Problems with Sheri's Hot Rockets

[Bravo52]

John,

I do not expect you to moderate the behavior of ADULTS who visit this FAMILY forum. But, I do however expect adults to moderate themselves.
.

You may be on to something here.....kinda like the public option.....

Anyway, my guess that based on your and Adrian's comments, this isn't about bashing someone without them being able to defend themselves, its more about using irony, sarcasm and innuendo to make fun of the situation at their expense. Almost like "America's Funniest Videos". We all know that someone could get really hurt when they slip on ice, but we still snicker and laugh....you know what they say, it isn't a party until someone is bleeding....oh wait, that's cap and trade..... anyway, I digress, :y:

I think this really falls into the “even bad publicity is good publicity”.

 

[r1dermon]

Say what? She's playing the victim in my opinion. She also makes no attempt to apologize for the lack of communication for the last seven months. I see nothing professional in her response at all, sorry.

couldn't agree more...she's not running a legitimate business, it's blatantly obvious by her responses. if she wants support and respect of the community, she needs to really focus her efforts on customer service, rather than trying to make it personal. getting emotion involved in business quickly leads to demise.

 

[MysticalRockets]

couldn't agree more...she's not running a legitimate business, it's blatantly obvious by her responses. if she wants support and respect of the community, she needs to really focus her efforts on customer service, rather than trying to make it personal. getting emotion involved in business quickly leads to demise.

Irregardless of HOW she handles it, complaining here is just plain STUPID! She won't see it, she won't respond to it.

Mods, please lock this one out already. Its getting really lame.

 

[r1dermon]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it somewhat unsporting to bash her in a forum in which she has been banned. I don't agree with a lot of how she has handled the situation, but it only seems fair to complain over here or other places where at least she is allowed to respond.

i actually can't agree with this. she has created a situation which is now out in the open for all to see. and all SHOULD see. take from it what you will. i've personally never heard of sheri's business, nor seen her kits before venturing into this thread. im not a member of any other rocketry related forum (besides APC...sort of rocketry related), so i rely on this forum for all my information on the industry. this businesswoman, does not conduct herself as a businesswoman based on several observations.

#1, she never denied that it took 7 months (and counting) for a 300 dollar item to reach the customer

#2, she has consistently attempted to defend herself, in spite of the fact that she has a customer (or several) waiting for several hundred dollars worth of product. i dont know about you, but if i go to a store and pay the man for the product, i expect to get the product, not a bunch of stories and a massive wait.

#3, she has personally insulted members of that forum in a manner totally unbecoming of a "professional", and reminiscent of a middle school cafeteria scuffle.

based on my observations of that single thread, i can tell you that immediately i have a negative impression of her business...eventually, if i was considering one of her kits, all im going to think about is this thread, and the thread on yorf. the fact is, nobody is taking personal jabs at her, here at least...it all revolves around her business practices, and the ethics of how she runs her enterprise.

furthermore, if i recieve excellent service from a vendor/manufacturer, i'm sure to come here and display my experience for all others to see. i've taken an interest in that vendor, and im willing to pay that vendors prices for that vendors products/services, which means, i want that vendor to last...to grow, and continue to offer satisfactory products which i am happy with. if a vendor is engaging in immoral business practices, and downright theft, i'll also be sure to let everyone know, because they should have an interest in where they're getting their product. let the good vendors thrive, let the bad ones go away.

once again, nobody is taking a personal jab at her, consider it a business review.

 

[RangerStl]

Yep, I had to drop one of the Ps because it might be considered improper. It starts with a P and ends with a couple of s's......

Reading you 5 by 5 on that one. Thanks for the self-edit.

N

 

[shrox]

...end program

 

[rokitflite]

Irregardless

Is that a real word?

 

[Bravo52]

Is that a real word?

It's a common misspelling.

 

[Adrian A]

i actually can't agree with this. she has created a situation which is now out in the open for all to see. and all SHOULD see.

So are you confident that you are providing a fair assessment of her business practices, even though Sheri has been prohibited from responding to the accusations here? How sure are you that there is nothing she could say now that could improve her business reputation, if she were allowed to do so?

I have only been a casual observer of the Sheri dramas on this and other forums, and my own opinion is that she probably deserves lots of criticism for the late orders, and it was probably appropriate she got banned for her last stunt. But it still gives me the willies to see someone's reputation dragged through the mud in a public forum when the accused is prohibited from responding.

 

[sylvie369]

Why is it that CHILDREN are even able to access anything about Mid or High Power Rocketry? Shouldn't there be limited access for minors to access any of this material???

