EK seems to be having major issues

[boomheadshot8]

- Ek not paying taxes in texas => they leaves : against the law here
- Some high ranked employee are doing expensives trip with ek money : why not ? but they don't pay employees ! and also don't pay sub contractors !
- Toxic managment

I see so called "journalists" in france, they must apply munich chart and they don't, they just doing gov propaganda ; meanwhile some journalists are kept from doing they work because of threats and being sacked
And not actual journalists are doing better work in 1 month than other do in decades

When you are running a company no matter what, the first thing is to respect and pay employees if they doing a proper work

 

[gurusmi]

Guys.

The main market for all water cooling companies like EKWB, AlphaCool, WaterCool, Corsair, etx. is the professional market equipping i.e. servers at data centres. With that revenues the market of the private is a real small one. Id Microsoft or google or whatever company invests in a new server farm you can estimate how important an investment of all Users here is at all. But in the professional environment there are rules playing you don't know or even have seen. I would suggest EKWB and their CEO to take a focus on that market. If a company has 2 or 20 coolers for some home end GPU's/CPU's doesn't matter. That is only wasting human resources. Also i don't think that a serious professional company takes care about some influencers. No matter what they charge, it is only a small portion of the total marketing budget. Because of the AI hype the investments into data centres and also their cooling is raising within the next years.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Guys.

The main market for all water cooling companies like EKWB, AlphaCool, WaterCool, Corsair, etx. is the professional market equipping i.e. servers at data centres.

Are you really sure that HP, Dell, Lenovo, SuperMicro etc. shop at EKWB or Alphacool? I believe that they make their owns stuff and if they want to watercool servers, they do it using large industrial scale cooling systems which really do not need pumps or radiators in each server.

 

[gurusmi]

Are you really sure that HP, Dell, Lenovo, SuperMicro etc. shop at EKWB or Alphacool? I believe that they make their owns stuff and if they want to watercool servers, they do it using large industrial scale cooling systems which really do not need pumps or radiators in each server.

And because all the server producers make their own cooling all the water cooling firms in the market advertize their proferrional soltions on their webpages. At least AlphaCool offers that professional Coolers i.e. for professional NVidia GPU's (A2000-A60000) also in their webshop. Sure. And i put on my trousers with pliers (old german proverb).

 

[lexluthermiester]

True but the problem is it muddies the waters for people. And that's never a good thing.

Agreed.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

... TPU continuing it's association with EK on any level is more than a bit disturbing, some find it unacceptable and it certainly sends the wrong message. W1zzard can't claim he didn't know about all of this as several persons directly informed him as to the goings-on. This is most worrisome.

What makes you believe that EK would not sort the problems out even without Gamers Nexus videos, just slower and without putting too much strain on them? I can imagine they have some dip in sales thanks to the videos, which does not help at all when you have financial problems.

BTW I am not trying to downplay or justify any of the mistakes they made. It is clear that a lot of mistakes happened in the Slovenian headquarters and in the US branch as well.

 

[lexluthermiester]

What makes you believe that EK would not sort the problems out even without Gamers Nexus videos, just slower and without putting too much strain on them? I can imagine they have some dip in sales thanks to the videos, which does not help at all when you have financial problems.

BTW I am not trying to downplay or justify any of the mistakes they made. It is clear that a lot of mistakes happened in the Slovenian headquarters and in the US branch as well.

They are committing crimes. They are evading paying wages to their employees, paying contract obligations and evading paying taxes. This is something they can not escape.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

They are committing crimes. They are evading paying wages to their employees, paying contract obligations and evading paying taxes. This is something they can not escape.

Saying about somebody that they are commiting crimes is a very strong statement, and you better have some evidence in your hand, when you say that.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Saying about somebody that they are commiting crimes is a very strong statement,

It certainly is. Deliberately failing to pay taxes and actively avoiding same is a crime, very serious indeed.

and you better have some evidence in your hand, when you say that.

Please explain.

 

[Hecate91]

What do you mean? I play saxophones as a hobby and even though I am not a professional musician, I NEED TO FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE TRADE if I ever decided to publish me playing, as keeping the time and playing roughly in tune. I can assure you that if I did not follow the rules, my videos would be ignored at best or even ridiculed at worst. Because the output would be objectively BAD.

Your analogy makes no sense.

Saying about somebody that they are commiting crimes is a very strong statement, and you better have some evidence in your hand, when you say that.

