talkmagic.co.uk

for magic, you may want something perfect, but for using this device in a mentalist arena, then as real as you can make it, thats a bonus...

Big disappointment!

I went to a party last night, equipped with Instant Radio ... and what a disappointment!
I had adjusted the volume before leaving home, but in a crowd of about 50 people, I tried it out and you could not hear anything. I went to the bathroom and adjusted the volume, but increasing the volume creates too much distortion in the speaker so the music sounded terrible. I put the volume as high as possible without distortion and went back in the party. Same story — in a crowd the volume is too weak. Part of the gimmick is worn in your armpit and after 20 minutes the two plastic rods supposed to stick together with adhesive tape, came apart and everything got disconnected and fell out. I put everything in my inside pocket and switched to my cards and Directors Cut, which never fail!

In addition to this disaster, I had sent Shahid Malik a private message on November 14th, asking him a simple question, but he hasn't even graced me with a reply. I see he has read my reply, it's gone from the Outbox, but still no reply after more than 2 weeks.

My question to Mr. Malik was regarding my first time trying Instant Radio at a friend's house. I mentioned there was no music and opened a pot of jam, wanting to create music, but ... the channel it "locked on" was a "Talk-only-channel" with discussion on politics. It felt a bit weird to promise music and then I just got discussion. I wanted to know if it was possible to change channels in any way.

So, in review of both bad experience and unprofessional customer service by Mr. Malik , I have to rate Instant Radio:
1/10. Don't buy it!
(I have to overpower the rude and annoying - in-your-face- advertisements by Mr. Malik in my post, with bigger letters.)

But gunnarkr, did you like it?

Sending messages and/or emails to a creator is a good way to test the level of priority they place on customer service; it is something I do often. I don't mind waiting a few days for a response as I understand that most of these guys are working pros and will be busy. But I've contacted one or two creators in the past who never bothered to respond, which is not a good sign. It doesn't exactly make me want to rush to their website and purchase their stuff; if they can't even be bothered to reply to a simple question, I'm guessing that after-sales support (should you need it) is going to be pretty much non-existent.

I can't comment on Shahid Malik because I've never contacted him, but Noel Qualter and Paul Brook (to name just two) are very prompt and helpful when replying to messages. I'm surprised Shahid hasn't responded to you because he seems to have been quite good with replying to queries in this thread. However, no doubt you'll hear from him very shortly now.

And still...why the hell are there massive f#ck-off adverts at the top and bottom of every page? This is surely the only review on the site where this happens

I even have on on this post now at time of writing!

I don't want it there! I sold it! I don't like it! gah!

Beardy...

Replicant wrote:It's something the advertisers can pay a nominal price for. It's a recent initiative to help the forum generate income. This be a pricey place to keep online. I'm not particularly keen on it, but if it helps us stay afloat then I'm all for it.

It would appear that Shahid Malik is the only creator so far to take advantage of this feature, unless someone knows of another thread where this is being used.

Fair enough - I always thought that the stuff advertisers can pay for consists of advertisments in the little bar at the top, or the bunch of adverts at the bottom of the main page...

I didn't know they could insert them into threads themselves

My bad!

Replicant wrote:But gunnarkr, did you like it?

Yes, Replicant. I did like it at home, trying it out in quiet surroundings. I then tried it out at a friends house, with only 5 people around, but then I got no music, only political discussions.

Here is my entire mail to Shahid Malik, so you can see I was not rude at all or saying anything to deserve his utter silence:

Hello Shahid!

I have a question for you. I tried my IR when I got it a few days ago. It worked like a dream. Very neat job! (Bought because of an advertisement in The Linking Ring).

Then I had the opportunity to try it out tonight with audience and where I went, it worked perfectly, but ... The channel, it locked on, was a "Talk-only-channel" with discussion on politics. It felt a bit weird to promise music and then I just got discussion.

HOW on earth can I change the channel to a music channel? Nobody likes to hear discussions when they are out having fun!

All the best,

And I agree, a lot of sellers have perfect "after-sales-support", like in my experience: Anthony Jacquin, James Brown, Paul Brook, Christian Card-Shark Schenk, Tom Lauten, Tomo, Simon Bananafish Shaw, Dr. Todd and quite a few more. But sorry to say, Shahid Malik does not fall in that catagory.

Plus, I agree with so many others here that those "in-your-face" forced ads put inside each poster on the top and bottom of each page is terribly annoying! I think it rubs people the wrong way and ends up becoming anti-advertisement towards the product. It's too forceful!

Don't

In all fairness, I now announce that I just received a PM from Shahid Malik tonight. He wrote in it (repeatedly) that he was away for 2 weeks and that his wife opened my PM 2 weeks ago.

Then he repeated 3 times, that he can't be held responsible for what is broadcast on the radio.

No channels can be changed manually or on demand.

OK! Now I know that for sure — but I also know now that it's too weak to be used in a big crowd. 4 or 5 people seems OK, but not a crowd of 40 or 50, the speaker can't be heard, not even by the people around you if others are talking and laughing. Plus a warning if you already own one: Don't wear it for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time! Plastic objects stuck together with tape will come apart.

My oppinion is still:
Don't

Firstly, please be aware that Shahid Malik is in NO WAY responsible for the buy now buttons which have appeared in the text. I put these buttons there as a prototype (in order to keep this forum free for everybody, we have to get income from somewhere to cover the costs) and I am completely responsible for them!

Secondly I would like to explain that these adverts are here so that people landing on the website who are looking for an item can click the button to buy it. I have now removed the button if you are logged in which still serves the purpose for which it was originally intended but will not detract from the pleasure of visiting the forum!

Now to answer some questions!

And still...why the hell are there massive f#ck-off adverts at the top and bottom of every page? This is surely the only review on the site where this happens

I even have on on this post now at time of writing!

So long as you are logged in, you will no longer see these buttons.

In all fairness, I now announce that I just received a PM from Shahid Malik tonight. He wrote in it (repeatedly) that he was away for 2 weeks and that his wife opened my PM 2 weeks ago.

Shahid is a very approachable and friendly PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN! He is primarily an entertainer, not a magic shop so it is inevitable that he will not be responding to emails instantly! This is the case with most magician's who retail on the side and certainly not just Shahid!

I didn't know they could insert them into threads themselves Razz

and indeed they cannot!

No channels can be changed manually or on demand.
but I also know now that it's too weak to be used in a big crowd

Instant Radio is clearly a closeup item and not suitable for big noisy crowds! It doesn't have a facility to tune the radio yourself... the effect is to produce the sound of a radio from an object... DJs do talk on the radio so there is no reason this is a problem at all!

Now let us please put this Lynch Mob mentality to rest! Thank you!

If you put them there, did you get paid for the advertising? If you didn't then I'm sorry, but it seems like you're abusing the message board to help out a friend to me

As Support has stated, the idea was to help raise necessary income to pay for TM. There's no question of any abuse and, as well as being a very nice guy and professional performer, Shahid Malik is a paying advertiser like all the others you see. This was just a trial run at a different way of doing things.

support wrote:Shahid is a very approachable and friendly PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN! He is primarily an entertainer, not a magic shop so it is inevitable that he will not be responding to emails instantly! This is the case with most magician's who retail on the side and certainly not just Shahid!

When I saw that my PM had been read and not replied to for over two weeks, of course I suspected that he did not want to reply to my message. On the other hand, if he is professional and asks his wife to read his PM, he should also ask her to reply: "Mr. Malik is away and will return in 2 weeks." Simple sollution.

But now he has replied, mystery solved!