Thread: AWFUL customer service! No phone support, and emails not answered.

This really could go on forever, and I totally understand and appreciate your opinion.

Time to cruise, so I'll just make a few points

1) If you think a CarPC is plug and play according to the mp3car website, I have a bridge to sell you.
2) When you run a business, you tend to take the obvious real problems with priority, and the "customer isn't actually right, but we'll say so" problems with less priority, for obvious reasons.
4) I'd much rather a bunch a guys doing very well than nobody at all.
5) Its time to move from StreetDead to Centrafuse

There was a time that we (USA) felt no one could ever catch up to us in electronics, tv's, or cars. You would think that in time, we would learn from that arrogance (we don't need customers, they need us).

Oh well, I must go tend to the dead.

Originally Posted by ibfragalot

1) its the internet. everything sells globally.
2) does your local electronics store "support" the devices they sell? No. They do the same as mp3car and send it back to manufacturer if theres a problem. People are lucky mp3car.com has a forum to help them troubleshoot issues about other companies products

I see what you're saying. But mp3car.com is a specialty store. They're not Best Buy or Radioshack. Specialty stores will never make it unless they can support the product they sell, and support it well.

I'm sure if the OP knew that the Infill G4 is from Korea and knew how to speak/read Korean, he would have gone straight to the source. But since mp3car is really the only front there is for support, they have a responsibility.

Have you seen Infill's website? http://www.infill.co.kr/main/index.asp Getting support from them would be overwhelming. Mp3car needs to support devices they rebrand.

As far as troubleshooting other companies products, that's like saying I'd have to go to Holden to get my Pontiac GTO troubleshot. Pontiac just rebrands the Holden Monaro, but consumers aren't expected to get ahold of Australian based Holden.

Also, my local electronics store doesn't make me wait for a replacement. If they say they'll warranty it, they replace it on the spot. They don't troubleshoot it or send it back to the manufacturer and make me wait for the replacement. Now I know it's better for a small company to troubleshoot and repair instead of replace, I'm just saying. Your comparisons are not valid as it's apples and oranges.

Yeah, its fun to beat up on those we perceive to be doing a bad job (remember, my perception is my reality) but many are missing an important point. The time to research a product or vendor is BEFORE you make a purchase, not after.

Lets say you're walking down the street and this guy comes up and asks if you want to buy a Rolex--would you buy it? Would you question whether it is geniune? Would you question whether it is stolen? Would you question whether it works? Would you question whether it has a warranty? Would you wonder if you could find the guy to get your money back if it stopped running tomorrow?

My guess is that you would assume the watch is a fake and go on your way, ignoring your new-found "friend." If you really think it is real and want to buy it, you would want to examine it more closely before you hand over the cash. If you decided it was real (or even a realistic-looking fake) and bought it, would you expect to be able to find the guy to get your money back later? Of course not.

My point is that stores on the internet are just like this guy on the street. They are showing you flashy popups trying to get your attention long enough to make a sale. There are legitimate businesses with a web presence and there are web precences that exist only to steal your money (or worse).

Am I saying that MP3Car.com is like this guy on the street? No, I'm saying that you need to do your research FIRST! If you leap blindly into a transaction, you should expect to get burned. This is not to say that legitimate complaints should not be handled correctly--they should.

As I said in my first reply to this thread, I have not yet bought anything from MP3Car.com and the general tone of this and other customer service threads has me concerned about any intent to purchase in the future. Will I purchase from MP3Car.com? I don't know. This is part of my upfront research into how the company operates, handles customer service issues and their product quality.

Note also that numerous "good rating" threads exist in the customer service forum. One has to look at everything as a whole. Are we talking about a few disgruntled customers or is this a trend? The only way to determine that is to do your research before making a purchase. Watch this forum and see if the negative ratings increase or if they are an anomaly. Even the very best businesses (web or bricks and mortar) have disgruntled customers occasionally that are intent on yelling in the store about how bad the business is.

This is nothing more than what you would do if buying from a new bricks and mortar store not affiliated with a national (or international) chain.

I'm going to throw my 2c in here:

If i buy from Amazon.com I expect a fully functioning product. I also expect that if this product does not function as expected, or I just don't like it, that the return, refund or replacement policy is honored as detailed in the fine print. I also expect my money to be back in my account within a few days.

If i buy an obscure product from a specialty store, especially over the internet, be it mp3car.com, digitalww.com or some vendor from ebay, I'm happy if I get my product at all. These guys aren't exactly BestBuy and I expect a totally different shopping experience. If they have any kind of return policy, and they actually honor it, then i'll probably continue buying from them.

