Recent experience with Joe O Paddles?

I ordered a Greenland paddle from Joe O Paddles over 1.5 months ago, and I got no updates from him for a month even after sending multiple emails. Eventually I commented on his FB page and he told me that he was going to be done in a few days. That was 2 weeks ago, and he hasn’t responded since, even on FB. At this point I don’t even know if the paddle’s going to be finished.

Has anyone here experienced something similar with Joe O Paddles? Did you actually get your order? I’ve already paid for the paddle via e-transfer, so all I don’t know what to do aside from waiting for him to respond.

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From another forum:
https://www.westcoastpaddler.com/community/threads/has-anyone-been-in-contact-with-joe-oblenis-recently.9412/#post-99834

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(post deleted by author)

Seems he has time for videos. Don’t give up. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS4C77etYDtnYMU9NVybj-g

Sucks if you were to end up getting “burned.” Happens with with one person operations on the edge.

I assume you were/are interested in a wooden GP. This manufacturer may be an option in the future for a wooden GP. https://eastpolepaddles.com/

-sing

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YLin, I would not get worried yet. I also have run a 1 man business for many years now, (over 50) and I know what kind of lead-times can back up. 6 weeks is not a very long time to have to wait for a hand made item.
If I had any advice for Joe it would be to understand “communication IS respect”. You will find that a lack of communication an ANY relationship shows a lack of respect, so I am not defending a lack of correspondence here, but on the other hand any man with a long back log gets that way for only 1 reason. He’s good at his craft. Any hand made product from any 1 person business you can get is a short time is because it’s not in high demand.

If the people love the quality of anything and they see the price as reasonable, they try to buy one and one man can’t keep up with demand from dozens or hundreds and keep the quality high.

In the crafts there is a proverb that is very true.

You can have good quality.
You can have it fast.
You can have it inexpensively.

Choose any 2.

If you fail to get a reply inside about 2 more weeks please post and let us all know. There can be many reasons and some may be blamed on Joe while others may not be his fault (injury or sickness come to mind) As a side note, I have been out of touch by phone for 12 days which I got fixed only 2 days ago. Some equipment operator cut the main phone cable about 6 miles from my home but because I run a business it was a problem for me. If Joe-O has e-mail and so on, I can see why someone would start to become concerned if the communications stop. When my line was cut I make a “mass -e-mail” and told everyone on my list that my phone was out. Only 2 seemed to have any irritation, and when the line was repaired I asked them if they has checkered their e-mail and both said they had not. So I had to respectfully tell them any irritation for my lack of reply on the phone was not my fault and I did all I could to contact them. They seems a bit sheepish once they understood what had happened.
So I can see how this could be many things ------- and some may not be Joe’s fault.

PM me if you can’t make contact with him. I may be able to help you, but please give him every chance.

TBH I don’t mind if it takes a long time. If he told me he’ll be done by next March I wouldn’t mind because I’m not paddling in the winter anyways. My problem is that he told me he’d be done by a few days then proceeds to go off grid for weeks. Couldn’t even reach him by email. I understand if there are private circumstances that cause delays, but I expect at least some kind of communication about it.

On a more positive note, he recently reached out to me after i commented on his YT and told me that the paddle is ready to ship. I’m going to wait for the tracking number before making any conclusions.

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Update: I just received the 2-piece paddle. It looks pretty good, though the connection between the ferrules is a bit loose.

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