Sweetwater WILL NOT carry Remote: Per CK

    All
    I received an email from Sweetwater on Friday, explaining that they have been informed by Kemper that remotes will only be sold direct. Although I was on the early bird list from Kemper, I chose to order from Sweetwater because at the time, the Kemper US store was not functioning properly. At the time of my order, I was #2 in the queue for the remote. I have since re-ordered from Kemper and have a delivery estimate of sometime in June!!!!


    That, to me, does not seem reasonable. I sent an email to Kemper on Friday and have not yet received a reply.



    Best
    Ron


    With any luck, you should get it before June. But the sad luck is that the Remote will be delivered on a first ordered, first served basis. So in case they are being conservative with manufacturing, it might take a little longer than the rest of the early birds.


    EDIT: There were a couple of other users who were banking on Sweetwater to get just the Remote. Hope they read this thread and order from Kemper now.

    There is more nonsense going on here with these damn remotes. I'm just about to put a post up shortly and I'm absolutely confused. I'm told to order from the International store, then the US store. These folks simply can't get things right. This whole process has been a sideshow from the start and should have been conducted much better than it was.

    Honestly, I wish this was done properly and they just ditched the whole early bird thing and got these pieces out to the distributors. I would have rather picked this up from my local L&M up here in Canada.

    Wow. This really sucks for people who signed up to the early bird list, but were contacted by their sweetwater rep. to buy from them instead (makes sense for US based kemper users like myself). A lot of people gave up their spot on the kemper early bird list to go with sweetwater. Did kemper back out of letting sweetwater sell the remotes, or did sweetwater assume they would be allowed to sell them without any confirmation from kemper? I think people that now have to wait for a few extra months deserve to know.

    Quote from rdamato

    All
    I received an email from Sweetwater on Friday, explaining that they have been informed by Kemper that remotes will only be sold direct


    What??? Can we get a confirmation from Kemper on this. Is this only for the early bird as had been stated, or for all? Does this effect other distributers in North America? I certainly hope this will be available for sale through regular music stores, as I do not want to have to deal with ordering direct from overseas.


    Could someone from Kemper set this straight for us?
    Thanks

    I don't recall seeing Kemper mention any other option to buy the remote except via the Online store. It seemed very clear the early bird was just that - aimed at those who registered early and were active on the forums to know about it.

    You're damned if you do and damned if you don't

    Quote from Mic2002

    I don't recall seeing Kemper mention any other option to buy the remote except via the Online store. It seemed very clear the early bird was just that - aimed at those who registered early and were active on the forums to know about it.


    I'm afraid this is true. I remember an express statement that the standalone remote would be available only through the Kemper shop (not just for early birds though, for general customers as well), and that 3rd party stores would only be able to offer the bundle with the Profiler itself.


    It would seem that the Sweetwater representatives jumped the gun by promising standalone remotes.


    I understand that this is frustrating and I hope they can work something out for you guys. By the way -- if you were on the Early Bird list, that wouldn't have sped up your Sweetwater order, but if you order through the Kemper shop now with the same email address, your Early Bird status should still apply. In that case I think you would receive it much earlier than June.

    The original announcement declared quite explicitly their intention to only sell the Remote through the online store initially, the dealer network getting them as bundle deals with the Profiler. Sweetwater et al are the ones at fault. They shouldn't be taking orders for something they haven't licence to sell. I know that sucks, though.


    Cheers,
    Sam


    Edit : beaten to the punch (Ima Kemper that user!)

    Not having the Remote available through stores will kill sales, IMO. I can see the early bird not being available, but not at all? I for one would never purchase this way. Does not seem like a smart way to market a product, if this holds true.

    I agree, Ron....this is ridiculous. I got the same call from Sweetwater and when I mentioned something about the problem in another thread and got blasted for it,. I find it unacceptable that Sweetwater can sell the Remote as part of a bundle, but not on its own. That is just punishing us for buying the Profiler before the Remote came out. On top of that, the purchase link in the Kemper Store dondoesn'tt seem to be working correctly for everyone. Why should I have to pay in full with Paypal and then wait until June or later to receive the Remote? It's not like the track record for the time table of the Remote has been very good so far. Also, with Sweetwater we get 2 years warranty, free shipping and tax, billed on shipment and SW customer suppport...we can't get that by ordering direct from Kemper either. I really tried to wait for the Kemper Remote because of the looper and the cat cable connection, but now I think I may have to look elsewhere.

    I'm a little upset about it too but what can ya do? I don't have $600 to spend in one chunk right now and wanted to use my sweetwater card (and a couple of gift cards) to purchase. My guy there has been keeping me informed of everything along the way. I do think it'd be smarter to sell the remote through retailers as well but at the end of the day, it's not my company. I went through hell trying to place an order through the store here and I still don't know what's going on. I really don't trust the process.

    Quote from drog

    Not having the Remote available through stores will kill sales, IMO. I can see the early bird not being available, but not at all? I for one would never purchase this way. Does not seem like a smart way to market a product, if this holds true.


    It wouldn't bother me ordering from Kemper HQ and not my local store. I can see how this can anoy a few people but I don't think it will kill sales. "You have a kemper, want a controller, log on to there site and bang it's there and you order one." Simple as that :)

    Why should you have to pay in full and then wait until june to receive? You shouldn't. I wouldn't. I'd wait until the units were available for shipping instead. One problem solved.


    Shipping to my location (Denmark) isn't too bad. For USA, provided the info isn't wrong (which, admittedly, it might be), shipping is free. Some countries have pretty steep shipping costs, though. Pretty sure that's not a way for Kemper to make money :)


    Free shipping and tax with Sweetwater, sure. After that cost has been spread out over their entire product range, of course. Free shipping and tax just means that those expenses are included in the list price. If Sweetwater pays for tax and shipping, you can be sure that you do as well, just "below the surface" :-). Anyway, it seems that for USA, everything is shipped from within the country, so no import duties. As far as I can see from the website, Kemper gives you 36 months of warranty. Which is one year better than Sweetwater. Don't know what SW customer support is, but you get support from Kemper directly. There's also a 45 days money back guarantee.


    Furthermore you don't have to spend the extra money to cover the reseller's markup.


    Really, what's not to like here?

    Quote from Raoul23

    It wouldn't bother me ordering from Kemper HQ and not my local store. I can see how this can anoy a few people but I don't think it will kill sales. "You have a kemper, want a controller, log on to there site and bang it's there and you order one." Simple as that :)


    Well, I was seriously considering getting one after being hesitant. But this killed the sale for me.

    Glad I found this thread!


    I played a Kemper at NAMM and they had the remote controller set up. I just recently ordered my toaster from Sweetwater and began thinking about using the remote. Dylan (my sales guy) said they wouldn't be getting any in. But I had no idea that they weren't really even out yet... NAMM really spoils ya, you know?


    Anyway, I wonder if Kemper will listen to its users and fanbase and allow Sweetwater (and other) suppliers to stock them... I'm new to Kemper so I have no idea how involved their brass are with us plebs who pay their bills. But it would be nice if they realized we want to be able to buy the unit from our preferred retailers - especially if it's the same place from which we bought the main unit itself. Boycott maybe? lol.


    Thoughts?

    I think nothing is carved in stone. Lets face they're not even out yet. I guess once the initial chaos has calmed down, and if they get enough requests, they may change their mind. IMHO

    Quote from lasvideo

    Well, I was seriously considering getting one after being hesitant. But this killed the sale for me.


    What is so dangerous or problematic about the process that it kills your "serious interest" in buying the remote?

    90% of the game is half-mental.