I wanted to share a letter from vPipes that I just got today. I think it is important to show their side of things.
Hi Padraig
The construction of the vPipes-Uilleann has actually been finished some time ago as per our original finish date (end of April) and we are now only waiting for one single component to carry out final assembly and ship to the respective clients, many of whom, like you, have preferred to pay the full amount in advance.
We have been contacting this particular supplier every day for the last two weeks and they are unable to locate the batch they say that has been sent. In order to avoid any more delays we have decided to visit the supplier directly to pick up a new batch of components as we don’t want to risk air-transport or any third-party transport problems at this critical stage.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at your convenience and we shall be happy to keep you informed as to the progress we make. Please note that the supplier we will be visiting in person is located in Denmark and we shall be setting out tomorrow. As far as we can gather, there should be no problem whatsoever in getting the vPipes to you well before the 20th June.
We are obviously very let down by this delay and we appreciate everybody’s patience in this matter.
Upon me asking just when those lads 'd be back from picking up the components…
Hi Padraig
Our plan is to be back in the vPipes lab on Monday/tuesday and shortly thereafter to be able to ship the instruments. Obviously, as you have paid in full, yours shall be one of the first to be sent by FEDEX.
… that’s something you can certainly say about “the analog version” too!
Ditto Joseph’s well-wishes. The concept of using something like this with headphones to practice in situations where regular pipes might not be welcome (which, when I’m playing, means everywhere) is VERY attractive to a noob like myself.
It’d also be fun to experiment, even if only virtually, with alternative reed and pressure settings just to see what they might be like.
As I can detect from your e-mails that you are nervous for having paid in full, a perfectly understandable situation, if you wish, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are prepared to give you a refund and then in a few days, when the vPipes are ready to ship, you can go ahead and make the payment again.
We are doing this in good faith as we don’t want the vPipes experience to be marred by the delays that we have suffered through no fault or mismanagament on our side which is why we are on our way to pick up the last components so as not to leave anything to chance at this critical stage.
Please let me know how you wish to proceed and we shall be happy to oblige.
Considering nearly the entire online uilleann pipes community is based either here or on the other uilleann forum, I’m surprised the v-pipes team don’t use this to their advantage. A post every so often, maybe a photo or 2 of their work in progress would help manage the expectations of their patiently waiting customers.
I don’t like bringing up the whole Davy Stephenson incident because I believe he received (and still does from time to time) too much flack, but the v-pipes team need to understand that the c&f community has been down a similar looking path. I.e. - delays, delays, and no delivery. Considering this history, it’s in the v-pipes best interest to do address the community’s concerns.
Communication is always a good thing, but not always possible… especially when there’s work to be caught up on.
Look, nothing about Uilleann piping falls under the catagory of “instant gratification”. Everything associated with it takes a bit of time. I have been waiting nearly six years for a chanter and I am content to wait longer, until it is my time to receive it from the maker who, incidentally, is also running a bit behind… like a lot of other pipe makers. This is the way of it.
I recommend folks ‘pipe down’ and continue waiting. Complaining, flinging out baseless assumptions and tossing accusations back and forth on message boards will not speed the process up.
And please, please, please, let’s not drag the names of pipemakers through these posts. I am nearly finished with having to deal with this. I do not wish be forced into editing any future post that does so. Please.
… that’s something you can certainly say about “the analog version” too!