So, I bought a few parts recently from two very big hotrod/vintage car suppliers. I ended up going a different direction in the build and had to return some stuff. Supplier A: Big vintage Ford parts seller Called, got RMA # Shipped parts back Received refund on credit card the day after they got it Received credit receipt in 3 days Supplier B: Big vintage suspension parts seller Called, got RMA # Overnighted the parts back (because I need the dough for parts) Waited 4 days after they received the parts Sent email - no reply Sent another email 2 days after that - no reply Called the sales dept this morning - told it would take a FEW WEEKS to issue the refund Transferred my to the guy who handles returns, left message So far, I have been extremely polite with Supplier B about this refund, but I am really ticked. I understand returns can take a little bit, but a few weeks is absolutely insane. This is a big company and should have their crap together better than this. I'm sure someone will chime in and say it's not their fault that I ordered the wrong parts. That fine. Still. Customer service is customer service and when you're dealing with someone's money, you should make some effort to expedite things. I've gotten attitude every time I have talked to them, including when I placed the order. Never again.
Takes exactly the same two minutes to refund your money as it takes to process the card to recieve your money. This is the sign of a company not well funded in that they play to a waiting game called "float". Banks do it all the time. The only other answer is incompetence. Customer service is the most important part of a business.
Sometimes if you order something that is a non-stock item for the retailer, they have to receive credit from their supplier before they can credit you. These guys are in it for the money and it sounds like they didn't make any off of you. For future reference: money never goes out as fast as it goes in. I don't think it sounds unreasonable, I've waited for six months before getting a refund. Doesn't make it right but, that's just the way it is. If you get a full refund without a restocking charge consider yourself very lucky.
If they're holding you refund for more than a couple of days and it was not a special order, then it's likely they have a cash flow problem, and that ain't good regardless of who they are and how big. Big ones fail, maybe not as much as little ones, but they still fail.
I believe there is a Federal Mail Order regulation that requires refunds for merchandise to be made within 30 days of receipt of the returned parts. You might check with your local post office about this.
I had a similar experience with Air Ride Pro. I got the RMA and sent it off. No action was forthcoming so the phone calls began. They kept passing me off and delaying. When I started getting upset they told me they never received the returned merchandise and said I had to prove it was delivered to them. Luckily I had sent it return receipt and UPS provided me with the signed proof of delivery. Chit like this is probably why they keep changing their name.
Being a parts guy myself you should have been contacted by phone if you left a message or email the day or next of receiving the item. As long as the product was not installed they should charge you a restocking fee and give you your amount to be refunded back! Bigger Stores have more returns than a mom and pop shop where i work.
Be polite,and chase it up the ladder. When you talk to someone,get their name, and the name of their boss.Tell them if you don't get satisfactory results in a timely manner,you will go over their head. Then repeat as necessary. Also works with telephone solicitors.
I agree with Turboroadster if they don't take care of their customers I think everybody would like to know to avoid them,likewise with the one that is willing to help they need our support.
The Good: Dennis Carpenter Industries The Bad: Kanter Update: I called back AGAIN a few minutes ago. This makes 2 emails and 2 phone messages left unanswered. It appears that it is incompetence more than cash flow issues. This morning when I talked to a human, he told me "several weeks" and wouldn't elaborate any more than telling me "I was in line with everyone else". I was ticked off but remained calm. I finally caught the returns guy on the phone and said he would make sure the refund was issued this week. We'll see. I had a similar experience when I placed the order with them. I would get totally different information based on who I talked to. One guy was telling me my order hadn't shipped yet and probably wouldn't go out for another week or two while I was getting an email with the tracking number from someone else. I've heard they are good folks, but this was a pretty bad experience all the way around. Sorry if that ruffles any feathers, but I can only go on my own experience. I would rather piece all this stuff together myself at NAPA than go through this again.
I bought a NOS speedometer from Dennis Carpenter for the 40 Ford coupe I owned. They shipped it but it was a dead player. New but tight ... way tight .. could not turn it with a screw driver. They OK a return of it when I called. A friend is going to Charlotte and buy some stuff @ Carpenter's so we ride up. He spends 3 or 4 hundred ( cash ) .. I return the speedometer ( in person ) to Carpenters and they refund me a check ... NO CASH ... Said they did not have the cash on hand ... Well the 3 or 4 hundred my friend just spent was CASH ... Got home ... looked at the check further and it was dated for 3 or 4 days ahead ... but at least it was good and they did refund the $125 dollars. .
