Bad Service from SPI

[Barry]

Folks, the last three weeks have just been a royal mess as we have been so busy, I'm sure some of you have went to voice mail when you have called the plant.
This is something I'm just death on, is when that phone rings, I want it answered ASAP but the way our system is, if all lines are busy you end up in voice mail.

Not only may you have had a problem calling the plant but because I had to pitch in so much on the plant phones the tech line at that point had to take a second place status, usually only Fridays are like this, when Andy is out of office and I TRY to take his place, answering the phone.

One thing I won't do is cut back on is inventory.
An example is we get down to 150 gallons of say universal clear, I get in a panic mode and Tuesday morning we had 275 gallons in stock and Tuesday at 5 pm we had two gallons.
It has been tough.

I apologize as this is not how I want to run a business but felt you needed to know why you may have had a hard time getting through on the phone lines.
Like I said, leave a message, don't just hang up, especially on the tech line as you will get a call back.

In last two weeks we have done in volume equal to what we did all last month, that was a record setting month. We will adjust and get this right!

 

[AAE]

I thought something was up. The phone rang what must have been two times before someone picked it up. That's twice as long as usual. You guys have the best customer service out there.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

One thing I won't do is cut back on is inventory.
An example is we get down to 150 gallons of say universal clear, I get in a panic mode and Tuesday morning we had 275 gallons in stock and Tuesday at 5 pm we had two gallons.
It has been tough.

He, he, he - that will teach you to announce a price increase. LOL

In last two weeks we have done in volume equal to what we did all last month, that was a record setting month. We will adjust and get this right!

So do you want us to quit telling everyone how great your products and service are?

 

[Stillboardin]

He, he, he - that will teach you to announce a price increase. LOL

That was my first thought when I read this.
I thought about ordering this last week but wasn't quite ready and figured for my purchase the uptick wasn't too big an issue. Still much less than any other brand.
This is a refreshing sentiment from an American manufacturer. So worried about customer service that a couple busy days and he calls it "Bad Service".
Barry, in my book more if companies had good days like your "bad service" days than America would not be in this recession.

 

[Senile Old Fart]

Maybe I am stupid, well more than likely I am, lol.
I need to order some epoxy, but have waited until this coming week to order just so I could pay Barry the 5% increase.
I think that the epoxy he would have shipped me on friday cost him the same as it will this tuesday.
I have no problem paying a few dollars more to support SPI and its awesome service. I don't want to see costs cut somewhere else to keep the pricing low. I'd rather pay the new price and know that Barry isn't taking a bath on the shipping costs. ( He needs that bath tub to make up another batch of Universal,LOL)

 

[HOTROD]

Barry,,maybe you should have the girl in the ad helping answer the phones,,lol, but please make sure you dont run out of any inventory,,

 

[Barry]

Barry,,maybe you should have the girl in the ad helping answer the phones,,lol, but please make sure you don't run out of any inventory,,

Good idea, got home Friday about 7:30 and wife keep saying, "looks like the lights are on but nobody is home".
I have told 100's of tech callers, up by 5 7 days, so just call, well slept to 8:15, last time I did that I think I was hung over and that had to be 30 some years ago.

 

[Bob Heine]

I managed to destroy my old compressor and the new one didn't come with a regulator. I just received a new air regulator (with gauge) to put on my new air compressor. Also ordered a larger 1/2" Motor Guard filter. Shipping would have been free if my order was over $699 but my total was under $120. The box UPS delivered looked pretty good and when I opened the outer box and saw that it had been used already, I thought it looked amazing. When I took the regulator box out, it looked perfect and I just removed the gauge box, opened it and saw it was in a plastic bag and set it aside.

