Bad Guy Mark/BoaMaster Cages

[Skeetzy]

I'm sad to even be posting this, but would like to share my experience so far with BoaMaster/Mark Venhorst.

I still have emails/receipts for everything if anyone wants to see them for further proof.

Timeline of Events:
Feb 14th-Ordered 3FT B.Dragon Melamine Enclosure
Feb 19th-Told it was going out in the next few days.
Feb 26th-Told it was being worked on.
March 3rd-Told it was leaving tomorrow.
March 6th-Cage arrived.

Not going to lie, I was pretty upset with how long it took to ship a flat pack cage. But, with how happy I seen everyone with BoaMaster cages, I assumed it would be worth the wait.

Arrived first thing this morning, about 5 minutes before I left for work. Noticed a hole in the box, but with it being wood pieces, I assumed it would be fine. Soon as I got home from work, I opened the package. Inside was 5 pieces of wood, my fluorescent light squished up against the wood, my heat tape just tossed in, and nothing else. No screws, only 5 out of the 6 pieces of the cage, and not a single packing material. Honestly surprised the heat tape and fluorescent light aren't broken. But as I said, I am missing the front piece of the cage, with the door.

But that's not the only issues. Take a look for yourselves at the attached pictures. I will be posting another post with a few more. The wood is "dirty". Black smears all over each piece. I thought the wood was supposed to have a white finish. It's more of a tan, with how dirty it is. The top looks like someone burned it. Almost every piece of wood has dented/smashed corners. The bottom looks like someone hit it with a hammer a few times. Pretty much, this cage looks like it was sitting on a shelf for a few years. Which is surprising, since it took 3 weeks to get to my house. Here I was thinking he had to make each cage, and that's why the delay came in.

Now I did just speak with him on the phone, for all of 30 seconds, where he just told me to email him, and he will fix it, and ship it the beginning of next week. Not completely sure what his fix it, whether a new cage, or just the door, but either way not thrilled about being told "next week" when every other time I was told that, it took much longer.

I sent him an email with all the above info pretty much, and am allowing him a chance to correct this issue before I contact my bank to file a dispute on the charge. But at this point, I am still extremely displeased with the service, and that is why I am posting this. I was also scammed by Bobby Hill, and am hoping this is not another one of those situations.

If Mark does correct this, in a proper and timely manner, I will gladly update this entire thread to say so. But I do want this to be public, as this is completely unacceptable for any company, big or small.

 

[Skeetzy]

The rest of the pictures. Now be noted that this is maybe half of all the marks/damages. I don't want to fill the thread with pictures of the same thing over and over.

 

[Skeetzy]

Forgot, my full name is Cory Fanion.

I am working with Mark now on a replacement. He's assuring me it was all in the box when it left, nothing about the damage/dents though. He said he'll be shipping me a replacement this coming Wednesday. Slightly upset with the extra wait, again, but if it comes this time, in new shape as expected, I will be a happy customer.

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

When I bought my first cage from him, I also thought I was missing a piece, but it turned out I had overlooked it. Are you positive you are missing a piece?

Also was wondering which cage that is, it seems to have wire mesh on it?

The cracks and dents don't look very good. Hope the new cage you receive isn't damaged!

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

Sorry, just saw where you listed the cage type.

Also, Mark isn't a scammer, so I'm sure he will send you a replacement.

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

On the melamine cage page, he does state that the color of each enclosure is "almond" unless you specially order another color. Worth noting.

 

[Snakepliscan]

I didn't see the carrier-shipper mentioned? I had a similar experience with a 4 unit rack I ordered years ago. I had called a UPS representative out to look at my damages to my rack. They are notorious for damaging packages. I won't use them to ship anything. The UPS rep took one look at the box and said it wasn't properly packaged-protected and they wouldn't even issue a claim.

So I had to get the seller to ship me another panel at his costs which he was upset about. Not at me but at UPS for rejecting the claim for damages. Cory, if I was you I'd ask Mark to use another courier besides the one that clearly damaged your first shipment. Whether it was due to the courier's mishandling or the shippers poor packing technique.

