Passive agressive email from BRS customer service representative.

[FinsNgills808]

I doubt they are on a personal vengeance to get you but if they are, it’s good for BRS to know and look into it.

My own opinion FWIW is to enjoy the night and let it go. Let BRS see everything tomorrow and deal with it.

Will do, Mahalo! Hope you have a nice evening as well!

 

[cpschult]

Man, I have it out for you after some of the responses. I kid, but I don’t see their email as passive aggressive. An attempt to be informative sure. Shipping something overnight on a Thursday for Friday delivery is always risky. Ask me how I know

 

[Cell]

I can see both sides. Like, you already refunded it, whether you were supposed to or not that's not on me. But it's also good to let you know in case the same thing happens and your request gets denied the 2nd time. BRS communicating the correct policy is perfectly fair. In this case, perhaps the rep was wrong though and the first refund was handled correctly. Not something to lose sleep over either way.

 

[Haggisman14]

The response is definitely odd IMO. Passive aggressive? Not to me but could be for you and we’re both in the right to have those feelings. But it is definitely odd and I don’t see any reason why it was said to begin with.

Could the CSR have gotten some dates and times wrong? Absolutely. Mistakes happen. Could they have had an off day? Yes, we all do. Tone is impossible to convey in text and we all know large fights have started over text because no tone was present except the tone we read in our own head.

Has BRS responded to your complaint about the second interaction? If not, I don’t see any reason to put them on blast that you’ll never shop with them again. Let them respond and then choose. If their response is nonchalant and they don’t care, blast away!

My dealings with BRS customer service over the last 15+ years have been overwhelmingly positive. I personally know a dozen or more people at BRS. They are genuinely good people who try to do right even when it means the company loses money. Good people have bad days. Give them a chance to respond and even see this thread. Which they will tomorrow during business hours ;)

I deal with people every day, and some of my normal customers who are always the nicest can have a bad day from time to time. The CSR rep in this instance might have been having an off day. And maybe for some reason the time zone time stamps didnt' come into play for him, or were adjusted incorrectly.

Either way, I don't think one experience with one CSR rep would be a reason to stop doing business with the company, especially since they already refunded you the shipping cost (both times). If the owner of the company was giving you attitude and being a jerk, I would totally be on your side saying that you'll never do business with them again. But this was not the case at all.

I'd say move on, and keep supporting BRS.

 

[glb]

I’ve had great and not so great experiences with BRS customer service. Feelings are subjective, and you took the response in a negative way. I don’t see it that way but you’re entitled to your opinion. I don’t go public with CS issues unless they’re egregious and all private attempts to fix things have failed. I’m a business owner and public complaints can really be damaging. It sounds like you’d be happier buying from another company from here on out. Just my 0.02.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I’ve had great and not so great experiences with BRS customer service. Feelings are subjective, and you took the response in a negative way. I don’t see it that way but you’re entitled to your opinion. I don’t go public with CS issues unless they’re egregious and all private attempts to fix things have failed. I’m a business owner and public complaints can really be damaging. It sounds like you’d be happier buying from another company from here on out. Just my 0.02.

Well spoken and articulate. I am in agreement with you 100%. The lack of context and body language that people get from written communications with the perceived micro aggression followed by a public retaliation is a scourge. It is elevating hostility when there should be none..especially if the situation resolves amicably for the aggrieved party. If you are not happy with the business...vote with your wallet. If your situation is egregious and is not reasonably resolved, then you go public.

 

[Sal Amadeo]

Hello all,

I just want to know how you feel about BRS customer service these days?

I received a passive agressive response from BRS and well, I'm honestly frustrated by it.

I live in Hawaii and must pay for shipping, no free shipping to Hawaii. I pay for shipping, but do expect to get the item delivered as guaranteed by UPS, in this case the next day.

Long story short, my past two orders this month from BRS were delivered late by UPS, not BRS. Both paid were shipped via UPS next day air.

1st late order was received on a Monday instead of Friday. The UPS tracking showed "mechanical delay" and rescheduled the delivery for Monday instead of Friday. After receiving the delivery on Monday, I emailed BRS and requested a refund for the shipping charge. I received a response from BRS the next day apologising for the delay and received a refund for the next day air shipping. about $125.

2nd late order was received yesterday (Monday) insead of Friday. Again, the UPS tracking showed "mechanical delay" and rescheduled the delivery for Monday instead of Friday. After receiving the delivery yesterday (Monday), I emailed BRS and requested a refund for the shipping charge. I received a response from BRS today, but this time I got a passive aggressive response from the CSR.

He said this:
" Hey there, Thank you for reaching out to us.I see this order has a delay and we will get that refunded. I do see you requested it on your previous order and we did refund it, however, that order should have not been. That was ordered on the 9th after cut off and went out on the 10th, a Friday, for Monday delivery. NDA to go out the same day needs to be ordered by 12PM CST."

