Die, Red Octane, Die

I hate crappy products. I hate it when a company puts out subpar products knowing that people will purchase them regardless of how awful the equipment is. Harmonix was the first in the video game world to accomplish this feat on a grandiose scale. They released Rock Band to an anxious gamer community. Perhaps they didn’t expect sales to be as high as they were, but Rock Band blew away the market.

Harmonix was probably not prepared to deal with the massive influx of Return Merchandise Authorizations (RMAs) they would suddenly have to deal with. Yes, in an effort to lower the price of their product, Harmonix released utterly horrendous merchandise. I understand that these are plastic instruments, but at least some thought should be put into their construction.

Harmonix announced Rock Band 2 and I idioctically believed all was right with the world. Surely they wouldn’t put out a below average product a second time, not with the success of their first one. Of course they did. I bought a Rock Band 2 drumset only to find one pad broken right out of the box and another so touchy it was impossible to use. Being a Rock Band fanboy, it was hard, but this drove me to a point of frustration I had never known. I lugged the drumset back to Wal-Mart and requested Guitar Hero: World Tour. Surely, Activision/Red Octane would have learned from Harmonix’s mistakes. Surely, with their Guitar Hero experience, Activision would release much better peripherals.

Completely wrong.

Three songs into my GH:WT extravaganza, the bass pedal stops working. Entirely. I go through the checklist of “possible solutions” I find on redoctane.com and other websites. Nothing. I finally give into the thought that I’m going to have to go through the RMA process. On October 26th, I requested an RMA number and got one. A week later, my drum pedal was mailed to Red Octane. I diligently check my RMA status daily, hoping against hope that the status would change from the ever-stubborn “In Process” to “Shipped!” Of course, it never moves, just mockingly stares back at me.

On November 24th, I sent an email to service@redoctane.com illustrating my extreme displeasure with their company. While I haven’t gotten an email back from a human being, I did receive one explaining that I’d been given a “case number.” Awesome. I feel better already.

I have tried to call every phone number I can get my grubby little hands on in a vain attempt to speak to someone human. I don’t care if I end up talking to Joan in Human Resources, I just have this overwhelming need to make someone at Red Octane miserable. Their phone system routes you all over the place with automated answers. If you ignore the questions (like maybe someone who is hard of hearing would do), it won’t route you to a human being, it just disconnects you completely. Ironically, I was browsing Red Octane’s FAQ page and the answer to the question “How do I request a refund?” goes to a page that says “Invalid Article.”

I will never purchase another product from Red Octane or Activision as long as I live. I doubt it will impact their overall sales much, but I will do what I can. They are, hands down, one of the worst companies I’ve had the displeasure of dealing with. Rock Band may not have been perfect, but they fixed their errors quickly and even allowed us peasants to talk to human beings at their company. I urge all of you to heed my warnings and not give either company a penny of your money. They will not raise the quality of their products until people stop buying the garbage they are putting out.

So please, think twice before buying from this wretched excuse for a company.

-Chad 2

Update: December 4th, 2008 – I finally received my pedal in the mail. Never any phone calls, emails or responses from Red Octane. Buyers beware.

Some choice quotes I found from other people dealing with Red Octane:

“Terrible customer service. I have left at least 15 messages and have not heard back from any one regarding the status of my return.”

“ I have been trying to contact Red Octane by phone and e-mail for almost a month and I have only been ignored.”

“WORST Customer Service I have ever experienced. I have emailed and called numerous times”

“I got a stupid phone tree. Then when I finally went to the operator, I was disconnected… twice.”

“DO NOT PURCHASE WITH REDOCTANE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO DEAL WITH ANY PROBLEMS ON YOUR OWN. There are much more reputable companies out there who would put their best foot out for a customer. Redoctane wouldn’t crawl an inch.”