Para-Gear: Poor Customer Service

[NovaTTT 1]

As part of a larger order with Para-Gear, I last week ordered one yard of Type VIII webbing. What I got, on Friday, was one entire spool (100 yds), new and unopened. It’s a costly mistake, sending me a $153 billable spool of material for $1.70.

The project I’m working on is now delayed, because I don’t have usable Type VIII. I’m not willing to just open and cut from this new spool. I had to wait until Monday to call about the mix-up because P-G is closed on the weekends.

I called Monday and spoke with a rep who quickly understood the situation and put me on hold. Upon returning, she offered to have the spool shipped back, less my three feet, which she said I can cut from the spool. P-G will pick up the return shipping and reimburse me for the original shipping overcharge. I confirmed my e-addy, and thanked her.

It was a seamless, 1-2-3 interaction: DIDO. The last thing she said to me was, “And I’m sorry about this”, and it was the only time acknowledging my being inconvenienced came up. And I don’t recall her thanking me for working to promptly return their material.

Technically, everything is covered, but I am left having a delayed project and the hassle of having to deal with the screw up, sorting it out, and returning the spool. And I am irritated that there wasn’t gratitude for my show of integrity nor an acknowledgement of me, the customer, being inconvenienced by their screw-up. No, “O wow! I’m so sorry! Thank you for calling. Let’s make this right.” No, “Well, we know your time is important and valuable; what can we do to fix this?”

When I first opened the package, recognized the mistake and thought about it, I foresaw three possible outcomes.

#1 Worst-Case: They would tell me to just keep the spool, which is useless to me. I can’t use this much Type VIII!

#2 Neutral-Case: What happened.

#3 Best-Case: What happened, with a small gesture of consideration and gratitude.

But in my thoughts about these scenarios, I expected to be treated as a customer inconvenienced. They screwed up. It is understandable, but it is nonetheless inconvenient for me, the customer. I expected an apology right up front, maybe one in the middle, and certainly one at the end. I expected to be thanked for showing honesty and consideration toward them.

What I got was lackluster customer service that left me feeling they care about getting their shit back but not their customer. A real cog-on-the-wheel experience. And I was doing them a solid!

The rep said they would send me an email detailing how to return the spool along with a shipping label. They didn’t bother to even email! The email I received was from a UPS service and it wasn’t easily recognizable as being related to this matter. That email contained a link to the shipping label and strict instructions for how I should package and return the parcel….delivered to their facility! NO AUTHORIZATION FOR PICK UP!!! I am expected to drive to the UPS facility to drop off the package!

That is the icing on this particular cake.

I don’t know where this falls on the broader scale of customer service in the skydiving community, because I have limited personal experience with providers‘ problem solving or inquiry resolution. I can compare, however, to the ones that I do know where they fall on the scale (which is high, such as Alti-2, Chuting Star, The Relative Workshop, Aerostore, Paraconcepts, L&B). Making that comparison, I am singularly unimpressed with P-G.

In fact, I am truly disappointed at their poor customer service and couldn’t-care-less-as-long-as-we’re-ok attitude.

I’ll purchase again from P-G, because they are the only provider I know for certain materiel and tools, but when a choice is available, I will choose to take my business elsewhere.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[LouDiamond 1]

Frankly, I don't see an issue here but perhaps I am immune since it doesn't affect me. I can say that if you feel there was a lack of customer service I can facilitate putting you in contact with the owner who I know is indeed concerned with Customer support. PM me if that is how you wish to proceed.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[wildcard451 0]

Holy hell. You want them to come to your house and give you a blow job for the mistake too?
This is seriously about the biggest cry-baby whining bullshit I have heard in a while. A screw up was made. They apologized. You're keeping what you want, and sending the rest back to them. No hassle at all over the transaction, right. We get it was an inconvenience, but just...wow.
God forbid a para-gear employee doesn't come to your house and pick it up by hand from you.

Get over yourself, you're not that important. Neither am I.

[NovaTTT 1]

You may not be important, and neither may I be, but I consider myself as a paying customer more important than you seem to consider yourself.

Maybe you didn't actually read my post. It's an accounting - as plain and unvarnished as the praising posts I have made concerning good CS of other providers.

As a paying customer, I expect to get what I pay for - nothing more, nothing less. And I'm willing to pay for what I want and get.

The OP is about poor customer service. I wasn't thanked, although an unscrupulous person could have kept the 100 yds and said nothing. I wasn't apologized to for the inconvenience, although there was an anemic apology at the very last. P-G didn't even email an acknowlegment of the problem.

Maybe that's OK service for you, but it's not for me. Maybe good customer service isn't important to you, but it is to me.

When somebody screws up and I have to do the work to fix it, then yes, I expect an apology. I expect to be thanked. I expect to be treated as a valued customer.

