What happened to customer service?

[Albacore]

Why do so few companies put any effort into taking care of their customers. Do they figure there's enough people willing to buy their product or services that if they lose one customer there's several more to take their place? There's no shortage of complaints on here about Gobi's poor service and yet there are plenty of people willing to wait months for a rack.

My issue is with Rotopax. Adhering to the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" philosophy, I'm here to vent. I had to complain loudly to get an issue resolved with 4 Wheel Parts and now it looks like I need to yell at Rotopax.

I purchased a fuel pack in May. I always thought they were overpriced and a bit gimmicky but found them on sale and figured I give them a try. I do like the versatility of mounting possibilities. I mounted the fuel pack to my ladder for a trip over the 4th of July weekend. I didn't fill it up until the start of our off road portion of the trip (500 miles from home. I should have tested it before we left). Immediately it began leaking from the base. All those angles to allow you to connect two packs together are too much for the rotomold process I guess.

Once home I figured I'd call their customer service number and they'd remedy the situation. WRONG!!! Multiple messages on their voicemail because they don't answer their phones and multiple unanswered emails and I have a useless fuel container sitting on my garage floor. No response since July 5th. It's now 7/14 and I'm looking at ways to mount jerry cans for any future travels.

Thanks for wasting my time and money Rotopax.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[fourwd1]

Moved to OT.

 

[wadle5]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a jerry can and was entertaining the idea of buying a rotopax as a replacement, but I guess if the jerry can isn't broke why replace.

Sorry they Gobi'd you.

 

[Albacore]

Sorry they Gobi'd you.

Thant's funny. I'll start using that, "I got Gobi'd."

I'm happy to report that I finally spoke to someone at Rotopax. They are sending me out a warranty replacement fuel pack. It took a little time but they are taking care of the issue.

 

[derryck]

I remember the good ole' days when people said, 'the customer is always right' but unfortunately those days are long gone. There are very few companies that offer great customer service anymore. I try to always pay in a manner that allows me some recourse. My bank (USAA) has fantastic customer service and they're very good about doing a chargeback if needed which is preferable to PayPal as there as always 2 sides to every PayPal transaction and I only care about mine!:clap2:

 

[wadle5]

I remember the good ole' days when people said, 'the customer is always right' but unfortunately those days are long gone. There are very few companies that offer great customer service anymore. I try to always pay in a manner that allows me some recourse. My bank (USAA) has fantastic customer service and they're very good about doing a chargeback if needed which is preferable to PayPal as there as always 2 sides to every PayPal transaction and I only care about mine!:clap2:

While I agree you also to have to admit that the victim mentality is beyond rampant these days. The reasons why I think companies aren't like the good ol' days and play maybe a bigger game of hardball is because customers always think they are owed something. Not in this particular case with the OP, but in working retail and sales in general it drives honest people crazy!

 

[99Runnr]

While I agree you also to have to admit that the victim mentality is beyond rampant these days. The reasons why I think companies aren't like the good ol' days and play maybe a bigger game of hardball is because customers always think they are owed something. Not in this particular case with the OP, but in working retail and sales in general it drives honest people crazy!

This is why. Even at a fast food restaurant, if you don't get your food, they act as though you are lying for a free meal. Cause the fact is, many people actually eat for free doing this. It's a society wide pandemic that is going to collapse on itself sooner then later. Everyone is a victim, everyone is owed more then they receive, nobody is more important then "I".

There are stories I see every single day that make my skin crawl. I generally am afraid that the levels of stupidity I see are growing stronger. The instances are increasing, as the irrational thoughts are being justified by response/social media/protest, ect.

 

[RedSled]

Not to many people with integrity, and a desire to be honest, it is sad to say the least. It is all about entitlement.

 

[Beaumont67]

The poor customer service trend, will continue & increase (over time)...in many segments of today's economy.

Ma & Pa shops get squeezed out of business, by big box stores.
Next comes Amazon ... squeezing out more brick & mortar stores.

Small to medium businesses are under tight competition, and labor cuts help the bottom line...to just remain in business.
- employees have become a #, with stagnant wages & reduced benifits
- no loyalty exists, in more cases

The brick & mortar shops, do the face to face product demo. for time wasters / while the customer next price shops, on computer.
- now the customer brand loyalty also diminishes

 

[Trixx]

I have dealt with some great customer service and some absolute garbage stuff. It doesn't take much to scroll through these forums and stumble across the list of vendors that could not give two shi*** less about their customers..

Apple - we have had issues with our poor internet reception while trying to rent movies from our apple TV. They've always been on the spot to refund with no questions asked.

Amazon - IMO, probably the benchmark for customer service based on my experiences. Not only is prime insanely fast, but you can return dang near anything and they usually pay the return shipping! They are friendly, fast, and helpful. On some small items I have wanted to return (under $40) they have let me keep them and still refunded me the $.

Blue Owl Workshop - had my first dealings with them lately. A pair of jeans I ordered didn't fit well. They gave me other options for various fits and even shipped out a new pair of jeans before I shipped mine back, all without charging me. Very quick responses, friendly, etc.

Bud Built - They weren't my first choice of sliders, but they are still a great standard slider (I wanted more of a step, like c4 or shrockworks) however I didn't feel like waiting 3-4 months, or having to coat them myself. I asked budbuilt what their lead time was for their coated sliders, and they said two weeks. Sign me up! I ordered on a Monday, they arrived a week from that Friday. Packaging was unreal (took me like 15 minutes to unpack lol) and zero issues with the build quality or powder coating.

I could go on all day about great customer service, and terrible customer service, but wanted to share some good ones. To me, I am willing to sacrifice and maybe not get "quite" the product I want, if it means I get to work with a company that cares about their customers. I would love a Gobi rack, but I just can't support their business practices (or lack there of). There's some other pretty sad vendors around here as well, and it's amazing how many people here actually come to their defense. People waiting months longer than they were originally told, and unable to get zero contact from the vendor for their status.

I work in industrial construction/oil field/nuclear industry, and I've seen us sign contracts, provide isometrics, quality/safety requirements, etc., and get some pretty fast, quality items built by fab shops who I can guarantee are around the same size as some of these vendors, yet it's in about 1/4 the amount of time, and you can always get ahold of someone if you need to.. These are racks and bumpers they're building for God's sake.. Once they get a template, they should basically build a jig and stick the stuff together..