Bad experience with Performance Hobbies

[BrnAgainRoc]

Im going to assume that geoff and a few of the others who had "bad" business is new to rocketry. why you may ask? The people who've been in rocketry for a period of time know that vendors have a way of doing things and usually most of the time you place an order, you will get it later than they told you.. I've ordered from multiple vendors that have been mentioned. One vendor said oh yeah ill have the motor to you in 3-4 days. I got it in 2 weeks the day before the launch. I placed an order with a company for casting tubes and got it 2-3 weeks later. A few weeks wait is VERY common in this hobby and honestly if you need something asap.. you're wasting your time. So I want to say Ken allen is one of the best vendors to be involved in our hobby. Not only does he go out of his way for those who are CONSIDERATE on how rocketry vendors work and that a few of them make a living doing this, then he will bend over backwards for you to help. {snipped by moderator}


EDIT: {snipped by moderator}. KEn does work out of his truck and trailer. He travels all over the Eastern US to launches to make a living. Like mentioned before he cant answer emails everyday so if his replys werent sent the day after you sent yours then now you know why. He also ships his merchandise on the run. And if you ordered from him before you would know to call him on his cell... Cause on his site you cant order motors and specify what delay you want. So he has to ask you and thats when you went off on him...

 

[Vanel]

Originally posted by Rock_It
I have never, and will never base my buying decisions off of threads like this. The only time that changes is when somebody has been proven to be a scam artist and that is not the case here. I've learned that issues like this generally are a result of attitudes flaring up because a mistake was made. People make mistakes. Most every single one of these incidents I've seen were a result of yelling over the phone because somebody didn't get something "yesterday".

I'm the exact opposite - I do to a large part decide who I am going to buy from based on what I read here on TRF. 99.9% of the members here on the forum want rocketry vendors to succeed, and it is my read that they are liberal with their praise and only post negatives to alert the rest of us as to potential gotchas. If there are several postings about bad dealings with a particular vendor, then you can bet there's something wrong. We're not talking a few out of millions here, as the rocketry community in general is small - only a few thousand. 10 or so negatives definitely get my attentions.

The vast majority of TRF'ers are not disgruntled customers, as you seem to imply. I find the experiences posted here to be very valuable, and know - for certain - that they have saved me bucks and grief.

A place of business cannot send something they don't have, and complaining about it is not gonna make it appear.

This is the 21st century, not the 19th. Vendors with web sites and email have NO excuse for not notifying a customer promptly that something is out of stock. The good vendors communicate - effectively and politely - with their customers, and try to keep their web sites up to date. I have no problem with a vendor who emails me within a day or two of my order and says he's out of stock and it will be xx weeks before he can fill it. I do have a problem with one who stays quiet, leaving me to guess what the heck is up - ain't no reason for that, and I don't need the additional hassle.

Many people have remarked that Ken is a nice guy, and that he is an effective on-site vendor. They have also mentioned that he is disorganized, which ain't good if you are running an online store. I would probably buy from him at a launch, but you can bet I will steer clear of his web store. There are other vendors out there with much better track records.

 

[Rock_It]

Originally posted by Vanel
I'm the exact opposite - I do to a large part decide who I am going to buy from based on what I read here on TRF. 99.9% of the members here on the forum want rocketry vendors to succeed, and it is my read that they are liberal with their praise and only post negatives to alert the rest of us as to potential gotchas. If there are several postings about bad dealings with a particular vendor, then you can bet there's something wrong. We're not talking a few out of millions here, as the rocketry community in general is small - only a few thousand. 10 or so negatives definitely get my attentions.

The vast majority of TRF'ers are not disgruntled customers, as you seem to imply. I find the experiences posted here to be very valuable, and know - for certain - that they have saved me bucks and grief.