While I appreciate the refund for the late shipments, I do not understand the reason for the passive agressive response. Especially when what he is saying is NOT true and any effort to research my order and tracking the package would show that he's not giving accurate information. The order he mentions as not valid for the refund was ordered on the 8th at 10:24 pm hawaii standard time, and received by BRS and confirmed via confirmation email as being received on Thursday the 9th at 2:22AM CST, much earlier than their 12PM cut off time. Further if he had tracked the package, their own tracking information show's the package did get shipped out on Thursday the 9th with an expected delivery on the 10th. It also shows a "mechanical delay" in the tracking. NOT as he stated which was it was shipped out on Friday the 10th.

First off If he was going to refund anyway why accuse me of any FAULT, and why make me have to defend my case???

Honestly, I feel I am a good customer to BRS, from January 2023 I have spent a total of $5,580 dollars with them. Why make me feel I am wrong for requesting a refund when I didn't get the service I paid for???? Not only that but it is of no cost to BRS to issue the refund, UPS has a guaranteed delivery on next day air shipments. All they need to do is request a GSR "guaranteed service refund". I know as my company ships with UPS and we request these refunds with no problem from UPS.

I don't know, this BRS CSR seems to have sided with UPS and decided to make me wrong for making what I feel is a fair and equittable refund request.

After this experience, I will not be shopping with BRS whenever possible.

Mahalo for reading!

wow, sensitive!!

 

[Sal Amadeo]

Here's what he says:
" I do see you requested it on your previous order and we did refund it, however, that order should have not been. That was ordered on the 9th after cut off and went out on the 10th, a Friday, for Monday delivery"


OK, but why did he mention that the order shouldn't have been refunded, when infact it was totally within their policy and should have been refunded and then support the reason I was incorrectly refunded with wrong information. Why say anything about the previous order all? the only reason I can think of is that he's attempting to make me wrong for asking?

why don't you ask him?

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Hello all,

I just want to know how you feel about BRS customer service these days?

I received a passive agressive response from BRS and well, I'm honestly frustrated by it.

I live in Hawaii and must pay for shipping, no free shipping to Hawaii. I pay for shipping, but do expect to get the item delivered as guaranteed by UPS, in this case the next day.

Long story short, my past two orders this month from BRS were delivered late by UPS, not BRS. Both paid were shipped via UPS next day air.

1st late order was received on a Monday instead of Friday. The UPS tracking showed "mechanical delay" and rescheduled the delivery for Monday instead of Friday. After receiving the delivery on Monday, I emailed BRS and requested a refund for the shipping charge. I received a response from BRS the next day apologising for the delay and received a refund for the next day air shipping. about $125.

2nd late order was received yesterday (Monday) insead of Friday. Again, the UPS tracking showed "mechanical delay" and rescheduled the delivery for Monday instead of Friday. After receiving the delivery yesterday (Monday), I emailed BRS and requested a refund for the shipping charge. I received a response from BRS today, but this time I got a passive aggressive response from the CSR.

He said this:
" Hey there, Thank you for reaching out to us.I see this order has a delay and we will get that refunded. I do see you requested it on your previous order and we did refund it, however, that order should have not been. That was ordered on the 9th after cut off and went out on the 10th, a Friday, for Monday delivery. NDA to go out the same day needs to be ordered by 12PM CST."

While I appreciate the refund for the late shipments, I do not understand the reason for the passive agressive response. Especially when what he is saying is NOT true and any effort to research my order and tracking the package would show that he's not giving accurate information. The order he mentions as not valid for the refund was ordered on the 8th at 10:24 pm hawaii standard time, and received by BRS and confirmed via confirmation email as being received on Thursday the 9th at 2:22AM CST, much earlier than their 12PM cut off time. Further if he had tracked the package, their own tracking information show's the package did get shipped out on Thursday the 9th with an expected delivery on the 10th. It also shows a "mechanical delay" in the tracking. NOT as he stated which was it was shipped out on Friday the 10th.

First off If he was going to refund anyway why accuse me of any FAULT, and why make me have to defend my case???

Honestly, I feel I am a good customer to BRS, from January 2023 I have spent a total of $5,580 dollars with them. Why make me feel I am wrong for requesting a refund when I didn't get the service I paid for???? Not only that but it is of no cost to BRS to issue the refund, UPS has a guaranteed delivery on next day air shipments. All they need to do is request a GSR "guaranteed service refund". I know as my company ships with UPS and we request these refunds with no problem from UPS.

I don't know, this BRS CSR seems to have sided with UPS and decided to make me wrong for making what I feel is a fair and equittable refund request.

After this experience, I will not be shopping with BRS whenever possible.

Mahalo for reading!