EK have committed crimes, not paying their employees, avoiding taxes, not following safety regulations for warehouse shipping.
I doubt EK would've solved anything without GN calling them out on it, their quality has been slipping for years now and the mismanagement is likely the reason why.
As for evidence, GN talked to a lawyer in the video, you think he'd lie about the things EK employees and suppliers brought up?

 

[BoggledBeagle]

EK have committed crimes, not paying their employees, avoiding taxes, not following safety regulations for warehouse shipping.
....

Crime is something that matches description of the act in the penal law, how can you tell without any evidence in hand that actions of somebody really match this description?

Do you know that saying that somebody commited a crime could be viewed as a defamation and if some damage resulted from you saying that, you could be liable for the damages?

Have you really seen all the internal documentation, all the email and other documented communication that happened in the company? Have you personally vitnessed any of the alleged wrongdoings and undocumented communication?

For example, if you see guys unsafely unloading the truck, how do you know that they or their superior did not break any internal safety rules while doing that? For example if their superior was a US citizen breaking internal safety rules, what does the EK mother to do with that, if nobody reported that to them?

AGAIN - I am not trying to downplay or justify any of the mistakes they made. It is clear that a lot of mistakes happened in the Slovenian headquarters and in the US branch as well. But on the other hand - a lot of things you guys say are just ridiculous.

 

[lexluthermiester]

how can you tell without any evidence in hand that actions of somebody really match this description?

Because a Texas government has stated that information. It's a part of public record. EK lost their business operations license in Texas for non-payment of taxes. The parent company deliberately closed the doors and shut down rather than pay the taxes owed. They have not shut down other offices in the USA. They have not declared insolvency. They picked up, left Texas and refuse to pay their taxes. Those actions are textbook definitions of tax evasion, which is a criminal act in ALL 50 states, regardless of reason.

I could keep going, but such is not necessary. The info is out there to be found. You'll just have to go looking if you want to know more.

But on the other hand - a lot of things you guys say are just ridiculous.

No, it isn't. When several well known brands cut ties with EK because EK either ripped them off or behaved in a shady way, you know there is factual info to support the claims. This is not a knee-jerk reaction.

EK has evaded paying it's tax burden in Texas, deliberately. (Criminal)
EK has engaged in shifting of monetary funds to make the money difficult to track and account for. (Criminal laundering of funds)
EK cheated it's own employees out of overtime wages after requiring them to work said overtime hours. (Violation of labor rights in all 50 states, civilly unlawful but not criminal)
EK has completely withheld normal wages earned from many, if not all, of it's worker base and is currently working employees without paying them. (Criminal and civilly unlawful)
EK operated work places that they knew did not meet OSHA requirements and regulations. (Civilly unlawful, potentially criminally negligent)
EK has engaged in suppression and destruction of evidence supporting unlawful activities. (Criminal)

These are just a few of the things EK is accountable for.

EK is guilty. They are going down. It's not if, but when. The company execs did this to themselves and sadly, the employees, partners and others will suffer as a result of their criminal actions.

A few of the company execs are very likely going to prison, one of them extremely likely. Edvard Konig is likely to as well if he ever steps foot outside Slovenia.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Crime is something that matches description of the act in the penal law, how can you tell without any evidence in hand that actions of somebody really match this description?

Do you know that saying that somebody commited a crime could be viewed as a defamation and if some damage resulted from you saying that, you could be liable for the damages?

Have you really seen all the internal documentation, all the email and other documented communication that happened in the company? Have you personally vitnessed any of the alleged wrongdoings and undocumented communication?

For example, if you see guys unsafely unloading the truck, how do you know that they or their superior did not break any internal safety rules while doing that? For example if their superior was a US citizen breaking internal safety rules, what does the EK mother to do with that, if nobody reported that to them?

AGAIN - I am not trying to downplay or justify any of the mistakes they made. It is clear that a lot of mistakes happened in the Slovenian headquarters and in the US branch as well. But on the other hand - a lot of things you guys say are just ridiculous.

Because a Texas government has stated that information. It's a part of public record. EK lost there business operations license in Texas for non-payment of taxes. The parent company deliberately closed the doors and shut down rather than pay the taxes owed. They have not shut down other offices in the USA. They have not declared insolvency. They picked up, left Texas and refuse to pay their taxes. Those actions are textbook definitions of tax evasion, which is a criminal act in ALL 50 states, regardless of reason.

I could keep going, but such is not necessary. The info is out there to be found. You'll just have to go looking if you want to know more.


No, it isn't. When several well known brands cut ties with EK because EK either ripped them off or behaved in a shady way, you know there is factual info to support the claims. This is not a knee-jerk reaction.

