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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 18:43:43 GMT
Such a simple thing: I needed a good dagger frog. I have one, but it's way too large for my Hanwei Solingen dagger. I found a very nice angled dagger frog offered by a custom leather maker. I researched the company name on here and found several positive threads about their products and how helpful they were. Cool - order placed online and paid 9/02/09. On 9/10, I send an email inquiring on the status of the order. On 9/12 I receive a reply that it has shipped and I should have it in 2-3 business days. I email reply and ask for a tracking or delivery confirmation number but never get a reply. I phone a couple of times over the next few days and leave a voice message asking the same thing - no reply. On 9/18 I send another email inquiry and explain again that I must have the piece by 9/25. On 9/21 I get a reply from the owner apologising and assuring me it will be sent in time for me to receive before this weekend. Once again I immediately reply and ask for tracking or delivery confirmation numbers and get no reply. Phone calls to their office today get a message informing me that they are closed for the next week! This is supposedly a very respected business. I know my order is tiny compared to their usual, but this is a horrible way to treat any customer. What would you do? I'm tempted to get in touch with Paypal and ask for a refund.
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 24, 2009 18:54:52 GMT
I can only take a wild guess at which company this is and if it's the one I'm thinking of, I've dealt with them before, for a sword frog. Took a month to get it. Actually, twas after a month of waiting that I emailed to ask about the status. I had the pleasure of a prompt reply explaining that the thing had to be made first (apparently they don't keep stock? ) and then sent out via whichever service they use and is then at the mercy of the same. Amusingly enough, it arrived the day after the email exchange. Too damn big for the sword I wanted to use it with. Never got around to getting another... Anywho, as regrettable as it is, I imagine they have their circumstances...but business being business, they do have a duty to assure the customer's needs are met. Your needs being to have the product by a certain date, one would hope it gets to you...right about now, actually...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 19:01:41 GMT
I can only take a wild guess at which company this is and if it's the one I'm thinking of, I've dealt with them before, for a sword frog. Took a month to get it. Actually, twas after a month of waiting that I emailed to ask about the status. I had the pleasure of a prompt reply explaining that the thing had to be made first (apparently they don't keep stock? ) and then sent out via whichever service they use and is then at the mercy of the same. Amusingly enough, it arrived the day after the email exchange. Too damn big for the sword I wanted to use it with. Never got around to getting another... Anywho, as regrettable as it is, I imagine they have their circumstances...but business being business, they do have a duty to assure the customer's needs are met. Your needs being to have the product by a certain date, one would hope it gets to you...right about now, actually... They brag that they have always met a customer's "need by" date. Note the part where I was told on 9/12 that the order had shipped......
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 24, 2009 19:08:27 GMT
Yep, seems it's in the hands of Billy-Bob's "Where's That Derned House?" Delivery Service. I don't think they generally ship by trackable methods...if memory serves my frog came Priority Mail, which only has delivery confirmation... Granted, it's supposed to only take a few days, but once a friend mailed an iPod cable from Pulaski, VA to me here in Richmond-ish, VA and it took some three weeks. Then I had to pay extra postage. At any rate, I completely understand your frustration, and am right with you on all your points...but if it really did, that is, if it really did ship on the date they said...well, it's literally off their hands/out of their control. Nothing they can do about it now...blame the delivery service. As to the communications issue...they certainly should be making some effort to return your calls and emails...can't imagine why they wouldn't... Only excuse is being out of the office for an extended period, which they may be busy attending fairs or what have you. Never know.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 19:21:11 GMT
Yep, seems it's in the hands of Billy-Bob's "Where's That Derned House?" Delivery Service. I don't think they generally ship by trackable methods...if memory serves my frog came Priority Mail, which only has delivery confirmation... Granted, it's supposed to only take a few days, but once a friend mailed an iPod cable from Pulaski, VA to me here in Richmond-ish, VA and it took some three weeks. Then I had to pay extra postage. At any rate, I completely understand your frustration, and am right with you on all your points...but if it really did, that is, if it really did ship on the date they said...well, it's literally off their hands/out of their control. Nothing they can do about it now...blame the delivery service. As to the communications issue...they certainly should be making some effort to return your calls and emails...can't imagine why they wouldn't... Only excuse is being out of the office for an extended period, which they may be busy attending fairs or what have you. Never know. Nope, the second response was an apology saying they didn't understand why the order did not ship when they said it did. They admitted it did not ship when they said it had. As for the other part, this is a small town. My local mail carrier is the wife of a 20 yr long friend of mine. My previous mail carrier was the brother of my co-worker... Yup, definitely a small town.
