PerfectFlite Order Problems.

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Arcanyx

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Placed an order for a Perfectflite CF Altimeter, battery clip, and mounting hardware. Approximately $60. This was on November 15th.

Today, evening of the November 23rd, no response from anyone at PerfectFlite. My order has not shipped. I've reached out to them twice on two separate occasions over the course of this week, but I have not recieved any sort of response. At this rate, I won't receive my altimeter in time for my Level 1 Certification, despite ordering (what seemingly should have been) sufficient time in advance. If they're away for the entirety of the Thanksgiving week, I'd think their website should be updated to notify the customers who pay their hard earned money for the PerfectFlite products.

My ranting is over, but I am certainly not pleased with how long appears to take them to put a label on a box.
 
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I agree about seeing the apparent problem. I understand it has been a week. But you also purchase an item during the busiest time of year for a lot of these vendors.

I'm sure just like every other vendor this is a part-time side job and not their normal day job. So they work full-time jobs and have families. And possibly enjoyed time with their family over the holiday.

Buying an altimeter two weeks before you need it is really cutting it close. With mounting, programming and ground testing.

I love my stratologger CF. I would just try calling another day and waiting for an email reply. I'm pretty sure they're not out just to take your money and run.
 
I will strongly disagree with OP. I shall say order everything you want from PerfectFlight. The turnaround time is stunningly fast and customer service was very communicative in their emails to me. The service was top notch.
I ordered from them on the 11/8/2018, my order shipped on the 9th with a tracking number and I received it promptly after that.
 
Placed an order for a Perfectflite CF Altimeter, battery clip, and mounting hardware. Approximately $60. This was on November 15th.

Today, evening of the November 23rd, not a word from these people. My order has not shipped. I've reached out to them twice on two separate occasions over the course of this week, but I have not recieved any sort of response. At this rate, I won't receive my altimeter in time for my Level 1 Certification, despite ordering over half a month in advance. If they're away for the Thanksgiving week, I'd expect them to at least update their website and notify the customers who pay their hard earned money for the PerfectFlite products.

If my order doesn't ship, I will be contacting my bank to begin the chargeback process early next week, seeing these guys appear to have no interest in responding to my emails or shipping my order.

My ranting is over, but seriously, I don't get what the problem is here!

Your experience seems a bit off from mine. I've ordered a few times from https://www.perfectflitedirect.com/ and never had an issue.

I definitely understand your concern - you paid your money, and you want your goods... or at least a reply to your email. I hear you.

The Stratologger CF is a super-popular altimeter, and a great choice for a first dual deploy rocket.

When/where are you planning your L1? I know it won't help make your altimeter arrive any faster, but I would love to know more about your cert plans.
 
Real simple.....YOU'RE the problem. [OOPS I'm a grammar idiot]

Half a month...trying to make 2 weeks sound like a really loooooong time are we?
This is high power rocketry.
One of the most elitist sports around. Things take time and one should never plan on last minutes products for a flight unless you can pick up from a vendor in person.
Even if your product gets out quickly....this is the worst time of year for shipping snafu's. Every single venue for shipping is swamped with stuff, you are at the height of shipping for the years. Are you nutz????

If you are really needing something that quickly, call the supplier...on the phone and talks to a person,to find out IF they have it in inventory and can get it to me.

If you spent as much time thinking through your time problem before ordering,as you have in ranting about it.....you would not be in this situation.

Now rest assured, if your altimeter is in stock and everything you did was Kosher, you will get product in 10days 2 weeks..as long as shipping is on time. Remember a phone call goes much farther when dealing with most rocket vendors,they are mom & pop operations,with most having day jobs to support them.

Good luck on your L-1 attempt & have fun!
 
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Real simple.....YOUR the problem.

Half a month...trying to make 2 weeks sound like a really loooooong time are we?
This is high power rocketry.
One of the most elitist sports around. Things take time and one should never plan on last minutes products for a flight unless you can pick up from a vendor in person.
Even if your product gets out quickly....this is the worst time of year for shipping snafu's. Every single venue for shipping is swamped with stuff, you are at the height of shipping for the years. Are you nutz????

If you are really needing something that quickly, call the supplier...on the phone and talks to a person,to find out IF they have it in inventory and can get it to me.

If you spent as much time thinking through your time problem before ordering,as you have in ranting about it.....you would not be in this situation.