Hi @FinsNgills808,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'm sorry to hear about your recent experience with our customer service team and the delayed delivery of your orders. I can understand how frustrating it is to pay for shipping and not receive the service you've paid for.

The intent was to inform about our shipping cutoff times, but the response you received should have been worded differently. Looking at your two delayed orders, I think there was also a miscalculation in the time zone differences on our part.

I'm glad to see that the shipping charges were refunded back to you, and I will make sure to follow up with our customer service team to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again in the future.


Thank you for giving us the opportunity to improve.

 

[vetteguy53081]

UPS has been less than timely since November 2022 prior to holidays in certain regions due to extreme weather we have seen.
BRS is to blame IF they have shipped orders late which is generally within 12 hours. My last three orders with them have all com a day early (as I am next state over)..... but once items leave their facility, its on the carrier, not BRS

 

[Cabinetman]

Not sure where you get the passive aggressive from. The reply seemed professional to me.

 

[FinsNgills808]

Hi @FinsNgills808,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'm sorry to hear about your recent experience with our customer service team and the delayed delivery of your orders. I can understand how frustrating it is to pay for shipping and not receive the service you've paid for.

The intent was to inform about our shipping cutoff times, but the response you received should have been worded differently. Looking at your two delayed orders, I think there was also a miscalculation in the time zone differences on our part.

I'm glad to see that the shipping charges were refunded back to you, and I will make sure to follow up with our customer service team to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again in the future.


Thank you for giving us the opportunity to improve.

Bulk Reef Supply,

Thank you for taking the time to understand my concerns and frustrations. I appreciate all that you do for the community, your considerate response reinforces the reason why I choose to do business with you.

As stated in my request for refund, I know BRS was not responsible for the late deliveries and know this was out of your control. Though the late deliveries were frustrating, I never placed the blame on you. I know UPS sometimes has trouble and that it is their delivery time guarantee that was not upheld, hence the request for refund.

All we can do as individuals, hobbyist, customers, and companies is try to improve. Misplaced blame, misunderstandings and misscommunication is a detriment to the community and society as a whole, this is why I decided to bring this to light, your response has renewed my faith in BRS and I look forward to doing business with you again, I only hope (with these refunds) UPS will try to improve and uphold their commitment to on time deliveries.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has shared their opinion on this thread, I read everyones posts and understand.

I'm also a business owner and understand where the other business owners are coming from. I too believe that text doesn't convey emotion and the written word can and maybe misunderstood. This is why I decided to reach out here for clarification and your opinions, mahalo for contributing. In addition, I posted it here in the BRS forum so they may respond and provide everyone reading some clarity, which to me did not disappoint!

There were also comments about sensitivity and microcosm, I am whole heartedly sensitive and I'm not ashamed of it. I believe Hawaii is a microcosm and my being sensitive is due to this. Hawaii (the aloha state) is a small, tight knit community, everyone knows you in some way or form. A weekend trip to a grocery store or shopping center can result in an hour long conversation with friends or family you may not have seen in years. This is especially important when doing business here. Word of mouth moves quickly and personal interaction says a lot more than digital communication. This is why I am sensitive, I'm sensitive to my friends, family, customers, and personal interations. I admit this sensitivity may cause misunderstandings when done digitally, therefore I try to do things in person as much as possible or over the phone at the very least. Unfortunately, Hawaii being remote and in a different time zone makes it difficult. At the same time I also believe this sensitivity is a benefit to my friends, family, community, and customers. "share the aloha spirit".

I don't think anyone here, BRS or UPS intended to cause frustration, it was not personal, but misplaced blame, miscommunication, missinformation, and passing the responsiblity to the wrong party is a breeding ground for frustration. My hope was to present this as my feelings and hoped for a reassuring commitment to try and improve, which it did.

I'd also like to share a few thoughts about the current hobby here in Hawaii. As many of you know there is a ban on ornamental marine fish collection in the state of Hawaii. I do not agree with this and it has caused many to leave the hobby and business' financial strain. Many old time LFS have changed owners, gone out of business, or were forced let their fisherman go (many of which have been collecting fish for their lifetime). These companies and fisherman have shown that responsible collection results in a sustainable fishery. I try to shop locally as much as possible to support these local business' and have donated some of my captive bred clownfish to the shops to help. It is a sad state of affairs to see these lfs suffering and also not being able to share the beautiful fish of Hawaii with fellow hobbyists around the world.

Mahalo to all who have contributed and shared their opinion, always trying to improve.

 

[Benpastw]

Bulk Reef Supply,

Thank you for taking the time to understand my concerns and frustrations. I appreciate all that you do for the community, your considerate response reinforces the reason why I choose to do business with you.

As stated in my request for refund, I know BRS was not responsible for the late deliveries and know this was out of your control. Though the late deliveries were frustrating, I never placed the blame on you. I know UPS sometimes has trouble and that it is their delivery time guarantee that was not upheld, hence the request for refund.

