Kenpo Karate 301 - Lee Wedlake

[michaeledward]

Mr. Wedlake is attempting to publish his third book. This book, in theory, is to discuss Short and Long Form 3. However, Mr. Wedlake seems unable to get the product in the mail. But he has been putting the money in his checking account.

I almost put this in 'Horror Stories'. Mr. Wedlake has had my money for some time now. I get no contact from him concerning my order, unless I solicit him for information.

Anybody else getting frustrated with Mr. Wedlake?

 

[Flying Crane]

I'd be curious to read your review if you ever get it.

 

[Ronin Moose]

I ordered the book a few months ago as well. It is frustrating but I cannot believe this is intentional on his part. He said he was having problems with the publisher and I imagine that must be true. Somehow I'll find the strength to go forward until it arrives without trashing the man.

-Garry

 

[Carol]

I've seen 3 or 4 things come across my computer recently that has him bashing Mr. Planas in one way or another.

Not quite sure what happened between those two, but Mr. Wedlake sure has something in a knot over it.

Rather unbecoming of an 8th degree black to pout like a schoolgirl over a counterpart.

Rather unbecoming of him to take your money too, Mike.

 

[Kenpodoc]

I've seen 3 or 4 things come across my computer recently that has him bashing Mr. Planas in one way or another.

Not quite sure what happened between those two, but Mr. Wedlake sure has something in a knot over it.

Rather unbecoming of an 8th degree black to pout like a schoolgirl over a counterpart.

Rather unbecoming of him to take your money too, Mike.

I'll talk to him this weekend but I believe that his publisher failed to supply the books at the time promised. They have been promised but the last I checked had not arrived.
As to Mr. Wedlake and Mr. Planas perhaps you do not know the whole story. I feel it was unfortunate that any problem occured but they are good men and have dealt with it privately. Close long term relationships can lead to contentious situations.

Jeff

 

[Kenpodoc]

Here's what is written on his site right now:

New Book coming out!
We expect to be delivering in late June. Our apologies to those who have been
waiting since March, but it's been beyond our control.
Reserve your copy now ,click here.

When you reserve a copy you need to accept the possibility that actualy publishing date may differ from the publishers promised date. I'm sure Lee is very dissapointed and frustrated.

Jeff

 

[Carol]

I'll talk to him this weekend but I believe that his publisher failed to supply the books at the time promised. They have been promised but the last I checked had not arrived.
As to Mr. Wedlake and Mr. Planas perhaps you do not know the whole story. I feel it was unfortunate that any problem occured but they are good men and have dealt with it privately. Close long term relationships can lead to contentious situations.

Jeff

Thank you Jeff. I did say in my post that I was not sure what happened between the two of them.

Something I shared in a PM with another person, I was playing around with a seach bot that I was built for work. I used non-work terms like "Huk Planas" to test out my handiwork. What I saw in the return were things that Mr. Wedlake said to Mr. Planas. I didn't see anything immediate in the other direction.

Does this tell the whole story? Probably not. But where else is one to go when the web has been exhausted as a resource? My choice is to bring up the information here and hope that I am either concurred with someone smarter than I...or enlighted as to why I am incorrect. :asian:

 

[michaeledward]

Here's what is written on his site right now:

New Book coming out!
We expect to be delivering in late June. Our apologies to those who have been
waiting since March, but it's been beyond our control.
Reserve your copy now ,click here.

When you reserve a copy you need to accept the possibility that actualy publishing date may differ from the publishers promised date. I'm sure Lee is very dissapointed and frustrated.

Jeff

Actually, Jeff, by accepting and processing payment, the responsibility falls to the vendor to ship the product. By debiting my account, Mr. Wedlake, as the 'vendor' in our relationship, has committed to shipping the product.

I really don't care about Mr. Wedlakes' relationship with his publisher. It is none of my concern. By taking my money ... my relationship with Mr. Wedlake has entered into a stage of commitment, which he is failing to uphold his end of the bargain.

In the software industry, what Mr. Wedlake is doing is known as 'Vaporware'. His apology has little meaning to me.

