Very Irate at Carbatec

[Allen]

I shouldn't be surprised, but still I'm more that p#%ssed off. It started last week when I went looking for some Brad Point drill bits in Cairns. Blank stares, and even "Never heard of them" from a specialty cabinet makers supply store. Check 6 different shops. So I decided to order some from Carbatec, along with some other odds and ends. I received a mail confirming my order, and that it would be shipped the next business day. So no worries right.

One week later I received this mail from them.

Dear Allen R. McFarlen,

Some items included in your Order #52998 placed on Friday 20 March, 2009 are out of stock, and have been placed on back order.

We will ship the available items now, and dispatch others as they become available, at no additional shipping cost.

If you wish to cancel the portion of your order which has been placed on back order, please contact us via email or telephone.

My response to them was a bit terse, and I'm including it here as I told them that a bit of negative press just might help them lift their game.

To whom this may concern;

I'm more than a bit annoyed that it has taken an entire week to let me know that an item has been placed on back order, and the rest of the order apparently has been held up because of this. Why doesn't your web site, and ordering system inform me right away of a back order and allow me the option of canceling the item? Or failing that, why wasn't I informed by email the next business day, as I've been done now exactly 1 week later?

I've been waiting an entire week for the brad point bits that were part of this order, and I assumed that I would have them before now. However the project that I've put on hold until this weekend looks like it's going to be put off for another week because of your stuff up. It also puts behind the finishing schedule because I must drill the holes before finish is applied. Now the finishers schedule has been stuffed up s well.

I regularly order product from overseas, and without exception the service I've received is first class, and the products rarely take more than 7 days to arrive on my door step. In the age of the internet, we can all choose to shop anywhere in the world, and take a guess where I'll be doing most of my shopping.

Very poor service. These products had better have gone out the door today!

And as I've been told by others that they have received this sort of shoddy service from your company in the past, I'll be copying your letter and posting this response that I'm sending to you on some Australian internet forums where many of your potential customers frequent. Perhaps some customer dissatisfaction, and negative press will help your company lift its game.

Allen R. McFarlen
Cairns, Qld.

If anyone thinks this is too controversial for the forum then I'm happy that it's removed. It's me to vent, and it's probably a good thing that I wasn't standing in their shop when I found out about this.

[Nick]

I have ordered products from Carbatec here in NZ & touch wood have had good service so far but I can understand your frustration. A week is too long to inform somebody an item is not in stock. I wouldn't classify your email as controversial or even short, you are merely showing their slack customer service that you are not happy with them or their service. It will be interesting to hear how they handle your particular order, hopefully with an apologetic manner
My bill paying job involves repairs to scientific instruments and it bunches my undies when I email companies with a problem we have with their instrument and they don't even have the courtesy to reply

Customer focused businesses & they seem to treat the back-up service as a non-essential part of a sale.

[kiwigeo]

Allen...Im reading a carbon copy of the experience I had a few months back when I ordered some bandsaw blades and an HNT Gordon plane from Carbatec in Adelaide. Admittedly they did come to the party and didnt charge me for all the bandie blades but the moral of the story is always ring them up to check if they have the stuff physically in stock before ordering over the web.

If you want some action then try a post on the Ubeaut forums....I did this and things started rolling. I suspect a few of the Carbatec people participate in this forum.

If its any consolation Im currently trying to find a roofer who will return my phone calls.....Ive rung 5 of the bastards so far and not one has returned my calls.

Cheers Martin

[sebastiaan56]

There are CarbaTec people on this forum as well......

[Kim]

Sorry to hear of your dramas Allen, not the first time I have heard a lack lustre report about this mob.

Just on brad point bits, I have tried a few brands, a couple of brands from Germany that are OK and a few from Asia which can always be relied upon to be a complete disappointment. However the ones I have bought from LMI are brilliant, a bit exie, but brilliant. I know this won't help you now mate but just thought I would mention this for future reference.

