Alesis Is Back!!

[nuss]

For those of you who are interested, here is the latest scoop on alesis' situation.

We all should have known this would happen.

Cheers!


http://www.harmony-central.com/News/...Ownership.html

[mnicoletti]

Thanks for the post, Nuss.

It was a little rough for a month or so, but things are starting to get back to normal slowly but surely.

It is an important distinction to remember that we were purchased by Jack O'Donnell, NOT the Numark company. We are not a subsidiary of Numark. Jack nows owns the two companies.

thanks,

Mike

[Krakit]

Numark is primarily a DJ oriented Co. Yes?

[MISTERQCUE]

Yup!!!

[mnicoletti]

Yes, Numark has DJ equipment, but again, is does not matter; Numark does not own us, Mr. Jack O'Donnell does.

I don't think we'll be seeing turntables with ADAT Optical outs, though that may not be a bad idea....

Mike

[Blue Bear Sound]

Hey - if we can figure out how to get 3 more pairs of groove on vinyl, we can get surround and give DVD-A a run for its money!!!



Bruce

[nuss]

To: Mike

Well my friend, since your so happy i'm spreading the positive news..............can I have an HD24????????

Cheers!!

[Jason001]

HEY, four grooves of vinyl could be done! I can see it , but I don't know how it works! The thought gives me an ear-on!


J

[MISTERQCUE]

Yeah! What nuss said!!

As a promotional gimmick and to increase advertisement revenues
mike should give every-1 on this thread a free HD24 so in this way,by word of mouth,we can tell the WORLD how great Alesis/Numark is!!!!!!!

[mnicoletti]

Uh, yeah, gotta go...

Actually the multiple grooves reminds me of the old Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief album that had three sides on one album...one side had concentric grooves, and if you used an auto turntable, you'd never hear the 3rd side since the needle would drop into the same groove every time. You had to pick the arm up and back it up a groove.

It was then that I knew how cool audio technology could be.

Mike

[Automaton]

I've been looking in this forum for about a month now, and I finally went ahead and registered... I've been reading mnicoletti's posts rather devotionally since I first heard about the problems alesis was having being as I own several alesis products. By the way, I'm very sorry to hear about the layoff. I guess my question is if they are still getting rid of people does that still mean that the future is grim for alesis?

[mnicoletti]

Hi, Automaton,

First of all, thanks for reading my posts....I never had anyone read my writing "devotionally" before Too bad it was about Alesis' hardships.....

Disclaimer: I am of course writing this as a non-Alesis-employee, non-Alesis-representative. It is not necessarily the opinion of the company.

My gut tells me that though the future may not be "grim", it is not going to be like Alesis was before (in some ways that is actually a good thing).

What I am seeing is a company that does not want to manufacture; it wants to build overseas and QC overseas and just warehouse here. It is a company that does not want in-house repair, it wants the service centers to handle that. Tech Support? That will probably stay, but how extensive it will be I do not know. Parts? The same I would think. I am deducing all this based on who got let go and who stayed.

The plan could work. For the sake of my ex-employees and other ex-colleagues still there, whom I care deeply for, I pray it does. The company needs good solid leadership; that's something that historically was lacking (and likely led to the troubles). Maybe now they have it.

Mike

[dragonworks]

Mike,
Did anyone ever get in touch with you about getting their pcr card up and working? I thought you handled that fairly professionally although the same could not be said for everyone.
Just curious.

[mnicoletti]

No sir, Dragonworks, I was never contacted....

thanks,

Mike

[WERK]

WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THE APPROACH THAT NUMARK HAS TAKEN WITH THE ACQUISITION OF ALESIS. THEY SIMPLY DO NOT INTEND TO BE ACTIVE WITHIN THE MANUFACTURING OR QUALITY OF THEIR OWN PRODUCTS. CHEAPER LABOR DOESN'T NOT NECESSARILY RELIABLE PRODUCT QUALITY. THEY SHOULD REALIZE IT'S THEIR(NUMARK/ALESIS) REPUTATION ON THE LINE, NOT THE COMPANY THAT BUILDS PRODUCT FOR THEM. YES, BOTH ALESIS'S AND NUMARK'S PRODUCTS ARE SOLD BY THE SAME DISTRIBUTORS, BUT THE PRODUCT THEMSELVES ARE DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT.