This is the 21st century, not the 19th. Vendors with web sites and email have NO excuse for not notifying a customer promptly that something is out of stock. The good vendors communicate - effectively and politely - with their customers, and try to keep their web sites up to date. I have no problem with a vendor who emails me within a day or two of my order and says he's out of stock and it will be xx weeks before he can fill it. I do have a problem with one who stays quiet, leaving me to guess what the heck is up - ain't no reason for that, and I don't need the additional hassle.

Many people have remarked that Ken is a nice guy, and that he is an effective on-site vendor. They have also mentioned that he is disorganized, which ain't good if you are running an online store. I would probably buy from him at a launch, but you can bet I will steer clear of his web store. There are other vendors out there with much better track records.

See the post above your last. It is quite enlightnening. SOme people do work for a living, and if they have a problematic customer that went off after he didn't specify a delay, then I too would refuse to do buisness with him. Just becasue it's the "20th century" don't mean things are magically going to appear out of thin air. What Ken decides to do with his buisness is...well, his buisness. I'm sure one customer lost is not gonna throw him into bankruptsy.

I think I'll buy a couple extra motors at the next launch. He's going to be there. Like I said, I don;t base opions off of Internet stuff. With stuff like this I've learned to belive nothing I read or hear and only half of what I actually see.

Since Ken is not here we don't have the full story and nobody here knows why he flew hot. I detected a tone in those e-mails I didn't like either, and we have no clue what was said on the phone. None of us do.

 

[MarkM]

Originally posted by Badboy1982
A few weeks wait is VERY common in this hobby and honestly if you need something asap.. you're wasting your time.

Agreed. I have no problem waiting for an order. I can deal with mixups, order delays and the like. However, keep me at least partially informed as to it's status or be available for me to call on it's status. But, when the vendor has lost my order or doesn't even recall it; has already charged my credit card; his minions can't figure it out, and he doesn't return a SINGLE phone call or other communication after over one month of trying to get him to do so to straighten the problem out, that makes him a bad dealer, ineffective, disorganized, and is inexcusable. I might add I was never rude, certainly not insulting. I wanted to get my order and get it straightened out and screaming usually does litle to help. I was only forced to write the email requesting a refund after over a month of unresponsiveness.

I don't care about all his woes, how much he's on the road, how busy he is or that he's diaorganized (a bad sign anyway). I realize a vendor may not be able to return an email or phone call that day or even the following day, but NEVER as was my case? If he can't return a phone call at some point to keep communication open between his customers then he shouldn't have the online business. Stick to what, apparently, he does best...onsite sales and satisfaction. At one time, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and try again. But, after so many negative experiences from others using website orders, I doubt I'll be using his services. There are plenty of vendors that I'm more than satisfied with. IMO, no sense in relying on someone proven to be unreliable - at least with myself.

Not only does he go out of his way for those who are CONSIDERATE on how rocketry vendors work and that a few of them make a living doing this, then he will bend over backwards for you to help.

Not in my case. I can't say he was inconsiderate because I never was able to speak with him! Unquestionably the most ineffective, disorganized vendor I've ever delt with in rocketry or any other online service I've used.

I can understand those who have had great service from him as an onsite vendor. And he probably is very good at it and satisfies his customers or he wouldn't be in the business. I just think that he has significant problems processing website orders and that needs to be corrected for him to continue that side of the business.

