customer service

[Dsnakes]

I believe that BRS handled that appropriately. It’s a policy and they follow it.
I’m sure I’m not the only one that would say BRS has top notch customer service.

The fact that the part is $35 makes zero difference.

 

[Crabs McJones]

As i said before, I still shop at BRS. And they usually do have good customer service. But IMO this time they didnt. You guys keep bringing up $300 pump or a $600 lawnmower. We're talking about a $35 part here. Going back to the lawnmower. You cmae into my store and bought a lawnmower. It didn't include the spark plug. You ask me which one and i say this one. So when you get home and you're all fired up about getting your grass cut, the sparkplug didn't fit. When you come back to my store you're already upset that i sold you the wrong item. I want you to leave my store with a smile on your face. A sparkplug is a small price to pay for that smile.

I understand where you're coming from, if it was a 2 or 3 or even 5 dollar part, but at what dollar amount do you stop? So they let a $35 one pass by, then the next guy wants a $40 pass by...Give a man an inch and they'll try to take a mile.

 

[Art2249]

On a happier note, i recently ordered some coral from Cherry Corals. When it arrived I counted an extra bag. So I looked at the receipt to check my memory (getting old you see) and sure enough there was an extra bag. Upon closer inspection I noticed it was a ruby red stag and the bag had a smiley face and a thank you on it. Next time i order coral, I wonder where I will order from? :)

 

[Gareth elliott]

The only other type of policy i have seen for this type of issue is:
They ship the first part,
Customer claims its defective or wrong part.
They digitally send a shipping label and send the replacement under terms of how long you have to send back part 1.
Dont meet terms they charge for the second one.
I have only seen this with large companies that have the funds and staff to fight fraudulent credit charge back disputes.

Its easy for the customer to claim the claim the second charge was faulty. And have their HUGE credit card company fight the retailer. Smaller retailers do not have the funds to fight these type of cases. And depending on industry these can be large sums of money taken directly from the gross profit line.

As a small business manager i can tell you the amount of profit that is paid to credit card fraud is already too high, and reason above is why i would not have an honor system replacement policy for non perishable goods.

 

[Art2249]

I understand where you're coming from, if it was a 2 or 3 or even 5 dollar part, but at what dollar amount do you stop? So they let a $35 one pass by, then the next guy wants a $40 pass by...Give a man an inch and they'll try to take a mile.

I guess it just depends on the size of the order Crabs. You have to consider the margin. If I sell you 25k Anderson window package for your new home, I'm not going to be concerned about a $500 markdown. Rather than having a ridged dollar amount policy, We were allowed to use our discretion.

 

[Art2249]

I guess I should mention that this was a debit card. We don't use credit cards. I have a special account that I can transfer funds to if needed. This practice has worked well for me in life. House and land paid for and no debt. It just so happens on the day I called about the part my wife had the debit card with her. that's probably what annoyed me about the whole situation.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

As i said before, I still shop at BRS. And they usually do have good customer service. But IMO this time they didnt. You guys keep bringing up $300 pump or a $600 lawnmower. We're talking about a $35 part here. Going back to the lawnmower. You cmae into my store and bought a lawnmower. It didn't include the spark plug. You ask me which one and i say this one. So when you get home and you're all fired up about getting your grass cut, the sparkplug didn't fit. When you come back to my store you're already upset that i sold you the wrong item. I want you to leave my store with a smile on your face. A sparkplug is a small price to pay for that smile.

I think the big disagreement here is on what people believe is satisfactory customer service. I would have been satisfied with the way this transaction went overall, and a $35 hold on my account for a week or so while the wrong mounting arm went back to BRS wouldn't have made me dissatisfied.

I also don't think it's fair to make judgements based on the purchase price or values of the items in question. From an accounting perspective, it doesn't matter if it's a $35 light mount or a $600 lawn mower. If you send out a replacement part for free, whether it's to replace a mistake or to replace a faulty part, you now have a hole in your balance sheet. If you don't receive the defective/wrong part back from the customer, you can't return it to the manufacturer or put it back in inventory (respectively). You're going to eat those costs and take a loss. I wouldn't do things the way you advocate if I ran my own business. Not by default. If a customer complained, I might see if we can make an exception. But, from the sound of things, you never complained about this at the time, so BRS probably thought this resolution was totally acceptable to you. Maybe I'm interpreting the transaction wrong, but from the way you described it, it sounds like this is the case.

