Passive agressive email from BRS customer service representative.

[FinsNgills808]

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.

I agree, I suspect they make excuses to not attempt delivery. Once I was home and waiting for a package to arrive, I got a text from FEDEX saying delivery attempted, no one home and the driver didn't show up at all. I called FEDEX and explained the situation. I have a doorbell camera and told them I can send them the video. The driver showed up 20 minutes later with the package.

No way to change employee behavior, but requesting refunds for delays will hopefully make the shipping companies make corrections.

Fortunately, in this situation the tracking was logged with a mechanical failure and applicable for a refund. If it were not applicable for a refund I would not have requested the refund from BRS.

 

[BeanAnimal]

We get packages daily and have issues regularly with BS delivery exceptions. Our regular drivers are pretty good. The Express, fill-in, and contract drivers are mostly terrible. I had FedEx leave coral at wrong commercial address across town a few weeks back. They left it on a freezing cold loading dock That had nothing to do with me or my address. the driver lied… long story how we tracked it down.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

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.

16 posts in 16 years... and you decide to come back and comment with an attitude on a post which you didn't even read?
You win the Trophy Brah...

 

[blaxsun]

What I took away from this is if you want something delivered on Friday order it on Wednesday...

 

[Borat]

..anyway - what did you order and did it survive the transit?

 

[FinsNgills808]

What I took away from this is if you want something delivered on Friday order it on Wednesday...

I agree, and that is why I did order it on Wednesday HST. UPS failed to deliver on time due to a "mechanical failure" so BRS issued a refund for the shipping cost. The reason for this thread was to bring to light the CSR's response.

DON't want to waste my time having to keep explaining this to people, just read the thread.

BUT yes, if you want something delivered UPS next day air for a Friday delivery, order it before the BRS cut off time of 12pm CST on Thursday like I did with both orders. Then if the delivery is delayed, contact BRS and request a refund.

 

[FinsNgills808]

..anyway - what did you order and did it survive the transit?

1st delayed shipment was an LED lighting fixture, It survived.
2nd delayed shipment was an Apex energy bar, it survived.

I think I should mention, Hawaii is very restrictive, any livestock shipments requires a permit issued by the Department of Land and Natural resources. The permit costs $100 a year and each shipment requires a state inspector to check the package before it is delivered, I believe there is a fee tacked on to each shipment as well. Also any coral is illegal to keep in Hawaii. Permit or not, just not allowed/illegal. Years ago I had a permit and received shipments, but it was too much trouble to reapply each year and the cost was too much. Now I just request what I want from the LFS.

 

[Reef.]

I can understand why the OP felt the response was passive aggressive from his pov but I feel it wasn’t, asking for a refund can make you feel awkward from the start, then to get a reply giving incorrect facts would only add to an already awkward situation.
I think the customer service agent just made an honest mistake, if he was correct and the previous order had been refunded incorrectly then would his reply still be seen as passive aggressive, probably not, so a mistake doesn’t make a response passive aggressive it’s just a mistake.
As said I can totally see why the OP got a little upset as paying so much for delivery, then not to get the order on time would do that to most people.

Have to say that is a crazy delivery price, is that a flat rate or did you order livestock etc I would have to have a $1k order before I could justify so much on shipping.

Edit OP posted whilst I was typing, saw the order was for big items not just a tub of carbon

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

1st delayed shipment was an LED lighting fixture, It survived.
2nd delayed shipment was an Apex energy bar, it survived.

I think I should mention, Hawaii is very restrictive, any livestock shipments requires a permit issued by the Department of Land and Natural resources. The permit costs $100 a year and each shipment requires a state inspector to check the package before it is delivered, I believe there is a fee tacked on to each shipment as well. Also any coral is illegal to keep in Hawaii. Permit or not, just not allowed/illegal. Years ago I had a permit and received shipments, but it was too much trouble to reapply each year and the cost was too much. Now I just request what I want from the LFS.

Can you keep native corals? I understand the concept of "invasive" species which makes sense. Have to deal with California's version of that.

 

[FinsNgills808]

Can you keep native corals? I understand the concept of "invasive" species which makes sense. Have to deal with California's version of that.

only type of coral that can be kept are local zoanthids and anemones that are tank raised and with the current ban nothing. We only get to enjoy the corals when swimming in the pacific ocean.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

only type of coral that can be kept are local zoanthids and anemones that are tank raised and with the current ban nothing. We only get to enjoy the corals when swimming in the pacific ocean.

Man that’s rough, hopefully they’ll lift that ban soon!

 

[Wasabiroot]

It's too bad about the fish thing. Hopefully they'll get it sorted and see the light. Corals kind of make a bit more sense - Hawaii is, ultimately, a relatively unique ecosystem and a lot of harm can be done introducing non-native species to an area. Are there any captive breeders you could source from?

Props to you for owning up to being a bit sensitive. Your confession was heartfelt and I admit I went from thinking you were overreacting to giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Kinda stinks that shipping is so expensive, but I suppose that's what you get for living thousands of miles in the ocean (not your fault, lol)

 

[zoomonster]

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!

Let's just go with you had an incompetent rep talking out his posterior. He's guilty of giving out an explanation based on incorrect info but he gave you the refund and I didn't see anything passive aggressive. On the other hand, he probably had no business going back and throwing your previous refund in your face. Then again maybe he was a manager lol.

