Cheapbatteries.com & Other Small Online Buisnesses
 

Ok, I'm using Cheapbatteries as an example because that's just who I'm dealing with right now.

I ordered a reciever pack from them on Monday the 3rd at 9:45am and they sent me an email with a link to check the status of the order. Well I checked the link all through the day Monday and Tuesday and they didn't even have a estimated ship date. So I started calling Tuesday afternoon with no luck and ended up leaving a message. I never heard back yesterday and so far nothing today. If I don't either see an update on the link they gave me, OR, talk to someone in person today, then this will be the last thing I order from them...


Which brings me to my point; I have been in retail sales for 6+yrs and know what customer service is about. I don't know where in the hell the small online buisnesses get off thinking they can just take your money and not keep in contact with you. I mean, what do think would happen if Towerhobbies or Summit or Jegs or any other reputable company didn't answer phones or provide you with a status on your order? Then people wanna whine about "Oh there buisy" or "Yea but they do really good work". Well how much trouble is it to hire somebody at minimum wage to answer phones and maybe look up an order on a computer?? I don't care how good a companies work/product is, if the customer service isn't there, they're not getting any of my money.





[/end rant]

That's your first problem, you can't compare a small company to any of those you mentioned. HUGE difference. :?

I buy all my batteries from www.cheapbatterypacks.com, good service and even better batteries.

That's where I got mine from, I just forgot to put the "packs" on the end. I figured everyone would know who I was talking about and was unaware that there's another place called just "cheapbatteries.com".


A buddy of mine got his packs from the same place and said he had no problems. He was the one who recommended me to them.

Oh, and Badger I understand you can't really compare the actual companies, but IMO customer service applies to EVERY buisness big or small. If the small buisnesses don't have that, they won't be in buisness very long.

I have bought a **** load of batteries and other supplies from them, I have never had any issues with them, I also never monitor the tracking of my shipments.

Just let him do his job and if there is a problem with your order I am sure Mike will let you know.

I actually side with the small companies on this. Do you have any idea how much extra work is created for the small buisness man when people like you need to be hand held the entire way through the sale and shipment of the product?

Think about it from his point of view, how many moron kids do you think a small business has to deal with in the RC industry? You couldn't pay me enough to deal with the idiots the RC industry has on a retail level.

Well I guess that's where our opinions differ. I work for a small local retail cell phone company and the reason people come to us and the reason we're still in buisness is because of our customer service. People could just as easily go down the road to one of the two other corporate stores within 2miles of us to do buisness, just like I could have just as easily gone to Tower (or my LHS for that matter) to do buisness.

The reason I choose CBP.com is because I had been told their service and pricing was good, so I gave them a chance. Believe it or not I'm actually in favor of small buisnesses and do like to give them the opportunity to earn my buisness. I guess working for one for 6 years has that effect on me. But there is still no excuse IMO for not at least giving me a date for an estimated ship time. If he's that buisy, get/hire someone to answer phones, simple.

I do customer service for a mountain bike company and we get ALOT of calls everyday for small parts...We recently took on K2 bike and k2 is the makers of the old suspension bikes called "pro flex". Pro Flex bikes use the stupid little elastomer for the suspension and we get upwards of 10-20 calls a day for these things, on top of orders for regular iron horse bikes and columbia bike AND just regular k2 bikes. I cant tell you how many times people call back 2 days later askign where the elastomers are...then I spend 15 minutes going through all the shipments only to find out the ordered them 2 days ago :roll: I tell every customer that orders these that they are shipped UPS ground which is anywhere from 5-10 days...what dont these people understand about that??? if you order it on a monday dont expect it there wednesday! More like friday the EARLIEST or monday/tuesday. The worse part is the customers are usually rude about it too!! :evil: Hello ??? are you listening??? your bike hasnt been made since 1997!! if you dont like the fact that I am not going to coddle you and call you back the second your elastomers ship with a tracking # number and wish you a merry day then order them from somewhere else, and I wish you luck because we are the only ones that have them...


With this being said, we are small company too....we are growing faster then we can keep up with. This is the same for Cheapbatterypacks.com, everyone knows they have the best prices around so they are probably getting killed with orders. Especially since they have cells that I cant seem to find anywhere else. I asked my Lhs the other day for the 4/5 cells and he looked at me like I was crazy SO Ill probably end up getting them from there.

People have to learn to give the little guys a break, sometimes its not a matter of just hiring some minimum wage worker. For example RC4wd.com, I know alot people were upset with Hua because he wasnt getting orders out and thats because his hired help had quit. He has since then hired other guys to help get stuff out on time while trying to serve us and make more sick parts that no one else will make.

Its people that like to call up and B!TCH and COMPLAIN about there orders that make the minumum wage guys that are helping out leave and quit the company. I know I dont like when people call up screaming at me that they havent recieved the derailleur hanger yet. luckly I make more then minimum wage so I just deal with it.

You gotta give the little guys a chance, im sure you will get your batteries....

Well said.

If I remember correctly, CBP.com does build to order some packs. I know if I order a 6 cell stick pack it usually takes around a week or so to get it, where as if I order just the loose cells I get the order in 2 days.

The first part of the problem is you started checking your status the same day you submitted your order. The fact that they sent you an email giving you a tracking number shows that they received your order. More than likely it is computer generated and follows the order after payment is received. Then it will take at least a day or two to get the order together then send it to UPS or whomever. UPS takes at least 24 hours before you can see your shipment has been sent out.
It's only been 2 days since you submitted your order. Most businesses Larg or Small will take at least 4 to 7 business days to get an order out the door and to yours. (unless noted other wise). When you receive your stuff you will be happy and forget all about it. I've heard a lot of people say good things about the spoken companies service and products.