Sure, maybe it would have been nice if they acknowledged that you spent $2k and paid for the part in transit for you, but they didn't. They DID gave you the $35 back after you sent the old one back and you have the light bracket you wanted in the first place. It was a hassle, but everything in life is a hassle, especially when things go wrong. Plus, at the end of the day you got what you want and were only inconvenienced by not having the mounting arm and missing $35 from your checking account for a few days. This doesn't sound like poor customer service to me.

 

[Art2249]

I think the big disagreement here is on what people believe is satisfactory customer service. I would have been satisfied with the way this transaction went overall, and a $35 hold on my account for a week or so while the wrong mounting arm went back to BRS wouldn't have made me dissatisfied.

I also don't think it's fair to make judgements based on the purchase price or values of the items in question. From an accounting perspective, it doesn't matter if it's a $35 light mount or a $600 lawn mower. If you send out a replacement part for free, whether it's to replace a mistake or to replace a faulty part, you now have a hole in your balance sheet. If you don't receive the defective/wrong part back from the customer, you can't return it to the manufacturer or put it back in inventory (respectively). You're going to eat those costs and take a loss. I wouldn't do things the way you advocate if I ran my own business. Not by default. If a customer complained, I might see if we can make an exception. But, from the sound of things, you never complained about this at the time, so BRS probably thought this resolution was totally acceptable to you. Maybe I'm interpreting the transaction wrong, but from the way you described it, it sounds like this is the case.

Sure, maybe it would have been nice if they acknowledged that you spent $2k and paid for the part in transit for you, but they didn't. They DID gave you the $35 back after you sent the old one back and you have the light bracket you wanted in the first place. It was a hassle, but everything in life is a hassle, especially when things go wrong. Plus, at the end of the day you got what you want and were only inconvenienced by not having the mounting arm and missing $35 from your checking account for a few days. This doesn't sound like poor customer service to me.

Yea I think we are beating a dead horse at this time. So I'm gonna beat that dead horse again! :) You talked about a hole in you balance sheet, eating the cost and taking a loss. That's strictly an accounting perspective and fails to consider the big picture. A small concession on profit is more than compensated by increased sales in the future. It should fall under cost of doing business. When i first started in retail I use to think the same way. After being promoted and having access to the real numbers I learned that markdowns are a drop in the bucket. A while back I went to Frank's tanks in Forth Worth. When he rang me up I only had $100 bill and was $5 short. He said don'y worry about it. I usually only make it up there abput once a month. on my next visit I laid that $5 on the counter after he rang me up. frank said "what's that for?" He had forgotten all about it. maybe that's why his store always has customers in it?

 

[Art2249]

Reviving the thread. i love a good debate. If you're happy being treated like a red-headed step child and have very low expectations then ignore this. Otherwise if you crave great customer service and quality here are 3 companies i have dealt with that would love your business. 1 Precision marine, talk to Michael Sigman, 2 Crystal Dynamics out of California....talk to Zoya, 3 ....frank's tanks, Fort worth texas. Talk to frank

 

[Crabs McJones]

Reviving the thread. i love a good debate. If you're happy being treated like a red-headed step child and have very low expectations then ignore this. Otherwise if you crave great customer service and quality here are 3 companies i have dealt with that would love your business. 1 Precision marine, talk to Michael Sigman, 2 Crystal Dynamics out of California....talk to Zoya, 3 ....frank's tanks, Fort worth texas. Talk to frank

Theres not really much debate, everyone here besides you basically agrees that there was nothing wrong with this transaction.....

 

[ZoWhat]

On a happier note, i recently ordered some coral from Cherry Corals. When it arrived I counted an extra bag

Using your SAME LOGIC....

You should be a great customer and call Cherry Corals Customer Service with your CC# to pay for things you didn't order.

Just sayinnnnnnn

 

[Art2249]

Using your SAME LOGIC....

You should be a great customer and call them with your CC# to pay for things you didn't order.

Just sayinnnnnnn. What goes around comes around

What did I get that I didnt order? i had to pay for the new part before it was shipped. I got nothing for free. perhaps you should go back and read the thread from the beginning. Or you can continue with your low expectations.

 

[ZoWhat]

What did I get that I didnt order? i had to pay for the new part before it was shipped. I got nothing for free. perhaps you should go back and read the thread from the beginning. Or you can continue with your low expectations.

