The Whistle Shop

Whistle
1

(subject line edited by moderator.)

Hello fellow chiff-&-fipplers,

My name is Augusto, from Brasilia, Brazil.

I own a nice cheap whistle (and play on other whistles owned by friends) and I’m considering getting deeper into my WhOA (don’t even try talking me out of it, I’m already a junkie)

I was going to place a significant order at the Whistle Shop, including a nice Overton Low D (yea, my first low D, and it’ll be a great one!), but before actually sending him the money, I contacted the shop via email. The first two emails he answered within a week, but when I decided not to buy a Dixon Low D and go for an Overton, three weeks ago or so, I sent him an email to check if he has one in stock.

Since then, his answer has yet to come, and I’m getting a little worried, because I need the whole package to be delivered to a friend’s address in Texas whom I’ll be visiting around Sept. 20…

I tried resending him the email yesterday directly to his shop email account - orders@thewhistl… [edited to avoid spam bots] - but it bounced back saying his email account is full. I tried calling the shop telephone during work hours 10am to 3pm central time - 309-820-7500 - but either nobody or the fax answered (yesterday) or it gave a busy signal all day (today)!

Since I’m not in America right now, I can’t call his toll-free number 866-2WHISTLE (866-294-4785)…

Does anybody have any idea how to contact them otherwise? Does anybody live in Bloomington, IL and could visit his store for me - the address is 1001 Six Points Road, Unit 2, Bloomington, IL 61701. Is he a part of this forum?

I really need to talk to them soon or I’ll have to look for another store to place the order (over $250 I think)… I didn’t want to do that, because I don’t know of any other store that has the same variety of whistles and books I’m interested in. Would anybody have any suggestion in that regard as well?

I’m getting a little nervous I won’t be able to seize the opportunity of this trip of mine to America to buy myself a nice collection of whistles… I don’t know what to do now…

OK, I’m looking forward to your suggestions / help! Thank you!

Augusto Ornellas
Brasilia, Brazil
augusto DOT ornellas AT gmail DOT com
55 61 91155662

2

Thom is probably on vacation; he has a small operation. I’d suggest trying him in another week. Song of the Sea ( www.songsea.com ) carries Overtons, you might want to try them too. I’ve visited them a few times and they’ve always had a low-D when I’ve been there.

3

Hello, Augusto.

I do a lot of business with The Whistle Shop. Try emailing him at:

thoml

@

thewhistleshop

.

com

I’ve broken up the email address so spambots won’t grab his it and send him spam. Remove the spaces and it should work.

Best wishes,
Jerry

4

Thank you Chas and Jerry!

I’ll try and contact him on that alternate email. I hope I can get a hold of him in the next few days and place that order.

BTW, I’ll be buying one of your Tweaked Sweetones from Thom… I’m really looking forward to playing your whistle!

As soon as you have more news on that mass produced whistle you’re designing, let us know ASAP! I love your work, and I’ll want one of those in my collection (WhOA kicking in!)

Augusto

5

Somebody in American might be able to call the toll free number for you and check if the shop is open. By the way, it’d work like any other US number but just wouldn’t be toll free, so if you were able to call the other one you can call the 866 one the same way. Just be sure you’re using international dialling correctly and it should work.

6

As a general rule, it’s much easier to communicate with Thom by email than by phone, as his phone’s usually busy. I’ll call the number later today. If he answers, I’ll tell him you’re trying to reach him. If it’s busy, then we’ll know he’s there and open for business. In either case, I’ll report back on this thread.

Best wishes,
Jerry

7

Thanks Jerry and avanutria,

I sent him a message to that other email account you provided…

I’ll try phoning him too - it was just strange that his phone stayed busy the whole day yesterday - and I tried every 10-30 minutes or so…

If you manage to talk to him, please ask him to email me (the email is on the first message here). And tell him the the email account orders@xxxxxx is full.

Still waiting news on your new whistle design, Jerry! :slight_smile:

8

I called, and the line was busy, as usual. So he’s there and open for business.

I sent an email directing him to this thread, quoting your request that he email you and that orders@xxxx is full.

Best wishes,
Jerry

9

I just received this email from Thom at The Whistle Shop.

Can we help him solve this problem? I’ll also post it on the Pub, in case some of the tech experts miss it here.

Hi Jerry,

Thanks. I don’t know how it’s happening (I’m using
web-based forms now for email instead of having actual
email addresses posted at my website) but I’m getting over
1,000 pieces of spam in my “orders” email in-box A DAY.
now. I just changed that email address around the first of
this year, and took the actual address off of all of my web
pages at that time.

Anyway - that’s why it was full; I’ve upped the alloted
space for that mailbox now, so it shouldn’t happen again
before I can change it once more…

Thanks again,
Thom

Best wishes,
Jerry

10

Thanks Jerry,

I got an email from Thom as well.