FOR SOME REASON I SENSE THE FEELING THAT THEY ENTERED THE RECORDING ASPECT TO MAKE A PROFIT. I WOULD HATE TO THINK THAT THEY ARE TRULY CARELESS ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE(QUALITY). I HOPE I'M WRONG BUT LET'S WAIT AND SEE.

[SteveE9C6]

Yeah right....

My Adats have been sitting at Audio Electronics in Dallas since March 30th, 2001. Alesis has been unable or unwilling to ship the parts for repair. According to the tech (Harley) this is an Alesis specific part unavailable anywhere else. I could go on a long rant about Alesis stiffing serviced centers and refusing to honor warranties, but I won't. Alesis has zero credibility left at this point , so it would be pointless.
I have been a staunch supporter of this company. I own two adats, a masterlink, a quadrasynth, and a Q2 effects unit. I was anxiously awaiting the HD24. Ain't gonna happen folks....this company will never see a dime of my money again.

In desparation, I attempted to phone Alesis at 1-800-5-Alesis today. I tried repeatedly. No one ever answered the phone.

No support,
Not honoring Warranties
Not Shipping Parts

If this is back.......

[mnicoletti]

Hi, Steve,

Until I was laid off by Alesis' new owner on 6/25 (though he would say I and others were simply not rehired into the new company), I was in charge of Tech Support, Repair, and helped run QC.

Tech Support has 3 guys...do not call on a Monday, trust me.
Repair has 5 guys, but no ADAT repair techs.
Parts has ONE guy who empties voice mails, picks the parts, ships them, empties voice mails, picks the parts........you get the drift.
As far as I know, warranties are still being honored for units shipped to Alesis for repair. It is the service centers, not Alesis, who have made the business decision to not do warranty work.

Whatever you think, it is not Alesis' departments' employees causing the headaches...the departments I left there are ridiculously short-handed, and the employees are busting their asses to make things as good as possible.

Similarly, no decision has yet been made regarding the service centers that I am aware of...it is on the list of things to figure out. The organization will not happen overnight....

By the way, the first message in this thread was on 6/5...a LOT has happened since then including the additional, unexpected layoffs of 6/15.
thanks,

Mike

[Track Rat]

Mike
Did I read that right? You got laid off too?

[mnicoletti]

Yessir, Track Rat, I was laid off on June 15 with some other employees. Technically, since Alesis is under new ownership, they had to terminate everyone and rehire them into the new company. Some of us however, got a "we are not offering you a position" letter.....so they will say it was not a layoff. Semantics... keeps them from owing us the vacation time we accrued.
Either way, it was short-sighted on their part. The term "dumb-sizing" comes to mind. Less people expected to output the same work.

But I'm not bitter.

Mike

[dragonworks]

Sorry to hear that Mike. Better luck on the next one. Look at the bright side, no one can call you a corporate pimp anymore.

[sjoko2]

Sorry to hear that Mike. Good luck finding another job

[SteveE9C6]

Someone still involved in Alesis contacted me last night. They are going to try to get the part sent.

Mike, I am truly sorry for you and others in your situation. What is an inconveniance for me, is a life changing event for you. I am sure that the folks left are up to there rears in alligators.

[mnicoletti]

Thanks for the nice words, everyone....sorry to sound like I was in a bad mood about the layoff.....um......I was, actually......

btw, I found out that there are some phone problems at Alesis today (6/26), so if the 800 number does not answer, that is why...man, bad timing for phones to go down.

Mike

[MISTERQCUE]

..........Have U thought about going over to Mackie!!??
Or even starting your own Alesis Service Center!!??

[SteveE9C6]

I was contacted by Audio Electronics from Dallas a few minutes ago. Robert M. of Alesis contacted them first thing this morning and arranged to overnight express not only my parts, but thousands of dollars in repair parts that AE had on order to repair other adats. I truly appreciate this as does the staff of AE. Not only will my problem be fixed in the next 24 hours, but multiple other end users will also get their units fixed.

Mike, I hope that someone will realize how critical service is to a companies image. Obviously, they need to reconsider their personel actions.

My best wishes and hopes go out to all of the Alesis family...present and past.