Australian Retailers and bad service.

westsky · #1 23-02-2005, 04:13 PM

Anybody else seem to get bad service from australian Retailers?
I ordered an item form a Sydney retailer
on sunday afternoon, you'd figure that it would be processed and shipped Monday
no, it got processed and shipped Tuesday afternoon, 24hrs of just ignoring a $500.00 order, that sucks
so allowing two days for shipping that means 4 days from Sydney to Brisbane,
I have had stuff shipped from the US in 4 days. Am I wrong in thinking that the retailers here just don't care enough about repeat business to bother taking care of there customers?
They say support Aussie's but really why? when all you get is bad service
Thats it for me no more Aussie retailers, when I can buy OS and get better service and save in the process.

David

Striker (Tony) · #2 23-02-2005, 04:51 PM

David.....even though I seem to buy a lot overseas...I have also bought heaps off retailers in Sydney.....I have always been impressed how quick I get the item....I normaly buy 1 day and is delivered to my door by 7:00 am the next morning.....every time....I have never had to wait more then 24 hours for my purchase.

I supose it depends what your buying.....and who your purchasing off.....I have to give a rap to Bintel and Andrews...both have been terrific to me.

Lee at andrews said to me on my last purchase that he couldn't get it into the post that day as it was already 2:30pm.....and he had to get the stock from his warehouse.....I said No Problem...I am not in a hurry......post it the next day.....then as I was leaving for work at 7:00am next morning there it was in my letterbox.....I was very impressed.

MiG · #3 23-02-2005, 04:57 PM

What was the method of payment?
I paid for an order on Saturday by doing a direct transfer and the banks didn't process it until Thursday. The order then came on Friday, which I consider to be very quick since it was intersate.

De-Gen · #4 23-02-2005, 05:05 PM

mine took nearly 2 weeks to arrive at my door.

silvinator · #5 23-02-2005, 05:15 PM

Sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience David. But, let me just say that I think that you are being just a little bit too harsh. Don't get me wrong, I understand exactly where you are coming from as I have had to wait well over a month for an astro book to be delivered to me from SA (it had to be sourced from O/S as there weren't any in stock) and I was not impressed. But apart from that, I've had nothing but good service from aussie retailers. My only gripe is that it can get very expensive to buy locally, but they're just trying to make a living and sometimes, economics and politics just will not accommodate bargains or competitive pricing for all.

But really, how quickly did you expect your package to arrive from Sydney to Brisbane? From what you are saying, it actually only took, well, less than two days for shipping and you're just unhappy with the processing time. I think you had overall, a nice transaction there mate. Do you know why it took them a day to actually process your order though? It might help to find out why or to at least let them know that you weren't happy to wait more than day for your order to be put through.

Here's another thing for you to consider: When I bought my scope (on a Saturday), I was told I wouldn't have it delivered until the following Tuesday as their shipments depended on their courier company that only came in on certain days to pick up and deliver their orders. I actually received my order the next wednesday becuase the courier company stuffed my order around. So maybe that's what happened with your order, it may not be the retailers fault. Did you speak to the retailer about an ETA on your order? You should let them know at least that you are unhappy so that this won't happen to the next unsuspecting customer.

I've also bought many astro equipment from the US as well and the quickest shipping time was around 4 days as well, but from the time of the transaction to the time the person actually went to post the thing brings the transaction time up to at least a week, if not more. So I'd say we're still getting good local service.

Just because you've had one delayed shipment from one retailer, it doesn't necessarily mean that all other aussie retailers are going to be like that. So I don't think that you should completely discount them all just yet.

mch62 (Mark) · #6 23-02-2005, 05:34 PM

Ditto to Westsky .
I have received gear from the States faster than most of the Australian retailers I have had the misfortune to use.
That being said , I have also got non Astronomical gear over night in Australia that was ordered in the afternoon , and I live 80ks from a major city.
Why can't we get a similar response on Astronomical gear.
We are paying premium prices for second rate services.
I repeat myself not all but fair few of em .
O well , she'll be right mate , what's your hurry , I'll get around to it tomorrow.

