Customer Service nightmare

[Marc Noel]

Greetings:

I wish to relate a story about an abysmal business transaction with a vendor that occurred recently. As I am not sure if I am allowed, I won't say who it is, or what the product/service is, and if anyone wants to know, they can PM me.

A while back, I investigated mods for my TE 449. I picked and chose the ones in which I was interested. I then started reading about one particular mod, and came across some info that cautioned about it. I thought that was a good observation, then, later, found an analysis of the mod. I then visited the website of the company that did the analysis, and decided to order their products. After ordering, I contacted the company owner with some questions. The first peculiarity was that I never received a confirmation e-mail about my order. Also, my credit card showed no charge. I finally asked the owner if they received my order, was told they did, and it was shipping out the next day. I later checked my credit card, and found I'd been charged $ 44.00 for shipping, instead of the $ 17.00 that I read in the checkout section on the website. Product total was $ 33.85, so, now, shipping was over ten dollars more than the products, and 159% higher than the originally quoted amount. I asked the owner if they knew anything about the extra charge, and that is when I found out it was for shipping, because the website shipping calculator made a mistake. I then said it would have been appropriate to advise me BEFORE charging me, so I could authorize the increased charge, or cancel the order. I also received an e-mailed invoice attachment with a new invoice number and the increased amount. The owner replied, "Marc, we shipped over 70 orders yesterday, I'm sure you can understand that it's impossible to provide that level of granular detailed attention to each shipment. We'll provide a $20 discount on your next order. Please just reference this email when you place that order." Keep in mind that I was overcharged $ 27.00, so a $ 20.00 discount would still leave me out $ 7.00. Anyway, I said I now had enough product to last me five years (its shelf life), and didn't know if I'd even have the bike in five years, so I asked for a refund now. Here is the response:

"$20.00 was refunded to your account this morning. Please do not order from us again in the future. We are not in business to lose money."

And there we go. How the Hell is it my fault that their quoted shipping price was too low? Unfortunately, I was told that my shipment was coming in two parts, so I didn't reply, because I didn't want to antagonize the owner, and have them withhold the second shipment. When the second shipment arrived, it included a THIRD invoice. Same number as the second, but now shipping was $ 34.00. Three different prices, and I was forced to pay the highest one. Although I got $ 20.00 back, I investigated trying to get the rest back through a dispute with my credit card company, but the minimum is $ 15.00.

If your price is too low, you either honor it, then change it before the next transaction, or else advise the customer of an increased charge, so that they can either agree to or cancel it.

I want to spread the word about this company and person, because nobody else will know what happened if I don't. I posted a negative review on yelp.com, and thought about calling the company, so I could tell someone else there what happened. I also thought about contacting some of the testimonials on their site, along with the owner's MOTHER, but haven't done anything yet.

 

[justintendo]

if its an honest account, you should have no problems displaying the name of the company here. in my opinion it would be a disservice to members to not do so. if it is a vendor here, i would post it in their section so they can deal with it. part of being a vendor is dealing with issues upfront on a forum..

as far as your account goes, the treatment you received sounds very coarse. even if only a few dollars, the seller should not treat that as trivial. i always take that as meaning the seller is making too much money.

 

[letitsnow]

Yes, please tell us who it is. We work too hard for our $$$ to waste it at places that do bad stuff.

 

[Dirtdame]

I have to agree with the two posts above. There is no point in exposing poor business practices and sub par customer service, if you aren't going to expose who the business is. They need to be put out of their misery quickly instead of letting them be allowed to linger on and ruin everybody else's shopping experience. You are doing consumers a public service by publicly displaying the company. By doing so you will make them either fold, or drastically change the way they do business.

 

[norma stitz]

Make sure to watch your credit card statements in the coming months. I have been in a battle with a company who continues to charge me even though they were instructed not to by visa. In fact, visa suspended their card privileges over the matter and refunded me the money. And I kept the product.

This is why we NEVER use debit cards for online transactions. The visa symbol on your debit means nothing, and you get no protections for this carp vs a credit card who will release the hounds of hell if you get a rough jerk like this.

 

[rancher1]

I am curious was this an international shipment ???

 

[Johnrg]

Business requires accounting and customer service. If they cannot provide these things they should not be in business. Even if you are the one who make a mistake, some companies bend over backwards to make the customer a customer for life by absorbing any small charges and losing the profit for that transaction due to their own problems. One time I bought Bel Ray Chain Cleaner instead of Super Clean. The label was identical. I messaged them to say I made the mistake and they were kind enough to refund my prior purchase, without having to return the chain cleaner, when I ordered the Super Clean the following day. I will defer to their store on ebay/amazon for any purchases in the future. Thank you 4wheelonline.

 

[Marc Noel]

Okay, sorry to keep everyone waiting. I was at a Volkswagen car show, and couldn't reply.

I suppose I will find out soon enough if I did a no-no, and end up being banned.

The company is Applied Chemical Specialties, the owner is Mr. Jay Ross, and the products I purchased were Hyperkühl coolant additive, flush, and a coolant test kit.

I was initially interested in XF-2 waterless coolant, and found Evans brand in Canada, which is supposedly the same thing. I then read a comment about how overheating and boiling over are not necessarily the same thing, and it could be that an engine gets hot enough to damage something, but still doesn't boil over. I then read an analysis of Evans coolant on norosion.com, Jay Ross' website, and decided to try his products. It is similar to Water Wetter, and supposedly superior when used with straight water, but I always run antifreeze here in Canada.

The account is true. I have the documentation to support it.

