Stamping on the Horseshit
Telling us the truth would save us all a lot of time.
My grandfather was a champion gun dog and horse trainer. When I was a kid, I’d help him every summer. We dealt with *actual* horseshit a lot but he also used the term liberally as a metaphor.
I attended a microcap conference last week, and I was persuaded to meet with one that told a bold and bullish story.
The fact that this CEO presented information to me as if I were a total idiot and incapable of even looking things up continues to puzzle and sometimes frustrate me.
Without much time to prepare, I conducted a quick scan before our meeting, so I was aware that they had recently acquired a business, which was now their “growth story.”
After he started by talking about how they launched this innovative product, I did interrupt to point out that “well, you acquired this, right? Someone else discovered the opportunity and launched the product.” He agreed, but pressed on nonetheless.
His confidence was unshaken, and he even became a little prickly when asked questions. After all, they were already growing and profitable. The business would continue to grow, and as earnings increased, the stock would rise, whether or not I was involved.
Okay, fair enough, I like a confident CEO.
When I started checking out the product, I was astonished by the negative reviews. The dominant words were “garbage” and “dumpster fire.” Here are some examples. (There were no positive ones.)
XYZ doesn't seem like they have any interest in building a positive relationship with their customers. They're more interested in just pumping out as much trash as fast as possible.
Absolute dumpster fire of a company. Can't wait to never use their products ever again.
Tl;dr: XYZ sent me a broken set of buds, is making me pay for the return shipping, and won't give me a refund if the replacement set is broken too.
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I had the same ones and they suck harder than Monica Lewinsky. I got them for duck hunting and through they came defective so exchanged them for a new set, which also was ass, so I just straight up returned them. Garbage product.
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Can confirm, the product is absolute garbage. I got the ghost strike 2.0's as a gift and made the mistake of using them indoors. They are barely acceptable outdoors.
Save your money.
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I've got a pair and they work just alright, not nearly as well as my cheap electronic muffs.
Like you said, not really comfortable with any of the earpieces.
Mine don't work great at cutting off sounds either, the lowest setting is still not sensitive enough, and the levels are too far apart.
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Just so you know, XYZ offers an affiliate 22% of their sales.... Any YouTube, IG, or other platform influencer that pushes Axil is getting paid to push hot garbage.
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I used to work in the industry, they gave our staff freebies as well as product for promotion/ fundraising. The first time I used them - a four hour range day - I had the worst ringing in my ears I’ve ever had. It was like they didn’t work at all.
I asked them about it at Shot Show and if I could get them replaced and the dude I talked to seemed so offended. Like dude, your product didn’t work as intended.
They’re ok Bluetooth headphones, though… I guess.
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Year ago bought a pair from them. Took 3 weeks and I had to drive to their office to get a refund as I didn't like them. Yeah, they are crap.
That’s some pretty nasty stuff. These are some months old, and maybe the updated products are much better. More concerning to me is what it reveals about building customer loyalty over time. This doesn’t sound like a company I want to spend more time on.
The point is that it would have been far better for the CEO to provide context up front on these points. Yes, we acquired this business, but we have invested a lot to improve it. Although the negative reviews are accurate, we have revamped our entire product line, and the quality has significantly improved. We also hired a new head of customer satisfaction, and they are pursuing every unhappy customer to ensure we make it right.
If you’re planning a pump-and-dump fleecing of the public, that’s one thing. Getting real investors requires a different path. You get to choose!