 

[lilnightmare]

I didn't see the carrier-shipper mentioned? I had a similar experience with a 4 unit rack I ordered years ago. I had called a UPS representative out to look at my damages to my rack. They are notorious for damaging packages. I won't use them to ship anything. The UPS rep took one look at the box and said it wasn't properly packaged-protected and they wouldn't even issue a claim.

So I had to get the seller to ship me another panel at his costs which he was upset about. Not at me but at UPS for rejecting the claim for damages. Cory, if I was you I'd ask Mark to use another courier besides the one that clearly damaged your first shipment. Whether it was due to the courier's mishandling or the shippers poor packing technique.

Poor handling by a courier doesnt account for the burns surely?

 

[tpilon]

he treated me right i was missing some flexwatt from order and he over nighted it to now that is service

 

[hhmoore]

Nothing like giving a seller a chance to fix the problem before posting a bad guy thread...



disclaimer: This response was posted by a person (me) that is not a fan of BoaMaster products


Hopefully, you get your replacement in short order.

 

[Focal]

The burns are on all melamine boamasters that I have seen. I own ten, all of which have the burn markings.

 

[MikeCurtin]

Burns happen at times when dealing with melamine.

I purchased numerous cages and some racks. There were missing lights and a couple miscuts. Mark corrected the problem quickly and satisfactorily.

Mark already told you he would correct the problem. When he does, how does updating this thread correct the problem he has of a big red "X" next to his name? He is a businessman with employees. I don't know whether or not he sends all shipments out himself, but people are only human, and mistakes happen. You probably should have at least given him the chance to correct it before coming here.

 

[Skeetzy]

I did miss the almond color note. I appreciate the info. That still doesn't explain the residue and burn marks all over the wood.

There is definitely a missing piece. Only have 5 boards, a box has 6 sides.

To be 100% honest, I wasn't a happy customer waiting the 3 weeks for a flat pack cage. Then receiving it like this pushed me over the edge. I've been in customer service/retail my entire working life, and would never let this happen to a customer of mine.

Now I will say it again, Mark is working with me to fix this and seems to be true to his word. Regardless of whether he fixes this or not, it still happened. I for one would like to know if a seller had this happened before placing an order. Just like Bobby Hill, I knew he had some issues but gave him a shot anyways. Boy do I regret that. But I never posted a BOI because I knew what I got myself into.

 

[jaminthecity]

*sigh*
Most BOIs are written if the problem isn't solved...not before hand when the seller is willing to fix a problem too..

 

[Kodieh]

Arguably, though, this is a seller with a distinct history of problematic customer service and poor workmanship when it comes to the final product. I don't think this is a misdirected BOI post, I've seen plenty of posts about people with problematic transactions with Mark and many had to go through page 30+ of a BOI bad guy to get a resolution. If it takes a BOI to get Mark going, then this is a good course of action.

Human error happens, once shame on me. Five times, shame on them.

 

[Skeetzy]

I didn't have enough time to elaborate earlier.

I've been in the online sales business, as well as in store retail, along with in store/on-site services. EVERY company I've worked for, if a customer orders something, it is shipped next business day, if not the one after. NEVER later than 2 days after ordering. I can understand if this cage had to be put together, shipped complete, and took time to make. But from the looks of things, this has been sitting on a shelf for awhile, and its a flat pack package. 3 weeks to get it to my door step is unacceptable. I don't know an online business that would find this acceptable.

Now to focus on the missing and damaged pieces. Again EVERY company I've worked for, and dealt with, would have handled this situation differently. As soon as I would have received the call saying this happened, I would be arranging for an overnight shipment to replace the product. Instead, I'm waiting an extra week for it to ship(that's saying he does ship when he says he's going to, and with my experience so far, that's a shot in the dark). If that was my company, my customer would be receiving the new product tomorrow morning. NOT over a week later. This means that I will have waited over a month from purchase date, to official receiving date.