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 24, 2009 19:26:48 GMT
Nope, the second response was an apology saying they didn't understand why the order did not ship when they said it did. They admitted it did not ship when they said it had. Oh. Oops? Hmm...this could go many ways. 1) Yep, they know where to find you, at least... 2) They're holding it for you for some reason, and kind of forgot to mention it? 3) You looked at them funny so they threw it away. 4) I dunno. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 19:30:34 GMT
Oh. Oops? Hmm...this could go many ways. 1) Yep, they know where to find you, at least... 2) They're holding it for you for some reason, and kind of forgot to mention it? 3) You looked at them funny so they threw it away. 4) I dunno. ;D I have a bad feeling my dagger frog is still somewhere in the deep south and has yet to see the interior of a Priority Mail package, let alone see a post office.
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 24, 2009 19:35:42 GMT
1) I suck at quote when I'm in a hurry. 2) I hope that's not the case...but I don't think I'd be surprised. Well, here's hoping it shows up in the nick of time.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 19:36:21 GMT
Who was it?
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Post by shadowhowler on Sept 24, 2009 19:51:26 GMT
Could be one of two people I'm thinking of... either way... its a bummer. I hope it arrives today/tomorrow for you... however, if you feel overly slightly by the lack of customers services, you gotta do what you gotta do.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 20:15:27 GMT
It's a moot point now.
My mail was running late today. It was just delivered. My carrier knew I was lookng for this, so she rang my doorbell and hand delivered it to me. ;D
My comments about their customer service still stands - poor way to do business. I will say that their quality of goods is excellent. This dagger frog is twice as heavy a grade of leather as the one I got from one of the online retailers, and it fits my dagger quite well.
Moderators: You may lock or delete this thread if you wish.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2009 1:45:05 GMT
All's well that ends well, I guess. It's unfortunate that some businesses just don't get that when you order something you may need it in a reasonable period of time, even though you didn't choose express shipping. It's like "whenever" to them unless you pay for overnight shipping. When they state that standard shipping will take xxx days you should be able to count on that!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2009 3:26:40 GMT
All's well that ends well, I guess. It's unfortunate that some businesses just don't get that when you order something you may need it in a reasonable period of time, even though you didn't choose express shipping. It's like "whenever" to them unless you pay for overnight shipping. When they state that standard shipping will take xxx days you should be able to count on that! The only thing they really needed to do was answer my emails & return my phone calls. Better yet, have someone available to answer the phone during published business hours!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2009 6:34:25 GMT
Always a good idea to call first before placing an order to create a link to a specific craftsman or employee. People are far more likely to follow through when some type of relation has been established.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2009 7:50:04 GMT
Is there a reason that you are not naming the company/business? Seems like a valid complaint. I personally dont care one way or another as I will never order anything like this from anyone, just curious. I work in customer service myself and I would be fired within a day of handling an inquiry like that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2009 11:43:33 GMT
Is there a reason that you are not naming the company/business? Seems like a valid complaint. I personally dont care one way or another as I will never order anything like this from anyone, just curious. I work in customer service myself and I would be fired within a day of handling an inquiry like that. I have not publicly named them, but have answered PMs. I'm not one for public name calling. Other forums I belong to have rules agains naming names in such complaints. I agree wih the idea in general as there are three sides to every story. Your side, their side, an the truth somewhere in between. I used this forum to solicit opinions as to whether I should cancel the order or wait it out a little longer. It became moot.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2009 3:29:36 GMT
I see, I was really just wondering if maybe there was a policy here that I didnt know about, Im with you on the three sided coin thing, and you are right there is no need to toss dirt on a company for every little thing, after all they are just people trying to make a living like the rest of us.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2009 17:33:26 GMT
Personally, I could care less about being pc on such things. To make errors is human but that really applies to simple mistakes like sending the wrong item or the wrong quantity. However, this situation seemed just wrong. There is absolutely no reason why anyone with a business shoulnt be able to reply to e-mails and phone calls. That is not an example of human error, but rather lazyness with a complete lack of business sense.
Of course in this country everyone wants to sue everyone else because it sure beats having to work for a living, so I understand not making public statements. But if I were were in the market for the same or similar item I would sure be contacting gearloose to find out the name of the biz so I would stay far far away.
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