Jonathan · #7 23-02-2005, 05:57 PM

I see where you're coming from David. You do have to wonder if they really want your business sometimes. I ordered some books from an online shop in Adelaide that were listed as being a 3 to 4 day wait and it was 5 months before I saw them. I try to find reliable shops and stick with them.

4 days from Sydney to Brisbane sounds pretty slow to me. I order gear at work that comes from Singapore overnight without fail.

I agree with Striker about Bintel. I haven't had a problem ordering from there.

westsky · #8 23-02-2005, 06:56 PM

The item was paid for via a credit card using there online shop,
Two people have mentioned a certain shop ( and its not Lee) that was the retailer. My main gripe is with the attitude of the retailers,I did ring them and asked what the delay was, there answer, "thats how we do things here". These people want my custom and I get an answer like that, think of it this way what I buy from them helps pay there wages
without us the customers, they will close there doors very quickly.
Silvie I expect 2 days from Sydney to Brisbane, tomorrow is the 4th day and the item should arrive then,what if it doesn't would I be too harsh then? my concern is that an order was ignored for 24hrs, If you went to your local supermarket and was left standing around and ignored by the staff would you be happy? No you would go elsewhere.
I recently ordered a large item from the US I got a tracking number and 4 hours later could see that the item had left the warehouse and was on it's way to the airport.
total time from pickup from there warehouse to delivery at my door was 7 days Two of these days where public holidays here,the order was placed late afternoon there time. now thats service.
Silvie it's not the first time I have had late shipments from Aussie retailers, it's now about the 3rd.
I can understand problems with shipping I was in the transport industry for over 15 yrs ,problems happen this is a fact of life, but a dealer who doesn't care thats different.
that dealer doesn't deserve my money.
I sold my last business about 5 yrs ago, last month I got two calls from previous customers asking if I was still in business, I gave good service and looked after my customers and they remember that.
Maybe I'm being old fashioned but to me someone who choose's to give me there money deserve's my utmost attention.
I was expecting another item this week from NZ, the person shipping
the item was delayed and missed the post, He sent an apoligetic email telling me exactly what had happened, I'm happy, he kept me informed this is the way it should be.
If they had sent an email informing me of some sort of delay that would be different,they didn't and thats the last $$$$ they will ever get from me.
I could have ordered this item from the US and got it here in 5 days and saved money in the process , this time I thought no I will do the right thing and support the local bloke, never again.

David

Starkler (Geoff) · #9 23-02-2005, 06:57 PM

I placed an order for a scope with Bintel Monday morning and was told it will be shipped that day.
Im guessing it should arrive tomorrow.

westsky · #10 23-02-2005, 07:24 PM

Hi Geoff, I placed my order Sunday online, it didn't ship till Tuesday, if the item was out of stock , this I understand, to ignore the order till Tuesday sorry I don't.

David.

silvinator · #11 23-02-2005, 07:29 PM

David, I'm very surprised that they gave you such an answer like that. That truly doesn't sound like they care about their customers at all. But it also doesn't sound like them at all. I'm very puzzled.
And I didn't realise you hadn't received the item yet. I thought that you had so that is why I asked about how long you thought a delay was. I thought the item arrived already within two days and that's why I thought you were being a bit harsh so I'm sorry about that. Since you haven't received it yet, then yes it does warrant criticism.
I can't understand why it took them a day to process your order either. It really depends on what you ordered. If you ordered a scope from them, maybe they were going over it and collimating it and stuff like that

I don't think you are being old fashioned at all. You're right, we are paying top dollar for premium equipment, we have to expect good service in return.
I too expect good communication about my orders, which I never had with the book incident I mentioned in my above post. It is very frustrating indeed. I was the one doing all the chasing up, not once did they take the initiative to contact me and let me know how my order was going.
I guess I was just trying to highlight things from a different perspective. It's hard to understand why a lot of people have had such bad experiences with aussie astro retailers when surely these retailers know what a small market they are catering for. And what happens when too many people get so fed up with the service, start buying everything from overseas? The prices will go up, many astro shops might go out of business and then where would us amateurs be?