 

[Kenpodoc]

Actually, Jeff, by accepting and processing payment, the responsibility falls to the vendor to ship the product. By debiting my account, Mr. Wedlake, as the 'vendor' in our relationship, has committed to shipping the product.

I really don't care about Mr. Wedlakes' relationship with his publisher. It is none of my concern. By taking my money ... my relationship with Mr. Wedlake has entered into a stage of commitment, which he is failing to uphold his end of the bargain.

In the software industry, what Mr. Wedlake is doing is known as 'Vaporware'. His apology has little meaning to me.

Wrong. He committed to ship the product as soon as it was available which I'm quite sure he will do. I'm relatively sure that he is not out partying with the 14.95 you reserved your copy with. Mr. Wedlake is a good man and doesn't deserve this attack. PM me your address and I'll return your money.

Jeff

 

[michaeledward]

Wrong. He committed to ship the product as soon as it was available which I'm quite sure he will do. I'm relatively sure that he is not out partying with the 14.95 you reserved your copy with. Mr. Wedlake is a good man and doesn't deserve this attack. PM me your address and I'll return your money.

Jeff

Not wanting to get into a pissing match with you Jeff, but I do believe there is a difference between accepting an order (or a pre-order) and accepting payment.

Whether you believe Mr. Wedlake is a good man or not is irrelevant ... he has my money, and I do not have a product in exchange. There is no attack issued here; just facts.

Are any of my facts in dispute?

 

[Kenpodoc]

Not wanting to get into a pissing match with you Jeff, but I do believe there is a difference between accepting an order (or a pre-order) and accepting payment.

Whether you believe Mr. Wedlake is a good man or not is irrelevant ... he has my money, and I do not have a product in exchange. There is no attack issued here; just facts.

Are any of my facts in dispute?

The dispute is whether you can expect an order before the product has arrived and whether it is legitimate to hold the money in escrow pending that transfer. Your placement of this thread does indeed constitute an attack.

Jeff

 

[michaeledward]

The dispute is whether you can expect an order before the product has arrived and whether it is legitimate to hold the money in escrow pending that transfer. Your placement of this thread does indeed constitute an attack.

Jeff

Jeff, there is no 'escrow' involved.

escrow

2 entries found for escrow.
To select an entry, click on it.

Main Entry: 1es·crow
Pronunciation: 'es-"krO, es-'
Function: noun

Etymology: Middle French escroue scroll -- more at [SIZE=-1]SCROLL[/SIZE]

1 : a deed, a bond, money, or a piece of property held in trust by a third party to be turned over to the grantee only upon fulfillment of a condition

2 : a fund or deposit designed to serve as an escrow
- in escrow : in trust as an escrow <had $1000 in escrow to pay taxes>

Please explain, Jeff, who the 'third party' holding the deed, bond, money, or piece of property in trust? There is no third party. The money is in the possession of Mr. Wedlake. And I do not have 'fulfillment of the condition' ... the book.

 

[Kenpodoc]

In this case the money is in the bank. I won't argue further except to point out that vaporware implies a product that does not really exist. In this case the product is in production and will be released when available. In the future wait for a product to be released before sending your money.

Jeff

 

[michaeledward]

Jeff, I will keep responding to you as long as you keep posting. Other consumers, or potential consumers, might be interested.

I have made many other Kenpo purchases online, from Mr. Parker, from Mr. Planas, and even from Mr. Acord. In each of these instances, purchased goods were received in a timely manner. (P.P.S. And, in fact, I have purchased goods from Mr. Wedlake in the past, and they were received in a timely manner, which is another reason why this is disheartening.)

Mr. Wedlake accepted payment, this creates some obligations upon him, at least in the United States, where both he and I work and live. Had Mr. Wedlake not debited my payment, I would have no standing in this discussion. That the money in the bank is in Mr. Wedlake's account (The bank is not a third party, Jeff), there are obligations.

