Update: EKWB and a financial disaster with an announcement: unpaid invoices, exploited employees and annoyed creditors like me

Update from 23.04.2024 at 09:45 am

In the meantime, i.e. this morning, the outstanding amount has been validated on my bank account. You have to be fair and add that too, of course. Even though it obviously puts me at ease in this respect, my thoughts are still with my colleagues whose livelihoods depend on the outstanding wage payments. This affects not only US employees, but many employees and freelancers worldwide. I hope that their payments will also arrive promptly and I even feel a bit bad at the moment when the media are suddenly paid after several months (because they have a certain visibility) and those who have made an essential contribution to the success of EKWB and who are usually not seen are not yet or perhaps only later. That doesn’t make things any easier for me, because these payments are not vital to my survival, but they are for others.

You certainly have to give Edvard König credit for the fact that since the end of February, now that he is once again acting alone as CEO, he has been actively trying to salvage what the former top management drove against the tree with flying colors. But it’s not just the financial conduct and the behavior towards the company’s own employees, but also a much tighter quality management, which was criminally neglected, as Roman Hartung (DerBauer) also proved in his last video, which I can fully confirm, because it didn’t just affect his products.

If I, as an outside reviewer, with my testing and measuring capabilities, have certified some GPU water blocks (e.g. at PowerColors Liquid Devil) as being of subterranean quality in places (from extraneous tool marks to warped coolers), then in retrospect it seems like sheer mockery that I was dismissed with ignorance instead of getting to the bottom of the causes and interacting. I do not (yet) have the official RMA rates of the individual manufacturers, but I have not only “repaired” a card for the community without much public drama.

But be that as it may: it remains to be hoped that those without whom such a company would not be viable will be helped as soon as possible. This is also worth an update later on in any case. Because this is about livelihoods and not about advertising money.

Original news from vom 21.04.2024 at 08.30 am

I want to make one thing very clear here: I am not a judge, nor is it my place to write on behalf of third parties or to prejudge a company. However, as I am one of the injured parties and find the way in which EKWB deals with payment obligations downright shabby and arrogant, Stephen Burke from Gamersnexus has already done the work on a longer article for me yesterday with his 36-minute video, which I have linked below and which I can only recommend to everyone. There’s almost nothing more to add.

Well, maybe there is. I can fully endorse Stephen’s argument, because I have known some of the colleagues and companies mentioned, mostly anonymously, for years and we talk often enough. But I also want to use my case to add something to the protection of those concerned practiced there by disclosing chronologically and with the help of my case what was not said and what kind of communication one is confronted with as a company with payment claims. As I am highly unlikely to see my money again anyway (a Slovenian debt collector has already warned me about pointless costs in this regard), I don’t really care about a possibly even more stubborn reaction from EKWB. This is simply a matter of principle. But of course I’m happy to be proven wrong. Otherwise there will be debt collection after all.

As we will see in a moment, the repertoire of excuses and delaying tactics is as broad as it is mercilessly effective. Companies like EKWB, who do not want to pay, play for time and test the patience of their creditors by displaying an elegant potpourri of creativity and audacity. In this cynical game, it is often forgotten that behind every unpaid bill there are people whose own bills and obligations are just as urgent. The irony is that many of these defaulters themselves would not tolerate any delay if the roles were reversed. And the armada of EKWB’s lawyers is really fast when, for example, they brutally ask former employees to pay penalties because of public cries for help.

Contracts? What contracts?

Since I reject excessive and annoying advertising, I market my site with its banners myself and decide which company with which product and which link is visible at all. This suits the readers and in return offers the advertisers more attention. This also means that, contrary to what is customary in the industry, I do not limit the number of impressions or clicks, but offer it as a kind of flat rate over a defined overall period with payment at least quarterly in advance. This creates planning security for both sides, as I only limit the number of advertising customers in order to keep visibility high. And at a fair price, including real-time reporting.

I had a 1-year contract with EKWB from Q2 2023 up to and including Q1 2024 and it was one of the most annoying and time-consuming business relationships so far. Even the first three payments were only made with a considerable delay and although the payment method and payment terms were clearly defined and also shown on the invoices, I had to send several reminders each time. For those who can’t understand it: The noble art of chasing money is an arduous, often underestimated discipline that has evolved over centuries. And if the defaulting payer can’t think of anything else, they can quickly and creatively change the rules, in this case for Q1 2024, and give themselves some breathing space:

You reach the next level of satisfaction when it comes to following up. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of receiving the same reply to their reminders several times a day will appreciate the subtle art of repetition. Email correspondence with companies like EKWB can also be seen as a form of social interaction. It is also a constant reminder that while hope dies last, liquidity often dies first. It’s a school of life that builds character.

I also decided to let this contract expire on time and deliberately not to negotiate an extension because the stress with this company was simply too much for me and there are plenty of other interested parties. But of course you don’t give notice to a company like EKWB yourself, no, you are disposed of. There has to be at least that much time. Incidentally, this suits me just fine, because this advertising space is now occupied by someone else who pays honestly and punctually. It’s interesting that EKWB has once again confirmed in writing that it will fulfill the contract for the unpaid Q1, even though it knows that it won’t or can’t pay at all.

Well, welcome to the waiting loop, I’ll spare us the rest of the communication attempts at this point. Except for the last message, which was also two weeks ago:

Even though EKWB knew in January or February 2024 that it would not be able to pay the invoices, it continued to claim further services until the end of Q1. Specifically, I’m talking about a mid-seven-digit(!) number of impressions in Q1 and a good four-digit number of clicks directly to the EKWB webshop! And nobody can tell me that no direct or indirect sales were generated as a result. Not paying for this is simply brazen.

I know from colleagues that EKWB has also not paid many of them or has only paid them very late, especially since January 2024. However, most of them still seem to hope that the business relationship will continue and that things will return to normal. However, from my long time in the industry and after relevant experience in the sector, I also know that unpaid taxes, outstanding wages and unpaid social benefits always (should) come first and that customers like me then run into nothing.

There are other ways to deal with payment bottlenecks and ask for understanding, a deferral or a discount. But if the overall structure is already imploding, it will hardly be possible to salvage anything here, especially as you would at least have to have the right character to take such steps. At least the smaller creditors like me, whose outstanding amounts are “only” four or five figures and who have only sent reminders from 2024 onwards, will certainly be thrown over the cliff, because there is unlikely to be an adequate and quickly redeemable mass to resolve the liquidity bottleneck.

Will I ever see my money? Doubtful. Will I conclude any contracts with EKWB again? Rather unlikely. Will we test any more products? I’ll leave that up to the reviewers to decide to what extent they want to and can justify the price and quality to their readers. For my part, however, I am out as long as there is no payment and no apology.

A Computex invitation to booth N0003

Speaking of contracts: Computex is THE place to go every year for presentations and deals. Stephen mentioned a six-figure sum that the booth is said to have cost. I would put the cost a little lower, because the stand formerly rented by the Korean cloud provider Innodep is tiny and on a very unattractive exterior, but no matter. I think it would be better and more honest if EKWB finally settled the outstanding debts instead of burning even more money. But I’m on site and will try to collect the debt, perhaps even on camera. And with a bit of bad luck, I’m sure I won’t be the only one.

Here is the video from Gamers Nexus for all those who are interested in all the other details, enjoy the 36 minutes: