Ordered a Valley Giant 9...

I’ve tried e-mailing Tom a few times now...I paid months ago. To add to the worry, his site is down now. Has anyone been able to reach the guy?

Site isn’t down. And I’ll bet Tom is the only person who knows the answer to this question. 

This is a very classic Valley Giant situation. Great cams, but poor customer service. My cam came a couple months late with no replies until the piece was shipped. Friends of mine have gone 6 to 9 months since purchase with minimal or no responses.

Hey Tom, if you ever see this, you make an incredible piece of equipment that is worth the weight, I mean wait. Why not say from the start that it could be 3 to 9 months? I've put my Valley Giants through hell and I know they hold up and still catch big falls, but poor customer service keeps me from wanting to continue purchasing from you.

Search the forums and you will hear this story time and time again. Personally i received my 9 and 12 in 2019, about 1 year after payment. I checked in with him maybe 2-3 times during that time period. He’s clearly established enough of a reputation that people keep paying up front all these years later.

Erick at Merlin had anywhere from a 2-4 month turn around. With updates he’s applying to his cams, and BD entering the big cam market, I wonder what will happen with Merlin Rock Gear. Don’t think he was getting rich, think it was a service to the climbing community, and hobby, so that may be over. Guess we’ll see. 

And then there is now BD. Question mark on how long they will offer these items, hopefully indefinitely. 

I haven't been able to reach him for the life of me. I seriously think I've been ripped off.

Probably not (I hope). Folks should try to pay half when they order and then the other half when it's ready. That might speed things up.

June H wrote: I haven't been able to reach him for the life of me. I seriously think I've been ripped off.

This complaint pops up on mountain project once or twice a year. VG does not communicate well and is painfully slow on delivering, but they seem to come through in the end. 

Andrew Jackson wrote:

This complaint pops up on mountain project once or twice a year. VG does not communicate well and is painfully slow on delivering, but they seem to come through in the end. 

Yeah but I ordered back in DECEMBER

no offense dude but it sounds like you have nothing to worry about for something like 6 more months

C Limenski wrote: no offense dude but it sounds like you have nothing to worry about for something like 6 more months

Holy crap. Seriously? My buddy got his in 4 months, which is why I’m freaking out.

June H wrote:

Holy crap. Seriously? My buddy got his in 4 months, which is why I’m freaking out.

I ordered mine in December as well, still no cam, and unfortunately Tom won't respond to my emails about cancelling my order. Oh well, guess I'll have a nice Valley giant one to go along with my BD cams!.... Someday 

My VGs literally took a year. 

Cairn War Machine wrote:

I ordered mine in December as well, still no cam, and unfortunately Tom won't respond to my emails about cancelling my order. Oh well, guess I'll have a nice Valley giant one to go along with my BD cams!.... Someday 

If you ordered on a credit card and the guy won’t respond to your emails I bet you could get your money back thru your credit card. 

Though I love reading about people complaining about this Tom guy, like they didn’t do proper research before ordering when it’s clear what you get into when ordering a VG

Barry M wrote:

If you ordered on a credit card and the guy won’t respond to your emails I bet you could get your money back thru your credit card. 

Though I love reading about people complaining about this Tom guy, like they didn’t do proper research before ordering when it’s clear what you get into when ordering a VG

PayPal, but I'm not worried about it anymore. CERB came in and Tom has always shipped every cam out. I know mine will come eventually. 

also a reminder that there's a pandemic going on-- that may be affecting Tom's lead times... 

My Merlins are for sale now!

Just email him from a random email and ask about buying cams and a shipment estimate. He is super quick when you ask to place an order and very communicative. 

Tyler S wrote:

Just email him from a random email and ask about buying cams and a shipment estimate. He is super quick when you ask to place an order and very communicative. 

LOL

June H wrote:

LOL

The said part is he's right...

Its funny because it is true!

But he does seem to squeak them out eventually. Mine took about 14 months i think.

Might as well just get black diamond big cams. Or merlins. I personally like having all 3 but I’m not working anything that needs that. Usually it seems easiest to just grab the BD cause you know you can bang them up and they are easier to replace.

Can’t wait to go sow up Pratt’s though! Gonna place every 3ft   

make it a 5.4$ rated climb

Still no response from Thomas, even with a random e-mail. Is he alive? It's been almost a year now.