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

well my point was theres no reason to come onto a large rocket community forum such as this one and flame a vendor that yes may have shipping issues and is somewhat late or incapable at the time to answer calls or send emails and "blast" him for being rude to you when in the end you were the one that caused the transaction to go bad. In this case Geoff might have had a reason to be a little worried but he also seems very new to this hobbie/vendor transactions and speculated that he was buying stuff from JC pennys. We all know we have to wait for orders. Some of us wait months for some of them. I see it this way if you want that product that bad you will buy the stuff from an onsite vendor or from a vendor who lives near you so you can personally drive to them. If you plan to have it mailed then automatically expect 2-3 weeks no matter what the vendor said cause you tell me how many vendors know exactly how long itll take to get to you and be close? If you know some then feel free to share and ill place an order and test the waters. But I've delt with most of them. But what I do know for a fact is that most of these vendors such as Ken once the order is placed with them If they dont have the item on hand they place the order with the company that makes the product and has them mail it to you or it makes a stop in its shipping to ken or who ever then its on its way to you. But 99% of the time the company wants bulk orders so they try to gather as many lets say Loki items as he can and if he doesnt have the stuff puts all the orders together, calls Jeff up or sends an email and this way tons of orders are sent to Ken/customer instead of 1 piece at a time saving tons in shipping and handling and Hazmat fees. And we all know the ones of us who fly high power that when we place an order for motors we rather buy alot of motors and pay $20 for 5-8 motors than for 1 motor.

 

[madmax]

have to entirely diagree with some of the above posts. Just because someone is new/inexperienced with the hobby does not mean they automatically do not understand how it works. In any customer service based business, the customer must always come first, no matter how it affects you as the seller. To be in business, you always will have to sell something and to grow you must sell more. To sell more you need new cutomers. When new customers come calling for you, you cannot slam the door in their face. Extremely long wait times and zero communication will put off new customers. In this hobby there are plenty of vendors who will be able to provide the services required in short time frames and they are the ones who will stay around for a long time, much longer than Performance Hobbies.

I personally had a bad experience with Performance Hobbies. I do not remember the exact dates so I will approximate here. I ordered all parts needed to construct my Level 1 rocket on Feb. 1st with the plan of construction throught Feb. and certing in mid March. Order placed on the 1st, card probably charged the 2nd (I must have placed the order after Ken had gone to bed... LOL) waited a couple of weeks, no parts. Sent an email, was assured that the parts were on their way as of about Feb. 3rd. Waited another week, still no parts, another email with no response. Another email, no response. Finally on the third email in the series and the fourth total, got a response in not so nice terms that the parts were shipped and should be there soon. Another 5 days or so and the parts show up. Finally! Immediately notice that Performance Hobbies ships USPS, who place the postage on the box with the date and time it is paid for, henceforth when it was shipped. And lo and behold the date is probably 7 days after that last email. (remember that Ken told me that the parts shipped on the 3rd day of the month) I will never deal with Performance Hobbies again. Customer service like that should not be tolerated.

 

[starpilot]

Let's face a few facts. Bad customer service is just that bad service and in this case it was extremely BAD service.

So a vendor is on the road. So big deal. Most hotels these days have internet access, and laptops are dirt cheap.

If you are a vendor, and you spend most of your time on the raod, then you should be equipped to maintain contact with your customer base.

This thread is a perfect example of how just one unhappy customer can affect your business. Most people who have never place an order with this vendor will think twice before they place an order with him, and in most cases will decide that it's not worth the effort and order from someone else.

This one instance has caused damage to his reputation and it will take a lot of effort on his part to restore it.

A simple note to the customer could have and probably would have resolved all of this and this thread would be a non-issue.

 

[Stuck Fingers]

My experience with shipping things. If it doesn't get to you on time, it did not get shipped on time.

UPS, FED EX , Airborne all have an extremely good record of meeting their quoted delivery times.

When a supplier says that something has been shipped, ASK for a tracking number so you can follow the progress.

No number means the vendor is blowing smoke and it has not been shipped.

 

[OARJeepr]

A vendor has no excuse for being rude. Regardless of who is in the right, a vendor should ALWAYS be polite.

A vendor shouldn’t charge a customer’s card until the product ships. If you don’t have the product in stock or need more info to process the order, you wait until you have it before you charge the card. Makes everyone’s life easier if the customer decides he doesn’t want to wait and cancels the order.

Finally, don’t promise shipping times if you can’t meet them. I realize I’ll have to wait a little bit for items I order online. I understand life happens and people get behind. Still, I’d rather be told 3 weeks and be pleasantly surprised when it’s here in 3 days than be told 3 days and be angry when it takes 3 weeks.

