MGREPTILES Trouble with shipment

Hey,

I've noticed that Matt's proposed solutions nearly all involve blaming someone else:

Number 1- blame the shipper!
1. Switching to UPS or possibly Fedex only using USPS as a choosable option for the customer, this removes some delay as USPS is proving to be undependable.

Number 2- blame the customer!
2. Only selling to my distributors in Canada and not selling anywhere else as that initself is problematic. Sorry UK and the rest of the world

Number 3- blame the website
3. New website that automatically informs the customer what the status of the order is. (Yes sometimes I do forgect to send an email but the deal with Ken is not the case). Tells quanity in stock and hopefully prints orders into a batch every morning and evening(Is that possible Nathen)

Number 4- blame the products
4. Downsizing what I offer. Some of the auto items are just not profitable enough to offer, like the emitters, bulbs etc. This will remove alot of the orders being delayed as the rest of the products are ready to rock and roll.

Number 5- blame the unhired employee
5. Still trying to hire some help, anyone local to 25154????

When does the blame come to Matt? I guess never. If you noticed 2 years ago on the BOI, if anyone jumped on Matt- everyone came to his defense, now it's about 50/50.... tells me something.

I wish I had too much business! Darn pesky customers!

Steve Harrison
Jacksonville, FL

Hey,

I've noticed that Matt's proposed solutions nearly all involve blaming someone else:

Number 1- blame the shipper!
1. Switching to UPS or possibly Fedex only using USPS as a choosable option for the customer, this removes some delay as USPS is proving to be undependable.

Number 2- blame the customer!
2. Only selling to my distributors in Canada and not selling anywhere else as that initself is problematic. Sorry UK and the rest of the world

Number 3- blame the website
3. New website that automatically informs the customer what the status of the order is. (Yes sometimes I do forgect to send an email but the deal with Ken is not the case). Tells quanity in stock and hopefully prints orders into a batch every morning and evening(Is that possible Nathen)

Number 4- blame the products
4. Downsizing what I offer. Some of the auto items are just not profitable enough to offer, like the emitters, bulbs etc. This will remove alot of the orders being delayed as the rest of the products are ready to rock and roll.

Number 5- blame the unhired employee
5. Still trying to hire some help, anyone local to 25154????

When does the blame come to Matt? I guess never. If you noticed 2 years ago on the BOI, if anyone jumped on Matt- everyone came to his defense, now it's about 50/50.... tells me something.

I wish I had too much business! Darn pesky customers!

Steve Harrison
Jacksonville, FL

Steve, I like to look at things more positive. To me it really doesn't matter what the plan is. Just by having a plan there is an acknowledgement of a problem, which is a step in the right direction. It remains to be seen if the changes work.
I am not looking crucify anyone here, which to me was purpose of your post. Sure Matt didn't say "I screwed up etc." but he did say I am making changes, which to me amounts to the same thing.

Wes

Matt's TOS also says this:

Shipping usually takes place within 24 hours of receipt, orders for thermostats and flexwatt can take up to 7 working days before shipping.

I'll be completely candid on this one. The buyers Emails were way over the top and he should be censured for that........However.....

There have been way too many incidents like this one recently for Matt to be able to play the "I'm busy and I'm fixing it" card. The product in question is his bread and butter item. How in the Hell can he always be out of one of the three components?

TOS are great things to have and very important as guidelines to any business. I have a set myself. However, given that this order took a month to arrive, was supposed to be a rush in the first place and additional shipping was charged for that reason Matt needs to step out from behind his almighty TOS and do the right thing. Any good businessman needs to realize that there are no absolutes and exceptions always need to be made. The package had not even been opened. The customer no longer had a use for the product due to the delay. A full refund with a sincere apology was in order, not a formal quoting of his TOS.

Lately there has been way to strong of a tendency to support the guy with the name over the wronged party on this Board. The Ronne thread was another prime example of that. The thread starter in both this and that thread was called a liar while the subjects of the threads are just "busy and miscalculated on an estimate".

A few of you guys have gone way over the top thinking that everyone who starts a thread on a "name" must have an ulterior motive or an agenda.

Bottom line is that sometimes.....they just got screwed.....like this time.

Originally Posted by kmurphy

Steve, I like to look at things more positive. To me it really doesn't matter what the plan is. Just by having a plan there is an acknowledgement of a problem, which is a step in the right direction. It remains to be seen if the changes work.
I am not looking crucify anyone here, which to me was purpose of your post. Sure Matt didn't say "I screwed up etc." but he did say I am making changes, which to me amounts to the same thing.

He's been saying that for damn near a year Kevin. It only works for so long.

and a couple of observations. Generally I steer clear of the dry goods related issues like this. Obviously I can be considered to have a bias. Someone like MG might leave pathetic negative Karma points for me. Especially pathetic and ironic when you consider who left them. Seems I am now in this one, at least on a limited basis.

Actually, they were on a page of used items and and I oversold the used ones I have so you actually received new ones at a used price..lol.. If you buy from reptile basicis you are pretty much buying from me but I just dont get the money.

Page 3 of this thread, Robin's post.