Now rest assured, if your altimeter is in stock and everything you did was Kosher, you will get product in 10days 2 weeks..as long as shipping is on time. Remember a phone call goes much farther when dealing with most rocket vendors,they are mom & pop operations,with most having day jobs to support them.

Good luck on your L-1 attempt & have fun!
Sure, I'm new to the hobby, and may not understand how long some things can take. However, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a non-hazmat item should have a tracking number before I have the HP Motor and Black Powder (and everything else I need for my rocket) in my hands, all ordered on the same day.

Similarly, I don't feel it is unreasonable to expect at least some communication from a retailer if an order is delayed, especially if I (the customer) has reached out to them inquiring about the status.
 
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In effect, three emails have been sent to an address that hasn't been checked due to the holidays. Most small businesses I know don't run their own website, and the system literally just emails them when they have an order to fill.

I know Amazon makes us forget about times before shouting a bit at a speaker for overnight refrigerator delivery.... but please do remember not everyone keeps their email in their pocket.
 
Here is the deal with pretty much all the smaller vendors. It is one, maybe two or three part time people who are the entire company. they may or may not ship right away if something happens, they may only ship one day a week as normal procedure. Most, if not all will bend over backwards to help you out- if they know about it. If you need something right away send an email or call before you order it. This time of year most rocket vendors are gearing up for their holiday weekend sales so a random order will probably not ship immediately the week before that happens. but like I mentioned a few posts above I ordered pretty much the same thing, Stratologger CF, switch, mounting hardware and 9v batt clip, as you exactly one week before and mine shipped the very next day and even with a weirdly circuitous USPS shipping route was in my hands on the 13th, oddly enough I don't need mine until probably late February or March but I tend to order things early. Did you get an order confirmation email?
 
lets see your order went in the afternoon on a Thursday? just before a major holiday? most places will tell you 7 - 10 business(mon - fri) days to ship so figure it went out on mon. you will probably get it next Wednesday.
Rex
last time I ordered from them (aug 2017) it took a week from order confirmation till shipping notice.
 
FWIW, I remember when I was new to HPR. Some of the vendor websites are so professional looking I just assumed they were full companies with employees waiting and ready to process my order as soon as I submitted it.

At some point I googled Rocketry Warehouse's address (before they were purchased by Madcow) and saw it was a house in a rural area of PA.

I met a major vendor at a launch. One who I again, based off their website and reputation, assumed it was their sole job. I was surprised to learn they worked a career job during the week and sold rockets out of passion for the hobby.

I've seen another successful vendor's setup. It's a set of shelves and a computer in an extra room in his house.

Such is the case with almost all of them. They work career jobs and have families and take vacations and have emergencies. They're not getting rich off their sales. They aren't even making a living. We're lucky to have them in this small specialized hobby.

Life's about expectations. I think Amazon and other online retailers have set an expectation of receiving an order in two days with free shipping.

Our vendors aren't Amazon. If you realign your expectations with this in mind (as I did a few years ago) you'll find you'll enjoy the hobby much more.

I'm glad you changed the title of your thread. November 15 wasn't 2 weeks ago. It was 8 days ago. Three of which were a weekend and a major family holiday. Your original tone was pretty harsh.

PerfectFlight is a consistently good vendor in this hobby with very few complaints. Give them a reasonable amount or time to respond and they'll take care of you.
 
FWIW, I remember when I was new to HPR. Some of the vendor websites are so professional looking I just assumed they were full companies with employees waiting and ready to process my order as soon as I submitted it.

At some point I googled Rocketry Warehouse's address (before they were purchased by Madcow) and saw it was a house in a rural area of PA.

I met a major vendor at a launch. One who I again, based off their website and reputation, assumed it was their sole job. I was surprised to learn they worked a career job during the week and sold rockets out of passion for the hobby.

I've seen another successful vendor's setup. It's a set of shelves and a computer in an extra room in his house.

Such is the case with almost all of them. They work career jobs and have families and take vacations and have emergencies. They're not getting rich off their sales. They aren't even making a living. We're lucky to have them in this small specialized hobby.

Life's about expectations. I think Amazon and other online retailers have set an expectation of receiving an order in two days with free shipping.

Our vendors aren't Amazon. If you realign your expectations with this in mind (as I did a few years ago) you'll find you'll enjoy the hobby much more.

I'm glad you changed the title of your thread. November 15 wasn't 2 weeks ago. It was 8 days ago. Three of which were a weekend and a major family holiday. Your original tone was pretty harsh.

