Talk about getting a raw deal ...

[shamus45]

I got it royally. Did an online search for a common product used in customization. I looked things over and decided to make the purchase. As I do on every purchase online in the remarks section while checking out I asked to have the shipping info and tracking info emailed to me so I can track the items. Well no response. Never did get the tracking info. A week or so later the truck pulls up and drops me a package. I cant wait so down to the work bench I go and begin opening up the package carefully. Once I get inside the shipping box I see the manufacturers box is damaged and I can smell a burnt odor. Now I guess your all wondering what next. Well you guessed it I never even took it out of the box and polugged it in and wal lah. 1/2 the lites didnt work. I get right online and try to get a phone number and you guessed it no phone number... now im down to email. I explain my dilemma in detail and I was told I was to deal with the manufacturer. All I asked for was to be refunded. I wasnt even offered an exchange. I was told to deal with the product manufacturer and they would do NOTHING!! Hows them apples. What would you guys do? I know I will never buy anything from that worthless organization again. Believe that not even a customer service phone number. NO offer to exchange and absolutely no assistance to help get the problem resolved. Unbelievable. Is this what the online ordering network is coming to?

 

[InTheStix]

One has to be very careful these days-especially ordering stuff online.I always buy from well known companies(Jegs,Summit Racing,LMC Truck.etc.).I have bought stuff from companies I haven't heard of before,but not without doing some research first(google them with "complaints" in quotations).Good luck man!

 

[Mark_88]

Isn't there a 'cooling off' period that all businesses must allow buyers upwards of 15 days to return purchases? You may have to pay a restocking fee but I don't see how they can get around selling you a broken part without at least replacing it with a working unit...but, then again, you may end up paying shipping also...

I personally do not buy anything on-line...not even software renewals...just my preference though...as I'm sure most on-line purchases are not problematic...hope it works out for you though!

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Post this info along with the name of the company on every forum you can find.

Then send them links to the threads full of bad publicity.

 

[Jspafford]

Ever try finding a phone number to e-bay?

 

[Destroyer000]

jaspa yes.. ive had an incident's or 2 on ebay an spent a few searching an finally found numbers.. deff is a pita..


i bought something a while aback received it an it didnt work.... emailed the guy trying different things to see what the problem was.. come to find out it got broke during shipping.. had to ship it back an i JUST received it not 2 hours b4.. 30 bucks to ship it back to him an he shipped out a new one so i guess its not that bad.. he had his phone onumber on the box so i called it itwas a verizon cell... after callin non stop for a day he finally returned my call said he had one shipped.. so when i got the new one it didnt come with a bracket so i called that number again.. wasnt the same person he changed numbers..

 

[Jim Oaks]

Gee, this sounds really familiar.

I had a customer who ordered a set of VisionX strobes and I had them shipped right away. He sent me an email complaining that he paid by Paypal and wanted to pay by credit card instead. He wanted me to reverse the payment. Problem is, the item had already been shipped. There's no way I'm going to cancel payment once the item has been sent. They'll get the item and I'll never get the corrected payment and get screwed. From there they can do (1) of (2) things:

(1) Return the item, get a refund and re-order. (best option)

(2) Send a second (correct) payment with an agreement that the first one would be refunded (risky for customer)

The item was dropped shipped brand new and never touched by me.

The customer continues to give me a hard time, mad because he screwed up in the check out and paid by Paypal instead of credit card. At this point all I can tell him is that he needs to take it up with Paypal if he wanted to use a credit card. I can't control the method of payment people send me.

The customer accuses me of charging his paypal account without his permission. That's not even possible. I can't charge a Paypal account unless you have an active subscription, in which case your paypal account sends me the money automatically. I don't initiate the transaction so really that's not a 'charge', it's a payment YOU set up. The other way is if you have a Paypal credit card, but you would have to give me the information. I don't have any psychics on staff that comes up with paypal account information.

OK, so now the customer is mad and claims that when he got the item the box was ripped, had a burnt smell and didn't work. I make some calls and check to confirm it was shipped brand new and not a return. Since it didn't come directly from me, I see what the options to return it are. I provide the information to return the item to the manufacturer and that they will replace it if in fact it's defective and not damaged by the customer trying to install it. They will not give a refund, only replace it. I also tell them that if it's determined to be damaged from shipment that they can make a claim with FedEx.

