Retro Access is having a extreme personal crisis and could use help

[kitty666cats]

If you look at their Twitter, you can get a much better understanding of what they’re going through. I’ve been through some intense personal crises before (particularly this year), but they pale in comparison to the unfortunate twists in life that R-A is being afflicted with. If you have a Twitter, check in on the massive setbacks they’ve been dealing with and please try to feel for them, despite what cable orders you may have been completely left in the dark about this year.

https://twitter.com/retroaccess

^ Here is their Twitter

https://retro-access.com/products/donat ... 6564&_ss=r

^ Here’s a page where you can lend a helping hand & they’re being professional and downplaying their personal crises, but if you check their and Twitter you can get a much better understanding of what this cable-maker dedicated to (trying) to provide the best cables you can get your hands on is suffering through.

Every little bit helps, they’re essentially left only with their cats (who need medical attention that may not be able to be paid for) and a lack of friends after moving across the Atlantic Ocean to be with a romantic - and business - partner who has thrown a massive curveball into their ability to thrive.

Link once again:

https://retro-access.com/products/donat ... 6564&_ss=r

Hopefully one day they will find themselves happy & healthy with great friends,’potential employees, collaborators, or distributors capable of producing cables matching their standard of quality.

Hope you all are well, and I hope you all have a partner that can stay dedicated to you & retain their love forever, or at least never leave you blinded in a dire situation.

~ Mike
<3

[Gara]

It's really tragic what's going on with her situation. I hope she can turn things around and find the motivation to keep going. With their quality and ability to fill their order quota whenever they wanted I always figured they were doing so well. If you're able then please provide whatever help you can. I hope we can all keep her in the scene

[Josh128]

Is Retro Access a single person or an entity/group of people? It is very sad to read this stuff.

*EDIT - Ah is this the same lady whos been building and selling these cables for a good 8+ years now? What would be the best way anyone here could help?

[Gara]

Is Retro Access a single person or an entity/group of people? It is very sad to read this stuff.

Retro Access started out as Rachel and her husband (partner?) as far as I know. Within the last year or two they also had hired help at some point. From what I can gather from the Twitter posts her partner has left her and is off doing his own thing. So it's just her

RetroRGB Interview: Retro-Access from a few years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPLmIKw5wyg

[kitty666cats]

Is Retro Access a single person or an entity/group of people? It is very sad to read this stuff.

*EDIT - Ah is this the same lady whos been building and selling these cables for a good 8+ years now? What would be the best way anyone here could help?

Link in OP that leads to direct RA site

[kitty666cats]

I would also like to add, if people need SCART cables specifically - this seller may be remembered by some back in the day. Their SCART cables are very affordable, and while they look a bit thin, I can attest to their quality. My first ever SCART cable (for SEGA Saturn) was a sync-on-composite cable from this seller. They also sell on eBay, I found them by searching "shielded Saturn SCART cable" afaik. Their eBay page may be cheaper if you're clever and set your search terms to 'worldwide', I honestly forget.

http://www.consolegoods.co.uk/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/113728139230
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202661136161

They seem to operate under 2 eBay names? Just browse their cables with 'worldwide' activated and choose whicher is the cheaper of the two cables you're looking for. I had an Insurrection Industries synv on luma Saturn SCART cable that I bought quite a bit later than this. Noticed no difference in video quality or noise. It may have been my mind playing tricks, but I seemed to like this seller's cable better. Just a reminder that there's some semi-forgotten sellers out there other than the big three (RGC UK, Insurrection, Retro Access). This guy's name is Rob Webb, he's good people.

This was just a tangent. Donate to Retro Access and help them out if you can!

[spmbx]

I wish them the best, at the same time for me it's a business that i have done business with in the past (how often do you need cables?) and that's it. I don't need or want to hear everyone's life story when i order a product.

[fernan1234]

(how often do you need cables?)

Every time you use them! Your setup wouldn't be as nice as it is without them. Get your point though, but hopefully once they weather this storm you won't have to hear about their life story again next time you want to buy another cable.

[Josh128]

I wish them the best, at the same time for me it's a business that i have done business with in the past (how often do you need cables?) and that's it. I don't need or want to hear everyone's life story when i order a product.

You are correct, but lets make clear that there is nothing about this crisis on the RA website or Ebay ads. She chose to use her business Twitter handle to ask for help, yes-- but the average Joe who needs cables and doesnt snoop around on Twitter or enthusiast sites like this one would never know anything is up except when they dont get their cables in time.