I really don't feel sorry for you. It seems there are alot of customers like you out there that make being in business difficult. You want a product, so you order it, recieve it and then later change your mind. Now you want to return it and get all your $$$ back. And you expect the company to absorb all the financial loss that is entailed of returning the product because you changed your mind. And you want your $$$ back right now!
Sorry you feel that way. So, I guess you've never returned anything? I didn't necessarily want my money NOW. I just want a straight answer, or in this case, an answer at all. When emails go ignored, phone messages go ignored and then get multiple conflicting stories from the humans I finally get in touch with....that ticked me off more than the timeliness of the refund. Not to mention that these emails and messages were sent over the course of a WEEK with no response. I never even bitched or anything in the emails. I simply asked how long they thought the refund would take. That's it. So, I guess I deserved that, too? Look, part of retail is dealing with returns. If they are dealt with consistently, that's great. Hell, if their policy said "3-4 weeks for return processing" then fine. I'll deal with it, but it doesn't say that. So, if returning an item and getting the runaround from the company makes me "difficult", then I guess I'm fucking difficult.
A small company should have immediate customer service because...they're small. Kanter on the other hand probably deals with thousands of cutomers...I can't even imagine the customer service nightmare they have. (yes, I own my own business) I'm sorry if I was coarse with you, but I'm also looking at this from a business owners point of view. It really does drive us nuts when customers buy an item, then want to return the item. They want it to be as if they never ordered it with no loss to them. We just want to be compensated for our time(restocking fee).
Understood. I can understand the frustration from the business owner side, too. I just got frustrated with the conflicting stories, etc.. I fully expect a restocking fee. I never asked them to do otherwise. All's well that ends well, I suppose!
Glad to see that you named names... I was needing suspension pieces for the Pontiac, and was going to go with Kanter... I had a very similar experience with Jeg's about 5 years ago. I finally called them to complain, and was essentially chewed on by the "customer service" person. I finally placed another order with them last month, and couldn't have been happier! Is 5 years too long to hold a grudge, and was I being unreasonable? Sure I was... But, there are a lot of people who will NEVER order from a company again, over just one bad experience. My day job deals primarily with Customer Service, so I know customers can really be unreasonable at times...but, we do what it takes to make them happy...
I think naming names is a fair game. I, too, own a small business and returns are a pain. It's fair to assign a reasonable restocking charge to cover expenses.. It's also fair for a customer to get a plain,simple and true answer to any question about your service. If it's going to be a while,be upfront We do refunds as credit, credit on a card or check, not cash. Too many folks give you a check, then return the product for cash, then you find out the check bounces. Not good. RABdave's rant wasn't that he couldn't return the parts but that he was jerked around unnecessarily. NOT good for business,especially in a relatively small market (hot rod parts-versus a big market like Ketchup or disposable diapers). My dad was a great business man who always said you're only as goo as the next customer who comes through the door.
I, for one, think Kanter has serious cash flow issues. They dicked me around for two weeks on a set of wheel cylinders, I almost missed the Cinematic because of them. They told me the parts were in stock and would ship that afternoon when I called. Called back a week later when they hadn't shown up, they told me they'd shipped the Friday before, 4 days after I ordered. Waited another 4 days before calling back and catching someone who knew what was going on. Only then was I supplied with a tracking number, which they told me they didn't have the first time and transferred me to their 'shipping' department a second time. Of course, from running the tracking number I found out that the parts shipped only after my third call. I'm done with em. Unless I absolutely can't find the part elsewhere and even if it costs more, I'm done. They do manage to ship me catalogs constantly. When you get the catalog and see the two jackasses on the cover smiling at you, they're smiling because they've got your money and aren't shipping parts...
Try NAPA. You might be surprised at what they can get. The one near me stocks all kinds of old car stuff....ball joints, shocks, wheel cylinders, etc.
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