 

[WILDMANRS]

I shouldn't do this but here we go
I am a Vendor
I spend most of my day answering the phone and packing orders
I try to check e-mail at least once a day
When I get a question via e-mail it takes me longer to respond because I need to go and find out the answer to the question then come back to the computer to reply

When i am on the road (like Ken) I am in the field all of the day
I go to launches 3-4 weekends a month some of them it takes me over 3 days each direction to get to and from try to answer the phones from 9-9 mon-friday
If I am staying a t a hotel to be honest the last thing I am thinking of at the end of the day is checking my e-mail its more like where is the bed or I will go hang out with friends from the launch thats why I post my launch dates on the site



I am human and make mistakes If i don't get back to you right away PLEASE call me back I might have been waiting for the MFG. to get back to me and got going on another problem or anything else I do work from home most of the time and things do come up
Just to give you an idea I closed last monday and tuesday to do inventory after counting over 10,000 different things then entering them into the computer I had over 50 messeges to return on voicemail alone from 2 days

I am not complaing in the least bit, this is what I have chosen to do and enjoy almost every minute of it

If I screw up please call me and I will do my best to take care of it because customer service is my goal period

Tim (WILDMAN) Lehr

 

[WILDMANRS]

I have to diagree
I ship usps half the time just for the cost factor and you don't get a tracking # from them and I honestly have had packages plan lost never to be heard from again
Thats the chance I take for shipping usps
I have also had packages lost via fedex both comming to me and sent from me
Heck they lost an entire shipment from Pro38 for over a month ,they found it under a pile of snow in buffalo when I said we neede to call the aft and let them know about missing explosives
By the way it was in a semitrailer

WILDMAN

 

[geof]

There seem to be some misperceptions and mistaken summaries of what actually happened.

1. Badboy1982's posts are condescending; his assertions are off-target. I am not new to rocketry nor new to buying over the internet. This question is irrelevant anyway unless you believe that vendors have the right to be rude and unresponsive to certain classes of customers (newbies, women, or whatever). Indeed, Ken does have that right, but I have the right to take my business elsewhere and tell people of my experience.

2. Although I did not specify a delay, there was no place in Ken's webstore to do so, and no notice on the site that I should send a separate email elaborating my order.

3. The question of the delay arose on the 11th day, only after I pressed him for some sort of response to my order. Since he claims to have had the motors in stock, he could have settled the delay question on day 1 and shipped the motors then.

4. Ken's webstore continues to advertise as "In stock and ready to ship" items that aren't either.

5. I did not pay by paypal. Ken's webform took my credit card info, and he entered this into his system, probably manually. Since he returned my money promptly I don't see why the payment system is an issue any more.

6. What is the point of attempts to blame the customer for Ken's behavior? Under what circumstances would Ken's reply be appropriate? I posted the entire transcript of my conversation with Ken. I challenge Ken or his defenders to produce another email, phone conversation, or snail mail etc. that we exchanged. There are none. I did not deserve the response I received, after my mild inquiries about his service.

7. I have never had such a bad experience with any other rocketry vendor. I earlier listed a variety of companies with whom I've had good experiences. When other vendors make mistakes, responses like Ken's haven't happened. When Jim temporarily lost my Corona 2 order at Fliskits, I emailed a query to him and he promptly replied "oops, mea culpa, thanks for the query" and shipped it right off. When BMS messed up a few items in a large order, I emailed them and they quickly sent double the missing parts, plus a free rocket kit! These are appropriate vendor responses to the occasional snafu that may occur in sales, whether internet or brick-and-mortar.

8. Yes, people make mistakes. If Ken wanted to correct his, he could simply update his website to truthfully indicate what is in stock, and to allow customers to submit the information he needs to fullfil their orders. He could respond to orders with shipping information, or at least an estimate. Then he could write me a quick note of apology. I'm not asking for this: I'm done with Ken.

