WizardOfBoz
Well-Known Member
I'd add in Mike at MAC Performance. I also got great service from Apogee and Discount Rocketry. Which I guess supports your point.
Trouble contacting Rocketmam Parachutes
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I'd add in Mike at MAC Performance. I also got great service from Apogee and Discount Rocketry. Which I guess supports your point.
davidshewitt
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One has to learn who to go with. In this case, I learned this lesson the hard way. :-(
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I hate to think they are defunct but they sure don't sound good anymore
Let’s try to be a little more civil.
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I read the messages before you got out the virtual Clorox.
The essence of the exchange is quite clear: A multitude of delays and lies and poor communication from Buddy which has now turned into harassment of the customer. And this is not a unique situation in past few months. This summary should be captured here to warn potential customers in the future.
There’s been enough said about Buddy in the past and still posted here that should be enough to warn people of his practices.I read the messages before you got out the virtual Clorox.
The essence of the exchange is quite clear: A multitude of delays and lies and poor communication from Buddy which has now turned into harassment of the customer. And this is not a unique situation in past few months. This summary should be captured here to warn potential customers in the future.
Concur. No reason to add more flames.
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In general, yes, but this recent interaction is beyond the normal ghosting and late shipments.
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Politely disagree, to some extent, as long as it's handled appropriately.
Rocketman is taking several pages from the Curtis playbook. MANY of us here have been victims of these very same practices:
1. Alleging that he's hard at work getting product out while posting vacation photos from far and wide....and STILL not delivering product, contact, or refund
2. Assuring that he can be contacted anytime and STILL not being available phone/email/social media/etc
3. Engaging in vulgar and inflammatory exchanges online and on the phone
4. Engaging in tit-for-tat 'you can have it for free IF you take down those messages where you caught me in lies and I acted the fool, otherwise I'll allege that you stole the product'
5. Engaging in inflammatory exchanges online in forums in attempts to (successfully so far) get favorable edits of his misadventures and foul dealings, or threads blown out wholesale
Remember....it took YEARS for Curtis, in his many iterations of rocket businesses to FINALLY stop getting invitations to rip people off. Many of those years is because #3 got increasingly vulgar and vile but was vehemently denied far and wide, #4 was allowed to occur by the consumer that just wanted to be free of the whole affair that he should have been forewarned about, and #5 was hugely successful in hiding the depth and scope of the problem for far, far too long.
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WizardOfBoz
Well-Known Member
Agree. There's a saying (apparently from the Australian Military) that "The behavior you walk by is the standard you set". I would suggest that if folks have evidence of @Banzai88 's five points, that they post them here, rather than walking by the behavior.
If I'm understanding this, Buddy inherited Rocketman and appears unsuited to run a business like this. That's ok, not everybody is built for that task. And it might have been the Covid impact that made running a business a lot more complicated. But if he's unsuited, the sooner that Buddy is out (via business failure, or selling the business to someone who IS suited to run a business) the better. For him as well as the consumer. The alternative is that, the longer this goes on, the more people that are harmed, and the more risk Buddy has - he would seem vulnerable to legal action. Either someone who's spouse is a lawyer and who can file civil stuff inexpensively, or even possibly criminal violations. Charging someone's CC and then not delivering for months, all the while assuring the customer that product shipment is imminent would seem to be criminal fraud. I'm not a lawyer but this is my understanding. I would emphasize I'm not alleging anything - just reflecting upon what people have written. Everyone's innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
But for now, the more factual evidence, the quicker this comes to a head.
I would say that if I'd ordered something, and my CC had been charged, and I had not received product after a long wait (or if I'd received assurances that were not true) I would email an order cancellation and to protest the charge to my CC. At some point if the problem is prevalent enough, the CC company may terminate Rocketman's ability to get paid, which would bring the matter to a head quicker and would avoid more folks being harmed.
In general I don't disagree with the above posts but I also don't think that a relentless blow-by-blow back and forth bickerfest is useful either.
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There are many threads, 4 or 5+ a year, with non-OP folks chiming in with similar problems (not to mention the individual questions that pop up on the NAR and Tripoli FB pages all.the.time. ), so probably no need to aggregate......but ensuring that #5 does not happen preserves the history that WILL show up in the SEARCH function.
How many times did we hear "If I had only known ahead of time, I might have gone with a different vendor" from the decade+ of Curtis debacles? Too bad time and time and time again those threads got completely blown out......so a skewed view of the scope and depth was effectively hidden. Make no mistake about it, Curtis knew precisely how to game the system to get those threads blown out. Remains to be seen if RM will remain as consistent at the behavior as CT was.....but so far based on the several screen shots from various folks in a variety of locations that I've seen recently, I'm not optimistic.
