Mike @ Outback Reptiles

What is the point of this thread? Are you trying to drive business away from outback? I personally think this will help bring in new sales and I hope it does. As humans we are naturally flawed and we all screw up. But what measures a man is how he handles his screw ups. Mike immediately refunded. What's the problem. I understand you were looking forward to getting your animal but another cool one will turn up again. I promise you that. This is so so so so not a big deal and certainly was not worth posting. Being disappointed always sucks atleast a little but COME ON this sotuation is pretty much nothing.
So what have we learned here. Well if you do business with outback reptiles sounds like your in guaranteed good hands. If there is a problem it will get fixed. And fixed FAST!! Mike is a good dude. And the owner Ian runs a tidy ship. There is a good reason outback has been around since the 90s. Flat out great business all the way around.
If you never want to deal with them again it will be your loss.

I guess what I hoped to see was just an assurance that there was going to be a change in the system to minimize this happening again. I was done with this thread but am now seeing it turn on Eyvonne, the OP, so I'll say it one more time.

The OP repeatedly tried to make contact Monday and was ignored.

The fact that only 1 in 29 orders went wrong is not reassuring to me. I'd love it if I had a 1 in 29 chance of winning the lottery. A 1 in 29 chance of not getting my order AND not being notified in a timely manner, not so much.

Again I will say, this is NOT a bad guy thread. The OP/buyer has been made whole. But to lay this mistake and its consequences at the feet of the OP/buyer is plain wrong. She contacted several times Monday and was not responded to in a timely manner. I don't see Mike's screenshots of any calls to the OP where he tried to reach her on Monday or where she was unavailable or didn't return his calls. He simply didn't follow through. Not a crime for sure, but not good business practice either.

Odds are that - after doing a busy two day show, traveling home, and dealing with the immediate needs of the returning animals - Mike may not have been there on Monday when she was calling. Nobody is business 24/7, if they have any sense. That doesn't explain why NOBODY responded to her, or why she took a day off from work without confirmed shipping.
As far as worries about the health of the animal, I can't take people seriously when they say that while having the animal shipped to their door during the summer or winter. There are better options if the health of the animal is of concern.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

Odds are that - after doing a busy two day show, traveling home, and dealing with the immediate needs of the returning animals - Mike may not have been there on Monday when she was calling. Nobody is business 24/7, if they have any sense. That doesn't explain why NOBODY responded to her, or why she took a day off from work without confirmed shipping.
As far as worries about the health of the animal, I can't take people seriously when they say that while having the animal shipped to their door during the summer or winter. There are better options if the health of the animal is of concern.

Actually, Mike told me to "call anytime, 24 hours a day. We are always open", which it also says on his FaceBook page.

Secondly, I had to call a do-worker in advance to get my shift covered. It wouldn't be fair for me to just show up for work after she had already driven into the city to work my shift.

Finally, for those asking "why did the OP post this thread?". Isn't that what the BOI is for? To share with the community how people do business? I have posted "Good Guy" threads plenty of times, and people didn't ask why I posted those.

~Beau

Originally Posted by BeauBoi

Actually, Mike told me to "call anytime, 24 hours a day. We are always open", which it also says on his FaceBook page.

Secondly, I had to call a do-worker in advance to get my shift covered. It wouldn't be fair for me to just show up for work after she had already driven into the city to work my shift.

Finally, for those asking "why did the OP post this thread?". Isn't that what the BOI is for? To share with the community how people do business? I have posted "Good Guy" threads plenty of times, and people didn't ask why I posted those.

~Beau

Oh, and just so you know, I DID express concern about shipping in this heat to Mike, but he said that he was already shipping other animals on Monday and that the overnight temperatures would be fine as long as I was there to sign for it and "not just leave it sitting one the porch which would violate the live arrival guarantee".

~Beau

I feel compelled to toss in my opinion since I've done business with Mike, would do so again, and want to see him succeed because I was very pleased with both the animals and service I received.

A: It is insane to home in on a single mistake and demand an entire functional process be changed. If this becomes a regular problem I volunteer to review the process and suggest changes. I do this for large corporations and am pretty good at identifying if a mistake is derived from a process issue or simple one time human error.

B: Mike gave a full refund, offered a discount, and even a pizza! I believe this qualifies as extraordinary service in the reptile industry. I have to be honest I often wonder how people I've had good transactions with would handle a bad transaction. They happen to everyone at least once because humans are human. This example gives me confidence in recommending Mike to anyone.

C: I don't really have a C point but 3 points just look better...

- Dan Brownfield

Originally Posted by Craig Wyatt

What is the point of this thread?

The point is she was sharing her experience.

Originally Posted by Craig Wyatt

Are you trying to drive business away from outback?

I didn't infer that.


I think it's good that she posted. It shows a few things, that when something does go wrong, Mike will refund & apologize if the error was his.

It also shows that if one emails or calls, to ask are you sure the animal is available & are you vending a show this weekend.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just my 2 cents but I don't think Beau 's intention was to drag Mike through the mud as some people seem to think. Clearly there is a flaw in his online system as it is possible for an employee to sell a snake and it still be purchased, and paid for, on the website. Plus, the lack of communication as soon as the mistake was discovered is frustrating. I don't think Mike is a bad guy for this occurring, but it does make a potential customer ask themselves if they want to tie up funds, not knowing if they are actually going to get what they bought.

I think what Beau is looking for is you (Mike) to look at your own system and see if there is something you can do to avoid someone feeling the disappointment she felt. Possibly tie your POS in to your website , require all sales be logged as soon as the sale takes place, require a nightly inventory verification against the website stock, etc.
Time is money and, like my money, my time isn't infinite so I would be quite irritated as well if I had to take a day off work for this. Also, to anyone saying she shouldn't have take the day off until she had the tracking #, not all of us have the luxery of being able to take time off with that short of notice.

All in all, sorry to hear the sale went sour... I'm glad you shared your experience and I hope Mike uses it as an opportunity to improve his inventory system. Improvement is good, as is pizza

Sent from my SM-T520 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by DanSB

I feel compelled to toss in my opinion since I've done business with Mike, would do so again, and want to see him succeed because I was very pleased with both the animals and service I received.

Very happy to hear that.

Originally Posted by DanSB

A: It is insane to home in on a single mistake and demand an entire functional process be changed. If this becomes a regular problem I volunteer to review the process and suggest changes. I do this for large corporations and am pretty good at identifying if a mistake is derived from a process issue or simple one time human error.

Insane? Kind of over the top language there. We don't know whether this is a single mistake or not. No one is demanding. Hoping, yes. Requesting, yes. Expressing some level of frustration, yes. Constantly acknowledging that this was a mistake and not a bad guy, yes.

Originally Posted by DanSB

B: Mike gave a full refund, offered a discount, and even a pizza! I believe this qualifies as extraordinary service in the reptile industry. I have to be honest I often wonder how people I've had good transactions with would handle a bad transaction. They happen to everyone at least once because humans are human. This example gives me confidence in recommending Mike to anyone.

Yes, he did refund and good for him. Yes, mistakes happen. But being unwilling to learn from, evaluate and change behavior as a result of a mistake that caused a paying customer a major inconvenience, not so great. I don't know about you but when I make I mistake I try to learn from it, so at least my next mistake will be a different one.

Originally Posted by DanSB

C: I don't really have a C point but 3 points just look better...

Not really, lol.

Originally Posted by AllisonLeigh

Just my 2 cents but I don't think Beau 's intention was to drag Mike through the mud as some people seem to think. Clearly there is a flaw in his online system as it is possible for an employee to sell a snake and it still be purchased, and paid for, on the website. Plus, the lack of communication as soon as the mistake was discovered is frustrating. I don't think Mike is a bad guy for this occurring, but it does make a potential customer ask themselves if they want to tie up funds, not knowing if they are actually going to get what they bought.

I think what Beau is looking for is you (Mike) to look at your own system and see if there is something you can do to avoid someone feeling the disappointment she felt. Possibly tie your POS in to your website , require all sales be logged as soon as the sale takes place, require a nightly inventory verification against the website stock, etc.
Time is money and, like my money, my time isn't infinite so I would be quite irritated as well if I had to take a day off work for this. Also, to anyone saying she shouldn't have take the day off until she had the tracking #, not all of us have the luxery of being able to take time off with that short of notice.

All in all, sorry to hear the sale went sour... I'm glad you shared your experience and I hope Mike uses it as an opportunity to improve his inventory system. Improvement is good, as is pizza

Sent from my SM-T520 using Tapatalk

Like many in this thread, you are addressing this as if it is Mike's system and Mike's problem. Mike does not own Outback Reptiles - he's an employee.
A mistake was made, apologieS were given, and offers made to help ease the sting. If somebody doesn't like the way it was handled, it is their prerogative to shop elsewhere....and, the reality is, with the volume of business they do, they likely won't miss the people that get bent about something like this.

The OP was not forced to accept that particular day for shipping, so the crying about taking the day off falls on (in my case) unsympathetic ears. I understand that some people work M-F, and don't have weekdays available to receive shipments...but people manage all the time. One can have them delivered to a trusted friend or family member; some people have animals shipped to their jobs...but having shipments held at the hub is a safer option for the animals anyway. There's also the option of Delta Dash (not really worth it for a single, inexpensive animal - but it's still an option).