Minimum amount one can buy is a 16-oz bottle, and you use one ounce per quart of water/antifreeze mixture. My bike's coolant capacity is just under one quart, so the bottle would last over 16 treatments, and it is recommended to use it every two years, so it would be almost 34 years before I'd need more, but the shelf life is five years, so I obviously have enough for the next six years before I'd have to add again. Luckily, I've gotten by for 35+ years without it, so I think I'll be okay. My bike wasn't overheating in the first place. I was just trying to minimize the operating temperature for the torque limiter's sake.

 

[Marc Noel]

I am curious was this an international shipment ???

Yes, from the US to Canada.

 

[Marc Noel]

Another thing is that, the delayed part of my shipment was a coolant test kit, to check the level of additive. After this debacle unfolded, I checked the shipping charge on the website, and it was still $ 17.00. While on the site, I looked at the details for the test kit, and found out that it was for copper/lead radiators, not aluminum like mine, so I can't use it. I then decided to wait and see if he would ship it out, or withhold it to recoup some of the money he refunded me. I did receive the kit in a letter-sized envelope, so if anybody is using No-Rosion in their rad, and needs a test kit, you can have mine. PM me your address, and I will mail it to you. Here's a link for the product: http://norosion.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=12

There are two different pages on the site. Under "Products", there are details, but on the order page, you can just click "Add to cart", which I did, without looking at the details.

Please see accompanying picture. It is a screenshot I just took of the site, and it shows the shipping charge is STILL $ 17.00.View attachment 69538

 

[Marc Noel]

Where'd everybody go?

 

[justintendo]

sorry you had to deal with a transaction like that..good thing it wasnt for more cash at least. he will likely be out of business soon with an attitude like that.

 

[Marc Noel]

sorry you had to deal with a transaction like that..good thing it wasnt for more cash at least. he will likely be out of business soon with an attitude like that.

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if I had scared everybody off.

They did $ 1.3 million in business last year, according to one site. Don't know what to think.

 

[justintendo]

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if I had scared everybody off.

They did $ 1.3 million in business last year, according to one site. Don't know what to think.

im far from an "industry guy"...but never heard of them..

 

[juicypips]

Personally the only thing I would add to my system to keep it cooler is air flow through the rad.

Had a mate seize his bike on evens waterless. It's slightly thicker than the water anti freeze mix and his pump had 8 blades on, we did a test afterwards too see what caused it and the waterless coolent causes cavitation so the pump isn't as efficient.
Solution remove some pump blades, or use suggested coolent.

Sorry bout your bad experience if it makes you feel any better I won't be supporting them.... I live in UK so probably wouldn't anyway.

 

[Marc Noel]

Personally the only thing I would add to my system to keep it cooler is air flow through the rad.

Had a mate seize his bike on evens waterless. It's slightly thicker than the water anti freeze mix and his pump had 8 blades on, we did a test afterwards too see what caused it and the waterless coolent causes cavitation so the pump isn't as efficient.
Solution remove some pump blades, or use suggested coolent.

Sorry bout your bad experience if it makes you feel any better I won't be supporting them.... I live in UK so probably wouldn't anyway.

Thanks for your reply, and support.

Yeah, I don't know what to think now. I've not had any cooling issues in the 50 months I've owned the bike. I recently found out about the torque limiter issue, and wanted to cool the engine down as part of addressing the issue. Granted, I use it as a commuter, and don't give it more than 1/4 throttle as I tool around, plus, it does have a cooling fan, so it doesn't seem like I'm frying the motor on a regular basis.

 

[juicypips]

I wouldn't worry, the torque convertor only gets death when your hammering the thing out of corners or riding line a gncc pro everywhere.
Or that's what I'm led to believe.

Chalk the whole thing to bad experience often finding out how honest someone is is worth a few quid dollars in your case, sell the kit if you've not used it and re coup some losses.
I wouldn't put that any where near my bike.

 

[Marc Noel]

I wouldn't worry, the torque convertor only gets death when your hammering the thing out of corners or riding line a gncc pro everywhere.
Or that's what I'm led to believe.

Chalk the whole thing to bad experience often finding out how honest someone is is worth a few quid dollars in your case, sell the kit if you've not used it and re coup some losses.
I wouldn't put that any where near my bike.

Thanks.

 

[Huskynoobee]

Thanks for sharing your experience. At least you sort of worked it out. Some companies aren't very good at admitting the web site shipping calculator isn't designed correctly or updated and just expect you'll understand.

In regards to waterless coolant, they aren't all the same. Evans has many formulas for bikes up to big diesel engines and choosing the wrong one can lead to disaster.

The torque limiter is an issue if you ride it hard. The thing that kills them is stuff like WOT over choppy terrain or hard acceleration just before landing a jump. They are sort of a wear item. The good thing is that they are a direct carry over from the BMW so they can still be found brand new if needed and hard to find via local Husqvarna dealer sources.

 

[Marc Noel]

I would prefer not to have to buy one spare of everything - just in case. Do you think I should buy a torque limiter now, while they're still available, or do you think I need to worry about it? I have about 4,200 kms on the bike, never had oil in my airbox, and am running 1,150 cc of oil (as per the shop manual - 1,000 cc without filter change, 1,150 with). I will be putting on the recirculation tank, etc., when I get the other stuff from ZT, which will help the TL.

I remember reading somewhere about modding the TL to eliminate the clutch, and just turn it into one solid piece, but a response was something about liability. I don't understand. Right now, if the TL fails, you can't go anywhere, and if the trans were to break because of a modded, solid TL, you can't go anywhere, so what's the diff?