Everyone is talking about the UPS refunds but there is fine print involved on both sides. As I recall UPS|Fedex are not responsible for delays caused by weather, acts of God or even equipment issues. Especially when it comes to livestock ALWAYS read the shipping policy. Most vendors have policy that basically says your SOL in any of those cases. That hasn't happened to me, on shipping, but there are always two remedies... dispute the CC|Paypal transaction and never do business with that company again. 99% of the time you will win the dispute and the vendors know it.

FTR I have always had good luck with BRS and have probably spent 10k+ over the past 9 years. As a matter of fact, waiting for a BRS package to land on my doorstep today and probably had 4 in last month.

 

[Jonty]

Use another vendor and see if they refund shipping when UPS has issues.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Share...can you call UPS and ask them to hurry up? I dont want to wait until noon!!

 

[zoomonster]

Share...can you call UPS and ask them to hurry up? I dont want to wait until noon!!

Almost forgot I have a couple torches from EC coming today by noon Whatever happened to guaranteed by 10:30? No matter my overnights are usually here by 10-11 anyway.

 

[FinsNgills808]

Let's just go with you had an incompetent rep talking out his posterior. He's guilty of giving out an explanation based on incorrect info but he gave you the refund and I didn't see anything passive aggressive. On the other hand, he probably had no business going back and throwing your previous refund in your face. Then again maybe he was a manager lol.

Everyone is talking about the UPS refunds but there is fine print involved on both sides. As I recall UPS|Fedex are not responsible for delays caused by weather, acts of God or even equipment issues. Especially when it comes to livestock ALWAYS read the shipping policy. Most vendors have policy that basically says your SOL in any of those cases. That hasn't happened to me, on shipping, but there are always two remedies... dispute the CC|Paypal transaction and never do business with that company again. 99% of the time you will win the dispute and the vendors know it.

FTR I have always had good luck with BRS and have probably spent 10k+ over the past 9 years. As a matter of fact, waiting for a BRS package to land on my doorstep today and probably had 4 in last month.

I'm afraid you are doing the same as the BRS CSR, Please read these posts, UPS was absolutely responsible and the delay fell under their guarantee, "mechanical failure". Also just a few posts above, this order was not for live stock,if you know anything about living and shipping to Hawaii, you would know live stock cannot be shipped to Hawaii. Please leave your prejudice or don't type. You're only making a fool of yourself and showing your ignorance. I own a company and ship out via UPS and FEDEX daily, I know their policies and know what BRS will be credited for. IF you know more than I about my situation than I'd be interested in your opinion, but if not than please do not post. It only causes more frustration that I need to correct your misunderstanding.

As I mentioned above, if the delay wasn't going to be covered by UPS's guarantee, I woulnd't have requested the refund. I know their policies, just as I know BRS's policies, all of which I was within my rights to request the refund. As such BRS issued the refunds. It was the misinformed CSR that caused the frustration using bad information, I posted this to bring it to BRS attention, which it did and they replied and will " work with their team so this doesn't happen again". That was the goal and it was achieved. I feel comfortable continuing to do business with them because they took the time and consideration to respond and vowed to improve.

 

[FinsNgills808]

Use another vendor and see if they refund shipping when UPS has issues.

I do all the time, living in Hawaii and doing business in Hawaii I'm very familiar with how shipping works. I've never been denied a shipping refund when the shipping company is responsible. All companies who ship products can request refunds for delayed shipments (when elgible). If a business doesn't issue a refund to a customer than that is a bad business who doesn't care about their customers (you), I wouldn't do business with them again. You shouldn't either. Also I hope you understand BRS did refund the shipping for both of these shipments. I posted this after they gave the refunds, I only posted it here to correct the missinformation the CSR told me and to let BRS know so they can "work with their team and improve". Which I belive is helpful for any customer of BRS, not just me.

 

[FinsNgills808]

Almost forgot I have a couple torches from EC coming today by noon Whatever happened to guaranteed by 10:30? No matter my overnights are usually here by 10-11 anyway.

If you don't get it, call the company you purchased the items from. If they are a company who cares about their customers I'm ssure they will take care of you.

 

[FinsNgills808]

It's too bad about the fish thing. Hopefully they'll get it sorted and see the light. Corals kind of make a bit more sense - Hawaii is, ultimately, a relatively unique ecosystem and a lot of harm can be done introducing non-native species to an area. Are there any captive breeders you could source from?

Props to you for owning up to being a bit sensitive. Your confession was heartfelt and I admit I went from thinking you were overreacting to giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Kinda stinks that shipping is so expensive, but I suppose that's what you get for living thousands of miles in the ocean (not your fault, lol)

it's the cost of living in Paradise indeed! Biota's HPU facility is a few miles from my house, but I don't think they sell locally. There was a big uproar here before the ban cause petco would purchase yellow tangs from Hawaii, ship them to their distributor in the mainland, then ship them back to Hawaii to sell, making them cost $50, the local stores who were allowed to collect them were selling them for $10, needless to say their yellow tangs were dead before they ever sold them. Any item you see on petco's website is 20% higher when you buy it in their local store. I need to walk around the store with my phone in hand so I know what items I should order for store pick up to get the website price. Some items, like aquariums show not available for purchase online even though I can buy it in the store. They do this to ensure they get their listed store price or they would lose money on the sale.

The crazy thing is Biota has coral and clam propagation in their Hawaii Facility yet it is illegal to own or sell. I believe they somehow get away with this because they have an agreement with Hawaii Pacific University, educational.

I have a potter's leopard wrasse that I purchased from a local store just before the ban and it was $13.00. the local fish were very affordable, but any fish from anything but the pacific ocean is much more expensive here, due to the cost of shipping.

Also shipping costs are crazy high now because of the pandemic, and almost everything in Hawaii is shipped in.