I respectfully disagree. The forum is actively moderated to keep out discussions of dangerous chemical stuff, and that's not MPR or HPR anyway. The kids can't get their hands on HPR motors, or at least shouldn't be able to, and reading about them on the forum won't increase the risk that they do. On the other hand, it increases the chances that they'll know something by the time they do get their hands on those motors. That seems to me to be a good thing. I believe that I got a lot of mileage out of having to just read about the fun stuff for years before I could get my hands on any of it.

Again, consider this respectful disagreement - you may well have a point that I haven't thought about, and I'd be interested in hearing it. I've been wrong before.

 

[georgegassaway]

Well, if a person who is also a vendor/manufacturer continually crossed the line on TRF, to the point they eventually got banned, what is TRF to do when this kind of thing comes up?

Ban people from saying when they have a problem with a vendor that won’t respond to them, just because that vendor/manufacturer got banned and cannot respond on TRF?

Whatever “unfairness” may exist from a manufacturer being unable to respond on TRF, is a foreseeable consequence of that manufacturer’s actions. They chose to keep on doing the sort of stuff they’d been warned about, so they have zero reason to complain about not being able to respond here.

Having found out today what the “last straw” on TRF was, stumbling across it in another forum, I think that manufacturer wanted to be booted anyway (or just did not care what the ramifications would be). What they did, they specifically did NOT do in the other forums, only here on TRF (otherwise that manufacturer would have a totally different avatar in those forums).

And having finally seen on another forum, responses by the manufacturer to this same thread topic, I do not think the manufacturer comes off very well. It was VERY heavy on the attacks, some very personal ones, and VERY light on resolving the issues (notably, no denials that money was paid, that kits were owed, or that a lot of time had passed). Some who had an open mind BEFORE the replies from the manufacturer, are quite turned off now. So actually, maybe being banned from TRF is a “better” thing for that manufacturer’s public relations among TRF readers than the manufacturer defending themselves here (considering the “defense” presented on another forum was mostly of the offensive type while not denying the actual issues or giving any reasons).

- George Gassaway

 

[cwbullet]

I have to agree with Adrian. I hate to see posts she can not respond to. I am sure where there is smoke, there is fire, but every story has two sides. I would be interested in her response. I have tried to email her on another topic, but there is no response.

I guess this might be a good thing.

Chuck

 

[MysticalRockets]

It's a common misspelling.

Actually, Firefox's spellchecker said it was right.

And my spelling sucks. I readily admit that. :neener:

 

[r1dermon]

So are you confident that you are providing a fair assessment of her business practices, even though Sheri has been prohibited from responding to the accusations here? How sure are you that there is nothing she could say now that could improve her business reputation, if she were allowed to do so?

I have only been a casual observer of the Sheri dramas on this and other forums, and my own opinion is that she probably deserves lots of criticism for the late orders, and it was probably appropriate she got banned for her last stunt. But it still gives me the willies to see someone's reputation dragged through the mud in a public forum when the accused is prohibited from responding.

im confident that when it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, and acts like a pig...it's probably a pig.

the funny thing is adrian, i went to yorf because i was sure this would be resolved had sheri been able to reply to comet. but what i saw there astonished me. the banter from the members was uncalled for, i'll give you that, but when a business owner buys into it, and starts defending her position, which in my opinion is indefensible, to have a customer (or several) waiting on several hundred dollars worth of product for over 7 months. if her description online had said "make take seven months to deliver" that would be one thing, but it doesnt. her products are listed in weeks.

once again, nobody is taking a personal jab at her...not here at least...she was banned, i dont know what for, but judging by her posts on yorf, she is not very easy to deal with, and is not focussed on the customer.

that's not to say that she hasn't had sucessful transactions in the past, to the tune of 100's. and i'll say, things get lost in the mix, maybe she lost a paper with the invoice on it and totally forgot about it...that's fine, but whatever the excuse, it would have been nice to know, for OUR sake. comet is out a few hundred dollars for 7 months, that's an awful thing to have happen, but if we are to order from a vendor, i think it takes a certain amount of confidence, especially over the internet.

i also think TRF has done an incredible job facilitating the best vendors in the industry and having them actively participate and answer questions.

once again, for the sake of everyone, it needs to be known how she conducts herself. her responses on the other forum do not give me that confident feeling that i'd need to order from her, im sorry, and especially when 300 dollars for my extremely hard earned money is concerned.

