Ordered a Valley Giant 9...

June Hwrote:

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

You can buy my Merlins today!

18 months seems pretty average. 

It's one of those things where if you are staring up at some wyde POS horror story that needs to be clymed, waiting for Tom will make yer hands shake and yer mind bend. It's a long, long lonely wait not suited to our American's usual need for immediate gratification, much less waiting a full generation or 2 for a cam purchase to arrive -but I have never ever heard of him cheating a single person. I have, however, read shitloads of story's like yours. They all got the cam in the end. 

At one point I wound up with 3 of the 9's, and realized that they make super wedding gifts for psyco wyde affecianatos (Hola Adam and Amy Winslow). Worst comes to worse you can sell it on here to someone who wishes to avoid a 18 month wait. Far as that goes, the fella 2 posts up has the amazing Merlin cams for sale at a great price: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/119604544/fs-merlin-rock-gear-8-170-and-10-204-cams-for-offwidth-and-squeeze-chimney-374-s#ForumMessage-119784356

I had the wonderful FA experience of once trying some wyde thing ground up while hauling one of Tom's boat anchors. Found a tiny crack not visible from the ground (although it's visible in the photo) that took perfect tiny cams. Boat anchor not needed. Maybe yer project is the same? 

 Regardless, I don't understand why it takes Tom so long, maybe I never will: good luck. 

Billcoewrote:

It's one of those things where if you are staring up at some wyde POS horror story that needs to be clymed, waiting for Tom will make yer hands shake and yer mind bend. It's a long, long lonely wait not suited to our American's usual need for immediate gratification, much less waiting a full generation or 2 for a cam purchase to arrive -but I have never ever heard of him cheating a single person. I have, however, read shitloads of story's like yours. They all got the cam in the end. 

At one point I wound up with 3 of the 9's, and realized that they make super wedding gifts for psyco wyde affecianatos (Hola Adam and Amy Winslow). Worst comes to worse you can sell it on here to someone who wishes to avoid a 18 month wait. Far as that goes, the fella 2 posts up has the amazing Merlin cams for sale at a great price: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/119604544/fs-merlin-rock-gear-8-170-and-10-204-cams-for-offwidth-and-squeeze-chimney-374-s#ForumMessage-119784356

I had the wonderful FA experience of once trying some wyde thing ground up while hauling one of Tom's boat anchors. Found a tiny crack not visible from the ground (although it's visible in the photo) that took perfect tiny cams. Boat anchor not needed. Maybe yer project is the same? 

 Regardless, I don't understand why it takes Tom so long, maybe I never will: good luck. 

Jesus, I wish my local rocks were that clean! It's hard to go a FA when there's a 2" thick blanket of moss covering the rock. 

We have that too. Banna slugs the size of small housecats.....Check out this FA photo I took. Buddy Adam is carrying his ice axe to clean the crack to get pieces in...this one wasn't too unreasonable as it was south facing. 

BTW, on the subject of Valley Giants showing up whenever the hell Tom's damned good and ready to make them, there are identical multiple threads you can do a search on (I'm sorry to say), with many others expressing that frustration. 

Yea, if you need a big cam quick it’s now BD for the win. then merlins.

if you plan on climbing big cracks for a long time maybe get all 3 types, knowing VGs will take up to 18 months. Mine took 13 months. Never heard back from him at all. They just showed up eventually. 2 years I would worry. As others have said though, there is yet to be a report of the cams never coming. 

The complaints are not limited to this site, just tripped over it on this climbing Forum: http://widefetish.com/forum/index.php?topic=970.0#msg92468

Still no response. It's been well over a year.

Maybe we'll never know...

Tyler Swrote: http://valleygiant.com

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

That site actually seems to be down now. 

Chris Cwrote:

That site actually seems to be down now. 

Jacked

What's the business address? Someone could stop by.

Wow this sucks

June Hwrote:

Jacked

Don't worry bro, this is totally normal. Just wait another 18 months and it will show up! /s

But seriously, that sucks. It's frustrating because people post about sellers like this all the time. Horrible customer service and no communication. You've sent a sizeable chunk of cash over to a stranger and you're hoping they come through. It's a tough spot to be in. Then, when you start to get leery and at the edge of your comfort zone and tolerance you're told to just be patient and keep waiting. Often, that's just the case. Lots of small cottage industry manufacturers seem to operate like this. Super sorry it appears you've been burned bud.

Mine did come after 13 months, and no contact, but that was a couple years ago. I think it’s worth folks that got their cam mentioning they did, and the circumstances.

I would also be a bit freaked if it had been more than a year, covid happened, and then the website went down.

Does anyone know Tom personally that can reach out and report back?

merlin and BD are the way to go for sure.
hope y’all get your cams or your money.

Par for the course....Tom's ridiculous. I would've ordered a 9 and 12, but after my first go round with him, it's not worth it. You literally have NO IDEA if he's alive or dead and if you'll ever get your cam. Some say that after 12-24 months their cam miraculously showed up...

I have not received my #9  cam - ordered  April 2019.

I've emailed: begged, pleaded, bribed, asked for a refund. Not a word in 14 months from Thomas. 

I'm resigned to say screw it!  I'm buying a BD one now. 

Steven Reedwrote:

I have not received my #9  cam - ordered  April 2019.

I've emailed: begged, pleaded, bribed, asked for a refund. Not a word in 14 months from Thomas. 

I'm resigned to say screw it!  I'm buying a BD one now. 

 

Yeah Steven, same here. 15 months. I’d buy a Merlin, but I don’t want to deal with this time of transaction again. Thomas Kasper is affecting the sale of Merlins too in that sense.

BD7s have been sold out for months and 8’s look like they’ll break if you sneeze on them.

Auden Alsop wrote:

From my limited experience with an 8, they seem pretty solid. However, as with all cams that big you have to baby the shit out of it to make sure it doesn’t walk, flip, or do other weird things that are generally not desirable when you’re way run out...

It seems like if you were to take a fall on your hips, sit down on an uneven surface, or belay against a wall, the #8 lobes could get bent out of shape. That's the worrying part for me.

In any case, I advise anyone who is interested to stick with BD cams and Trango big bros.

June Hwrote:

Yeah Steven, same here. 15 months. I’d buy a Merlin, but I don’t want to deal with this time of transaction again. Thomas Kasper is affecting the sale of Merlins too in that sense.

BD7s have been sold out for months and 8’s look like they’ll break if you sneeze on them.

7s are sold out for good reason - I haven't taken any true whips on it but I have hung on potentially the worst looking cam placement I've ever made in my life and it held, at least for long enough to give me a rest to finish up the lead.

But yeah those 8s are horrifying and the cracks they fit in equally so.

Valley Giants are the strongest big cam made. That's why people wait a year (or longer) to get one. Erick from Merlin is very responsible and excellently lightweight. I wonder if BD tested those two against their 7 and 8, how they would fare, because the strength rating on those sucks hard...especially the BD #8, 5 KN to failure? That's a reminder that you need to have something to back it up everytime you place one and want to take a hang. They need to change their motto to "The leader must not fall".