Poor customer service (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
May 23, 2018
Threads
9
Messages
307
Location
Colorado
I’m just gonna leave this here. I played my part I guess but I found the reply rather rude after ignoring my two polite emails over a months time.
First one:
19CF8CB2-03AF-4B0F-9006-CE31BCAB97B7.png

It was ignored so I resent it:

F3F55212-2F49-46E2-82CB-3C075B38B0AD.png

(Those are backwards historically but you get it)
Still no reply so I sent this today:
41350328-A6DA-4F96-B44E-535B32F0D4E2.png

And here’s what I got back:
6E91EC52-3EC3-491D-9016-585250DEC562.png


So I let him know how I felt:
92848298-44B6-4C79-BEDE-3714E480FE62.png

Aside from the bad battery and customer service, the product and install were fine. And for the record my “threat” appears to be the only thing that got me a reply.
 
I'll post here what I posted in reply to another Mud user's frustrating post about his perception of poor customer service. Off road companies are slammed right now with high demand, and emails are really hard to miss. a bit of patience and understanding goes a long way. I agree with the owner of the shop that you probably should have reached out to the battery manufacturer, after having read through your original agreement for the work. The information you needed was there for you. You also should have tried calling to talk to him before threatening to post here.

For the record, you are the one that comes across as a jerk, as you threatened him. He was actually very kind in his reply. I don't think you'll get much sympathy for impatience with vendors/shops on this forum

The solution to your problem is patience, understanding, and a realization that the customer is not always right.
 
I'll post here what I posted in reply to another Mud user's frustrating post about his perception of poor customer service. Off road companies are slammed right now with high demand, and emails are really hard to miss. a bit of patience and understanding goes a long way. I agree with the owner of the shop that you probably should have reached out to the battery manufacturer, after having read through your original agreement for the work. The information you needed was there for you. You also should have tried calling to talk to him before threatening to post here.

For the record, you are the one that comes across as a jerk, as you threatened him. He was actually very kind in his reply. I don't think you'll get much sympathy for impatience with vendors/shops on this forum

The solution to your problem is patience, understanding, and a realization that the customer is not always right.
im with KR on this, youre being the jerk here.
 
I figured I’d get things along these lines and you’re of course entitled. I sent two polite emails spanning 4 weeks time. A rude email got a reply within minutes. I thought that was weird.
As far as the original emails from two years ago......I dug em up and explained my ignorance and novice status at that time. There were big threads and honestly I couldn’t find the info he was talking about and it really never crossed my mind to look that far back. But as I said I played my part. You all can decide if you want to use him. Also as far as the phone call. He doesn’t list his number on his website. I only have it because we happened to connect via Craigslist and I wanted to act like a normal customer using the contact info available to everyone.
I’m on to be the jerk. It isn’t how I would talk to someone who gave me over $1000.......
 
Personally, I think you both could have handled it differently (read: more understanding)
I have his battery tray in my FJ and GX and the quality is great. I have not needed customer service so I can’t speak to that.
My experience with both Odyssy and Optima is they are finicky batteries at best. You maybe ale to revive yours using the technique you can find online for them. You have to charge it while holding a paper cup, singing Yankee Doodle, and crossing your eyes. Or something like that. Lol

Anyway, for me, I will never buy another one of either brand.
 
im with KR on this, youre being the jerk here.

I'm also with this.

You're being a dick by threatening to badmouth his company online. You could have called him like a normal person.

The battery itself isn't surprising, Optima batteries are crap and have been for 15 years. Get the receipt for the battery from 4WP and warranty it. I checked the vendor's website and he doesn't even sell Optima batteries, and he probably regrets doing so for your order.

Your next email to him should be nothing short of:

"Hey, sorry I was overreacting out of frustration. Could I please get the battery receipt so I can warranty it? Thank you very much."

Or better yet, call him like a normal person and apologize.
 
Man...I’m not trying to beat you up. Only offering a different perspective. They say you catch more flies with honey. I’m also not saying he is justified in not helping you.
 
Threatening to expose someone on the forum should be used for instances of actual unethical behavior, such as selling a counterfeit part, lying to customers, overcharging, poor quality work, etc. Not responding to an email for weeks at a time (IMO) does not fall under that category. From someone who works in client service, his initial email back to you was not particularly rude (other than "thanks for the threats" that was uncalled for). You also have to remember (as others have mentioned) that 1) folks are swamped right now in the 4x4 and other industries and 2) COVID is still a major issue. Maybe he just ignored your email; maybe he was having to juggle 10 different things at home/work due to someone in his family being sick or quarantined.
 
Threatening to expose someone on the forum should be used for instances of actual unethical behavior, such as selling a counterfeit part, lying to customers, overcharging, poor quality work, etc. Not responding to an email for weeks at a time (IMO) does not fall under that category. From someone who works in client service, his initial email back to you was not particularly rude (other than "thanks for the threats" that was uncalled for). You also have to remember (as others have mentioned) that 1) folks are swamped right now in the 4x4 and other industries and 2) COVID is still a major issue. Maybe he just ignored your email; maybe he was having to juggle 10 different things at home/work due to someone in his family being sick or quarantined.
This is even worse too because it’s a small, niche business. It’s not like complaining about 4wp or Jeg’s. I’d hate to see this type of thing discourage future entrepreneurs who go to great lengths to engineer products that we’re not able to make ourselves. These guys are busting their ass to contribute to an off-road community. They don’t need the s***, just the support.

