Good, Bad or Ugly: Poor customer service

Mike G

Mike G

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I recently emailed a few dealers, asking the price and availability of the Surefire Z49 constant on tailcap, and here is what I found out.

One dealer, who is a paying dealer member here, finally emailed me back after I emailed him twice, asking about another item on his site. he never did get back to me about the Z49, after I sent a third email, specifically requesting info. That was over 2 weeks ago.

The second dealer, who is not a paid dealer member here, but is a forum member,and a popular place to purchase from, wrote me back after I asked about the tailcap. His initial reply was that 'he didn't know anything about it'. I emailed him back, asking him to check on it, or should I go someplace else. His reply was 'I did check on it; go someplace else'. I have purchased from this dealer recently, mainly because of the price. I will think twice next time.

The third dealer, which is 1SKS, listed the tailcap on it's site, and I think it was reasonably priced. I went ahead and ordered it on 11-4-02, and I recieved an email yesterday, 11-15, saying it was shipped. I did email 1SKS a week ago asking status, and 'Mike' promptly emailed me back saying it was on backorder, and it should be available to ship within a few days.

My biggest problem in this ordeal is the lack of communications from the first two dealers involved, and I was quite pissed about the attitude of the second dealer, who obviously didn't want my business, and probably won't get it again.

I have had a similar incident in the past with another paid dealer here, and I will not ever give him my business, simply because I wasn't worth replying to. I even tried calling, and got a machine, which my message there wasn't returned, either.

What do you think? Should you expect a reply when inquiring about a product? How would you react if a dealer told you to 'look someplace else' for the product? Would these issues make you shop elsewhere?

I'd appreciate hearing your comments, and if you have had similar incidents, please share them with us!
 
Hi Mike,
I've had the same type experiences, in fact, I suspect most of us have. The problem is supply and demand. There are so many of us that want what the "dealers" have that in some cases they just don't give a damn. This problem is not exclusive to our hobby, however, nor to all dealers. But,it has infected a large portion of our society. The world is full of uncaring, unmotivated, slothful people(try a fast food joint) who couldn't be bothered with your puny purchase. Do we expect to much,,,sometimes. Should a company respond in a prompt manner,,,always. Bottom line is,,you'll go back cause ya just about have to. :p :)
Maybe you should call the owners and tell them how you feel,,maybe your requests just got overlooked.

One more time,,,this does not apply to ALL dealers.
 
I've had pretty bad experiences when asking about products. I have purchased from a certain company three times, I would have purchased much more if they actually took the time to return an email. Each time I purchased directly from the site, no email. They are a pretty well respected company. They did screw up an order of mine, it took four emails and over a week to get a response. I emailed them last week about a special, no response as usual :(. They have some pretty cool stuff...but...it's not worth my time to do business with them.

Matt
 
I dont have a large list of Folks I deal with.1SKS underestimated ETA on a backorder, but answered my emails quickly, and were nice to my wife when she called the next week to check again.It took 3 wks to get that order.(no ones fault, just busy season)SMKW has done some odd things lately and I will be calling direct rather than Online from now on. I asked the B&M I deal with in Ca about a particular company. He said he wasnt set up with them but would check it out. He called me later ,saying I would be better off in this going direct. I chose another knife from him.IMO it's10% stock and 90% handling of stuations.
guy
 
Thanks for the replies, gang. Keep 'em coming!


I received an email from one of the dealers I referred to (He remembered me), saying he only had one source for the tailcap, and his source didn't have it. Thats why I was told to 'look elsewhere'. He didn't explain that in the email I got from him, and if he had, I would have left it at that. He told me he gets over 300 emails a day, and that his replies are short & to the point. This I understand, but it also sets up a perception that the dealer isn't interested in helping you get what you want or need.

IMHO, a little explanation goes a long way. Maybe calling dealers on the phone is better than email.

What do you think?
 
300 e-mails a day??? WOW, he needs to hire someone to just take care of that. I am sure with proper and prompt responses, he can improve customer relations and increase sale to cover a new employee
 
While everyone appreciates a personal touch, a dealer that gets 300 emails couldn't possibly handle that many phone calls! The nice thing about email is it can be handled 'whenever' as long as 'whenever' doesn't take forever.

He obviously felt he was being upfront with you by telling you to go elsewhere, not wasting your time waiting for him to hunt around for something he might not be able to get in a reasonable amount of time. He could have been clearer, but sometimes we have to just read the information, too, instead of overinterpreting it.

One way to get a low price is to go to a small operation, that works with minimal overhead. Just as online dealers beat the brick & mortars at this, a smaller online individual can beat the bigger guys. But he can't keep up with the variety of stock offered and he may not be able to keep up with the personal touch.

If he does a good job shipping what he does carry at a nice price, I'd be inclined to stick with him, and forgive an occasional curt email.
 
Believe it or not, email is actually some of the most time intensive communications out there. The amount of time it takes to write an email and answer questions dwarfs what a simple phone call would take care of. Of course, it is a bit more convenient than calling.... :D

Normally, we advise people that if they have a question regarding availability, it's quicker to call and check stock availability or what's going on with an order than to email.

Regardless, I'm glad we were able to get you squared away with the Click-On tailcap (quite a neat product). Let me know if you need anything else.