 

[UMRS]

im confident that when it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, and acts like a pig...it's probably a pig.

the funny thing is adrian, i went to yorf because i was sure this would be resolved had sheri been able to reply to comet. but what i saw there astonished me. the banter from the members was uncalled for, i'll give you that, but when a business owner buys into it, and starts defending her position, which in my opinion is indefensible, to have a customer (or several) waiting on several hundred dollars worth of product for over 7 months. if her description online had said "make take seven months to deliver" that would be one thing, but it doesnt. her products are listed in weeks.

once again, nobody is taking a personal jab at her...not here at least...she was banned, i dont know what for, but judging by her posts on yorf, she is not very easy to deal with, and is not focussed on the customer.

that's not to say that she hasn't had sucessful transactions in the past, to the tune of 100's. and i'll say, things get lost in the mix, maybe she lost a paper with the invoice on it and totally forgot about it...that's fine, but whatever the excuse, it would have been nice to know, for OUR sake. comet is out a few hundred dollars for 7 months, that's an awful thing to have happen, but if we are to order from a vendor, i think it takes a certain amount of confidence, especially over the internet.

i also think TRF has done an incredible job facilitating the best vendors in the industry and having them actively participate and answer questions.

once again, for the sake of everyone, it needs to be known how she conducts herself. her responses on the other forum do not give me that confident feeling that i'd need to order from her, im sorry, and especially when 300 dollars for my extremely hard earned money is concerned.

If your refering to me on YORF, I did not "defend" her position. I said she should have handled this differently. My problem is comet was guided MONTHS ago how to get his money back. He did NOTHING.

Sherri is in the wrong here no question, at this point she should refund his money without him having to jump through hoops.

But Mr Comet should have followed the excellent advice he was given on how to get his money back months ago. Had he filed with pay pal in the proper time frame he would have been refunded his money.

 

[dixontj93060]

Paypal is no savior. I have had two disputed transactions where I never received the items both via eBay. Paypal just "investigated" for 60 days and then came back "unresolved" with no action taken. On eBay I no longer do business with vendors having less than 50 transactions or less than a 99.5% rating. I will also do transactions with vendors and individuals that have a good reputation on this and other forums. But I purchase a lot on the Internet from small things to my last three cars, trailers, large production equipment, etc. all sight unseen (at least physically) so I do expect a certain "loss rate". So far my losses have been minimal and gains great both in savings and resale. Moral: "Buyer Beware", i.e., back to the basics and do your due diligence and don't depend on "the system"--Paypal does not "have your back" (or your best interests in mind the majority of the time).

If your refering to me on YORF, I did not "defend" her position. I said she should have handled this differently. My problem is comet was guided MONTHS ago how to get his money back. He did NOTHING.

Sherri is in the wrong here no question, at this point she should refund his money without him having to jump through hoops.

But Mr Comet should have followed the excellent advice he was given on how to get his money back months ago. Had he filed with pay pal in the proper time frame he would have been refunded his money.

 

[r1dermon]

If your refering to me on YORF, I did not "defend" her position. I said she should have handled this differently. My problem is comet was guided MONTHS ago how to get his money back. He did NOTHING.

Sherri is in the wrong here no question, at this point she should refund his money without him having to jump through hoops.

But Mr Comet should have followed the excellent advice he was given on how to get his money back months ago. Had he filed with pay pal in the proper time frame he would have been refunded his money.

i appologize, the way i worded it wasn't specific enough and led to your confusion. i was not referring to you, however, i think regardless of whether comet knew how to get his money back via a paypal dispute, the fact is, he paid for an item, the funds were withdrawn, and he has not recieved the item. that's the real issue, he could call the better business beaureu, contact ebay, contact paypal, jump through 15 different hurdles before he gets his money back, but why should he have to? to me the fact that it has come to that makes it glaringly apparent that the vendor wants absolutely nothing to do with solving this in a professional manner.

as has been stated, this hobby is dominated, for the most part, by people who will give you the shirt off their backs (although most of the time we'd prefer they just leave it on...tehe), and comet mistakenly took sheri for a "typical" rocketry vendor, which in my mind would be defined by incredible customer service, prompt shipping, and dispute resolution! i recieved warped fins from a hpr vendor a few years ago. i kindly emailed them and stated the condition of the fins, and they overnighted a brand new set of fins to me and followed up with 3 emails just begging me to say that i was pleased...which i was, and i appreciated the customer service...frankly, i've never EVER had a bad experience with any rocketry vendor...ever! so this whole thing kind of comes as a surprise.

like has been stated, the simple solution is to send him the balance, and for comet to take his money elsewhere.

all due respect.

(btw i love your website layout...how you describe the company above their products...sweet!)