I hadn’t heard of the company before and now I’m looking into their products as they seem innovative and just what I’ve been looking for.
 
This is even worse too because it’s a small, niche business. It’s not like complaining about 4wp or Jeg’s. I’d hate to see this type of thing discourage future entrepreneurs who go to great lengths to engineer products that we’re not able to make ourselves. These guys are busting their ass to contribute to an off-road community. They don’t need the s***, just the support.

I hadn’t heard of the company before and now I’m looking into their products as they seem innovative and just what I’ve been looking for.

This whole situation wouldn’t deter me from buying from that business. This is more on the consumer than that business. If it was me I would of picked up the phone and called and just solved the issue without putting them on blast on the internets.
 
personally, I prefer using the phone and talking to someone
I'm lucky if I can check my emails once a week.
you stated you had his #, a quick call could have solved this pretty easily.
 
I'd say to the OP that the use of words like "suck" and "jerk" in your communications can work against you when you are trying to resolve something like this. Speak to people in the same way that you'd like to be spoken to.
 
From what I am reading so far in this thread, I agree with the other poster that both parties could have handled this differently. I don't know how far part the initial emails were from the OP to the vendor but it normally shouldn't take multiple emails to try to get an answer. Anyone who has been down the road of having to send multiple emails to get a response would probably agree.
 
I'd say to the OP that the use of words like "suck" and "jerk" in your communications can work against you when you are trying to resolve something like this. Speak to people in the same way that you'd like to be spoken to.

This too.

It's tough, but I always have to try REALLY HARD to err on the side of professionalism in emails even if it comes across cold and impersonal. I don't say "you" in complaints, I use the company's name so the reader doesn't take it as personally. And I always try to offer/recommend solutions to give the issue a potentially easy solution.

From what I am reading so far in this thread, I agree with the other poster that both parties could have handled this differently. I don't know how far part the initial emails were from the OP to the vendor but it normally shouldn't take multiple emails to try to get an answer. Anyone who has been down the road of having to send multiple emails to get a response would probably agree.

Yeah, but no. The 4x4 world is mostly a bunch of smaller privately owned businesses making parts because they love it. And for the last 18 months their world has not only been turned upside-down, but demand is higher than ever. So a business owner/fabricator/etc can choose to spend 4hr a day answering emails, or he can get to a few and continue to weld parts. And with material delays/shortages, backorders, skilled workforce shortages, and more, it's not like these small businesses are making more money and can hire additional staff. The industry is in a ROUGH place right now and people are trying to survive.

And as an example... I have a close to $3k transfer case order in the works that's close to a month late. Am I mad? Nope. It's from a smaller shop who does killer work and I'm checking in every couple weeks through various methods until I hear from them each time for an update. Call, and if they don't pick up wait a bit and call again. Leave a voicemail. Maybe they call back, maybe not. Try again the next day.

We're in this as a hobby. It's not like we need to build our little trucks in order to take our kids to school or commute across the outback to work. We do it because it's fun and a delay on a part is not the end of the world.

Amazon, Walmart, and other mega-retailers have ruined our sense of purchasing patience. Remember ordering something from the back of a magazine, where you would send a check in the mail and hope the item shows up 2-3 months later? I'm not even 40 and I remember that. 😁

Edit: and just to continue my example, I called the shop back today (at a different time of day) and caught the owner who told me the he's been waiting on one backordered bearing, it's been shipped to him, and he has tracking for it to arrive this week. I thanked him for working hard to get all the parts to finish my build and let him know that I understand the current wonky supply situation. If every call/email he gets is someone yelling or complaining or threatening his business, one day he's going to say "EFF THIS" and another good business will close. Keep that in mind.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, but no. The 4x4 world is mostly a bunch of smaller privately owned businesses making parts because they love it. And for the last 18 months their world has not only been turned upside-down, but demand is higher than ever. So a business owner/fabricator/etc can choose to spend 4hr a day answering emails, or he can get to a few and continue to weld parts. And with material delays/shortages, backorders, skilled workforce shortages, and more, it's not like these small businesses are making more money and can hire additional staff. The industry is in a ROUGH place right now and people are trying to survive.

Amazon, Walmart, and other mega-retailers have ruined our sense of purchasing patience. Remember ordering something from the back of a magazine, where you would send a check in the mail and hope the item shows up 2-3 months later? I'm not even 40 and I remember that. 😁

I am always for supporting small businesses and love dealing with most of them. I have no experience buying from the vendor being discussed here either so I have no opinion of the vendor so my post here isn't to bash or "circle the wagons" the vendor.

I still stand by what I said though. We can always agree to disagree (although I agree with some of what you said).

The best thing in my opinion a customer can do is after 2-3 unanswered emails is to just do a CC chargeback or open a claim with paypal and let them handle it. No need for ugly insults or responses.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom