Ordering a Zendrum
I ordered a Zendrum in 2018, and thought it might be good to
share some info with others considering a purchase:
- Zendrum is a small company, and
they apparently don't keep any stock around (there are many models and
finishes and a wireless option available that would prohibit this), so it
will not be built until you order it. From the day I ordered it* until I
received it was about one month.
* Paying via credit card is a good idea, because not only does it speed the process along, but gives you certain protections, as discussed in a subsequent post. - I'd been considering a Zendrum for some time, and frequented their forums**, and the ordering website, for some time. The website remains somewhat broken, even more than 7 months after I alerted the owner and their tech support of the issue.. many of the models don't properly display the various finishes available (thumbnails and full-size images are missing). This should have been a caution to me, but I’d been admiring Zendrums for years, and this is the only way to get them, so I kept going. But you’d think a business that sold online only would take steps to make sure their only interface with the buyer would work, wouldn’t you?
- EXP: 15 finishes available, only 5 of them show when chosen
- ZX: all 13 finishes display, and the Piano Black is different because, months after not being fixed, I specifically requested to see that finish
- LT: all finishes displayed
- Z1: one finish displayed by default, but when Zebrawood is chosen, nothing displays. The Z1 is available in only one finish?
- ZAP: all finishes display
- ZAP 2: 4 finishes offered, one is displayed by default, but none of the 4 finishes work when chosen
- Axis: 22 finishes
offered, one is displayed by default, but none of the 22 finishes are
displayed when chosen
** The forums are mostly abandoned/unused, and answered mostly by a person who misunderstood much of what I was asking, and didn't answer all of my questions. - I did get automated
email messages throughout the order process, including this the day of
ordering:
“Your order has been updated to the following status: Payment Successfully Processed” - Then for 3 weeks, nothing despite the initial order saying there would be 2 weeks of production time. Accessing my order online still showed “In Production - Wood Shop”, as it had immediately after my payment had cleared. I sent a hopeful and polite email asking about this, and got a reply saying that it was being done (had been started already). They did send pictures of it after it was shaped, which was cool.
- They charge quite a bit for delivery. For me it was $107 for FedEx shipping (and I’m also in the continental Unites States, and this was not a quick-ship that FedEx charges way extra for, it took 2 days to get to me, which I believe is FedEx’s standard delivery time… I used to ship a lot of stuff via FedEx, and have purchased a *lot* of stuff via FedEx, and I’ve never been charged even half this much for things that were as big and weighed a lot more… but it’s possible that my company had a really good FedEx deal, as do the other merchants from whom I’ve purchased things). Maybe for a company like Zendrum that doesn’t ship a lot of stuff this is normal pricing, and not a sneaky additional profit source.
Receiving
my Zendrum
I
ordered an LT model, and when it arrived, it was well-packed* and the box was
undamaged, but the LT itself had an issue: one of the MIDI trigger caps was off
the trigger and the cap and 3 other parts of it were loose in the case. I
emailed tech support, and they instructed me how to reassemble it. They said
“Sounds like they threw it.”, but given how tightly it was packed, and how much
force it takes to remove the trigger caps, this seems unlikely to be the case.
*
It was well-packed, in that everything was fitted together tightly, with
thin bubble wrap and thin foam sheets and the case holding the actual Zendrum,
but it looked to me like it was packed to fit in the smallest box possible. If
*I* was shipping a music instrument with lots of electronics, I would make sure
there was lots of padding surrounding the devices to absorb shock and protect
from puncture damage. I was all ready to make a Zendrum unboxing/use website,
so I took unboxing pictures, which turned out to be very useful for the return
of the Zendrum, as discussed in a subsequent post.
Learning
my Zendrum
- My wireless MIDI (for which I paid an additional $450) kept cutting out; despite some back-and-forth with tech support, I finally figured out the receiver was losing power due to a bad USB power converter. . It worked fine after I swapped in one I had from a cell phone. The company later said they’d sent the wrong one.
- The controls on the Zendrum are decidedly retro: red-segment LED, only 2 characters, and lots of button-pushing and trying to remember cryptic 2-character codes. I thought the ZenEdit software would make it easier, so I pushed to get that (they didn’t want me to have it right way), but it was confusing and hard to use and understand.
- Documentation (both the Zendrum and ZenEdit): unless you have a really good understanding of MIDI and the terms and ideas it uses, it’s going to be a steep learning curve. I have a fair background in music and electronics and computers, but was very frustrated when trying to do things, because the documentation assumed MIDI power-user knowledge.
- Zendrum provides only some basic not-super-helpful documentation, and said over and over again that I was free to call for help.
- I work all day on the phone, teaching, and solving technical issues. I do not want to spend my off-hours on the phone.