EK has evaded paying it's tax burden in Texas, deliberately. (Criminal)
EK has engaged in shifting of monetary funds to make the money difficult to track and account for. (Criminal laundering of funds)
EK cheated it's own employees out of overtime wages after requiring them to work said overtime hours. (Violation of labor rights in all 50 states, civilly unlawful but not criminal)
EK has completely withheld normal wages earned from many, if not all, of it's worker base and is currently working employees without paying them. (Criminal and civilly unlawful)
EK operated work places that they knew did not meet OSHA requirements and regulations. (Civilly unlawful, potentially criminally negligent)
EK has engaged in suppression and destruction of evidence supporting unlawful activities. (Criminal)

These are just a few of the things EK is accountable for.

EK is guilty. They are going down. It's not if, but when. The company execs did this to themselves and sadly, the employees, partners and others will suffer as a result of their criminal actions.

A few of the company execs are very likely going to prison, one of them extremely likely. Edvard Konig is likely to as well if he ever steps foot outside Slovenia.

You (BoggledBeagle) seem to not understand the law. Let me help you. In the US, if there is any report available that somebody knowingly did something which put them at undue risk while completing their job, and management had any reasonable expectation of this they can be fined absolute bucket loads of money. Do you want an example? OSHA inspector comes into our facility, sees an operator climbing on a wire rack to get something, and immediately has a fit. Talks to operators...and they say "I was only grabbing one flattened box from the shelf, and I didn't want to wait for the forklift to come over and bring it down." OSHA then immediately confronts management, and asks what our policy is. Bust out employee manual, show the section about not climbing on equipment, and that there are fork lifts provided. OSHA rep is angry...but moves on. We have to have a 20 minute meeting to review everything about this, record and sign for attendance, and only then does OSHA stop being angry.
Fast forward three months. Same operator does it again...and our internal safety guy loses his mind (for good reason). We ask what the heck is compelling him to do this, and it's "just one box" again.

Fast forward again, and management was made aware the second time. It's now a three strikes and you're out of employment situation if you're caught...and our safety guy is still angry because one fall and you're dead is much more dangerous. If management didn't make that policy though, and anybody fell, the OSHA report would immediately have supported management paying only lip service to making sure the work environment is safe...which is (depending upon state) criminal negligence.



Regarding the rest of everything...I have to ask some simple questions. When the executives lied about the blood tester...do you think they were going to fix that until somebody finally called them out? What about Sam Bankmanfried....who claims it only needed a little longer and his Ponzi scheme was going to be undone? I'll not continue....but you hopefully see the pattern. Companies generally don't dig themselves out until they hit rock bottom...and that's where EK is right now. Ignore all of the vendors for just a second...and you've still got people coming out of the woodwork claiming illegal business practices (criminal or civil doesn't matter). Maybe sometimes after you see a dozen failures instead of giving them one more chance it's time to call them out.




Personal anecdote. I started with a company that paid crap. Certain executives got huge bonuses...and middle level managers on multiple occasions found ways to be paid. It was in pursuit of one of those that I started with the company...and started doing inventory. I was pulled into the office, asked if I knew what I was doing, and threatened. I said I was honest, and asked them to help me on the next audit. Month end comes around, I do my inventory, and I'm told to do it again in-front of the manager. We do it together...he comes to the same exact answer I did both times, and walks away. A month later I find we're missing about 100k pounds in metal coil...and my manager wanted me to take the fall for it. We discover that I'm not lying...and that the previous manager had driven a pickup into the facility, deposited a huge steel roll into it, and hauled it off to the srcap heap to get recycling value for it because he felt he was underpaid....and nobody else was doing the inventory.
He was then asked about this, and another floor worker said he was asked to come in Saturday morning multiple times to do this...and his reward was an entire day's worth of overtime pay for 15 minutes.
If it isn't clear, people and companies where this crap happens are not an anomaly. They are functioning as they were built with whatever culture they were built with. Sometimes you get someone who is willing to work their tail off...other times you get a company who knows more about black magic accounting math than real balance sheets. As EK is basically a company too small to both with oversight, and there are too many collaborative stories of illegal practices, it's a lot to believe that somehow they are going to get away from this situation. It's largely still a story for both sides until you get into a courtroom....but the last time I worked with a company running on carried debts with vendors and workers it was either going to survive and thrive or crash and burn.

-News flash....it was crash and burn. Often people in management positions do bad things...thinking it'll wash out. In reality most bad management doesn't wash out...it kills companies by forcing them to work five times harder to compensate for those decisions. In EK's case....the absolute state of their operations leads me to see bad decisions compounding...and years of it means that this isn't a walk-back. It's a situation where either EK will be honest and effectively dormant or one where they'll die. My bet is death...because spinning off the server business and claiming it was all separate definitely fits the modus operandi thus far.

