I placed an order for a couple of Clare whistles close to a month ago from https://www.tin-whistle.com/. Apart from the receipt from PayPal, I haven’t heard anything. Tried a couple of email addresses associated with the site, and no response there either.
I’m not in a rush for these. But wondering if anyone else has recently made a purchase from them and how long it took. And whether there’s another way to communicate. I see a twitter link on the site, but I don’t tweet. Thanks!
Not sure who is running the company, or indeed if anyone is. The original maker of the whistles, David le Bas’ death was reported here some years ago. I believe his wife tried to restart the business at some point and I think I occasionally see them in shops (but may be mistaken, I never pay much attention to them).
I have waded into Facebook but their page hasn’t been active since 2016 as far as I can see: https://www.facebook.com/ClareTinWhistle/
I ordered the Clare 2-part whistle via their website around Xmas time and it arrived about 10 days later (in England).
I emailed a thanks to them but didn’t receive a reply.
I love the whistle though.
Good to hear they’re still going, even with the passing of David Le Bas. I’ll try contacting them again, and wait patiently. As I live in the U.S., it’s quite possible they’re on their way, with a sojourn at customs.
Directly from the website I ordered Clare brass whistles last May 2019 and received them shortly afterwards to the USA. No nickel available at that time though.
I got my second Clare around mid-March. This is a two-part nickel whistle, for which I requested and received a green head (not an option on their order form). All of my correspondence has been with Olive Le Bas (Dave’s widow), and she seems to know what she’s doing. So yes, they’re still going, and even taking requests.
On the other hand, I’d made my first enquiry about a nickel whistle with a green head in mid-November, some five months earlier. It took several attempts to get a response; we sent a few e-mails back and forth since, and I think every time I had to send a reminder or three before I’d get the next response. So dealing with Clare is not for the impatient – but neither is dealing with the majority of whistle makers, sellers, and tweakers I’ve communicated with. Some people just don’t do e-mail quickly, and as a result receive e-mails faster than they respond to them, and for some reason such people are overrepresented in the whistle maker/seller/tweaker population. In every case, though, nobody seems to have taken my reminders personally, and I’ve not taken their slow responses personally.
So, back to Clare: if you haven’t gotten a response, keep trying. You should get through eventually.
I wanted to get a two-piece with a green mouthpiece, but it isn’t an option on the website. Then I found it on eBay from the maker. I placed my order on Friday, I will post again when it arrives.
My whistle arrived yesterday, so 11 days from ordering it on eBay to it arriving in the U.S.