All we can do as individuals, hobbyist, customers, and companies is try to improve. Misplaced blame, misunderstandings and misscommunication is a detriment to the community and society as a whole, this is why I decided to bring this to light, your response has renewed my faith in BRS and I look forward to doing business with you again, I only hope (with these refunds) UPS will try to improve and uphold their commitment to on time deliveries.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has shared their opinion on this thread, I read everyones posts and understand.

I'm also a business owner and understand where the other business owners are coming from. I too believe that text doesn't convey emotion and the written word can and maybe misunderstood. This is why I decided to reach out here for clarification and your opinions, mahalo for contributing. In addition, I posted it here in the BRS forum so they may respond and provide everyone reading some clarity, which to me did not disappoint!

There were also comments about sensitivity and microcosm, I am whole heartedly sensitive and I'm not ashamed of it. I believe Hawaii is a microcosm and my being sensitive is due to this. Hawaii (the aloha state) is a small, tight knit community, everyone knows you in some way or form. A weekend trip to a grocery store or shopping center can result in an hour long conversation with friends or family you may not have seen in years. This is especially important when doing business here. Word of mouth moves quickly and personal interaction says a lot more than digital communication. This is why I am sensitive, I'm sensitive to my friends, family, customers, and personal interations. I admit this sensitivity may cause misunderstandings when done digitally, therefore I try to do things in person as much as possible or over the phone at the very least. Unfortunately, Hawaii being remote and in a different time zone makes it difficult. At the same time I also believe this sensitivity is a benefit to my friends, family, community, and customers. "share the aloha spirit".

I don't think anyone here, BRS or UPS intended to cause frustration, it was not personal, but misplaced blame, miscommunication, missinformation, and passing the responsiblity to the wrong party is a breeding ground for frustration. My hope was to present this as my feelings and hoped for a reassuring commitment to try and improve, which it did.

I'd also like to share a few thoughts about the current hobby here in Hawaii. As many of you know there is a ban on ornamental marine fish collection in the state of Hawaii. I do not agree with this and it has caused many to leave the hobby and business' financial strain. Many old time LFS have changed owners, gone out of business, or were forced let their fisherman go (many of which have been collecting fish for their lifetime). These companies and fisherman have shown that responsible collection results in a sustainable fishery. I try to shop locally as much as possible to support these local business' and have donated some of my captive bred clownfish to the shops to help. It is a sad state of affairs to see these lfs suffering and also not being able to share the beautiful fish of Hawaii with fellow hobbyists around the world.

Mahalo to all who have contributed and shared their opinion, always trying to improve.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I don't know, do you see where he says I ordered it after the cut off when infact I ordered it a good 10 hours before the cut off? and then says it was shipped out the next day (10th), when infact it was shipped out on the 9th?

My response would have been " Can you read a clock? I'm fairly certain 2:00 a.m. CST comes before 12:00 p.m. CST on any given date"

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

First of all, I have no problem calling people out. If someone failed at doing their job properly and it affects me I will let them know. If someone is paying for overnight shipping and it does not arrive on time then yes there should be a refund. I can see the distaste the CSR created in the OP, but good for BRS for reaching out.

 

[62518161]

 

[BeanAnimal]

Wow. Props to BRS for giving you the refunds. That's unheard of ... Usually most vendors just say sorry not our problem, good luck with UPS on your own.

They don’t deserve praise for this, it is their responsibility as the shipper and the contract with UPS.

The bigger issue is the carriers. I regularly get delivery exceptions that are flat out fabrications, especially if it is raining. “failed delivery attempt, signature required” and see the truck stop briefly on the security cam footage (presumable to fool then gps tracker) with the driver not wanting to get out in the rain. Lazy and common. FedEx is 10x worse and is so bad that they have suspended delivery guarantees even on next day packages.

 

[EL_Perron]

I'm not sure you know what passive aggressive means.

I don't know how they could have possibly worded it, any less aggressive.

I think you came here grasping at straws trying to stir a mob in hopes of pressuring them into refunding money to save face...

This really hasn't gone your way.

 

[FinsNgills808]

I'm not sure you know what passive aggressive means.

I don't know how they could have possibly worded it, any less aggressive.

I think you came here grasping at straws trying to stir a mob in hopes of pressuring them into refunding money to save face...

This really hasn't gone your way.

I'm not sure you read what I wrote or that your comprehension is not so good.... BRS had already refunded me before I posted this....

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'm not sure you know what passive aggressive means.

I don't know how they could have possibly worded it, any less aggressive.

I think you came here grasping at straws trying to stir a mob in hopes of pressuring them into refunding money to save face...

This really hasn't gone your way.

Nothing like responding without reading enough of the thread to do so in context :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: