Slightly Disappointed

[puddin]

I ordered a Super-Ego (black-steel-sapphire) with a reflective strap and a secondary cork strap plus a Brain Cell - late last week. I requested the first strap get a seat-belt buckle as I was planning to have the reflector strip on 90% of the time but a more subdued cork strap just in case the shiny reflector strap was not appropriate for when certain people might be where my business takes me. the reflector strip was my first choice by a long shot and i wanted to have the seat-belt buckle on that for a reason.

I ordered everything via 3-day select since i live on the east coast and needed it by this weekend for sure, instead of going ground.

I received everything today and the super-ego was there, the right brain-cell was there, but the strap on the bag was a cork strip, with a seat-belt buckle on it. tucked in the back pocket was a reflector strap with a plastic buckle on it.

Not a big deal. They reversed my primary and secondary strip requests - the paper receipt in my bag confirms that I ordered it correctly.

So I call up and explain on voicemail. I get a voicemail back from the man himself.

I called back, he went over the situation, I verified that he understood the mix-up correctly, and he said to make things right they would send me a reflective strip with a seat-belt buckle and a cork with a plastic buckle and i would send the two strips i had back with their pre-paid service . I agreed, as that would make the original transaction correct.

So I get my shipment notification and it is shipping ground. I paid over 200 bucks for a bag and then paid for faster shipping, and after a screw-up i get ground shipping back to me? it makes a difference to me is because i live on the east coast.

when a customer spends extra for faster shipping it is for a reason. i wanted my stuff for before this weekend when i am off to go somewhere. now with ground i will not get it till at least 5 business days.

i am surprised that to correct their own error, they decided to cheap out. while a purely cosmetic change that is not so significant and i will be just fine in all reality - i am not that shallow, it was a noticeable thing because of reading of the unbelievable amazing customer service the company gave on various forum posts.

i order a ton of stuff online - having built several pc's over the last few years to ordering 90% of my xmas gifts online, even some of my own clothes, etc - i shop online a lot.

ive had other companies screw up once or twice on delivery - and this is completely normal. mistakes happen and this is not brain surgery where a margin for error is unacceptable - i screw up at work, we all d - but to make things right they shipped the correction out to me fast as heck. now THAT is amazing customer service. this was just good customer service. so that disparity stuck out vs the reputation of this company, and felt it was worth a mention.

regards,
athos

[Darcy]

puddin,

I'm sorry that you've had two unsatisfactory experiences with us. We can send you an additional shipment of replacement strips tomorrow via UPS Next Day Air so that you'll receive them on Thursday. I'll ask my co-workers tomorrow about what happened with your order and the replacement strips and post another update then. Sorry!

[Tom Bihn]

We've sent out a Next Day Air second replacement package. If you could,
refuse the first replacement package when UPS attempts to deliver it to
us - this will have it automatically sent back to us.

Sorry if I failed to note that you needed your replacement parts on short notice - I usually ask if there is any particular schedule that needs to be met, but I guess I forgot to ask. Certainly for mission-critical components which, when missing, can make a bag useless (like a shoulder strap), we expedite delivery. However, I figured since you have a completely usable bag (just not the right stripe color/buckle combination), and you didn't mention a schedule, there was no big rush: clearly I figured wrong.

The idea the we "cheaped-out" is rather humorous: we never hesitate to spend the extra money on the best fabric, the most highly skilled labor, the most difficult-to-construct designs. We don't cut corners, but we also don't try to impress people with things like expedited shipping when it is not essential. To save money? Sure, we don't mind saving a buck or two, but for me personally it's that pesky carbon footprint: UPS Ground is an amazingly energy-efficient way to move stuff around, while their Air Services are not so planet-friendly. So, we default to UPS Ground for the "green" planet, not the green money.

Also: it looks like, after your order had been processed/packaged, you
had requested a Organizer Pouch be added to your order. Because we
weren't able to add it before your order shipped, we sent it to you
separately, no charge for shipping. So you'll be getting multiple
packages from us soon!

[puddin]

its no big deal. as i stated in the title it was only a slight disappointment to an otherwise fine process. i still said the customer service was good.

but you guys really made some moves sheesh. and yes i agree, it was a cosmetic change like i noticed not about functionality. i just expected the same shipping that i had paid for. i totally see your point about being green and i should have thought of that, it makes sense. i kind of feel bad for now having two shipments coming to me. that wasnt my intention at all.

it probably didnt help my mood last night that i got back from the dentist in a lot of pain and then got to play with the bag and check the ship notification not in the greatest state of mind, so i probably expressed myself a bit too harshly.

i couldnt have been taht mad, i went right ahead after i posted that and ordered all the pouches i wanted from you guys

but thanks for your help.