Bad customer service
 

Mods, if this is not the right place to post this, feel free to move it.
I just got this e-mail from my wife, so here goes. In this day and age not having automatic notification of backordered parts is ridiculous.


If you can get on any forums you can think of and ensure that these people get reduced business that would be great!

theaccessoryking.com

I called them today to follow up on my order which was ordered quite some time ago (the 22nd). I actually had paid an extra amount of money for 2 day delivery (didn’t know until I just looked it up) and told them that it should have been here on Monday the 25th at the latest (assuming they don’t deliver on Saturdays). I looked at the bank statement and it went through our account on the 29th. Even with that transaction, it should have been here by Tuesday at the latest with Monday being a holiday. I asked for a return for the extra fees for shipping and they refused.

The statement I received was as follows: “Your item was shipped yesterday, 2 day priority, I have already paid for that shipping and will not refund it to you. We are busy people with lots of customers and we cannot make time to let you know that an item is on backorder or will not ship when expected, we are simply too busy.”

I replied with: “That’s pretty lousy customer service, if someone pays for expedited shipping, there is obviously a reason and this certainly didn’t reach me in the 2 days that I paid for. How will you retain my business for the future and ensure that my customer satisfaction is good?”

His reply: “We are very busy, I’m sorry you are dissatisfied with the time but there’s nothing I can do, it’s shipped and paid for, we will not refund the expedited shipping cost. All of our other customers seem completely satisfied and don’t make any issues out of getting items in a longer timeframe than expected.”

“Kiss my ass” is what I wanted to say but then thought we could hurt his business by addressing the customer service through forums. I said “okay, then I have nothing further to say, good bye”.

Basically once I found a reliable vendor I try to stick with them as much as possible because of great customer service. That shit is totally unacceptable! You should try ft86speedfactory. :-)

In my personal life, I've received the "We're too busy" excuse twice in the past month. As a small business owner, if I can't serve my customers because I'm bogged down, thats when it is time to re-evaluate my workflow or HIRE MORE STAFF. Completely unacceptable.

As another business owner that really doesn't work.

speechless. perfect example of what you DON'T say to customers. hope you get your shipment soon, that's down right wrong

If you charged it file a charge back with your cc company.

I told the wife to refuse delivery and contest the charges.
She probably won't, but she avoids confrontation when she can, whereas I'm not known for my forgiving nature when people piss me off.

Not a problem. If she doesn't refuse it, simply dispute the charge with your bank then request a prepaid return shipping label if they want it back.

Honestly, and this may seem like a dumb rule of thumb, but I find that the nicer their website, the better their customer service will be. Theaccessoryking.com looks like shit, while ft86speedfactory.com looks purdy. Guess who has the better customer service between the two lol

...but we can make time to let you know we cannot make time to let you know that an item is on backorder or will not ship when expected, we are simply too busy.

I'd never heard of theaccessoryking.com, so I was not about to give them any of my business. But rest assured I will now not give them my business even more than I was already not giving them my business. As hard as I can. I'm actually straining right now.

I do this same thing! I've never really thought about it before, but I guess, subconsciously, if I get the feeling they don't give a shit about their website, they probably don't give a shit about much.

There are a few exceptions to this, like if you're ordering something handmade from a single person and you can tell the same person made the website themselves, then it's probably still ok. The person just doesn't have good taste or web design skills, and I support their proactive do-it-all-yourself mentality.

I subscribe to this. Now and then there are a few gems with mediocre sites but concentrate all their effort on fast and good customer service though.
IMO if you can't be arsed to look representable on the internet, then I can't trust you to be representable elsewhere.

It may work in NA, in Japan it's usually the opposite: ugly 1998-style website = awesome service.

Haha yes, the Japanese market does seem to prefer the crazy color/wacky font approach.