9. Although I take issue with Badboy1982's tone and some of the other posts suggesting that it must have been my fault somehow, I have no issue with the other posters who have written in to say that they think Ken's a nice guy and/or he runs a good business. You're welcome to your opinion, and it is reasonable to post it here, as have those with negative experiences.

10. Note my earlier post about turning next to Semroc, and praising their timely response. I received Semroc's kit yesterday, 9/15. Nice job, Semroc.

[Edit:] Semroc's completion of my order makes a nice bookend to this thread. I propose that we could stop addiing to this thread now.

 

[Rock_It]

Originally posted by WILDMANRS
I shouldn't do this but here we go
I am a Vendor
I spend most of my day answering the phone and packing orders
I try to check e-mail at least once a day
When I get a question via e-mail it takes me longer to respond because I need to go and find out the answer to the question then come back to the computer to reply

When i am on the road (like Ken) I am in the field all of the day
I go to launches 3-4 weekends a month some of them it takes me over 3 days each direction to get to and from try to answer the phones from 9-9 mon-friday
If I am staying a t a hotel to be honest the last thing I am thinking of at the end of the day is checking my e-mail its more like where is the bed or I will go hang out with friends from the launch thats why I post my launch dates on the site



I am human and make mistakes If i don't get back to you right away PLEASE call me back I might have been waiting for the MFG. to get back to me and got going on another problem or anything else I do work from home most of the time and things do come up
Just to give you an idea I closed last monday and tuesday to do inventory after counting over 10,000 different things then entering them into the computer I had over 50 messeges to return on voicemail alone from 2 days

I am not complaing in the least bit, this is what I have chosen to do and enjoy almost every minute of it

If I screw up please call me and I will do my best to take care of it because customer service is my goal period

Tim (WILDMAN) Lehr

See the controversy this crap brings up?!? Now another vendor is worried. This crap does not belong on the Internet. If you have problems solve them. The Internet is not gonna solve them for you. All it does is create more greif for people.

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

thanks for making the point Tim. You offer a great service to this hobby just like the rest and trust me for those of us that arereally into this hobby and need parts and motors none of what ou guys do go unappreciated not one bit. But as for a comment made stuck finfers and OARjeep, you guys if you arent new to this part of this hobby then you gotta realize that things are like this. Yes it takes a while for things to get to you unless the vendor lives next door or has a storefront. If its a 100% mail order/website vendor then this is ALWAYS expectable. You all need to realize we dont have alot of vendors in this hobby. The ones we do have go out on beds of nails to offer us products that you wont find in your typical store. Im not talking about anything less than a G motor since I dont have a interest in such. As for his tone, that doesnt sound like Ken. I've talked with him and my friend steve mashburn and I usually just deal with ken with al our transactions on month to month basis. Geoff you had one or two things happen: you got caught in the midle of a crossfire with some other situation he may have had, or like i previously stated you made him mad with some abnormal behavior that most of us know that wont get us our products and you basically challeneged his reputation of being one of the best vendors as if he was trying to scam you. Thats HOW I TOOK your email to him. I dont want to sit and post here all day cause I will defend Ken in every situation like this when someone tries to flag close friend as bad vendor. But a post said and was very adequate 1 or 2 customers wont hurt kens business. So no worries.

 

[OARJeepr]

Originally posted by Rock_It
See the controversy this crap brings up?!? Now another vendor is worried. This crap does not belong on the Internet. If you have problems solve them. The Internet is not gonna solve them for you. All it does is create more greif for people.

Sorry, but if a vendor makes a habit of screwing things up then I want to know about it. Grief for a vendor (in any market) who has poor customer service is a good thing. Quite often a post here will cause the problem to be resolved. If the post is unreasonable, then the community will respond as such. And even if it doesn't resolve your particular problem, you might have just saved someone else some headaches (not to mention some cash).