 

[UMRS]

i appologize, the way i worded it wasn't specific enough and led to your confusion. i was not referring to you, however, i think regardless of whether comet knew how to get his money back via a paypal dispute, the fact is, he paid for an item, the funds were withdrawn, and he has not recieved the item. that's the real issue, he could call the better business beaureu, contact ebay, contact paypal, jump through 15 different hurdles before he gets his money back, but why should he have to? to me the fact that it has come to that makes it glaringly apparent that the vendor wants absolutely nothing to do with solving this in a professional manner.

as has been stated, this hobby is dominated, for the most part, by people who will give you the shirt off their backs (although most of the time we'd prefer they just leave it on...tehe), and comet mistakenly took sheri for a "typical" rocketry vendor, which in my mind would be defined by incredible customer service, prompt shipping, and dispute resolution! i recieved warped fins from a hpr vendor a few years ago. i kindly emailed them and stated the condition of the fins, and they overnighted a brand new set of fins to me and followed up with 3 emails just begging me to say that i was pleased...which i was, and i appreciated the customer service...frankly, i've never EVER had a bad experience with any rocketry vendor...ever! so this whole thing kind of comes as a surprise.

like has been stated, the simple solution is to send him the balance, and for comet to take his money elsewhere.

all due respect.

(btw i love your website layout...how you describe the company above their products...sweet!)

Thank you for the plug . We do agree that Sherri could have put this to a stop by refunding his money.

This thing now has a momentum all its own, no telling where it will stop now.

 

[rcktnut]

But Mr Comet should have followed the excellent advice he was given on how to get his money back months ago. Had he filed with pay pal in the proper time frame he would have been refunded his money.

Ummm, Maybe Comet was led to believe up to a month ago that his issue would be resolved. Nothing like a vendor stringing you out till there is no longer a viable/easy way to recover your money.

Maybe he just believed that this once reputable vendor with years of satifactory transactions would come thru for him. The last time this was brought up the vendor was in a move, good excuse for a delay.

Why should he have to bother with PayPal or eBay to resolve this in the first place?? The vendor could have / should have resolved this months ago.

Very bad business practices by this vendor has caused this whole situation. Comet is not by himself, others have the same problem. To put blame on anyone other than the vendor is totally ludicrous.

 

[Mikus]

furthermore, if i recieve excellent service from a vendor/manufacturer, i'm sure to come here and display my experience for all others to see. i've taken an interest in that vendor, and im willing to pay that vendors prices for that vendors products/services, which means, i want that vendor to last...to grow, and continue to offer satisfactory products which i am happy with. if a vendor is engaging in immoral business practices, and downright theft, i'll also be sure to let everyone know, because they should have an interest in where they're getting their product. let the good vendors thrive, let the bad ones go away.

Well I, for one, thank you. Having been a previous victim of "a good vendor until he takes your money", I say we need more people like you here. :clap::clap::clap:

 

[UMRS]

Ummm, Maybe Comet was led to believe up to a month ago that his issue would be resolved. Nothing like a vendor stringing you out till there is no longer a viable/easy way to recover your money.

Maybe he just believed that this once reputable vendor with years of satifactory transactions would come thru for him. The last time this was brought up the vendor was in a move, good excuse for a delay.

Why should he have to bother with PayPal or eBay to resolve this in the first place?? The vendor could have / should have resolved this months ago.

Very bad business practices by this vendor has caused this whole situation. Comet is not by himself, others have the same problem. To put blame on anyone other than the vendor is totally ludicrous.

Ok thats a great idea, next time anyone orders something and they dont get it. They should just sit on their hands and do nothing. Thats a fantastic idea.

And a bonus complain that you didnt get your product or money back after you did nothing. Both wonderful ideas.

Yes the vendor SHOULD have resolved this, THEY didnt. So sitting around doing nothing also worked well in this case. If Sherri wasnt going to deliver/refund the product then doesnt the buyer have some responsibility to get there money back?

If he gets nowhere with her, then he should pursue the course of do nothing. I finally get it.

 

[r1dermon]

he hasn't done nothing. various others just on this forum have said paypal has ended their investigations with nothing resolved, he reached out to this forum for help.

here's how i see it. im going to refer back to a recent case between an energy drink company, and a local beer company...the energy drink company was suing over copyright infringement. anyone with 2 brain cells could tell, it was bogus. but irrespective of that, the owner could've quietly handled it in court, which would've cost him many tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers fees...but he didnt. why not? because he hit youtube, after he paid a production firm to produce an interview style presentation where he lays his case out...it probably cost him less than 10 grand. the results of which sent shockwaves through the internet. people who had never drank beer before were posting and blogging about how bad this energy drink company was, and how they would not buy their products again. after enough people trashed on the energy drink company, the major corporation figured the cost vs. reward was just way too great, and they dropped the litigation.

the court of public opinion is one hell of a tool, and right now i think it's serving it's purpose.