 

[gurusmi]

Because a Texas government has stated that information. It's a part of public record. EK lost there business operations license in Texas for non-payment of taxes. The parent company deliberately closed the doors and shut down rather than pay the taxes owed. They have not shut down other offices in the USA. They have not declared insolvency. They picked up, left Texas and refuse to pay their taxes. Those actions are textbook definitions of tax evasion, which is a criminal act in ALL 50 states, regardless of reason.

I could keep going, but such is not necessary. The info is out there to be found. You'll just have to go looking if you want to know more.

No, it isn't. When several well known brands cut ties with EK because EK either ripped them off or behaved in a shady way, you know there is factual info to support the claims. This is not a knee-jerk reaction.

But you know that EKWB has only branch in the US? One, not multiple.
You also know that all that happened with that CEO in place? So this case is not against E. König but against that CEO leading at the bespoken time.

...EK has engaged in shifting of monetary funds to make the money difficult to track and account for. (Criminal laundering of funds)
EK cheated it's own employees out of overtime wages after requiring them to work said overtime hours. (Violation of labor rights in all 50 states, civilly unlawful but not criminal)
EK has completely withheld normal wages earned from many, if not all, of it's worker base and is currently working employees without paying them. (Criminal and civilly unlawful)
EK operated work places that they knew did not meet OSHA requirements and regulations. (Civilly unlawful, potentially criminally negligent)
EK has engaged in suppression and destruction of evidence supporting unlawful activities. (Criminal)
...

Most of that are uncertifies things without any evidence. There is a lot of BlaBlaBla about EKWB. Rumors what they should have done or not. I would suggest you to lay back keep calm take some chips and enjoy the show.

These are just a few of the things EK is accountable for.

This is your opinion. Judging without evidence. That seems to be a general american attitude. I remember pretty well when Bush jun. did want to have a war against Irak. Powell was sitting in the UN telling the world about Irak's mass destruction weapons. They started the war and never found that weapons they promised Irak would have.

EK is guilty. They are going down. It's not if, but when. The company execs did this to themselves and sadly, the employees, partners and others will suffer as a result of their criminal actions.

A few of the company execs are very likely going to prison, one of them extremely likely. Edvard Konig is likely to as well if he ever steps foot outside Slovenia.

You know that slovenia is a member of the EU. You also know that the EU doesn't hand over people easily to non-EU countries? Just take a view to J. Assange. E. Köenig can surely get out of Slovenia. All over the EU and also i.e China and Russia without any risk. Even Putin can travel around the world without any risk of getting arrested. And he is facing an arrest warrant from the internation high court. The world is hapilly not owned by the USA and their law is not applicable everywhere. The USA can play their game in Mexico and Canada But that's it mostly.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

EK has evaded... ... EK has engaged in suppression and destruction ...

Wow, you got a long list here, I wonder if you broke down everything wrong that happened in the US company and elsewhere, who would be accountable for all this mess you made up and which may be partially correct by chance.

Perpetrators in US:

US citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, unreported to HQ
US citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, reported to HQ, no effective corrective actions
US citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, reported to HQ, effective corrective actions
US citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, ordered to do so by HQ

Slovenian citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, unreported to HQ
Slovenian citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, reported to HQ, no effective corrective action
Slovenian citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, reported to HQ, effective corrective action
Slovenian citizen, breaking US laws or/and internal rules, ordered to do so by HQ

Supervisors and vitnesses in US:

Have they followed their duties and reported everything that needed to be reported?

Victims in US:

If they were damaged somehow, have they followed the internal rules and reported everything as they should have?

Have they reported any wrongdoings to US authorities?

If they felt that they are being exploited and were not happy in that job for whatever reason, why did not they just leave?

The list may be even larger, it may go further for Slovenia, etc.

I wrote this just to illustrate, that a portion of what happened may have been caused by US citizens breaking US law and internal rules, by negligent or indifferent employees, etc. Saying that everything is the fault of the slovenian owner is just silly. In the above list I marked what is directly assignable to the responsibility of the owner.

EDIT: Of course, the owner must first install some effective company processes and rules, I wonder what portion of the problems may have risen from the chaos caused by not having clear internal rules, etc.

 

[Chomiq]

Similarly immature as recent videos by Jay who rips the EK stuff from his computer and then only allows 5 fittings "in the basement, where they belong". Funny stuff happening...