I don't expect a blowjob - that's asinine. I expect a "Thank you", a UPS truck at my door and a "We're sorry for the mistake. Hope you'll stay with us in future."

Judging from the PMs I've received, I'm not the only one who feels P-G is seriously lacking in terms of customer care and valuation.

Nova

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[TheCaptain 2]

Wow, I would agree with the other two responses. Mistakes happen, they appologized and fixed the issue. How is that bad customer service? I bought from quite a few skydiving sources including paragear and never had bad service (when a mistake was made not by P G but others they appogized and fixed it)

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[likestojump 3]

Quote

As a paying customer, I expect to get what I pay for - nothing more, nothing less. And I'm willing to pay for what I want and get.

In the context of your posts on topic it seems that you are expecting a lot more than what was given to you. Granted, they fucked up, it does not seem that they made you jump through the hoops in order to remedy the problem, nor did they make you absorb any extra costs.

Why do people feel that there needs to be a gallon of sugar on top of a a proper problem remedy ? When you as a customer buy the wrong thing and have to send it back to the vendor, do you write a long apology letter and include a $5 bill as a sign of remorse ?

[crashtested 0]

I agree with you, your a client who's just spent a great deal of money with them on a product......

$1.70

Times are tight in the us i guess??

[parachutist 1]

I was in a customer service job for a large computer parts business several years ago, and we'd do the same thing this girl did for you... send you a shipping label either via e-mail or snail mail and have you drop off the package at FedEx... *unless* you were to complain loudly (squeaky wheel gets oiled). In that case we'd schedule FedEx to come by your house or office and pick up the package at your convenience.

Our main priority would be to deal with your issue and get you off the phone ASAP, so we could go on to the next ringing phone line... especially in December. Customer svc is typically overwhelmed this time of year, from now til mid January.

My experiences with ParaGear have all been positive over the last 10 years, with accurately filled orders every time. I'd say you got a fluke instance here.

[jimmytavino 16]

did they bill you for the $1.70 ?? or for the $153.00???


if they billed you for the Buck and 3 quarters BUT then sent you 100 yards.....

YOu would be ethically obliged to return the spool....

True enough,,, you couldn't do your job until the issue was fixed... But what if they had taken a couple of days to FILL the order??/.. You STILL would have been delayed in getting the work done....

Molehill + your OP = Mountain...

i have things shipped here, alot and when I get an email notification, including the pro # and a description....well THAT comes from Fed EX ,, or from UPS... and not necessarily with the 'return address' of the company with whom i'm dealing....

maybe you shoullda cut off 3 yards!!!,, asked them to bill ya' for another 3 and a half bucks...
then you wouldn't have to deal with them again,,, when you'll need a small piece of type VIII webbing, the next time...

a minor issue... certainly not worth blasting your source for 'supplies',, here in cyberspace......

jt

[NovaTTT 1]

My experiences have before been positive - because there has never been an issue.

I don't see what is difficult to understand here.

First - it's not $1.70. That was part of a larger order. And yes, I do spend a large amount of money on supplies and materiel, not that it's any of your business. Nonetheless, a customer is a customer.

Second - it's not about being sugar-coated. It's about being appreciated right up front. It's about a "thank you" and a, "I'm sorry". It's about showing consideration and appreciation for a customer.

As I posted, I've had difficulties or inquiries in the past with other companies which were handled beyond reasonable satisfaction. That shows excellent regard for the customer.

And it wasn't more than a hassle to me. It's money to them. I am doing them a good deed by being myself: honest and showing integrity. That alone is worthy of a "thank you", in my book.

So if you read the OP, you will see that I've already addressed all the issues that have been brought up by subsequent posters: I know it's not a big deal, I know mistakes happen, I know that I will end up with everything I ordered.

But just as each of you puts value and importance on the things you do, so do I. My project being delayed is not earth-shattering, but it's important to me and my time is just as valuable to me as yours is to your. I'll screw off by choice or design if I want to. I don't like to have it wasted any more than you like to have yours.

Edited to add:

Quote

a minor issue... certainly not worth blasting your source for 'supplies',, here in cyberspace......

jt

Yes, a minor issue, but one that illustrates lackluster customer service but great self-service.

I've seen no shortage of people praising good CS and I see nothing unfair in posting to the contrary.

As I said originally, given the choice, I will shop elsewhere.

It's called sharing information. Take it FWIW.

Nova

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[skykank 0]

Paragear rocks !!!!! In my opnion the best skydiving supplier in the world !!! Had problems with customs fees here in Brazil once, returned the package and they refunded me with no issues!!


Blue ones

[pilotdave 0]

I kept reading and reading and trying to find the punchline where the poor customer service happened. I think I figured it out. You got a sorry instead of a thanks. DAMN THEM! Hard to believe a company could treat a customer so poorly!

There's someone out there reading this that ordered a spool of the stuff and got 3 feet of it. He's the one that's got a complaint!