- I also appreciate and benefit from good documentation. I expect an electronic device that costs a couple of grand to come with good documentation that lets me solve problems by myself.
- The Zendrum techs are willing to take calls for all support because of a lack of documentation? Really?
- When I have an issue at 1 AM while at a gig (where I may not be able to hear a phone call)?
- Monday morning at 4am when I have an issue, if I’m a night-shift person?
- For everyone that I let try/borrow my Zendrum? If I sell it?
- But the main thing: since the Zendrum is sold online, with no ability to try it out first (they also have a very low resale rate, so you can’t find them in used instrument stores easily), I had no idea how it would feel and play. After playing it for many hours, I found that it wasn’t good for my playing style, and didn’t feel right as worn (and I did try different heights and ways to place the strap). I also, as long-time hand drummer, expect an instrument to respond very dynamically to rapid notes and different pressure levels; and despite MIDI supposedly handling this, and the Stompblock having 16 levels of samples for each voice, it wasn’t working for me. There’s a big ol’ Sensitivity knob on the Stompblock. It didn’t seem to do much, and had no explanation in the provided documentation.
- Speaking of documentation: I paid an extra $450 for the wireless MIDI system… and the Zendrum came without any documentation about using that specifically, only for using the default wired setup.
Because
of all these issues I decided it wasn’t for me, and decided to return it.
Returning my Zendrum
The Zendrum is an online-only purchase, so I couldn’t try it
out ahead of time. Because of this, and its cost, I hade sure they had a
well-defined return policy before I purchased it, and kept all the packaging
(and unboxing photos). The below is their stated policy, with the part that
made me anxious highlighted.
In the
event that you wish to return a Zendrum Instrument, Zendrumdrive, or any other
product sold to you by Zendrum Corporation, you must notify Zendrum Corporation
within 2 weeks of delivery of your order, including an explanation of why you
seek a refund and full disclosure of any other contributing factors. Upon the sole discretion and
approval of David Haney, you must then carefully pack and ship your
product (following the packing and shipping guidelines that will be provided
upon approval) back to Zendrum Corporation for inspection. You will be
solely responsible for all shipping charges associated with any return or
denied return inspection. To meet return inspection requirements, your
product must be in the exact condition that it was in as it was inspected while
being packed for shipment from Zendrum Corporation. If your product
passes inspection by David Haney, you will then be issued a refund minus any
shipping charges paid, and minus a 15(fifteen) percent restocking fee.
The net refund minus any fees will be paid to you within 30 days of return
inspection and final approval of the refund. If your product fails to
pass return inspection, your instrument will be shipped back to you, and you
will be held responsible for any and all shipping charges. Before pursuing a
return or refund, however, please allow our Tech Support to resolve whatever
issues you may be experiencing.
Again, I’d been wanting one for years, and there is no other way to get one, so I went ahead with the purchase (I fully expected to spend the rest of my life being happy with it).
When I asked for a refund, they tried very hard to get that
to not happen. They castigated me (even rudely at times) for not calling them
at all hours with questions, despite the fact that I sent them the following:
I’d like a refund on this Zendrum, please.
·
Arrived partly disassembled from,
presumably, FedEx tossing it around (and who knows what other damage was done
that will lessen the lifespan of the components?)
·
Power adapter on the wireless
receiver conked out
·
Not all the triggers have equal
sensitivity (I set them all to the same voice to test this), and they’re all at
different angles and heights if you look closely (it’s otherwise a beautiful
instrument)
·
Can’t get it to hang comfortably,
maybe I’m just too old and fat for this
·
Manual and documentation for Zendrum
and ZenEdit written for people that know everything about MIDI, very confusing.
I’m a computer professional, who writes documentation for a living, and this is
not working for me at least.
·
Video for ZenEdit is different in
several ways from the actual software.
·
When trying to work on just the
Zendrum it doesn’t seem to work as intended when making note changes… tried a
new battery, didn’t help
And
then in a subsequent message I sent this:
Please don't focus too much on the ZenEdit issues, the other
things are the bulk of the problems. I did indeed try to do everything from the
Zendrum interface itself, and that was the most frustrating of all, with the
tiny LED display and the membrane switches. And an additional issue, maybe
the most important of all: the Zendrum (or maybe any MIDI device) just isn't
responsive enough to deal with my style of finger drumming (remember me
mentioning before my interest in hand drums). With all these issues together I
don't think I'll ever be happy with a Zendrum (although they are great devices
for more traditional drummers).
And another one I sent when they kept putting off the return:
I appreciate you trying to help but,
disregarding the MIDI documentation:
·
You are selling something over the
internet that people can’t try out first. I found that it isn’t what I, a
finger/hand drummer, really want. The LT form factor isn’t right for me,
either.