When I finished installing the regulator valve, I went to screw in the gauge and saw the glass face was cracked. The gauge needle was pointing just above 20 lbs so I figured, no big deal, I'll just contact the seller. I go to their "Customer Service" on the web site and start reading. The boilerplate information isn't too bad but eventually I arrive at this:

"Defective or DOA Merchandise: In cases the item is defective the customer is responsible for return shipping. We realize that it is not the customers fault if a product is defective, but at the same time you have to realize that it is not our fault either if a product is defective -- we ship what our distributors & manufacturers provide us with. This is why we share the shipping costs associated with a return replacement. The customer will pay for return shipping, and we will pay to ship the replacement. We cannot offer our competitive low prices and absorb the full cost of handling return shipments. If you want to return a defective unit, for a refund the shipping and handling charges will be non refundable, and there will be a restocking fee.

If the item appears to have obvious damaged by the carrier, immediately tell the driver you do not want to receive this package or email us at sales@sjdiscounttools.com so we can file a damage claim. If a package looks suspiciously damaged, you can tell the driver to wait and open it to make sure the contents are not damaged and if they are damaged refuse the package. If the item appears to be damaged straight from the manufacturer, please email us at sales@sjdiscounttools.com. Please make sure to provide your order number. Before we reship or refund the claim with the courier must be resolved."

I sent them a note (with pictures) but have already decided not to send the gauge back. I found the gauge at another site for $5.55 and ordered a few more items to exceed their free shipping threshold of $100.

I am grateful for the "Bad Service from SPI" -- the best day my other suppliers have doesn't come close to your worst.

 

[Barry]

Bob,
You got screwed but I also can see what the seller is saying (not right but understand) this is what a company gets into when they sell stuff made by someone else, all quality control is out the window.

We have one item because of how messy it is to make, being made by someone else, no issues but if we ever do, that item will be discontinued the next day from our line-up, unless I decided to start making it again but its not that big an item.

 

[Bob Heine]

I've come to expect these little disappointments. SPI's 24/7 service with human contact is way beyond my expectations. I've learned to expect 8/5 service through computers and answering machines.

I ordered the two items on 5/15 (Sunday); an e-mail acknowledged my order Monday morning and another e-mail notified me the package shipped Wednesday. The package arrived 5/20 (Friday) around 2:30 p.m. It was almost 5:00 on Friday when I sent my e-mail to their "Customer Service" (animal husbandry comes to mind). Their "Contact Us" page doesn't have a phone number. If you want to place an order by phone (8:00 -4:00 EST), you have to e-mail them to get their toll-free number. All other issues are handled by e-mail. I don't expect to be contacted before Monday.

The sentence quoted above gets me: "Before we reship or refund the claim with the courier must be resolved." If I get a response on Monday, the best I can hope for is they ship a new gauge once they receive my broken one. That will take more than a week.

The final insult from S&J Discount Tools was their invoice. They charged a reasonable $9.95 shipping along with a somewhat unreasonable 7% sales tax ($7.79). Apparently orders shipped from the center of Ohio to Florida are charged the Ohio state (5.5%) and local sales tax (1.5%).

Friday evening I ordered the gauge and some additional parts and supplies a different site. E-mail confirmation Saturday morning means I may get the shipment before the week is over. Maybe I'll have better luck with this supplier (no charge for shipping $100+ and no sales tax -- from New Jersey -- so they're already doing better).

 

[Bob Heine]

Not sure why (maybe it was the photos I included in my e-mail) but S&J Discount sent a new regulator and gauge along with a pre-paid UPS label to ship the busted gauge back. I guess having a published DOA policy lets them handle returns on a case-by-case basis. My opinion has moved from "dissatisfied" to "neither satisfied nor dissatisfied." I don't plan to order from them again and obviously won't share links to stuff on their site.

The parts in the original shipment box were packed with no cushioning material -- no bubble pack, no peanuts, not even crumpled newspaper. The replacement regulator and gauge arrived in the same size outer box but only the one small box inside, again with no cushioning material. I have to believe a fair number of damaged items are being returned just from their careless packing. I know SPI spends a lot of extra money on tape, boxes and cushioning so this is obviously the other end of the spectrum.

 

[Barry]

WOW, that was a turn around of attitude and nice of them, maybe the read this forum? LOL