Poor MAR-K customer service

[jayoldschool]

This is a post that I thought I would never have to make. After doing extensive research on vendors, I decided to put in an order with Mar-K. They were more expensive than their competition, but I thought that their positive reviews would make the extra expense worthwhile. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. I put in an order on Monday, April 15th. I asked when it would be shipped, and I was told that they specified "5-10 business days" for an order to arrive. A little longer than anything else I have ordered online, but I was willing to wait. I was told that the order would be submitted to their warehouse, and I would receive an email with a confirmation number so I could track my order. My credit card was charged on April 16th. On Thursday, April 18th, I still hadn't received an email, so I called back to inquire on the status of my order. I was told that they hadn't heard anything from the warehouse, but that there might be an update later in the day. I waited, but no update was to follow. One week later, April 25th, I decided that I needed to get to the bottom of things, so I called back. The person told me that she would check into things, and call me back. I received a return call about an hour later, it was the original salesperson calling me back. I found out that an item I had paid for was back ordered, and they were waiting for it to come in. They were hoping that it would come in soon, and that I might get my order by the end of next week. I pointed out the fact that this would put them outside of their 5-10 day shipping time, and also noted that at no point during my original order nor during my follow up phone calls was I informed that something was backordered. Immediately, the salesperson became very defensive, telling me that it wasn't their fault, and putting forth the opinion that it wasn't going to be that bad that things were going to be shipped late. I told her that proper communication is an essential part of customer service, and that I, the customer, was not kept properly informed about the status of my order. I put forth the idea of a goodwill discount in order to rectify the situation. The salesperson argued with me, and told me that a discount wouldn't be happening. I asked to speak to her supervisor, a manager, and even the owner. The salesperson declined to let me speak to anyone else, and told me that if they wanted to speak to me, they would call me back, but if no one called, nothing would be changing. I asked her if she thought this was good customer service, and she asked what I though she should do. I replied that the regular discount from last month might be an option, or, free shipping. The salesperson said that no discount was given. At this point, I realized that customer service was not a priority, so I thought the best decision was to request a refund. The salesperson frostily informed my that they would be keeping a $10 handling charge, that was "their policy", and there was nothing I could do about it. Since nothing was shipped, I requested a full refund, but that request was immediately denied. I informed the salesperson that if I do not receive a full refund, I would be disputing the charge with my credit card. I'll update when I see my credit card refund.

I know that many people have received great products and service from this company, and I was expecting the same. That's why I thought it was important to make this post. All businesses can strive to be better. They've lost me as a customer, hopefully this will help them improve their customer service.

[dwcsr]

I'm curious why you think you should be afforded a discount because they ran out of an item. Its not like it was a kidney for your dying child. What's a week later going to cause you? When you order from a vendor no one has an unlimited supply and your order is subject to prior sales commitments so if they had 10 items and your number 11 guess what. Were they wrong when you ordered it ....I think not. I agree they should have been more on top of it but discounts certainly don't apply here. Too bad you burned that bridge they are one of the best companies to deal with even if they do make a mistake every now and then.

[jayoldschool]

dwcsr, I didn't ask for a discount "because they ran out of an item". I was not informed that the item was not in stock, and there was no follow up to my order, and, it was going to be shipped at least a week later than their claimed shipping times. Goodwill goes a long way in business. I worked at, and ran, a business for ten years. I realize that you can never keep everyone happy. However, it doesn't cost much to try.

[dwcsr]

You said,

"I put forth the idea of a goodwill discount in order to rectify the situation."

"I replied that the regular discount from last month might be an option, or, free shipping."

Whats this? Looks like you wanted a discount.....

If you're buying bedsides free shipping is a big cost. If you ran a business for 10 years and someone came in asking for what you asked for and why what would you really say to them?

Sorry but it just irritates me that if a company makes a mistake they are expected to pay up for some perceived wrong or delay or for missing some unspoken deadline that was never mentioned at purchase.

If you're building a truck get used to it it happens all the time. Delays are part of it all.

[jayoldschool]

Once again, you are not reading my post correctly. As you posted, I did ask for a discount. I was very clear about that in my original post, and I corrected your reasons for asking for that in post #3. I clearly explained the reasons why I thought that was justified: poor communication/lack of customer service. The deadline was clearly stated, not only at the time of purchase, but clearly on their website.

When I was in business, if there was a situation where lack of communication led to a customer complaint, it was policy to extend some form of goodwill to not only keep the sale, but to maintain good customer relations.

You don't have to agree with me. You might be ok with poor customer service, I'm not, and anyone building a truck shouldn't be either. I chose Mar-K because of their good reputation here. I thought that posting an honest, informative review of my transaction would be beneficial.