It would be no different than supporting your local restaurant who f'd up your dinner. The convenience they provide is worth the little 'chinks' in their service. If their service is that bad, try looking for another internet vendor who sells some obscure item manufactured in Korea that is not stocked at newegg.com, tigerdirect.com or any major web vendor. Then try getting them to replace your broken product and ship it back on your own terms.

I don't support bad service from small companies... but I do expect it . As long as there's good faith effort to 'do the right thing', I will continue to support those companies who just flat out try.

I've worked in consumer electronics for nearly 25 years in a retail store and for a major manufacturer of audio equipment. Everything is about customer service--from the definition of products, their design and production, sell-in to retailers and after sales support. I can say with certainty that customers are NOT always right. In fact, they are often NOT right. They are important, however, and should always be treated with respect. It isn't enough to care only about the products one sells because there are thousands of products for sale and the job of sorting one from another, fully educating oneself about them and learning to use them before one owns them is a huge job. This is the opportunity for specialsts and the customer's experience is as important if not more important than the actual product.

On the flip side, however, there is absolutely no excuse for treating customer service reps like they're stupid grunts who have been instructed not to do anything for you when you're unhappy. Yelling, screaming and threatening are not the most effective grease. No one likes to be treated that way and it's important to remember that the customer service rep didn't define or design the product and his job is simply to help you understand how to use it or help you return it if it's defective. The fact that you don't like the product as much as you thought you would doesn't make it defective. I always encourage our customer service people to suggest a replacement and make it easy to hlp a customer step himself into a poduct that does meet his requirements.

If I had to guess, I'd guess that 75% of the emails I see from customers who need help are initial requests and at least half of them end with something like, "If I dont get a response from you withiin 24 hours, I'll never buy your crappy products again and I'll tell everyone how much you suck." Most of the emails are sent because the customer simply can't figure out how the product works and would rather call or email than read the owner's manual.

If you, as a customer, make a request that you know is unreasonable, expect the person on the phone to tell you that he/she isn't able to do that. Yelling at him won't help. Ask for a supervisor and state your case again. The more you yell at people who are better empowered to help REDUCES the chances that you'll get what you want.

The person you talk to on the phone the first time has a specific set of remedies he or she can provide. IF you ask for something he/she is not empowered to provide, it doesn't make him/her a P.O.S., it just means that you require help from someone better empowered. Remember, though, that the better empowered person you'll speak to is also empowered to decide that serving you isn't worth the hassle or expense.

Remember, customers and customer service reps are people and respond much better to respect and regard than mistreatment.

Well said Andy.

Originally Posted by AWehmeyer

The person you talk to on the phone......

Funny how that keeps coming up. I wonder if it might be important?

All I can say is never listen to people that are not where you want to be. You (mp3car) have gotten defended by all your friends (who probably haven't put dinner on your table in 3 years), you have been told by customers that you have driven away, that you (along with your friends) drive customers away , and you have gotten really good advice from people that have been where you want to be. It SHOULD be an easy decision.

I unsubscribed to this thread yesterday because it seems like talking to a brick wall on the subject, and now I'm going to do it again, because if this thread doesn't wake you guys up, nothing will. And for the "defenders of the faith", you all know who you are. You did more to end my relationship with the store than they ever could. Look at my computer specs. Bet that would have been a nice company picnic or something. Rather than letting everyone go except what, 3? 4? And some of them have to work for free? If you really like them, let them get beat up when it's deserved. Am I an unreasonable customer? Lets see.....

I have a great relationship to Chris over at mo-co-so and when I call, he answers the phone every time. Heck I think he is one of the best sellers out there!

I have a really good relationship with Logic Supply. Also good people there, ship fast, are honest when they tell me they ship, and they don't have a forum of "good ole boys" telling me I'm wrong.

And as for free time.....I could only dream of giving away ONLY 8 hours in the last 2 weeks. I give away that PER DAY and have no financial insintive to do so. Why? Because I believe in something and I want to do everything I can to help them make it.

Doesn't it seem strange that only mp3car and a handfull of people here think I am unreasonable? And one other thing. Would any of us waste all this time typing this stuff if we didn't honestly want to help? THAT's for financing the forums. But no, it doesn't do either of us any good (obviously) to sit here and tell you eveything is hunky dorey and give you 2 thumbs up.