I can take a return if there's nothing wrong with it, but if it was screwed up when they got it, it has to go back to the manufacturer for replacement. In this case, my immediate thought is that the subject is just looking for a way to get his money back because Paypal takes the money you have NOW and a credit card lets you pay for it LATER.

Not every sale I've made has been perfect. There have been a couple of problems, but I've always went out of my way to get it corrected to the point of me paying for their shipping and even losing money. Fortunately it has only happened a couple of times. I even stayed up real late one night to call a kid in Alaska and explain why his 6-Inch Skyjacker kit had 4-Inch rear springs instead of 6-Inch.

One time I actually had a distributor send someone a ring & pinion that had been returned by another customer and was damaged. The distributor set it up so UPS would actually go pick the item back up from the customer so they could send a new one right from the manufacturer. It was the distributors fault. Knucklehead A put it back on the shelf and knucklehead B sent it to another customer. As far as the guy that got the 'burnt' strobes, I made phone calls and had it checked back all the way to the person in the warehouse that shipped it and that the company had never even had one returned before to have had a used one in stock.

If you knew for fact the product was new straight from the manufacturer, that the customer was complaining that YOU made an unauthorized transaction on his paypal account to pay for it and wanted you to reverse it after you had already shipped it, and then complained it was burnt when they got it from the manufacturer and wanted their money back, would you refund them, or tell them to send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement?

 

[reno]

Well, give us the name of the site and or person you dealt with, that way the rest of us won't get screwed, and maybe a email address, we can all write him to let him know how much business he potentially lost. Not a email bomb, if he was to receive even 50 emails stating you screwed a member of a forum I goto and I will not do business with you in the future and will let my friends know as well, this is a lot of potential business you are giving up.

If you are smart enough to do an online business, then certainly you can figure out all these individual emails, each one will equal to approx. a total of 5 losses each minimum.

 

[srteach]

Reno, did you read the post just before yours? or did you miss the implications?
There is always two sides to the story.

 

[shamus45]

Well well well

I was wondering how long it would take for you to come out from behind that tree you been hiding behind. Great company you operate there Jim is it. Oh thats the first time you even signed your name to an email You hiding from something.
Let start off by saying that it took me posting on your public forum before you would even respond professionally and courteously so get off your soapbox and stop praising yourself as the holier than thou helping out late one nigh blah blah blah all the way to the bank. Well welcome to the real world of business in america.
Now for your dream works idea you came up with on how you figure out how your customers feel. That is what you did isnt it. Or do you have simple GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICES that when someone buys from your site if there is anything defective or damaged you offer a return or refund like most reputable business offer. After all I did send pictures of all in question, the box that the item was sent in a box that a childs toy came in, the damaged manufaturers packaging etc. But I guess that doesnt qualify because you had it all figure out that a customer was trying to get over on you.
Now lets see about the other issues you claim occured,
1) I havent used paypal for 2 years and dont even have a password. Your half as... system has a glitch in it just like the glitch you tried to explained to me happened when it tried to charge me $8 - 3 times for a simple 2 oz product. Oh lets see how you tried to clean that one up.
This is your quote from your email to me and is as follows and note the grammar-

...$8.00 is what we expect to have to pay to ship it. The button needs reprogrammed to not charge as much for subsequent numbers.
We have had people get overcharged for items in the past. We just send them a reimbursement for overpayment.

Lets see "the button needs reprogrammed" I guess thats my fault as well your button needs to be reprogrammed. Now was that the button for shipping or the paypay credit charge button.....Hummm
I guess thats my fault.

2) I asked several times for a customer service phone number to call and not once did I recieve even a response. Thats when I realized I was dealing with a substandard company with 1 thing in mind and I dont mean their customer.

3) Next I sent YOU ( the reputable owner) pictures and described the box, product and simply used or defective product I recieved which was quite a while after the paypal episode, I was told
" return it and if they feel its defective they will replace it, if you damaged it they will do nothing, if it was damaged in shipping you can file a claim".
Now thats what I call quality customer service.

Oh one more thing its funny how in your email you make another claim that you have discussed the situation with the manufacturer and the distributor.
WOW is everybody reading this ....3 steping... your the 3rd man in line wow what a nice thing that is.
And lastly when I called and spoke with the VP sales he was a nice a person could be and was very reputable and understanding of the issue and was very helpful with a resolution. I guess thats why he is where he is and your still in the backyard garage with grease up your nose trying to hustle people out of their good money. I can only hope that someone else reads this and gets the message BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!
Now all your loyal customers can chime in and say how great you are. But ones defined by their actions in a time of need. Reputation is built and earned not bragged about. Quality and the Best is not requested in a vote for me contest. So hasta vista little louie. Those are the facts so yes their are 2 sides to a story and you just got both of them. Hope you all get the message and you dont have to learn the hard way like I did.

 

[zapper2003]

Who lit the fuse on his Manpon?

 

[Insanejughead]

Who lit the fuse on his Manpon?

I'm wondering the same thing...

If Jim was a bad person... Wouldn't this site really suck?


I only use money orders to pay for stuff... that way there is none of my information getting out ANYWHERE!

Just my $.02 (and the money order itself costs $.45 here)

 

[MAKG]

OK, I really don't see the problem here. Have you even TRIED to contact the manufacturer? Sure, it's inconvenient, but it's an ABSOLUTE MUST before complaining of being "screwed." Did the manufacturer tell you to screw off?

Virtually all retail is "3 step." I don't see what you're complaining about. Almost all retail stores stock items from hundreds or even thousands of manufacturers. They go through distributors (usually called "wholesalers") who reduce the number of accounts one needs active. Having an in-house wholesaler is seldom cost effective for a small retailer. It's quite a lot of effort to replicate.

Jim is right about PayPal, and your complaints about that are simply unbelievable.

 

[Roadkill]

Seems to me he shouldn't be complaining about grammar and spelling.

As well, last time I checked you HAD to have your PayPal account and password to send ANYTHING through them. So if he hasn't used it in over 2 years and has no password he couldn't have sent a PayPal payment. So is PayPal now 'magically' filling in your info when you buy something online through them? I think not.

 

[Jim Oaks]

This is my last post and then you can blast me all you want because I really could care less.

I think you're a nutcase.

Try to comprehend this for a moment if you can.....

When you checked out, you either had to proceed with a credit card or log in to your Paypal account. You obviously logged in because that's how you paid.

There is no way I could have charged your paypal account. I don't know why you insist on trying to say you paid by credit card and I somehow was able to charge your paypal account. You submitted the transaction, not me. There was no way I was going to cancel the payment once the product had been shipped. You should have returned it for a refund instead of damaging it to try and force a refund.

As far as the button goes for payment, you have to enter a code on the pages for the buttons to appear. Once I have the basic button I want to use, I just copy and re-paste it somewhere else and change the price, shipping and product information. When you want to order lights it charged you $8.00 per light you wanted to order. Once you pointed it out I simply reprogrammed it to not do it.

I don't make people register or log in to check out. You can see the total prices when you order and choose to not order if you don't like the price.

You never sent me any pictures.

I think you used paypal by mistake. I think you wanted to use credit because you don't have the money now and the paypal screwed up your finances.

You claim to have a speed shop and off-road shop and you wanted to use my business as a supplier which is just ridiculous. If you were a business you would have an account with a distributor.

As far as hiding, if I was hiding, I would have deleted this post and banned you to keep you out so nobody could see what you have to say. I didn't delete your post or ban you from posting because I have nothing to hide.

You wanted your payment cancelled after I sent it and I couldn't do that.

Instead of returning it, your brand new product that came from the manufacturer and not me was mysteriously ripped and defective.

I gave you the contact information for the manufacturer to get a replacement.

I also told you that you could make a claim with FedEx.

You NEVER asked for a refund after I told you it was shipped. As a matter of fact, you emailed me this:

I recieved your package today and as soon as I opened it I noticed a burnt odor. After looking at the contents noticed the box you shipped me with the kit enclosed was apparently used at some point. Several of the LED's did not work and there were cuts and rips in the product box where it had been opened. This is unaceptable and I would like to know how you would like to proceed?

I made the calls and got the information for you to return it to the manufacturer for a replacement.

And lastly when I called and spoke with the VP sales he was a nice a person could be and was very reputable and understanding of the issue and was very helpful with a resolution.

You obviously didn't call me. You probably called who I told you to call to get it taken care of to begin with and if that's the case I don't understand you're belly aching.

From comments you sent me I find you very uncredible and I certainly am not going to issue you a refund. You can post and complain about me all you want.

And so you know, this forum is not full of 'customers' and I don't make my living from my business site. This is a hobby for me. I see people post here all the time referring to businesses to buy from when answering posts. I don't tell them I have that part or get upset that they're referring business elsewhere. People can buy wherever they want. The only thing I don't do is let other businesses commercially advertise here.