westsky · #12 23-02-2005, 08:10 PM

Silvie, If there's a genuine reason for late shipping thats fine as long as we are made aware of the problem. The item ordered was a Meade DSI CCD, small box not much work to do to get it ready for shipping I can't understand the delay also.
I ordered from them on a recomedation from a friend, I have bought from them before some yrs ago.
The person I spoke to today was named michael I have no idea who he is , he could be a salesperson or owner. But his attitude stinks.
I am hoping that this thread gets brought to the attention of the owners of the shop and they take heed of whats been said, this may help others in the future.I will be sending an email to the retailer voicing my concerns.

David.

Striker (Tony) · #13 23-02-2005, 08:16 PM

David have you given up on the Meade LPI already.....or just experimenting.

westsky · #14 23-02-2005, 08:57 PM

Tony, Decided I needed a more senstive autoguider and the ability to sit at home at night and try to take pretty pictures :-))
The DSI seems the best value for money on the market today.
I am also getting close to finishing my CCD scope an 8" F4 ,perfect for
CCD work.

David

DougAdams · #15 23-02-2005, 09:10 PM

Hmm, I'm sorry to hear your story. I ordered my 100mm from Bintel at 2:30pm in the afternoon. They called me by 3pm to take the particulars and informed me the scope would be delivered the *next* morning. I didn't believe it, but it turned up just as they said it would.

westsky · #16 23-02-2005, 09:15 PM

Hi Doug, I had a good recommendation about Bintel from a friend and I had bought from them some years back so I was suprised to get the treatment I did.
It may be a one off occurence, I hope it is .

regards
David.

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #17 23-02-2005, 10:12 PM

I ordered my 12" Dobber Deluxe from an Australian Dealer (you know where from) on monday morning. The owner said the shipment has just arrived at his warehouse from Taiwan half an hour before I rang.

He emailed that night and informed me that he had to go to the warehouse and unload the container and find my scope and other orders on his own as he had a staff member off sick that day. (Those 12" scope boxes are heavy) so he was emailing me to inform me that he could not get it ready for the courier on time that day.

I appreciated that.

Then he emailed again in the morning (Tuesday) and said my scope and accessories plus other items I ordered where in the shop, packed up, addressed and ready to go.

I appreciated that.

Then he emailed me that night and told me the courier service didn't even turn up that day when they were booked to do so for all that shop's deliveries. (niether of us were impressed). At least he emailed me and told me.

I appreciated that.

The next night he emailed and said it's on it's way.

I appreciated that.

Friday Morning it arrived.

It sounds a long time: ordered Monday, arrived Friday. But I was informed throughout the whole process. Yes, it felt like a month but he had the decency to keep me up to date with legitimate reasons.

I emailed him friday and thanked him.

He appreciated that.

I will order from him again purely because he gave a damn.

westsky · #18 23-02-2005, 10:41 PM

Hi ken If I had been kept informed then there would be no problem,
the dealer did the right thing by you , in my case he didn't.
how hard is it to send an email saying there will be a delay in shipping or processing or whatever, it would take a minute from a busy day.

David

Starkler (Geoff) · #19 23-02-2005, 10:52 PM

My job in part involves solving issues for customers, and yes keeping the customer informed of issues and delays always helps to defuse tempers.
Nothing worse than unreasonable delays and not knowing what the hell is going on.

Michael from B***** is helpful, but the woman there needs a lesson in customer service.

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #20 23-02-2005, 10:59 PM

David,

We used different dealers, but I can imagine your frustration.
People don't usually mind if they are kept in touch.

Geoff is right about that woman too. Sounds like the one I got when I rang for a quote and she got angry when I asked how much for delivery to Victoria. Another reason I went elsewhere (and got a better price as well).