PerfectFlight is a consistently good vendor in this hobby with very few complaints. Give them a reasonable amount or time to respond and they'll take care of you.

My two week statement was regarding approximately when the launch will take place with my (hopeful) cert flight, not since when I ordered the product.

Yes, I was a little harsh. I was simply rather annoyed having just recently picked up my HP Motor from Fedex after work while my PerfectFlite Order is still awaiting fulfillment. It seems I may have come off a little too strong in my original post.

Similarly, many of my previous rocketry purchases have come from Apogee Components. With their "humble" warehouse and multiple people working the shipping department, I would (personally) call them the Amazon of Rocketry. I ordered some Shock Cord Protectors from them on Thanksgiving (for my cert flight actually), which were promptly shipped the next day and are due to arrive Monday.

Definitely unreasonable to expect someone to fulfill orders on Thanksgiving; understandable to not put in the work today either. Yet at the same time, Thursday-Wednesday is almost a full buisness week (it is a full week if you decide to count this Friday (today/yesterday)), so I would still say it is an abnormal length of time to for an order to be waiting for fulfillment.


Thanks for remaining cordial, unlike at least one other poster in this thread. :)
 
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My two week statement was regarding approximately when the launch will take place with my (hopeful) cert flight, not since when I ordered the product.

Yes, I was a little harsh. I was simply rather annoyed having just recently picked up my HP Motor from Fedex after work while my PerfectFlite Order is still awaiting fulfillment. It seems I may have come off a little too strong in my original post.

Similarly, many of my previous rocketry purchases have come from Apogee Components. With their "humble" warehouse and multiple people working the shipping department, I would (personally) call them the Amazon of Rocketry. I ordered some Shock Cord Protectors from them on Thanksgiving (for my cert flight actually), which were promptly shipped the next day and are due to arrive Monday.

Definitely unreasonable to expect someone to fulfill orders on Thanksgiving; understandable to not put in the work today either. Yet at the same time, Thursday-Wednesday is almost a full buisness week (it is a full week if you decide to count this Friday (today/yesterday)), so I would still say it is an abnormal length of time to for an order to be waiting for fulfillment.


Thanks for remaining cordial, unlike at least one other poster in this thread. :)

Did you ever receive an automated acknowledgement of your order?
 
Sure, I'm new to the hobby, and may not understand how long some things can take.

Friend, welcome to the hobby, now brace for impact...
;)

However, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a non-hazmat item should have a tracking number before I have the HP Motor and Black Powder (and everything else I need for my rocket) in my hands, all ordered on the same day.

Similarly, I don't feel it is unreasonable to expect at least some communication from a retailer if an order is delayed, especially if I (the customer) has reached out to them inquiring about the status.

How many work emails have you responded to during Thanksgiving?
I took the week off for friends and family, and have force-willed myself to NOT log into work laptop to NOT to ruin the week.

Chillax!
Enjoy the holidays!
Expect everyone else to be doing the same!

THAT would be reasonable.

Yes, I was a little harsh. I was simply rather annoyed having just recently picked up my HP Motor from Fedex after work while my PerfectFlite Order is still awaiting fulfillment. It seems I may have come off a little too strong in my original post.

Similarly, many of my previous rocketry purchases have come from Apogee Components. With their "humble" warehouse and multiple people working the shipping department, I would (personally) call them the Amazon of Rocketry.

I would NOT.
You get great deals from Amazon (usually) vs. everything is way over-priced at Apogee (usually).
However, some of that overhead goes to pay people who work full-time to answer your calls and emails.

But you already had figured that part out.
You could have ordered PF from Apogee, but instead, you had cut-out the middleman and ordered directly from the vendor.
That was smart, but you did not know about small vendors doing this as a part-time gig. At best.

Now that you learned that, it's time to walk back from the edge.
What's the upside to doubling-down on your demands, when everyone is telling you you are coming across as a d*ck?


Definitely unreasonable to expect someone to fulfill orders on Thanksgiving; understandable to not put in the work today either. Yet at the same time, Thursday-Wednesday is almost a full buisness week (it is a full week if you decide to count this Friday (today/yesterday)), so I would still say it is an abnormal length of time to for an order to be waiting for fulfillment.

If you are new, it pays NOT to kick the door in with your foot.
Or attack a small vendor who is doing great stuff for the hobby as a part-time gig, when not working or chilling with the family over a major holiday week.