·
It arrived damaged (one of the
trigger caps was off), meaning it probably took a really hard flat smack. Subsequent
to that, the wireless had intermittent success due to a bad power supply. Then
I found that one of the triggers wasn’t as responsive as the others. What else
is wrong, or going to have a shortened lifespan, because of delivery issues?
I know I won’t get my shipping costs back, and
there’s a restocking fee, but I just want this thing taken back. Even if we
could learn me the ways of MIDI, this will not be an instrument that will work
for me. And I don’t appreciate being told “Well,
that’s not surprising, Jeff. This is exactly the result I was trying to avoid,
and the reason why I sent information in stages was to keep you from getting
frustrated and in over your head.” This and the shipping damage has
soured me on the whole thing.
Believe me, you’re not half as disappointed as
I am… I’ve wanted a Zendrum since I saw Mo’Rockin use one at EPCOT center in
the early 2000’s, and while I was waiting that looong month after I ordered it
I rearranged my apartment’s living room to make a spot for the Zendrum and
associated gear (new divorcee here, ha). I just can’t countenance
spending a month’s salary on an instrument that isn’t what will work best for
me and has issues.
Responses from the company were condescending and almost rude, but they finally relented, saying:
I suppose that since the only thing that you
were interested in researching completely was our return policy, that I am
forced to be redundant here anyway and paste it in at the bottom. I too
am disappointed in how this all played out. I refer you to the last
sentence of said policy. We only asked that you give us the courtesy of a
phone call to help. Due to the fluid nature of the instrument and it’s
capabilities, there is an infinite sea of solutions to every problem that you
could’ve possibly encountered on your way to learning everything about MIDI
instrumentation and how easy it CAN be when well informed. Trust me, we
would’ve bent over backwards to assist you every step of the way. I am
genuinely sorry that this didn’t work out.
Your order in its entirety (including, but
not limited to all cables, power supplies, and documentation) is to be
repackaged exactly as it was originally delivered to you (your diligence in
repacking and supplying a safe return of all materials included in your order
is also subject to inspection) and shipped to the following address:
And
… then carefully pack and ship your product
(following the packing and shipping guidelines that will be provided upon
approval) back to Zendrum Corporation for inspection. You will be solely
responsible for all shipping charges associated with any return or denied
return inspection. To meet return inspection requirements, your product
must be in the exact condition that it was in as it was inspected while being
packed for shipment from Zendrum Corporation. If your product passes
inspection by David Haney, you will then be issued a refund minus any shipping
charges paid, and minus a 15(fifteen) percent restocking fee. The net
refund minus any fees will be paid to you within 30 days of return inspection
and final approval of the refund. If your product fails to pass return
inspection, your instrument will be shipped back to you, and you will be held
responsible for any and all shipping charges. Before pursuing a return or
refund, however, please allow our Tech Support to resolve whatever issues you
may be experiencing.
They acknowledged receiving it back a few days later:
We
just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that we received your
shipment. You will be notified upon the completion of it’s inspection and
will be instructed on how we will proceed.
And then I heard nothing. Two weeks later I emailed them:
I trust the inspection shows the great care I
took to pack it back up and even provide extra protection.
You’ve had it back for over two weeks, may I
ask how the inspection is going?
And they didn’t reply. After another two weeks I sent:
Gentlemen, you’ve had the return for almost a
month. May I ask that the return be processed?
And they replied, in part:
I understand that you have been fairly patient in
awaiting the status of your return, but due to unforeseen circumstances it has
taken us longer than we would have liked to get to this point. Being a
small business, we would appreciate your continued patience in the matter as
we’re going to have to sell this instrument in order to refund this
amount.
When I saw the bit about having to sell it before they could do the refund (which is a violation of their own return policy), I contacted the local Better Business Bureau to get their help. They contacted the company (they have no power other than this, and publishing customer feedback, which they also did: https://www.bbb.org/us/ga/atlanta/profile/wholesale-general-merchandise/zendrum-corporation-0443-27876857 ) and got no reply. So I initiated a Visa chargeback, which is something the credit card companies have in place for just this scenario. I asked only for what I was due (the total cost minus the 15% restocking fee and original shipping charge).
I eventually got my refund via that method.
Wow, you're still reading.
So if you are considering getting a Zendrum, keep the following in mind:
- It’s complicated if you don’t know MIDI
- They expect you to call them with questions, not rely on good/comprehensive documentation
- If you wish to return it, you may have a very difficult time
- You should carefully document all interaction with the company
- Take good photos or video while unpacking it, and keep all of your packing in case you have to return it or ship it to them for repair or upgrade).