What Goes Down Smoother Than Mia Wallace's $5.00 Milkshake? SkullCandy
Written: Aug 22 '06 (Updated Apr 25 '08)
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SkullCandy is what I consider a "combo site"; they have a skater appeal to them with a nice intro page, small but interesting selection of electronics and the reason that I started shopping there ... headphones. If you are into extreme sports and want to take your music with you then SkullCandy is the place for you to shop. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 360 CD player and a few other products that aren't yet available at the website. I do have to be honest here, if you have an older computer [or monitor] or a slow connection to the internet, you may have some trouble viewing the Street Team section, for what ever reason thee is a script that my computer doesn’t like so it only loads the page half way then aborts the process. The site has a nice layout with a top line listing of what they sell, run your cursor over it to see the sub categories and click on them to visit. My limited interaction with customer service has been great with emails being answered in less than a few hours. Shipping is quick and things are packaged perfectly so I doubt I will ever have to make a return or exchange because of damage while in transit.
I got into the SkullCandy line when I tried out a pair of noise canceling headphones that someone was wearing. When he said that he paid $130.00 for them I gave him the same look that John Travolta gave Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction when she ordered a five dollar milkshake. Just like that scene, I had to try these out to see if they were really worth the cash. I don't know if they are worth $130.00 but they were some damn good headphones. The person was nice enough to let me use them for about twenty minutes, giving me just enough time to listen to about half of a CD. After that I went to the website and started reading about the different headphones they carry and went with the Smokin' Buds for a couple of reasons; the design looked like they would actually stay in my ear unlike other ear buds that popped out and the price, they were the least expensive ones that had the features I wanted. So far they have been awesome when I've been out running and there is almost no slippage out of the ear even when I am going at it at a fast pace.
You can pay for your order with the usual credit cards; MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover. I have never seen the option to pay with a money order or check but if you don't have a credit or debit card you may want to call them and see if they have some other option for you. The orders I placed were processed correctly, email were sent to verify the orders as well as when they shipped out. Shipping charges might seem a little high if you aren’t used to shopping online but paying $6.95 for something to arrive Priority Mail isn't over the top in my books. The return policy isn’t listed at the site but they do allow you a thirty day timeframe to make returns; exchanges can be made on things that are still in the package and as far as I could see, there is no restocking fee for items that are returned for credit or refund or those who wish to exchange them for something else. If you have any questions about shipping fees, bulk orders or making a return, email Ben at ben@skullcandy.com.
Another purchase I made was an backpack for one of the boys, at $169.00 it was a lot more than what I wanted to pay but he said that it would be a Christmas present from Santa that came just a wee bit early. Paying that much for a backpack did have me shaking in my boots [literally, because I was wearing boots at the time]. The downside to this backpack is, while it is worth every penny, it's something that he can't take with him when he leaves for school because of the wiring that it inside it. None of us though about this when we ordered it a few months ago and with the recent terrorist activity, this is something that would surely get prohibited from being taken on any aircraft. Even so, I have no doubt that I will have no trouble sending through the mail since SkullCandy ships internationally and they make no mention of this not being able to ship overseas on their web page.
Skullcandy, Inc.
1910 Prospector Ave Suite 301
Park City, UT 84060
[435] 940-1545
www.skullcandy.com
What can they do to improve the site? If they are going to advertise things that they don't yet carry then it would be awesome for them to have an email notification sent out when it is in stock. A newsletter might also be a nice thing to offer as long as they make it a spam free type of thing. There aren't many broken links at the site but there are a lot of out of stock items, you are sitting there surfing and see something cool then click on it only to see that you can't buy it. In the case of the MP3 player that I wanted to order, when I started reading about it and wanted to see what other information was available, the link took me to a different site. If they are going to sell some of the electronics through partners or other sites, they need to make customers aware that they are clicking on a link that is going to take them to another site but that everything is fine. That would put paranoid shoppers like myself in a much more stable state of mind.
The Bottom Line
The prices aren't cheap but in this case you do get what you pay for. The clothing is the next thing that I plan on getting but it seems like every time I go to the site there is some type of maintenance going on with that portion of it. They don't have hundreds of things to browse but what they do have is top notch so I can't say that they have poor selection. I would rather have to shop at two or three smaller sites and know that I am getting something that is worth the price than to go to a "one stop shop" and end up with stuff that breaks, is poorly made or has clueless customer service. So far the orders that I have placed have arrived on time or a day early, have all been expertly packed and have been 100% accurate. When the 360 is made available I will be ordering one as well as the very cool SkullCandy green army shirt [currently not available]. I'm hoping that they'll add some more sections to the site but at the same time, make it a little more used friendly for those with slow internet connections and / or crappy monitors.
As always, thanks for the visit…
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
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On a side note, the image for the store is none other than the highly anticipated 360 CD player. Thanks to the CL's for adding this and going with such an awesome image.
Recommended:
Yes
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