I’ve never bought anything from SSC, and based purely on what I’ve read on on STW, I don’t intend to. Seems many people have had negative experiences with some of their products, and the overall impression seems to be that they’re cheap, and not all that good. I don’t know whether it’s down to mass-hysteria, or simply an accurate reaction to the reality of SSC stuff, but there seems to have been a disproportionate amount of negative reviews/comments on it. This leaves me thinking ‘well, quite a lot of people have had problems with their stuff, maybe best to buy elsewhere’. I have seen a SSC BB that’s failed after a very short time, too.
I have also heard one or two positive things about their products, for a bit of balance.
But what really put me off, was people’s experience of the SSC ‘Customer Service’, which seemed to be very patronising, and sometimes, even rude. Plus, Neil Fruit really din’t help their case, by using this forum to publicly slag off customers who had legitimate grievances. Really not a wise move, in my book. ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’, is a phrase that springs to mind. I can sympathise somewhat, with SSC, as they were getting shredded on here, and had every right to answer back, but then Neil Fruit went a bit far, and was quite unprofessional.
I admire anyone who tries to make a living out of a field of activity they enjoy; beats working for ‘the Man’, surely! But it’s a nasty, cut-thoat dog-eat dog world out there, and you need to play the game, to survive. And in a field where your reputation is everything, then it’s not a good idea to damage that by selling poor-quality goods, and then insulting your customers.
I have no personal issue one way or another, with SSC. But I have little confidence in their ability to supply me with decent, reliable components, so I won’t be buying from them, for the forseeable, anyway.
SSC need to learn from their mistakes, and become better, if they are to survive.