To me, establishing the proper history to reinforce Caveat Emptor has the most value. From there, if you're not informed, it's because you don't want to be.
Which is precisely what #5 is targeted at from the merchant(s) in question. However, I agree with your point.
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Unfortunately or fortunately, you do not make the rules. There will be a new rule on flaming. It is one thing to post your opinion or experience with a vendor. If is inappropriate to flame or troll for a response by droning on and on again.
Titan II
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I take it you think the rules do not apply to you?
"...please avoid the topics of politics, sex, and religion."
You are right. I do not believe I crossed that line, but if you feel I did I apologize. I did not mention any specific religion, nor attempt to convert anyone, nor attempt to say that it is mandatory anyone listen to me.
Nothing political or sexual was mentioned.
I do not believe mentioning words written in a book constitutes a offensive statement.
Can you explain why you feel it does, so I can understand you?
It didn't seem like you crossed that line to me at all.
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The rules are an ever-evolving thing.
Folks, remember the folks who run this place are always performing a balancing act.
When they remove something, don't repost it. Don't start public arguments/debates about what you think the rules should be.
Show them compassion and understanding - their job is a tough one, and very often thankless.
-Kevin
True, moderation is always a thankless task.
Yeah
My wife is always pushing that “moderation” thing when I get my beer
and I’ve yet to thank her
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Everything in moderation.... including moderation!Yeah
My wife is always pushing that “moderation” thing when I get my beer
WizardOfBoz
Well-Known Member
Certainly fortunately. As one data point, I've been on forums which are strongly moderated, but in a way that is clear, consistent, and fair. They're more fun to read and contribute to. One knows the rules.
I will do my best to follow it.
I agree, but if more people, upon reading this, add their own story (for better or worse - let's be fair!) then the community has more info to go on. So its good to have the info, but probably counterproductive to keep railing against a guy.
Buddy has been posting me asking what he can do make things better. I tried to reply, but I keep getting error messages when I try to post a reply.
Anyway, I got my order quickly after speaking with Buddy, and I am very happy with the chute and bag I ordered. Buddy, if you see this post, the easiest way to make things better is to find a way to communicate the order status and shipping time to the buyer. Most people just want to know that their order in being processed, and they need an approximate shipping date. If Rocketman can do that, the majority of the complaints will disappear.
Anyway, I got my order quickly after speaking with Buddy, and I am very happy with the chute and bag I ordered. Buddy, if you see this post, the easiest way to make things better is to find a way to communicate the order status and shipping time to the buyer. Most people just want to know that their order in being processed, and they need an approximate shipping date. If Rocketman can do that, the majority of the complaints will disappear.
And
1. he also could stop saying ill ship today, it was already shipped etc.. the 4th time he promised is when I cancelled my order..
2. had he said up front it's going to take me a month to start or his website changed to show availability instead of saying on the home page most items are in stock and ships in 2 business days.. if that had happened I could have made a different choice depending on my timing needs.
... if those two things had happened I woundnt have been upset. And might still be a customer or send other people his way.. now if anyone asks me I tell them what happened and say it's your loss if you want to roll the dice . Most have said no way! And I don't blame them.
We all know that when a business changes hands it either flourishes, stays the same or tanks.. all because of the person running it.. its all on them running and thier actions and its up to them to fix it but if they choose to lie to try to save face and it can be proven otherwise.... I would say thats probably not the best approach..
1. he also could stop saying ill ship today, it was already shipped etc.. the 4th time he promised is when I cancelled my order..
2. had he said up front it's going to take me a month to start or his website changed to show availability instead of saying on the home page most items are in stock and ships in 2 business days.. if that had happened I could have made a different choice depending on my timing needs.
... if those two things had happened I woundnt have been upset. And might still be a customer or send other people his way.. now if anyone asks me I tell them what happened and say it's your loss if you want to roll the dice . Most have said no way! And I don't blame them.
We all know that when a business changes hands it either flourishes, stays the same or tanks.. all because of the person running it.. its all on them running and thier actions and its up to them to fix it but if they choose to lie to try to save face and it can be proven otherwise.... I would say thats probably not the best approach..
Glad you got your order quickly.
ShadowSpire48
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Valkyrie isn't quite as new as people may think. Valkyrie is moreso the commercial side of their business but has now leaned back toward the hobby in their downtime. The actual hobby side used to be called BAMA Chutes.
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