I remember when I was a young man that retailers, regardless of the product, were members of the community. We knew them by their name and they knew us by our names. I would go to the local grocery store where I grew up and I knew the owner, his son was in my class at school. Service was a foregone conclusion because there was a relationship already present, not only with my family, but with every family in the community. As I got older, companies got bigger and bigger as they became less personal. I didn’t know the name of the owner of the store where I shopped and more likely, they didn’t even work there. Then along came the internet where shopping became even more anonymous and although it was much more convenient, service became non-existent. Retailers now have the consumer over the proverbial barrel and can quickly ship out the product without even a "good morning” or "thanks for shopping with us”. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some online companies that provide great customer service, but unfortunately, they are becoming the exception. I recently had an experience with an online retailer of motorcycle parts where I had previously spent thousands of dollars on parts.
A few months ago, I ordered an exhaust system for my motorcycle from West End Motorsports that was manufactured by Rush Racing. It came in two parts-a set of headers and a set of mufflers. I sought purchase advice from the salesman who recommended Rush Racing and I ordered them for a little over $1100. I was warned that the Rush headers only worked with the Rush mufflers in the way that they connected. In today’s world where everything is proprietary, it didn’t seem that unusual. After all, that’s why I asked for their advice. I was dismayed when a few hours later I received an email that stated the mufflers were not available and it would be several weeks until they would ship. However, not to worry, the headers had already been shipped. This news put me in bad predicament. West End should have called me and informed me that the parts were not available, giving me the opportunity to amend or cancel the order. They did not. Why should they? They already had my money and returning the headers would mean that I would have to pay return shipping on a large box and then pay again for the 20% "restocking fee”. I would have to wait however many weeks for the mufflers because returning the headers was not a viable option. Since they did not work with any other muffler, they would sit in an unopened box in the garage for months. I later found out that it was not true that the headers are proprietary. Rush claims they will work with other mufflers. Because wait I did.
At about 2 months after I ordered the parts, I still had not heard anything from West End Motorsports and I called. They contacted Rush Racing. I also contacted Rush Racing only to learn that they were back ordered and recently had a production lot that was not manufactured correctly and was sent out for chrome processing. When they returned, it was discovered that the lot was defective and was not usable. I would have to wait longer. Their representative told me I should be grateful because at least they did not ship the defective mufflers-that would be even worse. At almost three months, I receive a call from West End Motorsports advising me that the mufflers are finally ready, but they don’t have the tips I ordered. If I could choose another set they could ship my order. I chose another set, tips I didn’t really want in hopes of getting my order shipped. I’m still waiting. At what point does a retailer have any obligation to provide some modicum of customer service? How much money does a customer have to spend before they’re treated like a customer? I mentioned earlier that there are some companies that provide quality customer experiences and here is one-Revzilla. They too are an internet company and by nature provide a sterile, impersonal experience. What is different is that they have fast service, easy ordering and easy returns with 0% restocking. They will be seeing me a lot more on their site.
West End Motorsports Reviews
I remember when I was a young man that retailers, regardless of the product, were members of the community. We knew them by their name and they knew us by our names. I would go to the local grocery store where I grew up and I knew the owner, his son was in my class at school. Service was a foregone conclusion because there was a relationship already present, not only with my family, but with every family in the community. As I got older, companies got bigger and bigger as they became less personal. I didn’t know the name of the owner of the store where I shopped and more likely, they didn’t even work there. Then along came the internet where shopping became even more anonymous and although it was much more convenient, service became non-existent. Retailers now have the consumer over the proverbial barrel and can quickly ship out the product without even a "good morning” or "thanks for shopping with us”. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some online companies that provide great customer service, but unfortunately, they are becoming the exception. I recently had an experience with an online retailer of motorcycle parts where I had previously spent thousands of dollars on parts.
A few months ago, I ordered an exhaust system for my motorcycle from West End Motorsports that was manufactured by Rush Racing. It came in two parts-a set of headers and a set of mufflers. I sought purchase advice from the salesman who recommended Rush Racing and I ordered them for a little over $1100. I was warned that the Rush headers only worked with the Rush mufflers in the way that they connected. In today’s world where everything is proprietary, it didn’t seem that unusual. After all, that’s why I asked for their advice. I was dismayed when a few hours later I received an email that stated the mufflers were not available and it would be several weeks until they would ship. However, not to worry, the headers had already been shipped. This news put me in bad predicament. West End should have called me and informed me that the parts were not available, giving me the opportunity to amend or cancel the order. They did not. Why should they? They already had my money and returning the headers would mean that I would have to pay return shipping on a large box and then pay again for the 20% "restocking fee”. I would have to wait however many weeks for the mufflers because returning the headers was not a viable option. Since they did not work with any other muffler, they would sit in an unopened box in the garage for months. I later found out that it was not true that the headers are proprietary. Rush claims they will work with other mufflers. Because wait I did.
At about 2 months after I ordered the parts, I still had not heard anything from West End Motorsports and I called. They contacted Rush Racing. I also contacted Rush Racing only to learn that they were back ordered and recently had a production lot that was not manufactured correctly and was sent out for chrome processing. When they returned, it was discovered that the lot was defective and was not usable. I would have to wait longer. Their representative told me I should be grateful because at least they did not ship the defective mufflers-that would be even worse. At almost three months, I receive a call from West End Motorsports advising me that the mufflers are finally ready, but they don’t have the tips I ordered. If I could choose another set they could ship my order. I chose another set, tips I didn’t really want in hopes of getting my order shipped. I’m still waiting. At what point does a retailer have any obligation to provide some modicum of customer service? How much money does a customer have to spend before they’re treated like a customer? I mentioned earlier that there are some companies that provide quality customer experiences and here is one-Revzilla. They too are an internet company and by nature provide a sterile, impersonal experience. What is different is that they have fast service, easy ordering and easy returns with 0% restocking. They will be seeing me a lot more on their site.