This whole phenomenon of asking for monetary donations from the public via the internet for personal crises took off with the advent of ubiquitous internet access and social media. Its main difference from historic charitable fundraisers is that normally, fundraisers sell a product, a meal, or a raffle ticket to raise money. Most of these "GoFundMe" type are just asking for a direct handout from complete strangers for nothing in return, which is basically identical to a person holding a sign on the street begging for money, except they arent actually on the street. The number of these we see nowadays is annoying, indeed, but thats because they basically have unlimited reach vs a homeless person standing on a street corner.

I personally choose empathy and compassion for these people when possible, but also dont think its ethical to donate more than a few dollars because depending on how high the profile or notoriety of situation, these campaigns can easily generate a ton of money by pulling on the heartstrings of thousands of people while the recipient can literally be laying in a warm cozy bed in their home or apartment racking up the cash. Not saying most of these charitable campaigns arent genuine, but some of them definitely might not be-- and the end goal for them is to help someone out of a bind, not make them rich or afford them a new car.

[ldeveraux]

Their SCART cables are very affordable, and while they look a bit thin, I can attest to their quality.

Your experience and mine are completely different sir

[RebeL9]

Sad to hear. I was desperetly trying to order a Dreamcast component cable from them last year but their website didnt have an option to deliver to Europe. I sent them several mails but they never replied.
If anyone are in touch with them and they still have those cables I'm still willing to buy.

[kitty666cats]

Sad to hear. I was desperetly trying to order a Dreamcast component cable from them last year but their website didnt have an option to deliver to Europe. I sent them several mails but they never replied.
If anyone are in touch with them and they still have those cables I'm still willing to buy.

They have never made a Dreamcast component cable, see you thinking of RGC UK?

[Lamprey]

That is a bummer to hear. I hate to see anyone stuggeling.

I don't know exactly how they work, I wish they would implement some sort of queue system to order cables. I've been wanting to get about 10 more scart cables from them but I don't have time to constantly check to see if they are available. So, unfortunately, I've had to buy from another place. But, I sure do love their multicore coax cables.

Hopefully they can get things right in their life.

[ldeveraux]

I had to check this wasn't just posted, but she's said she's shuttering the business because her spouse paid the taxes in full and left them with no savings. It's one event after another with these 2...

https://twitter.com/retroaccess/status/ ... 3341979676

[bobrocks95]

There was a follow-up asking for interest in help producing cables and I know a handful of old orders did ship out recently. There was good engagement from people offering to help (and she is offering to pay), but you never know if someone will be able to follow through, what logistics will look like, etc. Hoping for the best.

[Gunstar]

Made a small donation, hope things get better for her

[ldeveraux]

She's literally always like this, I shouldn't even have posted, it's not 'news' haha

[Josh128]

She's literally always like this, I shouldn't even have posted, it's not 'news' haha

You are right. This is a bit over the top. If its that much of a problem, she should sell the business , use the money to get situated, and just get a 9-5 like 90% of the other people in this country. We all have problems and crises, every single one of us, at different times in our lives. Constantly publicly begging strangers for handouts is not the way to handle them, IMO.

[fernan1234]

Problem is, there is no sign of anyone else being able to step up to the plate and offer that beautiful thick coax, unmatched clean audio (with audio breakout leads at least), and especially custom D-Sub cables for all systems. The hobby kinda needs this lady.

[ldeveraux]

Problem is, there is no sign of anyone else being able to step up to the plate and offer that beautiful thick coax, unmatched clean audio (with audio breakout leads at least), and especially custom D-Sub cables for all systems. The hobby kinda needs this lady.

When i first went RGB, I bought ~8 SCART cables from RA. 1 didn't work at all and 2 broke when I dared to bend them. They replaced the broken one, but I repaired the solder on the other 2. With the quality and lack of replies in a month, I just went with RGC from that point. Somehow arrived faster from the UK to US, never broke, didn't have to put up with the quirky ordering process. I'm not sure what advantages RA has over RGC, but it's not in the SCART cables in my experience.

[Gara]

Problem is, there is no sign of anyone else being able to step up to the plate and offer that beautiful thick coax, unmatched clean audio (with audio breakout leads at least), and especially custom D-Sub cables for all systems. The hobby kinda needs this lady.

It would be a huge lose. Custom cable lengths and complete customization of Scart, DB15, and BNC cables all while having the best quality in the retro gaming scene is a big luxury. I really don't see anyone rushing to fill this gap. My own setup is made up of more than 30 of her cables.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Sure, I've bought some Euro Scart and JPN 21-pin RGB based retro console cables from Retro Access in the past. They all work like a charm with absolutely no issues to contend with.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BazookaBen]

Insurrection Industries makes great RGB cables.

They're all SCART but you just can just buy an adapter if your display isn't SCART

[Bratwurst]

Problem is, there is no sign of anyone else being able to step up to the plate and offer that beautiful thick coax, unmatched clean audio (with audio breakout leads at least), and especially custom D-Sub cables for all systems. The hobby kinda needs this lady.

