Poor customer service?

Amund · Sep 4, 2006

I just want to hear if I have the right to feel poorly treated by one of the larger online photgraphy stores. Or if I`m just moaning without reason...

I ordered a big bunch of film, and a spesific paper in three different grades, one 25 sheet box each of grade 2 and 4 and a 100-sheet box of grade 3 so I have enough to test and see if I liked the paper. The 100-sheet box was listed as "currently in retail, will ship in 24-48 hours" Knowning that the verification of my CC would take 3-4 days, I wasn`t worried.

So to my surprise I got an email a few days later that the order was shipped, and the 100-sheet box was removed from the order! Had they emailed me about this, I could have changed it to 2-4 25-sheet boxes of the grade 3 instead, or chosen another paper type.....

I wasn`t too happy about this, so I sent an email complaining about it, in a polite tone. It`s been six days and no reply, basically they ignored it..

What do you think?

Wally H · Sep 4, 2006

Yes, you do have a right to feel poorly treated. There was a time I'd have felt the same, however, I think we would both be in the minority and our voicing of those issue to vendors pretty much falls on deaf ears. This sort of thing seems to be happen all too often these days. We have all these new faster and cheaper communication tools but people don't how or what to use them for. In order to save my sanity when I deal with vendors, most of the time I lower my expectations to the point they have already been met, then I'm not disappointed.

I think with we both are going to have to "get over it".

isaacc7 · Sep 4, 2006

Amund said:
I just want to hear if I have the right to feel poorly treated by one of the larger online photgraphy stores. Or if I`m just moaning without reason...

I ordered a big bunch of film, and a spesific paper in three different grades, one 25 sheet box each of grade 2 and 4 and a 100-sheet box of grade 3 so I have enough to test and see if I liked the paper. The 100-sheet box was listed as "currently in retail, will ship in 24-48 hours" Knowning that the verification of my CC would take 3-4 days, I wasn`t worried.

So to my surprise I got an email a few days later that the order was shipped, and the 100-sheet box was removed from the order! Had they emailed me about this, I could have changed it to 2-4 25-sheet boxes of the grade 3 instead, or chosen another paper type.....

I wasn`t too happy about this, so I sent an email complaining about it, in a polite tone. It`s been six days and no reply, basically they ignored it..

What do you think?

In the future, you may want to call them to place the order. That way you can confirm that everything is actually in stock. If it isn't, you can then discuss alternatives. Ask them to call you with any problems.

Isaac

Travis Nunn · Sep 4, 2006

isaacc7 said:
In the future, you may want to call them to place the order. That way you can confirm that everything is actually in stock. If it isn't, you can then discuss alternatives. Ask them to call you with any problems.

Isaac

Believe it or not, that doesn't always work. There have been two occasions I've called Freestyle to confirm a certain film was in stock and was told "Yes, we have it" only to find out a few days later, after placing the order, that it wasn't.

I don't think customer service is of very high importance to large companies anymore.

ann · Sep 4, 2006

i once placed an order with a very large store, was for almost 1000 dollars, and they didn't even thank me.

i don't buy from them anymore.

There is a lot of bad customer serivce and it takes a bit of time and research to find those who do care and i have been spending my money with them.

And, to answer you question, i think you should receive a response from them, after all they have given folks the impression that they can be contacted. so your not out of line expecting some answer, the question of course is how much do they care about their customer based.

the biggest way they get the message is when stop spending our money, and i know a few dollars here and there may not mean much, but when hundreds of people stop buying it does have impact.

Roger Hicks · Sep 4, 2006

If at all possible, I prefer to deal with someone who knows my name; someone with whom I deal regularly. This normally means dealing with a smaller and, yes, more expensive company.

Not knowing whom you dealt with, or any history, I can't comment; but if you were buying on price alone, from a big, faceless company, well, you often get what you pay for...

Cheers,

Roger

Amund · Sep 4, 2006

Thanks for the response.
Well, next time I have $500 to spend on film and paper, I`ll take my business elsewhere. This was my first order ever with Freestyle, and possibly the last.

braxus · Sep 4, 2006

Wow. The times I delt with Freestyle I had no complaints. They even allowed me to add to a back ordered item while shipping out what they did have in stock. Of course this was all for film. Maybe paper is another story.

roteague · Sep 4, 2006

My biggest complaint is those stores who don't keep their on-line stock listing up to date, like Adorama. In this day and age, there is no reason no to do so.

Amund · Sep 4, 2006

Their policy for international orders is to cancel items that gets backordered, wich I was aware of and perfectly okay with, the problem is that there was nothing that indicated that the item was going to get cancelled. And the product is indeed in stock now.

isaacc7 · Sep 4, 2006

ann said:
i once placed an order with a very large store, was for almost 1000 dollars, and they didn't even thank me.

i don't buy from them anymore.

There is a lot of bad customer serivce and it takes a bit of time and research to find those who do care and i have been spending my money with them.

While a $1000 is a lot to you, to them it was probably just another order. It's what they do all day. I would much rather have a smooth transaction than a form letter "thanking" me for my purchase. Honestly, I sell photo gear for a living and I can't imagine sitting down and composing a thank you for all the stuff I've sold to people. I certainly thank them in the store, but I don't have the time to follow up, there are too many other customers to take care of. I can understand not liking it when people screw up your order or make things difficult to do, but your example seems to stretch the boundaries of what bad customer service means.