Take it easy, plan ahead, be safe, adjust if/when things go side-ways, as they will a LOT in this hobby.
No point in busting an artery over the small stuff!

Spoiler alert - gravity always wins in the end!

Thanks for remaining cordial, unlike at least one other poster in this thread. :)

Make that 2 of us now?
:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

a
 
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Shoulda' just trucked on over to Wally World for the Black Friday sale to pick up that altimeter, rather than making a forum post 8 days after ordering.


Patience...............
 
Placed an order for a Perfectflite CF Altimeter, battery clip, and mounting hardware. Approximately $60. This was on November 15th.

Today, evening of the November 23rd, no response from anyone at PerfectFlite. My order has not shipped. I've reached out to them twice on two separate occasions over the course of this week, but I have not recieved any sort of response. At this rate, I won't receive my altimeter in time for my Level 1 Certification, despite ordering (what seemingly should have been) sufficient time in advance. If they're away for the entirety of the Thanksgiving week, I'd think their website should be updated to notify the customers who pay their hard earned money for the PerfectFlite products.

My ranting is over, but I am certainly not pleased with how long appears to take them to put a label on a box.

Not every vendor can do over night shipping.... I've dealt with them before and it takes about a week or so. If you are in a rush, I suggest you buy from an on site vendor.
JD
 
First of all, I know the perfectflite bunch. To be exact, husband and wife.
They work day jobs and this is a labor of love for them, stuck in the upper regions of NE.

They are really good people who care much more about rocketry and their products then profit.

I sent back a MWAD that I had broken off the speaker, with a note taking full responsibility and asked them to send me a bill
a couple of weeks later I was surprised to get my MWAD back all fixed with a handwritten note saying they had cleaned some bp residue off it and suggesting I seal up my ebay better......
 
Anyone else think it should be mandatory to have your age listed under your screen name? I think that would go a long way to the responses some of these threads get. I bet our OP is on the younger side of the coin and has not learned that the world isn't out there waiting for him to place an order.
 
IDK, new guy comes here wondering why he gets no response from a vendor, other than his credit card getting hit. He doesn’t understand the part-time nature of most of our vendor’s businesses. He doesn’t know that Nov/Dec/Jan are historically the toughest times to get a quick delivery on anything ordered online. Doesn’t understand the TRF “old boy” network where everybody knows everybody.
Unreasonable expectations? Maybe. Some “pillin’ on” responses ? Maybe.
 
IDK, new guy comes here wondering why he gets no response from a vendor, other than his credit card getting hit. He doesn’t understand the part-time nature of most of our vendor’s businesses. He doesn’t know that Nov/Dec/Jan are historically the toughest times to get a quick delivery on anything ordered online. Doesn’t understand the TRF “old boy” network where everybody knows everybody.
Unreasonable expectations? Maybe. Some “pillin’ on” responses ? Maybe.

Insert 'Search function is your friend' platitude here. Been 3 years since my own BAR, no lack of history of any of the issues mentioned in this thread.
 
IDK, new guy comes here wondering why he gets no response from a vendor, other than his credit card getting hit. He doesn’t understand the part-time nature of most of our vendor’s businesses. He doesn’t know that Nov/Dec/Jan are historically the toughest times to get a quick delivery on anything ordered online. Doesn’t understand the TRF “old boy” network where everybody knows everybody.
Unreasonable expectations? Maybe. Some “pillin’ on” responses ? Maybe.

I agree. Over a week and no info with regards to shipping would rattle many people who are used to near instant response from Amazon and many other mega sites. Although, I've had to wait for up to 10 days for shipping info even from Amazon. He will get his stuff, but I can see how it can be frustrating.
 
You guys are being a bit harsh on the OP. Yes, most of the rocketry vendors are in the old boy network, and a newcomer has to learn that process eventually.

However, vendors need to get up to speed as well. This is 2018, and like it or not, Amazon is setting the pace. If you have a webstore with an automated shopping cart, you better expect 24/7 activity and be ready to deal with it. And yes, email in your pocket is SOP these days. Sure, the owner may be enjoying the week off for Thanksgiving, but equally important, the customer is also on vacation and shopping for his hobby at this time.

I received great products and service from Perfectflight. They are legit, as everybody knows. So, everything will work out just fine in a week or so. A simple out of office message on the website or quick email saying "got your order, give me a few days" goes a long way in avoiding these issues.
 
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