Dave

[mrbiceps 0]

Is this whole issue really worth all the time u have spent on this thread? For heavens sake. Ring them up tell them of the mistake and put the rest of the roll outside your door in a bag and end of story. Time taken 2 minutes.
I have learnt over the years that no matter what you do or say to some customers or how much you go out of your way to ensure they are happy, there are some people out there that will never be happy no matter what you do for them. Those people can get fucked if u ask me.

[NovaTTT 1]

Again, nothing any other poster is saying wasn't mentioned in my OP.

I've spoken with them, I'm handling the situation and I am passing along information.

Para-Gear sells everything - that doesn't mean they rock.

I wasn't going to post about this until I realized they didn't bother sending the email I was told to expect from them. I had to search through the e-trash to find the thing.

Judging from the PMs I've received, I'm not the only person who feels P-G doesn't give a shit about customers, only the $.

I'm happy for all those who have good experiences with them, but I did not. Yes, a simple thank you and follow through goes a long way.

Showing consideration for a customer goes a long way.

That's the takeaway, folks.

"Even in a world where perfection is unattainable, there's still a difference between excellence and mediocrity." Gary73

[hookitt 0]

This thread has reminded me how good things can be. If this minor (yes minor) inconvenience is one of the most heavy things on your mind, things must be going well.

Be cheerful. Life is good.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[pash 0]

Quote

The last thing she said to me was, “And I’m sorry about this”,

Quote

Showing consideration for a customer goes a long way. That's the takeaway, folks.

You know, when I opened this thread, I expected to see a real example of POOR customer service. I feel a little disappointed that the content did not live up to the title. Don't you care about fulfilling the expectation that your title set? I would like to speak with your supervisor. Other people may have liked your thread, but I've received PM's from some disappointed readers..

[dninness 4]

I work for a distribution company that ships about a million dollars of product a week. (our stuff is small, and average order size is about $200... Its not technology items or anything like that) Stuff happens. People get the wrong thing occasionally (pickers are, after all, human), the package gets mis-delivered, the CSR somehow forgot to put the overnight shipping on the package, etc. When somewhere between 1500 & 2000 packages go out of two facilities every day, there are bound to be a few screw ups.

Now, people call all the time irate as hell. And by the time they're off the phone, they're like "Oh, yeah, uh, ok. Thanks for fixing this.." (we do stuff like automagically ship overnight to fix a problem, even when the carrier screwed up, etc.)

It happens.

I've ordered from Para Gear. They're like any other distribution business: You usually get your stuff, sometimes something happens. I love their catalog. Skydiving pr0n.

I, too, opened this message hoping to glean some important lesson I can take into my "day job," and instead thought "Man, uh, yeah, thanks for making it right with the business, but don't expect people to smooch your butt, either.."

:)

NIN
D-19617, AFF-I '19

[DeNReN 0]

I have a beef with Para-Gear too !!!!

Bastards doubled their price on pull-ups and never send me any free ones even though I ask every time.

[djta0707 0]

If all my problems were as minor as this, I would never complain. just sayin

[mjosparky 3]

Para Gear prices are and always have been over the top but their inventory is the best in the industry. In 30 years I have found their turn around time to be as good or better than any other source and they will sell is small lots. I have had to return items both my fault and theirs but have never once felt like I was not treated as a valued customer. This is just my experience and your mileage may vary. Maybe your expectations of customer service are a bit high.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[f1racer696 0]

Quote

Judging from the PMs I've received, I'm not the only person who feels P-G doesn't give a shit about customers, only the $.

then lets see them. cause all i have seen is people giving you shit. but i would like to see those PM's of people on your side. hmm, i wonder why they just didnt post it in the tread?

oh dude DUde DUDE BRO DUDE. omg DUDE! ummmmm. i forgot....

Dudeist Skydiver #61

[strop45 0]

Quote

This thread has reminded me how good things can be. If this minor (yes minor) inconvenience is one of the most heavy things on your mind, things must be going well.

Be cheerful. Life is good.

Actually I think you probably got it ass-about-face - maybe other things aren't going so well ?

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." -- Albert Einstein

[buff 0]

Nova-

You don't play football for the Kanas Jayhawks do you?

It's called the Hillbilly Hop N Pop dude.
If you're gonna be stupid, you better be tough.
That's fucked up. Watermelons do not grow on trees! ~Skymama

[mjosparky 3]

Quote

then lets see them. cause all i have seen is people giving you shit. but i would like to see those PM's of people on your side. hmm, i wonder why they just didnt post it in the tread?

They are called “Private Messages” because they are private. It is tacky to post PM’s on an open forum.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Arvoitus 1]

Your post is perfect example of why I will never, not in a million years, under any circumstance, work in customer service.

I'll do anything, anything, hell I'll even break the law to make a living rather then be a slave to [PA removed by slotperfect] like you.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.