You're missing the part where EK USA cheated Jay out of money for unpaid ads.

They also pulled same shit with Igor's lab:

 

[BoggledBeagle]

You're missing the part where EK USA cheated Jay out of money for unpaid ads.

You mean his six figure contract? It may fall into the category of unreasonable contracts, that are impossible to fulfill for a company in financial problems.

A lot of the problems boil down to the stupid past decisions of the HQ to spend more money than was sustainable and possible.

The unreasonable contracts needed to be terminated.

 

[Chomiq]

You mean his six figure contract? It may fall into the category of unreasonable contracts, that are impossible to fulfill for a company in financial problems.

A lot of the problems boil down to the stupid past decisions of the HQ to spend more money than was sustainable and possible.

The unreasonable contracts needed to be terminated.

Financial problems didn't stop them from getting a Computex booth this year.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Perhaps they want to continue making stuff and they simply need to be there to present their products?

 

[Ruru]

Opened my 3080's block and cleaned it, looked pretty nasty. Corrosion and gunk, though after cleaning got better. It still had its seal so I was the first to open it (not sure that am I the second or third owner of this card + waterblock)

Well, temps are more than fine so no worries at least yet. I'm sure that I took a pic of it but looks like that I didn't, dammit.

 

[chrcoluk]

It is not on me to give a Company a pass because they decided to do what they they did. I agree that Corsair (in some things) and Asus are following Nvidia into the highest price bracket. The fact that EK basically tripled their prices has more to do with the lack of success and if he thought the pandamic would last forever he did not live in the World before the Internet. Then it looks like they did not share equally the earnings.

The unfortunate truth is the further East you go from England the higher the propensity for populations to have racist tendencies in Europe.

The thing with those promotional contracts is why does that need to happen in the first place and secondly what does it say for the entire review space if Youtubers are being paid thousands of dollars to promote something like EK over Alphacool. That actually explains why Jays2Cents almost exclusively used EK for most of his PC builds and is actually how he started his channel.


The thing is for me it is nothing more than EK thought they were more relevant than they actually were and allowed Corsair to swoop in and eat into their market share. Then you also realize that this space is for enthusiasts, meaning Byiski and Phanteks are also a known quantity by us for these things but Corsair has the distribution network that allows you to go to Canada Computers ,see the EK Pump/res for $400 behind a display cabinet and see the Corsair one for $199 or go on Amazon or Newegg and order one for next day delivery.

The biggest kick in the teeth for us from EK though has to be the insane price of putting a couple of screw holes in plastic molds with a rubber gasket to seal it and charge you an eyewatering $3-600. Meanwhile there was a Phanteks distro plate on Newegg for $50. I don't need a distro plate with 15 screw holes either.

Thats a fair point, EK is pretty much the only vendor I know off, because of how exclusively they used by the media.

 

[lexluthermiester]

But you know that EKWB has only branch in the US? One, not multiple.

The problems and activities at hand are known to and approved by the execs at the parent company. The division location is a detail, not a factor.

Most of that are uncertifies things without any evidence.

No, there's plenty out there already. Go find it.

This is your opinion. Judging without evidence.

Again, no.

Wow, you got a long list here, I wonder if you broke down everything wrong that happened in the US company and elsewhere, who would be accountable for all this mess you made up and which may be partially correct by chance.

It's a big mess, no doubt there.

You're missing the part where EK USA cheated Jay out of money for unpaid ads.

Jay and his group are not the only ones screwed over by EK USA and EK Slovnia...

You mean his six figure contract? It may fall into the category of unreasonable contracts, that are impossible to fulfill for a company in financial problems.

A lot of the problems boil down to the stupid past decisions of the HQ to spend more money than was sustainable and possible.

The unreasonable contracts needed to be terminated.

That is just making excuses. The execs should not be spending money on non-vital expenditures, which they have been.

 

[Ruru]

Thats a fair point, EK is pretty much the only vendor I know off, because of how exclusively they used by the media.

Alphacool is an another well-known vendor.

And then we have those Chinese(?) ones like Barrow and Bykski which supposedly are good manufacturers as well.

 

[gurusmi]

The problems and activities at hand are known to and approved by the execs at the parent company. The division location is a detail, not a factor.,,

It's real funny. Your spinning around all the time. At the time all the rumors should have happened E. König hasn't been a executable. He was just the owner. All of the arguments you posted smash down with this small and simple fact.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It's real funny. Your spinning around all the time.

No, I'm not.

He was just the owner. All of the arguments you posted smash down with this small and simple fact.

I think you misunderstand how things work in the real business world.