i wouldn't say it's poor customer service....more like poor business practices. as far was hanging up on the customer, that's poor customer service. does bulletproof offer bottom prices or discount prices? if so, that's what you pay for.....great deals, but poor customer service.

bulletproof,
why don't you just offer the dude either free shipping, 5-10% discount, or both and be rid of this situation? the more it's discussed, the worse it gets for you. if he takes it, great!!! if he doesn't take the offer, then you can at least say that you tried. in situations like these, i've either waived shipping or give an extra discount and my customer/patients are elated.

skyline,
you ordered it yesterday. sometimes, businesses do take a day or two to process an order and catch any mistakes. no big deal. if you had waited a week with no reply, i would understand. you can shop elsewhere now. or you can take whatever discount/courtesy they offer you but must wait for the part. very simple solution if you ask me

 

I agree - Tomorrow when he comes in I'm taking Roo out back and beating the crap out of him...



I tried offering him something, but the customer wanted the part he was confirmed to have been in stock - Since noone is out any money, the exhaust is nowhere to be had at ANY price, this is getting blown way out of shape

Had we misled him, charged the card, and THEN said, oh sorry, no dice - I could see that being an issue. But this was an honest mistake and we are taking all this heat for it. As I said, I didn't hang up on the customer, I explained the situation and the options for the better part of 1/2 hour. It wasnt going anywhere, so I told him if he wanted the exhaust, to place an order via the website and ended the conversation. Had I stayed on the phone I might STILL be there explaining this was a SIMPLE MISTAKE. WE ARE SORRY. How many times do we have to say it?

I will make sure Roo contacts the customer tomorrow to get the direct apology from Roo that he seems to be seeking.

 

I think the dogpiling can stop now. The fact of the matter is, no money changed hands and you can still go out and get your exhaust somewhere else.

No need to harp on this.

Thank you, drive through.

 

You are obviously confused. I don't want an apology from Roo? Take the advice from Z2G...that might help your business in the future.

 

come on now....if you put it this way, then who would actually wanna accept?
almost like "well if you want an apology so bad, then fine we'll apologize"..

who else is bored at work?
1. Aznteazer

 

this is getting way out of hand... and i'm sure the truth hasnt surfaced yet

fact of the matter is that the order was placed less than 24 hours previously... in ANY inventory management system i have ever used parts will still show up as in stock or on hand until they have shipped... there is usually a seperate column or screen that shows what is allocated... it could be easy to just look at the in stock line and assume its free stock.

Its not like you were waiting for weeks... maybe even this roo guy has a note on his desk to call you and tell the situation when he gets in.. you are jumping to conclusions and need to settle down.

again... customer orders are usually not processed immediatly with any company. This is not as big a deal as you are making it out to be. yes you deserved a call and yes you shouldnt have been hung up on, but like i said no one knows the whole story and maybe this roo guy had already decided to explain the situation, he just so happens not to be in.

settle down and take your business elsewhere... but for something that was placed less than 24 hrs previously, taking your frustration out on a msg board is kind of stupid...

besides it doesnt sound like your situation is the norm with this company, just chalk it up to bad luck. $hit happens...

 

I know I should let this die, but I thought the post by BulletproofG35 was highly unprofessional. I understand that we only read one side of the story at that point and a response from Bulletproof would be appropriate, but it basically seemed like BulletproofG35 placed blame on the offending customer. There are very tactful ways to explain your situation without playing the blame game.

Before this post, I had no opinion of Bulletproof's customer service. After that, SKYLINE_05's story gained much more credibility (the post was an example of their customer service), but I thought BulletproofRich's comments were much more professional. It seemed like he had to do some "hazard cleanup".

 

I don't see it that way at all. They have their right to tell their side of the story to. You can't expect people to take shots at them without telling their side.

It seems to me that he already apologized for the situation. What else is he supposed to do?

Again, no money changed hands, so no damage was done.

 

Actually, I said a response from Bulletproof would be appropriate. Anyway, I'll break down the response and give my opinion...

"Michael it would be highly beneficial to those reading if you were to tell the complete story. Your explanation is extremely biased and makes you seem like Mr. Innocent."
- This is the part that should not have been in the inital response. Something more tactful like "While we do regret the situation at hand, we feel as if we were not able to give the customer our fullest explanation."

"We do have the HKS in our warehouse, however Roo did not realize it was already on hold for another customer. We made a mistake as Rich tried to explain to you."
- This part is mostly good. I would change the last sentance to just "We made a mistake." The extra stuff makes it more hostile and confrontational.

"From what I heard, you proceeded to argue with Rich over the phone even telling us to 'get our $HIT together'. Furthermore, it doesn't help the situation by publicly bashing our customer service."
- This part has got to go. Customer service is taking crap from customers. If the argument were to be mention, something like "The customer and Rich spoke things over, but we were unable to come to a mutual agreement."