You will want to consider your answer very carefully Matt. I save all emails. Even from mid 2005. What I want to know is....

How EXACTLY is buying from me in any way, shape or form buying from you regardless of who gets the money?? What EXACTLY is the implication supposed to be in that statement??

The smart answer here is something along the lines of "gee, that was kind of a dumb thing to say in retrospect. Sorry about that. It will not happen again". It really will be in your best interest, and mine, to clear that up pretty quick now that it has been made public by Robin. You live and die by your mistakes and I will do the same with mine. DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO PLAY ME OFF AS YOUR FLUNKIE. The day I work for you or buy from you then you can go for it. You want to call me a flaming a-hole, thats fine and to be expected. Even invited. Means I do my job well. You want to make greatly exaggerated claims of business and success that is not my problem and I have no desire to make it my problem. Don't bring me into that discussion. I would rather watch the public use their own calculator. More fun! They will learn to add sooner or later.

Observation:
Jamie, thanks for pointing out my TOS. Fact is I do not really know what it says. I haven't read it since I put it on the site. Haven't had to. I know when I drop the ball or mess something up. Happens about once a month or so. I fix it instantly and to the best of my ability at the time. Sometimes it is cheap and easy, sometimes not. I also know when I did not mess up and am being taken advantage of. That is also dealt with instantly and to the best of my ability at the time. It is 2000 times easier to hear about it once than hear about it in a 70 page thread for a week. Only reason I have a TOS is occasionally someone asks what they are when they are considering a purchase. I don't use it as a business guide. Do the right thing and you don't need to. Funny, threads about me in the BOI are typically less than 2 pages and very uneventful. Just how I like it. Thanks to all who have posted by the way. My TOS has never been discussed as far as I know and no one has come on here debating them or picking them apart. Anyone who wishes to copy/use them go for it.

Bottom line-MG and I have very different approaches to the same business. That is fine and I have no gripes. Don't have the time. Go with where you think you are getting the right combination of price, advice and service- wherever that may be-and all will be right in the world. Thats all anyone can ask.

He's been saying that for damn near a year Kevin. It only works for so long.

Actually, John I didn't realize that. I'll probably still give him the benefit of the doubt though. As you can see from one of my earlier posts I thought Ken should get a full refund. Along with that I agree with this statement of yours completely

The buyers Emails were way over the top and he should be censured for that....

Kevin

rich, my helix and flexwatt hero!! nice post.
let us know if he gives you negative reps like he has done to people before!


vaughn

Dry Goods Guarantee/ Returns: All dry goods have a unconditional 30
day money back guarantee. They must be returned to the original state
they were delivered in. After the 30 day trial period, if a product is
returned for warranty issues then shipping must be paid by the customer
to and from MG Reptiles. No returns on liquids, flexwatt, aerosol
products or used goods. Cancellations of any thermostat ordered for you
by MG Reptiles will be subject to a 50% fee on the refund as we cannot
cancel the order because you did. Please email us for a return number.

This was maybe stated already but what seems to be happening is that Matt doesn’t have everything in stock. If you think about it it would be business suicide to have all that money tied up in merchandise waiting for someone to order a specific item. Very large companies can probably do it (Big Apple, LLL, etc.), but medium to small companies more than likely order from a major supplier as the items are ordered from them. The problem is that some of those items are oftentimes not even made by those large companies which in turn place their orders from overseas. If something goes wrong along that chain Matt will be the ultimate responsible in front of the person who orders from him. The problem arises not because of the unforeseen delay in itself but because of the unrealistic expectation that everything will go as planned, from the assembly line in Taiwan to the distribution center in the US. My question is similar to that posted by John, how is this different from other vendors of even live snakes where a well-known breeder orders animals from another at a discounted price to supply them to his customer base. How many times has anyone read an ad stating: “if you don’t see what you are looking for ask, because we probably have it in stock”. Does anyone really think that those items/animals are in the back of the store somewhere? Again, how does this differ from those that deliver cages 2,3,4 weeks later than they were supposed to?

The difference is that they simply state in their TOS that they will get to the orders as materials arrive, or when the working crew can get to it, etc. What they do is no different except for the fact that they told the customer upfront: “expect the unexpected”. Matt on the other hand seems to be an optimist by nature who feels that everything will go according to his intentions.

Regards.

Ken, while I don't think some of the language in your emails to Matt was appropriate, and your stated intention to bring Matt down even if you have to "lie, cheat or steal" lost you pretty much any sympathy I may have had for you, I think you deserve a full refund. Provided that the box from Matt really still is unopened.
I understand Matt's position on refunds concerning electronic components, it all comes down to liability, the most feared word in business.

That said, I'd like to propose a solution:

Ken-ship the box back to Matt, still in its original unopened state.

Matt- once you've received the box, and verified that it is unopened, and none of the contents have been messed with, issue Ken a refund, including the return shipping cost. As I said Matt, I understand your concerns about liability, but if the buyer never opened the box, he can't have tampered with the product.

Hey Matt...What kind of thermostat is it? depending I will buy it from you. I need one anyway, and this way you make right and don't lose the sale
God Bless
Aaron J Peterson