Dealer Warning!
May 15, 2010 13:06:21 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2010 13:06:21 GMT
First off, I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong section. I read everything and there was no definitive forum for this topic so this seemed like the logical place.
I am writing about a very recent "dealer" experience I have had with whom members of this board have considered a "reputable dealer"
What I am about to write may offend some but that is NOT my intention. My intention is to warn new members such as myself about this before it's too late to fix it.
I am not going to mention names here in a public forum either, if anyone wants to know, they can PM me and I will let them know. That way the point can be made and it won’t be in a public forum. Unless everyone wants me to name the “dealer” then I will have no problem doing so.
Yes, I am new here and my opinions may not hold much water with most but this has to be said so new members don't have this happen to them. But I have not given up faith and hopefully this will help the new members from finding this out the hard way as well.
I still trust the members of this community. I need the members advice and help in all things Katana!
I want to go on record as saying I choose this forum to learn about Japanese swords, what to buy, where to buy etc. To this point, everything has been extremely good and the members have been great. This is just an experience that I feel needs to be shared so the MODS and owner of this board know who exactly they are recommending.
So here goes, hope I don't get banned for this!
I recently tried to purchase a Katana from what I was lead to believe was a reputable "dealer" here on the SBG forums.
I did exactly as the members instructed me to do and I did my research and I asked questions about each Katana I was interested in EXACTLY as the members here in SBG instructed me to do so.
I approached the "dealer" and asked the standard questions like "is it good", "tough", "sharp"
"Do you have stock that is good"
"How easy is it to disassemble for customizing"
"How long to ship"
"is it a sword the "dealer" would own"
He answered and I was satisfied so I ordered the Katana.
I even asked about a display stand and he answered.
I choose this "dealer" because he was supposed to have the best prices his Katana. While the initial price may be a bit cheaper, the end price is FAR from the cheapest.
But he doesn't tell you that intially.
I was then emailed and told the shipping costs were going to be high, very high. $80.00 to ship from the USA to Canada.
He tried explaining some other things about shipping and in the end he stated the shipping would be $54.00 to Canada. Still high, but I agreed.
As I was exploring this website I stumbled across a review on the exact sword I ordered and the review was good but there was one issue that was pretty bad so naturally I approached the "dealer" about this issue and asked what I now refer to as the "death of a sale" question.
I asked him "What is the return policy if there is anything wrong with it?"
He explained his "shipper" would inspect it and it would be good?
I told him "Awesome, I'm excited to get it"
I then asked him about the review. Here’s what I said exactly word for word,
"Thank you! I was reading the review on SBG and the _________ concerned me. Is that a normal thing for most Katana's? I see it a lot on many different manufacturers. Is it easy to fix? Sorry if I am taking up all your time, I have no one else to ask."
This is when it all went downhill. The "Dealer" told me if I tried to roll up the Ito, the dealer would not take it back, no dealer would.
Finally, I asked, word for word " Should I not order it? So how does a person QC something like this? I mean really, what are the chances it will be that bad? Slim?"
This is when I got my Paypal refund. The second I asked the questions EVERY member on this board told me to ask, this "dealer", the same “dealer” so many people have praised on this site (and the only reason I choose him was from the praise on this site), never even gave me an answer why he threw my sale out the door and left me with no explanation.
I am a customer service manager for almost 120 employees across Canada and if any of my staff did this to even one of my customers, they would be fired on the spot.
I felt I was asking the appropriate questions to the appropriate person but apparently I wasn't and everything the members of this website told me to do looks to be wrong. The worst part is members here preached this "dealer" as good and great, I assure you this is FAR from great.
So what did I do wrong?
Why did the “dealer” bail on this as soon as the customer service issues were brought into it?
The prices may seem cheap at first glance, but $80.00 for shipping? That’s about 3 times higher than I paid for my ninjato and pretty much anything I buy from the USA under 10 lbs and believe me, I buy a lot. Even $54.00 that I was eventually charged was twice as high.
So far, I have kept this “dealers” name off this board. He knows who he is and I ask that he come forward and explain himself. I have waited 2 days for an answer from him and he has not replied.
The end result of this is I ended up buying this Katana from Kult of Athena. They have a great return policy and the customer service was nothing short of spectacular. None of my questions were too stupid for Ryan and in the end, his prices were in fact far better than the original “dealer” I tried to purchase from. $26.00 to ship to Canada!