 

[powderburner]

The only experience I had with ordering anything from Sheri worked out just fine. She (they?) were very helpful via email figuring out exactly what I was looking for and getting it set aside for me while I sent payment. Service was good, my item arrived quickly, and everything was cool. I get the impression that most of her business gets taken care of reasonably well, and she only has a few deals that run into complications. So, maybe she messed one up, I don't think we need to crucify her here, or jump on the wagon.

Remember, all this thread was about originally was someone was looking for some help to get in touch with her.

As far as paypal goes, it's a joke. Don't ever count on them to "help" you, paypal is PART OF EBAY and all they are interested in is getting your money. Since taking time to fix your problem costs them money, guess what, they don't bother. Wake up. Use your CC directly and bypass all that paypal nonsense, but that's a whole different subject.

 

[sunward]

...............

Mike, let it go.

 

[UMRS]

Mike, let it go.

Theres nothing to let go

 

[BRC]

probably deserves lots of criticism for the late orders, and it was probably appropriate she got banned for her last stunt.

If you consider still waiting AFTER 7 months a late order, than thanks for the heads up !!! :y:

 

[Bravo52]

Actually, Firefox's spellchecker said it was right.

And my spelling sucks. I readily admit that. :neener:

Nu ugh....my spelling is way worse. But....I have an excuse, I was ed-u-ma-cated in the south. :confused2:

 

[Adrian A]

If you consider still waiting AFTER 7 months a late order, than thanks for the heads up !!! :y:

I'm just not sure what to call it, as I've never shipped anything more than about 3 working days after it has been ordered, with the exception of when I used to accept pre-orders for a product that was still in development or out of stock (and described it as such, by the way) Usually it's in the mail the day after the order is placed. If Sheri is trying in good faith to get somethng out then I'd call it late. Ridiculously late, unacceptably late for the case we're talking about. If she isn't intending to fulfill the order then it's fraud. And there are very few circumstances I can imagine in which refusing a refund before shipping would be ethical. But nobody who isn't in some communication with her really knows what's going on. Maybe it will show up on his doorstep tomorrow.

 

[sodmeister]

I emailed SHR about ordering a Merc. Redstone a couple of days ago.I have yet to recieve a reply ,but after reading this thread this past hour ,doubt (read; will not) order directly from her.
Truly a shame really ,as I liked what she had to offer the rockerty community.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Personally I can understand a FEW delays, miscommunications, misunderstandings, etc... we're all human, it happens...

BUT, this buying/selling thing ain't rocket science...

If you pay money for something, you have a resonable expectation to receive what you ordered as it was represented to you, in a reasonable amount of time.

If you're selling something, you need to deliver the item you offered for sale and received payment for in a timely manner and deliver the product meeting the specifications that you represented it to be when you sold it.


It really IS that simple.

I get it, stuff happens. A seller that has received money and hasn't shipped the product for whatever delaying reason, has a responsibility to communicate those reasons to the customer in a timely manner, and make a good faith effort to get the paid for item sent as soon as possible. To do less just isn't good business-- it's unprofessional and leads to a bad reputation, destroyed trust, no faith in your business or honesty, etc.

If a buyer goes ahead and places an order and pays after being specifically told what the timeframe is for shipping the purchased item, whatever that lead time may be, then they have NO reasonable excuse to expect it to be delivered any sooner than when it was originally promised. If someone tells you "it won't be shipped for eight weeks" and you order it anyway, you have no right to expect it in four weeks and complain thereafter. So long as the product and conditions were truthfully represented to you before the transaction, anyway.

A lot of these sorts of things could be avoided by simply taking a more conservative business approach-- don't sell what you don't have ready to ship (or a firm belief that you will have ready to ship within a week or so, barring delays on receiving supplies) and at the very least, IF a delay happens for whatever reason, have the common courtesy and respect for your customer to let them know what's going on, what the delay is, and when you reasonably expect the situation to be corrected and the item shipped, and apologize for the delay. If you can't deliver; if the delay is of unknown duration, then offer a complete timely refund.

THAT is just good business, and being professional. IMHO, anyone who can't conduct business by these simple common-sense principles has no business being in business.... OL JR