I know it sounds like BS, but all emotion was taken out of the response. It makes it seem like Bulletproof had their act together the whole time while SKYLINE_05 was acting unresonable. Finally, I would probably replace Michael in the original reponse with "Mr. so and so" to make it less personal. I'd do the same in my example sentences, except I'd replace "the customer" to make it seem as if Bulletproof was more compassionate about the situation.

 

2.SkylineR35

 

MrCrazy......you aren't so crazy. You have a very good explanation of how to handle customer service with the utmost professionalism.

I suggest that all parties not personally in the know of this telephone conversation(s) ought to keep their opinions to themselves because it’s not helping the matter for either party (the vendor or the buyer). It doesn’t take much to blow this topic up.

Both the vendor and customer have gotten their points across, let’s give them the opportunity to settle this like mature and professional adults.

 

Wow man.

Try any company (I have several stores of my own), orders come in and products go out of stock. They inform the customer within 3 - 5 days. ANY COMPANY, Dell (this one won't even tell you it's out of stock and you'll sit around waiting for 3 weeks), RCA, Techwood, Furniture Comapnies, etc etc etc.

Most customers understand the logic, others don't. Further, after reading some of these posts you've ruined pending orders for this company. Money lost for them, you're prolly jumping for joy. You found out within a business day that your order wasn't going to go through, which is almost 10x faster then I find out from a dozen companies when I place orders regularly.

Shi happens, no need to destroy this companies business.

Simple question,

say you placed a special order for a part through a company - the comapny then had to place the order from the manufacturer - the manufacturer calls and says they ran out of the metal to produce it - he forwards you the info - you come back on here and bad mouth the company anyway right even though the manufacturer was at fault? Same difference.

Running a business is tough, not everyone can be satisfied.

 

Running a business is hard... especially a retail business where the clients/customers aren't expected to be professional or understanding. I've seen customers yell at employees, but all the employee can do is take it. While they are working, they are representatives of the organizations they work for. Hell, my dad (who volunteers at the Salvation Army) was yelled at by somebody because all that person wanted was money. All my dad did was take it because he was a representative of the Salvation Army. This basically leads to my reasoning why BulletproofG35's post was unprofessional.

BulletproofG35 (using that account) is a representative of Bulletproof. Furthermore, since the account name is generic, it represents the company more than just BulletproofRich. If whoever posted using BulletproofG35 used their own account (like MrSane or something) that had no ties to Bulletproof or as a G35Driver sponsor (like the green highlighted name with the "G35Driver.com Sponsor" subtitle), then I probably wouldn't have posted about the professionalism of his/her post.

Bulletproof may have lost customers today, but it wasn't due to SKYLINE_05's story. I sincerely think Bulletproof lost customers because of BulletproofG35's post.

 

I have placed orders, had entire conversations, and been promised things by company's like T-Mobile, American Express, and FedEx to find out they have no idea what I'm talking about when I call back.

I know Bulletproof isn't nearly as big, but sometimes **** happens....

 

Hey Mike, If it makes you feel any better I'd never hang up on you man. In the future you should consider what I've posted below (you seem to be missing a really important point from the customer side of this equation)...

1. Never get rude with the supplier. You can get politely forceful, but never get rude!

2. Always let the supplier speak and listen carefully. (Give them enough rope to hang themselves.) If they try to lie, they'll quickly get tripped up in their lies, you call them on it and then you get to step 3 almost guaranteed.

3. You were asked the most powerful question a consumer can be asked by the supplier... "What do you want?" At this point you should have said, I'd either like the exhaust you're holding at the offering price or I'd like another one at your COST! They'd probably not go for that buy you might get an exhause in 6 weeks from now for WAY CHEAPER than anyone else gets one for. Come 8 weeks from now you'd be SUPER HAPPY and would have completely forgot about your wait!

4. This is a small world and (trust me on this one) you're going to want to do business with this company again.

I had a run in with Paul at Avalon racing over a 16 week 'misunderstanding' with a JIC Y-Pipe. I was told 4-6 weeks and it kept getting 'pushed out' 1 week at a time for way over 2 ADDITIONAL MONTHS! I was also told that my CC wouldn't be charged until the order shipped from his store to my house when I was charged the same day the order was placed. Unfortunately Paul and my accounts of the situation are VERY DIFFERENT (big surprise to you right? ). I went on my350z.com and bashed Paul and his business. I didn't really feel better and didn't accomplish anything. After about 4 months I needed advice on starting the FGC. I was told that 'Paul' had taken over the largest 350z club in the USA. I was given his number by GodZilla and then had to swallow my pride and call him. I talked about insurance and a couple of other things, all the while, feeling horrible about what I had said about him on the public forums (even though I knew I was 100% accurate in my posts).

Now, I'm looking for a good deal on a VORTEC S/C and I'll give you one guess as to who out there has the BEST PRICE? That's right, Paul at Avalon Racing. It looks like it just might be time for another serving of cold crow for good ol' Neffster... :swallows pride: