Dear Sparkfun Support,
I had a batch of the Simon Says soldering kits last summer that didn’t work. I sent in an email and received a request to mail in the faulty devices. I was told that I would receive a shipping label that never came. I ended up sending in the. kits myself and my own expense with a letter of explanation. I never received a response.
This is really disappointing. In the past I’ve had great customer service which is why I was a consistent repeat customer. I’m going to copy the letter I sent and also the email I received from Jennifer.
I’ve been using these kits for years and have many many kids and adults how to solder with them. They’re the only kit I use. I’ll be teaching a camp in two weeks that usually features this project. I dont’ want to pay for more of these if they dont’ work. I also will need to hold a make up session for all the faulty kits and would like a replacement. I know a lot of time has passed. Running a small makerspace myself is exhausting and poor quality products don’t help.
Below are the messages:
From Jennifer at Sparkfun:
Thank you for reaching out! One of my Support staff did get this over to our Tech Support team but I wanted to ensure you had the kits you needed for your camps so I went ahead and set up replacement order 10330907 to send out 5 new kits for you. That should cover the current malfunctioning kits and give you a couple of extras in case you run into any issues.
I will be sending you a return shipping label to send back the known defective units if you can please get those sent back as soon as possible so our team can get those units tested and resolve whatever issue is happening. The label will be coming directly from FedEx to this email address.
Thanks!
Jennifer
Sales & Support Team
6333 Dry Creek Parkway
Niwot, CO. 80503
My Letter:
Dear Sparkfun, March 21, 2025
I am sending a box that includes Simon Says Soldering kits that I used last summer. I have been buying these kits since 2013 and have taught hundreds of kids to solder with them at my space and at other local Maker spaces. I’ve never had a problem with them until last summer.
I’ve attached a small spread sheet showing how many failed. Most of them play a song instead of the game. Two of them have melted buttons even though the soldering was done correctly. One kit only came with two LEDs. The kids immediately empty their kits into a magnetic dish so we didn’t lose them.
I can only assume you changed suppliers and didn’t adequately test the product or that you made some other change and we became your test team. I contacted Sparkfun and received five new kits. I was supposed to get a mailing label so I could send back the defective kits. Instead, when I asked again, I got a generic response. I sent another message last November which I have enclosed. Again I just got a generic response.
This has been really frustrating. The Simon kit has been the grand finale of my core camp and kids leave with new confidence, thrilled that they can solder. Some of the first students now teach with me and still have their Simon games. I will be disappointed if I have to drop this project.
Since my emails have been ignored, I’m mailing back at my own expense: my spreadsheet, a copy of my final email; the defective kits and the remaining unused kits. I don’t know if they are defective and I don’t want to use them. As it is, I’m going to have to hold at least two, likely three free workshops once I get replacement kits. With set up and break down time, that’s about 10 hours of unpaid time.
Running a tiny business is hard, being disregarded like this makes it harder. I used to work in QA which seems to be a dying art. Now the customer is the test team on too many products. Sending a replacement doesn’t make up for the lost time and reputation with customers.
Please check the non working devices and once you’ve identified the problem, please replace the kits.