 

[OARJeepr]

Badboy, you need to quit making assumptions about people's experience level. Nothing I posted could possibly give you a clue about that. And nothing I posted was unreasonable either.

I don't expect to be charged for items that aren't in stock until they are shipped. I do expect items to be shipped within a reasonable amount of time. If that's not possible I expect the vendor to contact me with an explanation of why it's not.

I do expect a shipment to arrive in the time frame quoted by the vendor or reasonably close. If something goes wrong, all I really want is open communication and help getting it resolved. I'm not going to throw a tantrum if UPS/FedEx loses it for a week or if the packing slip got buried on the desk for a week. Just help me out.

Finally, and I can't stress this enough, I expect vendors to be polite at all times. Regardless of how they interpret an email or a phone call. If a customer's business is no longer worth a vendor's time, then there is a polite way of stating that.

 

[Rock_It]

These kinds of posts serve no purpose whatsoever. Yeah, a few might jump on the badwagon, but if people base base their buying decisions of an Internet site that is really quite amusing.

Sorry, but I base my buying decisions on what I know, and what I know is what I've already see along with alot of other people. All it is, is a stab at a vendor (of which there aren't many and crap like this is WHY).

It will not affect Ken's buisness in any way, and in fact it's giving him free advertising. I plan to fly two days instead of one at the next launch and will be buying extra motors to make up for the loss of 1 customer. So in essence this post is having the reverse effect.

2 wrongs don't make a right. The people around here that actually deal with Ken and know what kind of person he is are not gonna stop doing buisness with him at all. The only thing posts like this do (and in this case it's doing a bangup job!), is make companies wonder if they should do buisness with the person at all. No, the customer is not always right, and if a person is deemed a liability to a company they will cut them off. It looks like Ken did the right thing after all. If I started a thread like this I'd expect to be cut off from pretty much any vendor out there. They work hard and sometimes money can get tight. They don't need controversy like this.

LikeBadboy I WILL defend Ken. This is totally uncalled for. Bad things happen with all companies. If you think your dealing with a perfect company just keep beliveing that and you will soon run out of companies to do buisness with. People are human. No comapny is perfect, but with some of the irrational thinking in this thread they'd all be out of buisness. Some of us plan to stay in this hobby for awhile and we need those few vendors and appreciate them

 

[Nerull]

If vendors are worried about getting into rocketry because they think "If I lie and scream at customers they might go somewhere else!", perhaps they are in the wrong business.

People will go to companies that give them good service, and avoid companies that give them bad service (and tell others about their bad experiances). Thats the way capitalism works. Get used to it. Using that sort of attitude toward your customers will get you nowhere in any industry.

 

[Nate]

My former boss used to always tell us this adage: "Make a customer happy, he'll tell 3 people, make him mad, and he'll tell everyone he knows"

 

[Stymye]

I have not had any problems with Performace.

All of my transactions(by phone and website) were on time and Ken was always curtious.
I'm not trying to diminish any bad service someone may have had or defending Ken
I would like to add my personel experience. fwiw

 

[OARJeepr]

Do you feel that people who complain to the BBB are in the wrong too? What is wrong about posting a complaint about a company? Unless you're implying that someone here is lying then I don't really understand how you can say anyone did anything wrong. If you get a bad meal/service at restaurant, do you just keep it to yourself? Do you expect your friends to buy twice as much food next time because you won't go back, but you don't want them to lose the business?

No, the customer isn't always right. But there is always a right way to deal with customers and it doesn't involve name calling. Ken's last email was clearly out of line. Nothing up that point bothered me much. But if a vendor called me a twit, I'd tell everyone I know too. Regardless of who is right, you ALWAYS treat your customers with respect.

 

[troj]

Originally posted by Rock_It
These kinds of posts serve no purpose whatsoever. Yeah, a few might jump on the badwagon, but if people base base their buying decisions of an Internet site that is really quite amusing.

Sorry, but I base my buying decisions on what I know, and what I know is what I've already see along with alot of other people. All it is, is a stab at a vendor (of which there aren't many and crap like this is WHY).

