Awaiting refund and some CS comments

incognico · 01-10-2008, 10:39 PM

**** EDIT: Refund has now been processed and received. ****

A quick timeline of my experience so far -

26-Dec-2007 2008 transflective touch screen “In stock” and “ships within 48 hours”. Great! Ordered and paid for!
2-Jan-2008 Order still shows “processing”. Email enquiry sent.
3-Jan-2008 Email received advising no stock to fill order, they expect more in another ~2 weeks.
3-Jan-2008 Email sent advising this will not meet project deadlines, and requesting that order be cancelled.
7-Jan-2008 Order has disappeared from account area on website, no correspondence, no PayPal refund. Email enquiry sent.
8-Jan-2008 Email received advising “refund should appear in your PayPal account soon”

Well, it’s Friday afternoon (here in Australia) now, and I’m still out of pocket over US$800. I’m rather disappointed that nobody has yet taken the 30 seconds to go to PayPal and click “refund payment” for me

I am left wondering what “soon” means?

I don’t have an issue that the item I ordered was out of stock – I know they sell out quickly – but not being told that:

a) there was going to be a 3-week delay on stock even though the website showed “in stock”
b) my order cancellation had been processed
c) when to expect a refund

… has left me feeling this was a poor customer service experience instead of a positive/professional one.

I did get an email response to each question that I mailed in, but felt that I had to press for information every time. I suggest that keeping customers better informed would produce a significantly better experience. In summary, a couple of “FYI” emails would have retained me as a future customer instead of encouraging me to take my money elsewhere. Assuming it eventually gets refunded.

bonza · 01-10-2008, 10:50 PM

That's unsatisfactory from an organization with such an accomplished online shop. As good as the online shop is, I'll think twice before spending my money here again. US$800 is an awful lot of money to be out of pocket with zero correspondence.

moboman · 01-10-2008, 11:45 PM

The Mp3car store guys claim everyone is at ces. That doesnt matter when your our 800 bucks and are wondering if/when you will get it back...
I'm in kind of the same boat I guess. I sent back my xenarc because it was bad. RMA request took 2 days. I shipped it to them. It arrived on Jan 3. Still no reply. Standard RMA takes 3-5 business days to process or atleast contact the customer. Alright no contact on the 5th day.

Jase_aust · 01-11-2008, 12:32 AM

Hmmmm, I too will think twice if this is the MP3Car definition of service...

I have been using this site extensively for research as I progress through my carputer project. Seems natural to utilise their store to source the parts that I can't get locally or easily. Not so sure now :|

h3rk · 01-11-2008, 12:46 AM

I've NEVER had an issue with ordering parts from MP3car. I've not always ordered from them though. Their customer service has always been a non-issue for me. I'm sorry you're having troubles with them. It sure does seem like they've had a lot of stock issues lately. I hope things get better regarding this.

I thought I would add a balancing perspective to those who may make a judgement concerning their sourcing based on this. Because, like I said, I have had good experiences with them.

armine · 01-11-2008, 06:15 PM

Incognico,

Your refund was just completed - we apologize for the inconvienence. There was a delay due to CES which has just ended, an unusual circumstance when many team members are out of the office - including the one managing PayPal.

Regarding transflectives - there was an upgrade to the monitor - a bit of a surprise to us, but we rolled with it and immediately worked on modifying our transflective to meet the needs of the new LED backlit monitor.

It is a huge improvement in terms of visibility, and as you were informed by our staff last week, we had an unexpected delay due to our partners. Rather than ship anyone an inferior product, we delayed the launch. The transflectives are shipping next week and I hope that you will consider shopping with us again.

Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email us directly.

incognico · 01-11-2008, 08:07 PM

Thanks Armine, appreciate your prompt attention.

A few emails like that, keeping me informed, would have made all the difference.

Perhaps CES was a contributing factor, but even if it was I am not sure that getting new customers at the expense of your existing ones is such a good plan.

I hope you consider my feedback thread in the "constructive" spirit in which it is posted. I will certainly consider buying from the MP3Car store in the future - but I do hope my experience as a customer will be better than it was this time.