Isaac

isaacc7 · Sep 4, 2006

t_nunn said:
Believe it or not, that doesn't always work. There have been two occasions I've called Freestyle to confirm a certain film was in stock and was told "Yes, we have it" only to find out a few days later, after placing the order, that it wasn't.

I don't think customer service is of very high importance to large companies anymore.

Well, its as high an importance as it affects the bottom line I suppose. I can understand there being discrepancies between what the computer says they have and what the warehouse actually has, but that's where good customer service kicks in. If you call them and ask them to call you if there are any problems, that should take care of the problem. Of course if they don't call you back and ship anyway, then it's time to let them know (a supervisor). If they don't make it right, it's time to go someplace else. Every company has some employees that are better than others, it's only through feedback that they realize who is screwing up. With enough complaints, the bad people get kicked out and new people fill in (in theory at least). Often times a good place will try to make sure you come back if there is a problem, but only if you give them a chance. There are places with uniformly terrible customer service, but those are pretty easy to find through a forum search...

Isaac

ann · Sep 4, 2006

Issiac
i wasn't looking for a thank you letter, or note,

just don't hang up, how long does it take to say , thanks for the business. About a heart beat.

And this was not the first time, there never thanked me for any order, regardless of dollar value.
So, that particular interchange broke the straw.

in another life i trained customer serivce people, and i am very well aware that some are better than others. we also did a lot of quality control to insure that the front line people performed as trained.

Travis Nunn · Sep 4, 2006

Isaac, I worked in retail management long enough (thank god that part of my life is over) to know how things work and how things should work. As long as there are no problems, Freestyle has great customer service. If there's the slightest problem with an order, they have some of the worst customer service agents I've ever encountered. The last time I had a problem they refused to cancel the order after they told me they didn't know when the items would be back in stock. Only after threatening to call Visa and asking for this guy's supervisor did the order get cancelled.

I only order things from them that I can't find elsewhere.

haris · Sep 7, 2006

Change supplier...

My suplier do next way: When once they didn't have 100 sheet pack of 20x25cm paper, they sent me Email asking can they send 4x25 sheet packs. They didnt want to send without asking me. In other ocasion they sent me Email telling they don't have one of 5 products I ordered. They asked me do I want to wait till the get that product and send me all together, or do I want to get what they have now, and when they get that particular product to send it to me later...

And yes, they allways send me Email confirming day when product is shipped to me and thank me for buying from them.

I really dont think it is difficult, it just require seriousnes and good will of seller.

That is why I for years buying from them...

Monophoto · Sep 7, 2006

I placed an order with Freestyle last month (on line). One of the things I ordered was a box of Arista FB paper - the older Ilford MG variety. I am reasonbly sure that their web page said it was still in stock, but I may have been confused.

At any rate, the next day, I received an e-mail advising that the Arista/Ilford paper was out of stock. The e-mail said that they would hold that as a backorder, or they would substitute something else if I let them know. Since Ilford had announced that they will no longer be supplying private-label products, I knew that Freestyle would never have replacement stock, so I immediately sent them an e-mail asking them to substitute something else.

They replied that they had received my note and would modify my order accordingly. However, they noted that the original order, less the backordered Arista/Ilford paper, had already been shipped, so the substitute would have to be shipped separately. A week later, FedExGround delivered the bulk of the order, and one day later, they came back with a small package containing the substitute paper.

That's customer service. That's why I continue to do business with Freestyle.

wildbill · Sep 7, 2006

I've called the Freestyle wherehouse several times asking for items that weren't in the retail store and they kindly stated that they'd send them over by the next day. I get to the store and no one knows anything about it. Usually after a few minutes of digging in the wrong place in the back, they find my stuff. Overall it's a good place to deal with in person but i've left the store on several occasions with nothing in my hands.

vinny

Jim Noel · Sep 7, 2006

Whether it is Freestyle, or one of the New York stores, or any other, I always order by telephone, request and pay for 2nd day air delivery and state if it is not received in this manner cancel the order. I have found that using this method all stores have been very honest about what is in or out of stock.

This may sound like a harsh method, but it works.

Amund · Sep 7, 2006

Jim Noel said:
Whether it is Freestyle, or one of the New York stores, or any other, I always order by telephone, request and pay for 2nd day air delivery and state if it is not received in this manner cancel the order. I have found that using this method all stores have been very honest about what is in or out of stock.

This may sound like a harsh method, but it works.

Ordering by phone isn`t a practical option from Norway..
I have bought online regularly from B&H and JandC and others the last two years without problems.
But Freestyle tries hard to lose me as a customer on the first order...
I have now ordered the paper I needed from JandC, and will continue to buy from them..

Ole · Sep 7, 2006

Amund, that's why Retro Photographic has me as a happy customer: Perfect communication, emails to clarify any questions, and willingness to change an order until the last moment. I've found that shopping around for the best price often costs more in terms of poor service and irritation - and a low price doesn't hepl if what you want is out of stock.

I should add FotoImport to my favorite photo supplies shops - Dag gives great service.

Amund · Sep 7, 2006

I used Freestyle because I wanted to try the Foma 200 I`ve heard so much good of, and they have it in all the sizes I wanted, it wasn`t a case of shopping around for good prizes this time..But.. Lesson learned..

Yes, I`ve bought from Dag lately, great service indeed.

Poor customer service?

haris

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