch sets (Bud Rosewood, Rosewood & Sheesham)
4" Rio
Hey Lou, what about the Yugo (Zagreb) 4.0" in Bud Rosewood?
It is thanks to you that I bought this set from HOC. And it is also very nice. In fact it just came up in my set rotation for my G45 or so bag. The Rochester Chess Center Ultimate Rosewood just stepped aside from that spot.
I have not bought a set from CB yet for 3 reasons. The first is that I have not found a set design on their site that attracts me enough to buy one. The second is the obvious difference in shape and details from other, more original designed sets, and better reproductions or the originals have been attainable. The third reason is the quality problems that people have had, many times, in the past. The problems are of a high enough percentage to discourage me from buying from them.
Another point that hasn't necessarily kept me away from using them, but doesn't help them with me either is that their prices have increased quite a bit in the last year or so.
I've been meaning to start a separate topic about Chess equipment companies from the consumer point of view. Perhaps it is time to do that.
I agree with eyechess, CB offers many interesting designs and it is a real pity not to be able to buy from them. Besides I think that as their business is getting bigger they can ask the makers for specifically made designs, and keep pricing at a low point. But as in many other business there is a period during which you make some mistakes, and have to rectify a couple of things, and I thing that CB is on the right way, but still have some issues to improve. Just my opinion.
As for my personal experience, as I have repeatedly fallen into trouble with their sets (and I have many, most of them with drawbacks of diferent kind), I reckon it is time to stop buying from them. Overall my business with CB was quite a waste of money.