Kevin
 
Spark;

Always great service from you guys at 1SKS, even though the stuff I order seems to be way too popular for you to keep in stock! :D

UPS is till too s l o w (10 days out according to them), but I'll live with it.
 
as long as my emails get answered timely , I'll send. It allows a seller to answer at a convinient time, not in the middle of a customer or a serious online order problem. I agree that those with a large email volume could use some help there.
I'm in the middle of an apparent lost sheath. It's never taken over a week to get F/C mail to me. We've been emailing and on Tuesday if its not here,I'll go ahead and buy another and pay for priority w/ receipt, while we trace the package.
it's 10% stock and 90% handling.
guy
 
Mike, the only way we may be able to help change the attitude of the first two dealer's,especially the second one, is if we know who they are! They might think twice about screwing with their own income!!
 
I have had similar experiences. In one case I emailed a well-known knife dealer/maker asking a very straightforward question, and indicated I was interested in buying the particular knife. I never received a response at all. I will not be doing business there...ever. I take these no-response situations as early warning signs of how the buyer-seller relationship will likely go.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh, but the way I see it is that if you have a webpage with an email address listed for questions, but then don't answer emails, it's like having a telephone and never answering phone calls or calling people back. What's the point? You're just wasting the customer's time and not even showing them common courtesy (you'd answer someone on the street if they'd ask you what time it is, right?).

It also seems a little shortsighted, since the dealer/maker never knows who the next question is coming from. Sure, it could be someone just wasting his time, but it could also be someone who drops a few thousand dollars per year on knives (like many of us here). Don't lose a chance to make the latter person a satisfied customer, just because you think they might be the former person.

- Mark (stepping down off soapbox :p)
 
Originally posted by masterchef
Mike, the only way we may be able to help change the attitude of the first two dealer's,especially the second one, is if we know who they are! They might think twice about screwing with their own income!!
Click to expand...

I know.

I am an advocate of naming people or dealers who do things like this, but I want to let this one slide a little longer.

I recieved another email today from the second listed dealer, and in summary, he really doesn't want to hassle with carrying the full Surefire line, and if it became a big hassle, he'd drop the line completely. he also stated that he didn't want to carry the inventory Surefire requires for him to deal directly, so he must not sell enough to warrant it. Whatever. :rolleyes: Must be a hassle to deal with customer requests, too.

I want to hear some more comments on other dealers, and if lack of communication is grounds for not patronizing that particular dealer.

I will probably name the two dealers soon, after I see more comments.
 
I'll do it for you. I'm the one with the short responses. The URL you want to avoid using is right below my name. Take care.
 
Originally posted by Knife Outlet
I'll do it for you. I'm the one with the short responses. The URL you want to avoid using is right below my name. Take care.
Click to expand...

:confused: You don't care to eliaborate?? Or do you just not care?? I am not trying to be rude, I am just thrown by your third sentence.:(
 
Of course I care. I'm up at 3 something in the morning because I can't sleep over it. The eventual purpose of this post is to recommend to others that readers of this forum not do business with my web site. I'm just trying to help out.

No point in elaborating. This is a forum for users to talk about dealers not for dealers to talk about users. Getting involved in someone else's power base is a losing proposition so I'm just not going to elaborate. I'm just taking my lumps in an honest and straightforward fashion. It's the way I confront everything in life. I hope you'll respect that. Take care.
 
This is a forum for users to talk about dealers not for dealers to talk about users
Click to expand...

Sure it is, I say feedback for all :) But I understand your position. You were put in a defensive position from the get go. But I wouldn't loose sleep over it. Someone saying they got a short e-mail from you shouldn't hurt your business to much. It's not like you ripped anyone off or gave someone the run around. :)
 
Of course I care. I'm up at 3 something in the morning because I can't sleep over it.
Click to expand...


I can believe it. I truly feel sorry for just about anyone that the 'mob' gets started on here, becuase trying to say anything in your own defense is just a losing proposition.
It's even worse for a dealer or business.
I've seen this behavior quite often, and some examples are quite reprehensible.

Personally, I don't have to always be right, I don't need a business to molly coddle me, and I don't need them to suck up to me trying to get or keep my business. If they have what I want at a price I'm willing to pay I'll buy it, and that's they way it should be.

I realize it's alot easier for me to bang out 2-3 emails asking about something as opposed to a business trying to grind out 200-300 emails per day.

On the other hand, if a company or business repeatedly does not answer emails, I won't be buying from them.
A great example of this is PT Night Sights. Their night sights are crap, and they won't respond to emails. I will never be dealing with them again, for any reason.

The customer is not always right...far from it.
 
I must say I have delt with fred and the two time's I emailed him he had my knive's shipped in 24hour's door to door! :confused: Fred quit working so hard!!!!!!!
 
Originally posted by Spark
Believe it or not, email is actually some of the most time intensive communications out there. The amount of time it takes to write an email and answer questions dwarfs what a simple phone call would take care of. Of course, it is a bit more convenient than calling.... :D

Kevin
Click to expand...

What used to be a 1 step process has turned into 5 for some people with the ease of communication:

Old way:

1) Place order and wait for it to arrive.

New way:

1) Email company to check stock or ask questions about product.

2) Email company to advise order is on its way.

3) Place order.

4) Email company to check if order was received.

5) Email company for tracking information.

It used to be that when a "mail order" was placed the delivery time was 3-4 weeks. Now if it is not here in 3-4 days a lot of people get excited and are ready to start another GB&U thread asking "Should I be worried" and it ends up getting ugly at times.

I don't get too upset if an email is not answered right away or the answer is not as detailed as I expected. I'm sure he wants my business otherwise he wouldn't be selling product. I guess you have to try and look at it from the dealers point of view too. Everyone has off days.
 
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