Dirty laundry

[gagreen]

I have been an active member of all kinds of different forums from gaming to weightlifting and everything in between, the one thing i have noticed is that some people feel a need to air their dirty laundry to the whole interworld. By laundry i generally mean business transactions of all types and while in rare cases it is a warranted consumer warning sometimes its just impatient people who want their items the day before they ordered it. I think it is important for business matters to be kept private between buyer and seller to both save face of the company and the complainer, i mean consumer. A few cases of this show up every once in a while here far less than other places but it still happens where a complaint post gets made for no real reason. There are multiple steps to take prior to telling the world that company x is ripping you off on a forum or to keep from being a sucker consumer in the first place if you were wronged.
1. check the bbb before you ever send money to a company
a. if no bbb data is available do a quick search on google to see customer ratings and experiences.
2. Give the company a chance to fix your problems confidentially before flaming them online, your forum post can and will keep other customers from shopping there. There is a certain amount of buyer responsibility to give them a fair chance to fix things.
3. Pay attention to shipping rules. I know from ordering reloading supplies for rifles that anything that combusts takes time to ship, whenever i ordered powder i always expected a 3 week wait and when it got there before that i was pleasantly surprised.
4. understand that in the hobby world a lot of our suppliers are busy and sometimes filling multiple orders with a minimal staff if any staff at all so mistakes can and will be made, we are all human and i know we have all forgot something at one point in our life.
a. This is where confidentiality and good communication initiated by the buyer must happen. Give the vendor a chance to make it right, also on this note be honest with your buying if something extra is sent to you notify the company and allow them to cover the shipping charges to send it back. You may even get rewarded for honesty by them allowing you to keep the item. Doing the right thing is just right why should the buyer be held to a different standard than the seller?
5. Be quick to give praise where it is due. When a company impresses you let the world know so that others may also have a good experience and help keep the good companies busy.
6. complaints... These are very tough to handle and when reporting a legit complaint be sure to include full details and express what went wrong fully not just "company x sucks". Doing this will keep your image good as well as give good information to other consumers. Remember public complaints are your last ditch effort after all channels of help and reconcilliation have been exhausted, this process could take a while.

These are just simple guidelines i use to reduce my stress levels and help generate solid relationships with vendors. This hobby has an extremely small community when it comes down to it and the last thing you want is to be at a launch and see someone you flamed online for no good reason or without giving them a fair shot to fix it. Online shopping is very convenient but shipping is really out of the stores hands, so patience is key to keeping healthy blood pressure. if you are an extreme worrier pay the little bit extra to get a tracking number or express service when its available. Dont be afraid to call the company and ask them for help rather than hop on a forum and ask people who have nothing to do with the vendor.

This site is really very minimal in flaming which is awesome and pretty rare to have a group of online vendors that really do all seem to do their best by the customers. In closing my last little hint sometimes the site with the lowest price is not the best, it seems to me the bigger the site and more varried in what they sell have considerable amount less customer service or knowledge of what they are selling. Support the guys who know the hobby and give back by showing up at launches as an onsite vendor or who are constantly in communication with the hobbiest and not just moving bulk product, in the end your buying experience will be much more enjoyable and the few extra bucks will be well spent.

 

[ClayD]

I think a lot of the - post before claims are resolved or post "inflaming" claims, is brought on by the manufacturers, where ive seen it occur.

Almost, all of the Manufacturers in this industry respond to Dealers much better than they do the end user. This is across the board mostly.

I have a 100% success rate with warranty claims, i have a 100% success rate with shipping/product error resolution.
Mostly because I went through the right channels.

I have heard horror stories about every company I do buisness with in rocketry. (except my onsite dealers) , so i need to qualify - i have heard horror stories about all the manufacturers... they all have dirty laundry....

they all have thier quirky personality as well. Just like each customer.

I personally hope, the manufacturers evolve from where they are, to better 1 on 1 with the hobbyiest. Even if my resolution goes back through a dealer, i like to know my manufacturer will respond to me.

The most shocking thing is to call a company with 200 or 300 employees, call the GENERAL LINE, and have the CEO hand you customer service on a plater. Sadly thats very rare these days.(when in a smaller scope of rocketry seems much easier)(and only a few manufacturers in this hobby have i called and talked to the wizard behind the curtain.)


However, there was this one time... i made a public complaint to a few guys i fly with, and knew (two being dealers)... and majically my claim was resolved.... (go to your dealer, the product is thier life blood, and the manufacturers have a more give and take relationship.) the last thing they want is a dealer pushing the other guys product more because their claims are easier.....

 

[gagreen]

I agree manufacturers can be harder to deal with unless your working with the little guys. this post is mainly based on end user dealer not necessarily warranty claims from the manufacturer. This hobby does have a huge small business manufacturers tho, if you are looking for the one on one experience go for the little guys they have more to gain or lose by working with the end user than the assembly line companies do.

 

[troj]

2. Give the company a chance to fix your problems confidentially before flaming them online, your forum post can and will keep other customers from shopping there. There is a certain amount of buyer responsibility to give them a fair chance to fix things.

Hit the nail on the head on that one! Give the vendor a fair chance to fix it. And be reasonable on expectations, both in terms of time and in terms of how.

5. Be quick to give praise where it is due. When a company impresses you let the world know so that others may also have a good experience and help keep the good companies busy.

Another excellent point. Far too often, positive praise is left out.

In closing my last little hint sometimes the site with the lowest price is not the best, it seems to me the bigger the site and more varried in what they sell have considerable amount less customer service or knowledge of what they are selling. Support the guys who know the hobby and give back by showing up at launches as an onsite vendor or who are constantly in communication with the hobbiest and not just moving bulk product, in the end your buying experience will be much more enjoyable and the few extra bucks will be well spent.

I don't think that one can be said any better.

Your post, as a whole, addresses why I do business with the vendors I do.

-Kevin