I say if you don't have product or hear from ANY company in a week (unless noted otherwise) then you can start to worry. If you needed it that fast go to your local LHS and pick it up.

Quit Crying about idiotic things and grow up.

And if you receive your items today or tomorrow you will feel like an A**. And will need to appologize to the forum for wasting web space.

Just to clarify, they haven't given me anything except an email with a link to an upadate page that has noting except an order #. No tracking number, no ship date, nothing.

I didn't and don't expect to actually recieve my order 1-2 days after I place it. THEY are the ones that have a spot for "shipping date" on the link they send you. If it's gonna take a couple of days or even a week just to build the pack that's fine. Is it a phuckin crime for me to ask that?? I don't think so. When I paid by debit card it went through within a matter a seconds. Is it too much for me to ask for a ESTIMATED DATE of when they MIGHT ship, within a day or so after a place the order??

Yes. It wouldn't be if it was now Wed April 12.

patients is a VERTUE..

Wow. I'm reaaaallly not try to start an argument over a specfic company but I find it very interesting to hear some of the members thoughts on this subject. It's absoluely ludacris.

I'm really wondering why they even offer those buisness ethics classes I took in school. I guess the phrases "The customer's always right" & "The customer comes first" will end up on the History channel in a few years.


So let me get this straight Double J, I should wait until the 12th JUST TO KNOW if my order is being shipped out on the 15th???

Your a F U C K ING Maroon!


You can't even get the Name Right of the Company your assaulting!



In my experaince CheapBatteryPacks.com is the "Single Best Small Company" I've ever dealt with! I am amazed everytime I get an Email from them about new stuff, that they're still in business, due to the fact that their pricing is so low and their Customer service is so Great!


Mike is a Battery freak! He lives and breathes Batterys, he is constantly testing new batterys at his expense just so he can give qualified opinions and advise(he dosen't just read about stuff online and take people's word for it).





Seriously RANOVRU, did your parents have any kids that lived? :flipoff:

Am I the only one who's in shock over the fact that he prefers TOWER??? Yes tower has spent BIG $$$ to automate their website. Any company with the $$ could do that.

Tower makes you jump through hoops to get a competitive price. I've never seen tower have the BEST price, but if you take the time to find the current codes, subscribe to the club, and buy enough to get free shipping their prices are pretty good.

Tower hires opperators that know NOTHING of R/C. If I can't figure out what I want from them based on their website, then I can't order from them. Also the few times I've had problems with them the opperators have quoted company policy etc and not really been too interested in fixing my problems.

I could go on.. but you get the point. It would be great to get the best prices, best customer service, best inventory and best product all from one vendor. That's unrealistic though. Personally, I want the best product, good selection, and better than average prices. If the company doesn't call me every time someone touches my order, that's ok, as long as I get it.

BTW; I've worked in retail/service for 15 years. In my business I offer unbeatable customer service, but you're gonna pay for it!! $$$$$ :)

-Jay

FWIW; I have about 10 battery packs from CBP.com. I'm extremely happy with their service, prices, etc.

NO I'm not saying wait till the 12th. Get a clue. You can watch a show called blues clues it may help. J/k

I'm just saying quit crying about something.. Give it time..

I just went to there website. Called the number spoke to ???? I asked him a few questions. I don't like giving my CC over the net and started that way. He was verry helpful and gave me suggestions on what I would need for my crawler. I asked when could I expect it. he said "it will take 1-3 days to get the order togeather and will send it out" "You should expect it with in a week" But also added "at times we may experiance a large or difficult order and that could slow the process but we generally don't have problems getting our products out". After chatting with him for a couple more seconds I asked again "He said it usually takes it longer to ship than it does to send it out of their store"

hope that helps. I call just because I haven't personally used their company. After talking with them I have found them to be verry customer oriented and helpful. That is the only reason I placed the order with them and will do so in the future.

Guess you have never dealt with Kevin at the crawlerstore. His work ethics/products/service/etc.etc and him in general, is just completely mind blowing and outstanding. He would get my vote for company of the century

Problem is the customer isnt always right :roll: . I cant even tell you how many times I have sent the CORRECT parts to consumers, which I dont like to do to begin with and try to refer them to a shop, They then get the CORRECT part, ***TRY*** to put it on and cant. SO they call me like I am the AS$HOLE that sent them the WRONG part mean while they just didnt have a FAWKING clue as to what they are doing in trying to install it.

I dont believe in that whole "customer is always right" crap, half the time they are wrong and are rude about it. Sure sometimes we make mistakes and we ALWAYS try to fix them...no one is fawking perfect. Your gonna tell me they dont ever fawk up what there doing at there job? how would they like if I called up and yelled at them for something?? it just doesnt pay to be rude and obnoxious...

Do to others as you would want them to do to you...

just my 2 cents...

Mike

Agreed ;-)


Never had a problem with CBP either-I have close to 20 orders from them and have NEVER had a problem so I don't even bother checking the numbers when I order.

On another note, are you sure that the shipping method you choose includes a tracking number?

I just got an email from Mike saying that I was 6th in line for orders and that he would try and get it out today. I don't care if I was 50th in line and it wouldn't get shipped out 'til next month...

...if I could have just gotten that info when I wanted it none of us would be conversing right now.


I must be the only one they don't answer phones for...