You just admitted you recvd an unexpected extra bag from Cherry Corals.

You need to call Cherry Corals Customer Service Dept to alert them of the extra bag and either pay for it....or return it....using your same logic of being disrespected.

You now just disrespected Cherry Corals in a similar manner you feel disrespected by BRS.

This whole thread just stinks of you wanting smthg for nothing. A free comp'ed dinner, if you will.

Narcissism.....
.

 

[Art2249]

I did call cherry and thank them for the extra bag! Funny thing you mention that. I sent a picture of my set-up via e-mail to Precision marine and literally within 2 minutes got a call from the general manager thanking me for my business. Low expectations you have. really low.

 

[Art2249]

You just admitted you recvd an unexpected extra bag from Cherry Corals.

You need to call Cherry Corals Customer Service Dept to alert them of the extra bag and either pay for it....or return it....using your same logic of being disrespected.

You now just disrespected Cherry Cirals in a similar manner you feel disrespected by BRS.

This whole thread just stinks of you wanting smthg for nothing. A free comp'ed dinner, if you will.

I'm out....
.

Starting to think you work for the vendor,

 

[ZoWhat]

Starting to think you work for the vendor,

No. I met Ryan Batcheller (founder of BRS) at a reef event and spent 2hrs hanging out with him. Multi millionaire who use to be a min-wage waiter and developed "Reef Chili" in his one bedroom studio apartment.

The nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

Took a coral food concoction and turned it into BRS, an annual 15mil internationally respected company.

You talk trash about Ryan's company, you immediately personally offend me bc I know Ryan is a great guy with a heart for reefing and an ultra American success story.



.

 

[Crabs McJones]

No. I met Ryan Batcheller(founder of BRS) at a reef event and spent 2hrs hanging out with him. Multi millionaire who use to be a waiter and developed "Reef Chili" in his one bedroom apartment.

The nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

Took a corsl food concoction and turned it into BRS, a 15mil internationally respected company.

You talk trash about Ryan's company, you immediately personslly offend me bc I know Rysn is a great guy with a heart fir reefing and an American success story.



.

I'm actually jealous of you right now as I would love to meet him. He seems like a really cool guy to sit down and have a couple drinks with :)

 

[Art2249]

And there you have it. Explains a lot.

 

[Art2249]

No. I met Ryan Batcheller (founder of BRS) at a reef event and spent 2hrs hanging out with him. Multi millionaire who use to be a waiter and developed "Reef Chili" in his one bedroom apartment.

The nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

Took a corsl food concoction and turned it into BRS, an annual 15mil internationally respected company.

You talk trash about Ryan's company, you immediately personslly offend me bc I know Rysn is a great guy with a heart for reefing and an American success story.



.

I wonder if he knows his employees are haggling over $35 parts on $2000 orders. next time you have a beer with him why don't you ask?

 

[MnFish1]

Reviving the thread. i love a good debate. If you're happy being treated like a red-headed step child and have very low expectations then ignore this. Otherwise if you crave great customer service and quality here are 3 companies i have dealt with that would love your business. 1 Precision marine, talk to Michael Sigman, 2 Crystal Dynamics out of California....talk to Zoya, 3 ....frank's tanks, Fort worth texas. Talk to frank

Like someone else said - there is no debate. My guess is that you would have a better response to your 'logic' if you hadn't mentioned that you totaled up your receipts and spent xxx.xx at BRS (which to me makes no difference). Even then, its a specious argument, we are only hearing one side of the discussion (i.e. no one knows how (or if) you were rude to BRS - whether they apologized, offered to do something else, etc when you called to complain). BRS did what every other online retailer would do in this situation, and you got your parts.

You say - BRS is making a big deal out of a 35 $ charge - well conversely - so are you - is it really worth the 'good debate'? And BTW - I dont work for BRS, I have had the same issue with other vendors - and had various experiences (I once bought a $500 light from Amazon, Thought a piece was missing, they sent a replacement light - I subsequently found the piece - called amazon - they said - keep both lights - though it was MY mistake) - And had a much different experience with a different (smaller vendor) who sold a defective lighting controller and I needed to ship the whole thing back at my cost - and wait for a new light)- while my tank had no light for a week. So - all in all you were treated fairly. BRS is not amazon - and treats everyone the same - according to their policies - which are posted on their website.