It seems our Federal Government has a thing or two to say about Consumer rights, when purchasing products from home (imagine that).
http://www.consumeraction.gov/pdfs/2006revisedCAH.pdf

YOUR RIGHTS: SHOPPING FROM HOME
When you order something by mail, phone, fax or computer, the Federal Trade Commission requires the company to:
• Ship the merchandise within the time promised, or if no specific delivery time was stated, within 30 days of receiving your order;
• Notify you if the shipment cannot be made on time and give you the choice of waiting longer or getting a refund; and
• Cancel your order and return your payment if the new shipping date cannot be met—unless you agree to another delay.
If you cancel, your money must be refunded within 7 days (or your account must be credited within one billing cycle if you charged the order). The company can’t substitute a credit for other merchandise. If you applied for a charge account with the merchant at the same time that you placed your order, the company has an extra 20 days to ship the merchandise to allow time for processing your application. {emphasis added}

Let's see .... if no specific delivery time was stated, within 30 days of receiving your order ... 30 days have gone by ... and then some.

And there was this ... Notify you if the shipment cannot be made on time and give you the choice of waiting longer or getting a refund ... well, I was not notified, at least not until I sent off an email. I certainly have not received a choice by the vendor.

It really does seem that the Federal Trade Commission might have something to say about this.

But, really, all I want is the book.

P.S. ... and a product that is 'in production', by definition, does not exist. The product only exists after production is completed.

 

[Sapper6]

i'd say it's common courtesy to let the buyer know if his "goods" are not going to be available for immediate shipment. if the "goods" are NOT available at the time a check is sent, the only right thing to do is wait to cash that check until the product is shipped. not a real difficult concept.

i'm with michael here. had he known the product was not readily available, he may not have paid for it yet, eh? i wouldn't exactly call cashing the check without possession of goods "escrow".

i'd say demand a refund and that you'll consider the purchase at a later date, when the product is actually available. good luck with it michael.

 

[Carol]

Agreed, Sapper.

Regardless of industry, an absolutely vital tenet of business is for the business manager to properly manage the expectations of the customer. Mr. Wedlake may indeed feel very sad about what has happened. I believe it sincerely. However, it is unfortunate that his sadness has not motivated him to properly manage his customer's expectations.

Personally, I'm willing to give Mr. Wedlake a mulligan...bur I don't think that he is so untouchable that he is beyond a contstructive critique of his business practices. No proper business standard dictates that the business owner is so pristine that he can avoid responsibility.

 

[Kenpodoc]

i'd say it's common courtesy to let the buyer know if his "goods" are not going to be available for immediate shipment. if the "goods" are NOT available at the time a check is sent, the only right thing to do is wait to cash that check until the product is shipped. not a real difficult concept.

i'm with michael here. had he known the product was not readily available, he may not have paid for it yet, eh? i wouldn't exactly call cashing the check without possession of goods "escrow".

i'd say demand a refund and that you'll consider the purchase at a later date, when the product is actually available. good luck with it michael.

Note the phrase "Reserve your copy". Mr. Wedlake does not need a Mulligan he has done exactly what he promised.

Jeff

 

[michaeledward]

Note the phrase "Reserve your copy". Mr. Wedlake does not need a Mulligan he has done exactly what he promised.

Jeff

Jeff, may I suggest you review the Federal Trade Commission report I linked to above.

I did not "reserve" anything, I placed an "order". Payment was made, and processed. By accepting and processing an order(payment), Mr. Wedlake takes upon himself, or his company, specific obligations. The language Mr. Wedlake chooses to post on his web page is irrelevant to the actual actions taken related to the commerce experience.

That is not a reservation. When I make a dinner 'reservation', the restaurant does not charge my credit card.

I don't want a refund. I want the book. If I can't have the book in the reasonable, required time frame, I think I am entitled to expect frequent communications on the subject; which has not been forthcoming.

Also, earlier in this thread, I mentioned I had ordered from Mr. Wedlake in the past. That is not correct. I ordered two of Mr. Wedlake's earlier books through Amazon.com. Amazon was prompt in accepting my payment, and in delivering the product I ordered.

 

[Ronin Moose]

And another thing.........oh, wait a minute....I thought I was on Kenpo Net for a moment. Nevermind.

 

[Kenpodoc]

Good News for those who understood that Pre-order and Reserve your copy meant that the book would be sent when recieved from the Printer. The Publisher swears that Kenpo Karate 301 books are loaded on a truck and rolling toward Florida.

Jeff:ultracool