Cheers

Kim

[Allen]

It seems that the response time to irate customers is a bit better than orders via the internet. This only took a few hours after my mail of complaint. If his response was this quick with a back order, then I wouldn't be doing this now.

Mr McFarlen,

I assume you do realise that you ordered from the Canberra Carba-Tec and not your nearest store which is Brisbane. Brisbane also happens to be were the warehouse is and if you had placed your order with that store I am fairly certain that you would have received your order before now.

I do apologise for the seeming to use your words "shoddy service", I here in Canberra are a 1 man store and I do the best I can for my customers and treat each one in turn as the orders come through the system, I will gladly refund your money and cancel the order if that is what you desire. If not once the goods leave here it is then up too Australia Post to deliver them and that I am afraid is entirely out of my hands.

If you do as you say and post this letter on the forums I will be responding accordingly.

Sir, the ball now rests firmly in your court.

Regards

Russell Driver
Carba-Tec Canberra Pty Ltd

My response to Mr. Driver.

I placed the order via the Brisbane store It's the store that I have in my bookmarks and only bother looking at it.

How it got redirected to your shop is beyond me. and out of my control. This still does not in any way negate the shoddy service that your one man show has provided. Inventory control via a web presence is a simple matter. as I've built online stores for many business. As well as automated replies when a product is not available. Failing that, an old fashioned personal response should never take more than one day. As this has certainly got your attention and elicited a response within hours, you can not tell me that it's too difficult to do.

If the order has not yet left. then I want you to cancel the order immediately. Inform me as such. and I'll be looking for the credit to my account.

Rest assured that this has been posted on one forum. and I will be doing so on other forums. Response from others to my previous letter to you was echoed by similar treatment from other Carbatec Stores.

I checked my bookmarks, and my Carba-Tec link pulls up the Brisbane store. I've got no idea how the order ended up with the Canberra store, as I don't ever look at any other stores in Australia. This still does not negate his slow response time of 7 days to inform me that something is on back order, and let me have the option of changing my order.

And to top this off. as far as I can tell, the order as yet has not been shipped.

I've posted the entire ordeal with copies of emails on the U-Beaut forum as well.

[Paul B]

Good on ya Allen, stick to em.

I'm in the US at the moment, and the level of service available here on just about everything makes our suppliers look like a bunch of clowns. For example I ring one of the four or five contractors that I'm dealing with and most times they've got a bloke (electrician, whatever) on my doorstep within a couple hours.

[Hippety Hop]

Allen. I live close to Carbi-Tool, and I've seen brad points there. If you like I could get you some and send them on Monday. They are good quality. The ones I've got are crap. Can't remember where I got them. Probably Bunnings.

See here.

Cheers Hip.

[kiwigeo]

Good on ya Allen, stick to em.

I'm in the US at the moment, and the level of service available here on just about everything makes our suppliers look like a bunch of clowns. For example I ring one of the four or five contractors that I'm dealing with and most times they've got a bloke (electrician, whatever) on my doorstep within a couple hours.

Calls to four bldi roofing contractors last week.....left messages on mobile phones and one guy had a messaging service on his home phone. Not one of them has called back. One jerk even advertised proudly on his Yellow Pages ad..."Dont get ripped off by roofing contractors!".

In the end I got lucky and tyhe bloke whos installing my new wood heater is a qualified plumber and can do the roof repairs. Hes also german....for some reason Ive never had any problems with German tradies, very punctual and quality of work always great.

As for Carbatec, here in Adelaide I drive straight past their shop here in Adelaide and get everything from Macwood these days.

[Allen]

Allen. I live close to Carbi-Tool, and I've seen brad points there. If you like I could get you some and send them on Monday. They are good quality. The ones I've got are crap. Can't remember where I got them. Probably Bunnings.

See here.

Cheers Hip.

Thanks Hip. I've cancelled the order, but do not know the outcome as yet. I've not had a response, and do not expect one. I think that either I'll end up with a parcel on my door step, or I'll see my bank account credited .

I will wait this out, and work around the problem for now.