I am writing about a very recent "dealer" experience I have had with whom members of this board have considered a "reputable dealer"
What I am about to write may offend some but that is NOT my intention. My intention is to warn new members such as myself about this before it's too late to fix it.
I am not going to mention names here in a public forum either, if anyone wants to know, they can PM me and I will let them know. That way the point can be made and it won’t be in a public forum. Unless everyone wants me to name the “dealer” then I will have no problem doing so.
Yes, I am new here and my opinions may not hold much water with most but this has to be said so new members don't have this happen to them. But I have not given up faith and hopefully this will help the new members from finding this out the hard way as well.
I still trust the members of this community. I need the members advice and help in all things Katana!
I want to go on record as saying I choose this forum to learn about Japanese swords, what to buy, where to buy etc. To this point, everything has been extremely good and the members have been great. This is just an experience that I feel needs to be shared so the MODS and owner of this board know who exactly they are recommending.
So here goes, hope I don't get banned for this!
I recently tried to purchase a Katana from what I was lead to believe was a reputable "dealer" here on the SBG forums.
I did exactly as the members instructed me to do and I did my research and I asked questions about each Katana I was interested in EXACTLY as the members here in SBG instructed me to do so.
I approached the "dealer" and asked the standard questions like "is it good", "tough", "sharp"
"Do you have stock that is good"
"How easy is it to disassemble for customizing"
"How long to ship"
"is it a sword the "dealer" would own"
He answered and I was satisfied so I ordered the Katana.
I even asked about a display stand and he answered.
I choose this "dealer" because he was supposed to have the best prices his Katana. While the initial price may be a bit cheaper, the end price is FAR from the cheapest.
But he doesn't tell you that intially.
I was then emailed and told the shipping costs were going to be high, very high. $80.00 to ship from the USA to Canada.
He tried explaining some other things about shipping and in the end he stated the shipping would be $54.00 to Canada. Still high, but I agreed.
As I was exploring this website I stumbled across a review on the exact sword I ordered and the review was good but there was one issue that was pretty bad so naturally I approached the "dealer" about this issue and asked what I now refer to as the "death of a sale" question.
I asked him "What is the return policy if there is anything wrong with it?"
He explained his "shipper" would inspect it and it would be good?
I told him "Awesome, I'm excited to get it"
I then asked him about the review. Here’s what I said exactly word for word,
"Thank you! I was reading the review on SBG and the _________ concerned me. Is that a normal thing for most Katana's? I see it a lot on many different manufacturers. Is it easy to fix? Sorry if I am taking up all your time, I have no one else to ask."
This is when it all went downhill. The "Dealer" told me if I tried to roll up the Ito, the dealer would not take it back, no dealer would.
Finally, I asked, word for word " Should I not order it? So how does a person QC something like this? I mean really, what are the chances it will be that bad? Slim?"
This is when I got my Paypal refund. The second I asked the questions EVERY member on this board told me to ask, this "dealer", the same “dealer” so many people have praised on this site (and the only reason I choose him was from the praise on this site), never even gave me an answer why he threw my sale out the door and left me with no explanation.
I am a customer service manager for almost 120 employees across Canada and if any of my staff did this to even one of my customers, they would be fired on the spot.
I felt I was asking the appropriate questions to the appropriate person but apparently I wasn't and everything the members of this website told me to do looks to be wrong. The worst part is members here preached this "dealer" as good and great, I assure you this is FAR from great.
So what did I do wrong?
Why did the “dealer” bail on this as soon as the customer service issues were brought into it?
The prices may seem cheap at first glance, but $80.00 for shipping? That’s about 3 times higher than I paid for my ninjato and pretty much anything I buy from the USA under 10 lbs and believe me, I buy a lot. Even $54.00 that I was eventually charged was twice as high.
So far, I have kept this “dealers” name off this board. He knows who he is and I ask that he come forward and explain himself. I have waited 2 days for an answer from him and he has not replied.
The end result of this is I ended up buying this Katana from Kult of Athena. They have a great return policy and the customer service was nothing short of spectacular. None of my questions were too stupid for Ryan and in the end, his prices were in fact far better than the original “dealer” I tried to purchase from. $26.00 to ship to Canada!