Maybe he could create a different e-mail account (something like orders1@xxxx.xxx), and use some kind of script (I wonder if javascript does that) on the page coding so that the actual e-mail does not show at the page source code…

When I first started not getting answers from him, I went to his contact page and asked for the source code and there was his e-mail, for anyone to see… Maybe spam bots now are a little more sophisticated and can read even the source code when it’s plain HTML like his…

I know nothing of web design, but I’ve seen many pages that uses java or javascript or something like it to conceal the e-mail that will receive the information from a web form. Maybe someone who knows a little bit more of coding can help him in that respect.

Now, as far as my problem was concerned (talking to Thom and solving some doubts I had), I’m satisfied. Thank you all for your help!

(Too bad I won’t be able to buy a Overton Low D from him, since he’ll only get a next shipment of those months from now… His prices are so good that I had to try. I’ll probably start with a Dixon Low D…)

Augusto

11

We’ve almost got it worked out, I think.

We’ve been discussing the project here:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=42687

Best wishes,
Jerry

12

I think my case is bit more serious…
I ordered about ten of books and paid $305 already by the credit card.
It was in May 2006,and I have received the invoice right after.
Since then, I have been waiting for the goods more than 3 month.

Of course I E-mailed via his e-mail address and web site form though,
I have no reply as far.
I call to the shop during the business hour (it is midnight in Japan),
every time the line is busy.

I have no way to contact…
Would somebody help?

13

I’ve send Thom an email.

Don’t worry. Everything will sort out. He’s working over the weekend to fix the email spam problem, so in the future it should be easier to communicate with him.

Best wishes,
Jerry

14

Jerry

Thank you for your prompt responce.
i will be more patient and look forward to hear from him.

Regards.

15

Dear Hatao,

I regularly send packages to Japan, and usually they take 10 days, but back in May a parcel that should have gone Air Post seems to have gone surface and it took nearly 90 days for my customer to receive his package.

Since then I require all international packages to go with insurance. I still can’t track them, but at least I can get money back if it never shows up where it should be!

Sincerely,
Tyg

16

Within the last six months or so, I’ve had AIRMAIL packages take two and a half months to Australia, a month and a half to England.

Thom will be able to confirm for you when the package was sent, how it was sent, etc.

Best wishes,
Jerry

17

Just to say (not that anybody has implied otherwise)
that Thom is not only a great guy but a responsible
one too. I’ve done business with
him for years and occasionally drive to his shop
from St. Louis.

18

Hatao,

It is surely a problem trying to contact him by phone or through his website (because of SPAM, I mean)

Did you try that alternate e-mail account Jerry pointed out a few days ago, the one with thoml AT youknowwhat dot com? Using that e-mail address, he responded me within hours!

Good luck!

Augusto

(I miss Japan - I lived there one year… I played the koto there, but because of some silly bureaucracy that I’ve seen only in Japan, I could not bring my koto with me in the airplane (they wanted to charge me more than what the instrument was worth just as excess luggage!) - bear in mind that, say, in America or in Brazil, I would just pay a extra fee of $80 and I would be able to check the koto onto the airplane!)

19

Tyghress

Thank you for telling me that.
So, you mean you are the person who sent my package to Japan ?
My invoice number is 24567 and which was placed on 2006/5/12.
If you are sure that my package have gone surface, I suppose
it will take long time and hopefully it will arrive soon.

ornellas

I will try that account! Thanks.
I really need those books for my project to construct a website
of whistles and flutes.

Koto is as big as an adult human,and they will charge double in
Shinkansen (bullet train like TGV) and air plane if you bring it
as a baggage.Don’t they charge in other countries?
Shamisen is good because you can brake it into small pieces!

20

Hatao,

Concerning my koto… I stayed in Japan for a year as an exchange student at Sophia U (Jouchi Daigaku). There I took part of their Soukyokubu (traditional japanese music “orchestra”, with koto, shamisen and shakuhachi), training twice a week and having many intensive seminars and “camps” during winter and summer.

I talked with people who lived in America (and asked air companies via their websites), and they said most airlines treated the koto almost like the same way as a surfboard or something with a similar size. That would mean a special surcharge of (at the time) $80 only.

The problem is that the regulations of aircompanies in Japan did not mention “koto” in their limited list of musical instruments and the procedures and prices associated with them (like acoustic bass, harp, etc). Because of that, they didn’t know what to do and to be on the safe side, they wanted to book a whole cargo crate JUST for the koto (you know, one of those crates that carry hundreds of bags… Because of that, they wanted to charge me around 120,000 yen (over $1000 at the time) just to carry my koto from Narita to JFK (I would have to pay for the other legs of the trip to Brasil). All that because their regulations did not mention koto literally…

OK, enough with this rant!!

I hope you get your books you ordered from The Whistle Shop soon - did you try contacting Thom directly via e-mail (the one mentioned in this thread by Jerry Freeman)? I contacted him and got an answer hours later! (BTW, I do not think Tyghress works for the whistle shop… she/he only mentioned that she/he had one day sent a package to Japan and knew it could take a long time)

Augusto