It would be a huge lose. Custom cable lengths and complete customization of Scart, DB15, and BNC cables all while having the best quality in the retro gaming scene is a big luxury. I really don't see anyone rushing to fill this gap. My own setup is made up of more than 30 of her cables.

I assemble my own video & audio cabling for my personal needs and it's not a process I would care to make a living out of. The scale of demand involved would classify it as hard work in my opinion.

I can't personally speak to the quality of Retro Access since I've never used any, though a good friend in another state relied on her to supply JP21 wired cables for all his stuff and I don't recall that he ever had any issues.

[matt]

Problem is, there is no sign of anyone else being able to step up to the plate and offer that beautiful thick coax, unmatched clean audio (with audio breakout leads at least), and especially custom D-Sub cables for all systems. The hobby kinda needs this lady.

That's part of the problem! Making good cables isn't rocket science, and the materials she's using are commercially available. But it's a tedious job when you're doing it at scale.

I used to make custom RGB cables for people years ago. It was interesting at first and there was a good market for it, but it's not something I could do long term and maintain my mental health.

[billbrasky]

twitter reads like a trainwreck. they should be more transparent on their website that the 3 day expedited option $5.99 is just a donation. still waiting on a cable a month later with this donation.

[ldeveraux]

twitter reads like a trainwreck. they should be more transparent on their website that the 3 day expedited option $5.99 is just a donation. still waiting on a cable a month later with this donation.

Which account, RetroAccess seems to just be deals? I thought the business was shutting down?

[BazookaBen]

Do we really need to bump this thread in particular?

Can we please be a little less cringe?

[orange808]

Could be worse. I ordered a MiSTer Laggy and they straight up took my money and never shipped a damn thing. Thanks a lot.

Arcadeforge took over six months to ship my order and it arrived in fuck all shitty condition--after I won a PayPal dispute battle. I assume the fuckers intentionally boxed up a rushed piece of rubbish to punish me for wanting my order.

BeharBros claimed they fixed Garo and shipped out "fixed" versions that were even worse than the original model! Thanks.

Castlemania Games shipped me shitty SCART to HD-15 converters that are so deformed, I can't even seat a HD-15/DE-15/"VGA" cable into them. What good is a cable adapter that doesn't seat cables?

All kinds of shit out there.

Bonus points for Calibre's support team and the engineer that told me that it's not possible to perform any kind of video processing without a full frame buffer, so their misleading 4ms latency claim was (supposedly) valid.

[dseleski]

Do we really need to bump this thread in particular?

This is Retro Access.

I was wondering why my sales are dead this weekend and I did a quick google and noticed this thread is bumped.

I haven’t quit the business in fact I’ve been working really hard to expand it. I recently registered as an LLC and I’ve employed coworkers who will be starting work in the next 3 days. I also have paid for an entire year supply of cable recently.

There’s been a processing time of 2-3 months on the website for years in fact. It was my spouse’s idea to sell that way (because so many other businesses do preorder) and they thought it was ok. Well as people might know, they quit the business and left me. Selling cables that way is not ok. It not only leaves customers in the dark, but stresses me out because I can’t plan anything as I’m always burdened by mountains of pending orders. I want shot of it and it’s why I introduced the priority option. I’m catching up on delayed orders that weren’t prioritized and aim to get the unprioritized processing down to only 2 weeks once I have people coming here to help.

The priority option is not merely a donation. I’ve been shipping out those orders early, and I’ve actually had hundreds of them. The way I find them is to search pending orders for the prioritize purchase then manually click them all, print out work orders and work on those cables early. Now because I have to manually check boxes, it’s possible I might have missed some. So when I saw that post, I searched for any orders I might have missed and found just one. I’ve emailed that customer and refunded the priority charge and will ship the order in the coming week. No idea if it’s the guy from this thread but I’d assume so.

It really is imperative that these rumors that I’ve quit and am shutting down get quashed. I’ve invested a lot in the future of this business recently and I need to pay the people I’ve taken on as coworkers.

Once I have help at this again I’m confident that I can erase the backlog.

But these rumors that I’ve quit are really not helping me. Please can we just quash them now?

TLDR: the priority option on the website is not a donation, those orders genuinely get prioritized but it looks like I accidentally missed one. No I’m not quitting, I in fact have invested in another year’s worth of business.

Edit to sort this out:

twitter reads like a trainwreck. they should be more transparent on their website that the 3 day expedited option $5.99 is just a donation. still waiting on a cable a month later with this donation.

I am pretty sure I found your order and have emailed you but if not can you please give me the order number? Thank you.

Edit to add:

Can people stop bumping the thread? My sales have been *terrible* since it got bumped and I’m taking on new staff so it’s really worrying me.