It will not affect Ken's buisness in any way, and in fact it's giving him free advertising. I plan to fly two days instead of one at the next launch and will be buying extra motors to make up for the loss of 1 customer. So in essence this post is having the reverse effect.

2 wrongs don't make a right. The people around here that actually deal with Ken and know what kind of person he is are not gonna stop doing buisness with him at all. The only thing posts like this do (and in this case it's doing a bangup job!), is make companies wonder if they should do buisness with the person at all. No, the customer is not always right, and if a person is deemed a liability to a company they will cut them off. It looks like Ken did the right thing after all. If I started a thread like this I'd expect to be cut off from pretty much any vendor out there. They work hard and sometimes money can get tight. They don't need controversy like this.

LikeBadboy I WILL defend Ken. This is totally uncalled for. Bad things happen with all companies. If you think your dealing with a perfect company just keep beliveing that and you will soon run out of companies to do buisness with. People are human. No comapny is perfect, but with some of the irrational thinking in this thread they'd all be out of buisness. Some of us plan to stay in this hobby for awhile and we need those few vendors and appreciate them

Someone giving a verbatim statement of what transpired, and how he was treated by a vendor "don't belong on the Internet"? You're kidding me, right?

So, what you're saying is that if someone gets poor treatment from a vendor, or worse yet, the vendor gets belligerent, they should just suck it up and accept it as standard behavior?

I think not.

An honest, factual statement of what happened is very reasonable, and exactly what Geof did. He didn't make accusations, he didn't go off half-cocked, he provided the EXACT words of what transpired.

Yet somehow Geof is the one at fault.

Unbelievable.

-Kevin

 

[troj]

Originally posted by WILDMANRS
I am human and make mistakes If i don't get back to you right away PLEASE call me back I might have been waiting for the MFG. to get back to me and got going on another problem or anything else I do work from home most of the time and things do come up
Just to give you an idea I closed last monday and tuesday to do inventory after counting over 10,000 different things then entering them into the computer I had over 50 messeges to return on voicemail alone from 2 days

I am not complaing in the least bit, this is what I have chosen to do and enjoy almost every minute of it

If I screw up please call me and I will do my best to take care of it because customer service is my goal period

One of the biggest test of a vendor, in my book, is how they handle things when something goes wrong. Handle that well, and without calling your customers names, and you'll find that folks will be tolerant of those mistakes.

-Kevin

 

[MarkM]

I find it humorous - sad, actually - that those of us, especially Geof, are being attacked by some who are living on "Ken's Fantasy Island." We are voicing our displeasure with his service. If you think this has no place here, then you need to wake up. This Vendor's forum is for passing on experiences with various Vendor's service, good or bad. I'd find it a disservice to the rocketry buying public if people didn't relate their displeasure with a vendor. It's what can influence a decision which vendor to purchase from based on service and not necessarily on price of an item.

I don't have a problem with those defending Ken who have received good service from him. Obviously, theirs was more positive than those of us who didn't receive that same service. But, attacking TRF members for voicing factual displeasure with Ken is ridiculous and pathetic. Those of us who received bad service have as much right to express those experiences than those who have received good service.

And, yes, each and every vendor makes mistakes. It's inevitable. It's how the vendor deals with those mistakes and his consumers that differentiate between a good vendor, and one I'd buy from again, from a poor one. While there will certainly be abberations in what is normally excellent service quality, too many abberations point to a poor service pattern. And in this small community, clearly there seem to be far too many abberations with Performance Hobbies.

Those of you who have had good service from Performance, continue to buy from him. It's your choice, you have that right. But, those of us who have received poor service have just as much right not to risk our money with him and not be attacked for making that decision.

 

[Austin]

This thread has gone on long enough and both sides have expressed their opinions...take is for what it's worth.

The thread is now being closed while it still remains semi-civil.

Carl