Him fixing it, does NOT change my perspective on my experience with Mark and BoaMaster. After googling a little more, I found some people have had similar issues. I for one wish I seen these before placing my order, regardless if the problems were fixed or not. With the price I paid, and time I'm going to wait for my cage, I could have had a local handy man build me the same cage, for similar pricing, and not dealt with any stress.

I will say that Mark is handling the situation very properly, and I am giving him the chance. But once again, that does not change my experience I've had. Him fixing the order is just saving me the trouble of going through Paypal for a refund, and having to go wait for a local carpenter.

 

[sumatai]

Arguably, though, this is a seller with a distinct history of problematic customer service and poor workmanship when it comes to the final product. I don't think this is a misdirected BOI post, I've seen plenty of posts about people with problematic transactions with Mark and many had to go through page 30+ of a BOI bad guy to get a resolution. If it takes a BOI to get Mark going, then this is a good course of action.

Human error happens, once shame on me. Five times, shame on them.

Actually, with that kind of BOI history, and logic... shame on you (whoever the you is) for buying in the first place.

For what its worth, just purchased 2 of his 4x2 PVC's, arrived 5 days after purchase in flawless condition. And yes, I was aware of his BOI before I purchased, I simply made a decision to take a buyer beware attitude and was prepared for a less than timely transaction. Looks like I ended up on the good side of the stick.


Dale

 

[Kodieh]

Actually, with that kind of BOI history, and logic... shame on you (whoever the you is) for buying in the first place.

For what its worth, just purchased 2 of his 4x2 PVC's, arrived 5 days after purchase in flawless condition. And yes, I was aware of his BOI before I purchased, I simply made a decision to take a buyer beware attitude and was prepared for a less than timely transaction. Looks like I ended up on the good side of the stick.


Dale

That is a fair logical argument, but does the buyer not have a reasonable expectation of a complete, non-damaged, timely order? If I were a repeat customer and this happened, I can see a shame on me, but a first time customer? I suppose that's why the BOI is here, for first time buyers though.

 

[sumatai]

That is a fair logical argument, but does the buyer not have a reasonable expectation of a complete, non-damaged, timely order? If I were a repeat customer and this happened, I can see a shame on me, but a first time customer? I suppose that's why the BOI is here, for first time buyers though.

Well, I was in your shoes. I was a first time buyer. I researched cages and I wanted a 4x2 pvc. After my research, I found there was no beating Boamaster's price. In our hobby though, you can't hear you get what you pay for enough times. That being the case, I looked into his history pretty thoroughly. I found a mix of reviews, but by and large satisfied customers for the most part, with the majority of complaints coming from time issues and customer service. I decided to roll the dice and took my chances.

Now had it gone poorly, I would have had no one to blame but myself, not that I would have just rolled over, I would have requested a solution to whatever problem arose, but in the end, it was my decision to make the purchase after my research.

My other point is, a seller doesn't really "owe" the buyer anything, outside of the goods and purchases he has offered to sell. If he has shoddy craftsmanship, cheap materials, poor shipping, or awful customer service... that reflects on his business and he will eventually lose business as a result.

Now in this specific case it seems the largest problem was with the condition of the item shipped upon arrival. Well, its already been stated, how you decide to use the BOI is up to you in the end, but good practice would have been to attempt resolution, allow time for the solution and if still unsatisfied.. post. What some don't seem to understand is people will come here, see a name with a big red X next to it and move on to the next seller. I don't agree with the point that some others have made in using the BOI to light a fire under someone's rear end to inspire results. Lets face it, some of these threads are 10+ pages, not everyone is going to read through them, or even open them, so sometimes that post title is all it takes.

 

[Skeetzy]

I'm a firm believer in handling situations properly the first time. I rarely have had customers come back with issues, after I serviced a product for them, or sent them an online order. And as I stated, the few occasions it did happen, I overnighted the replacement product/fixed their issue immediately.

I'll say it again. Mark fixing my order is only keeping the money in his pocket, and does not change my review of his service. Yes he is handling the situation properly, but the time frame to receiving the final product, and issues I've dealt with, make up for a bad review regardless.