I figured I’d add my SMF saga's ridiculous timeline to the mix just in case there are folks still considering ordering. I ended up having to file a claim with Paypal to get my money back.
5/2/2016 – Placed an order for 2 cages (A063 and AP072).
5/2/2016 – Responded thanking me for the order and I was quoted 4 weeks or less delivery time. Perfect, I thought, as that would allow me time to finish the AxialFest builds these were going on.
5/17/2016 – Placed another order for a pair of SCX10 sliders (A059).
5/17/2016 - Received an immediate response that he’d received my payment and would get them done ASAP.
6/6/2016 – Sent an email asking how things were going.
No response.
6/9/2016 - Sent another email asking how things were going.
6/9/2016 - Responded saying they’d be done by the end of the week.
6/21/2016 – Sent an email asking about the shipment.
6/22/2016 - Responded saying he'd finished one of the cages and was waiting on tube for the other one. Also said he’d made the wrong set of sliders (Hilux) because he hadn’t asked me which body they were for (The part number I ordered is for the Honcho – not the Hilux.).
6/22/2016-6/23/2016 – Several emails were exchanged where I convinced him to send me the cage that was completed (A063) so I could move forward with at least one of my Axialfest builds. He did so and promised to have the 2nd cage and sliders finished and shipped the following week.
6/27/2016 – Received my A063 cage.
7/2/2016 – Sent an email asking about the status of the other 2 items.
No response.
7/8/2016 – Sent another email and told him that if he was unable to complete my order or was no longer interested to just send me a refund.
7/8/2016 – He responded saying that his tube supplier was on vacation so he ordered from another guy and asked me to wait just a little longer.
Next few weeks - Axialfest (Awesome!), family trips, work, life, etc. Met a couple of other folks at Axialfest who’d recently had similar (Poor) experiences with SMF, too. Frankly, I was already tired of dealing with the guy.
No communication was received from SMF during this timeframe.
8/9/2016 – Sent an email asking for a refund.
8/9/2016 – He responded saying that he thought he’d already taken care of my order (Basically, forgetting about my business! My favorite excuse.). Asked that if I wait a little longer he’d redo my entire order, including the cage he’d already sent, or one of equal value.
8/10/2016 – My initial thought was to give him a little more time. After all, it’d been 3 months already and I had to rethink my Axialfest build plans long ago. What’s another week, right? And maybe get an extra cage? But then I came to my senses and just told him to send the refund and that we’d part ways and move on.
No response.
8/12/2016 – Sent another email asking about the status of the refund.
No response.
8/17/2016 – Sent yet another email asking about the status of the refund.
No response.
8/18/2016 – Submitted a case via Paypal.
8/18/2016 – He responded saying he’d been without power due to the storms and that’s why he’d been silent. (Newsflash: Paypal case fixes downed powerlines!) He said eBay was giving him 10 days to comply with my case but that he’d have my order done way before then.
8/20/2016 – Saw that he’d listed and sold a cage on eBay. Really? Urgh!
No communication.
8/26/2016 – Escalated the case to a claim via Paypal.
No communication.
9/5/2016 - Saw that he’d listed and sold yet two more cages on eBay. Seriously.
No communication.
9/6/2016 – He failed to respond to Paypal by the required date and they issued refunds for the balance.
9/6/2016 – He responds tonight saying he was going to the post office yesterday (Monday - Labor Day) with my order but it was closed. He says that he saw where Paypal refunded me so now he’s going to list my items on eBay, and if I still want them, I can buy them there.
Unbelievable.
The sad part is that I really liked the product. Both the cage I had before and the new one I received in June were nicely made. For what they are, I thought they were a decent value. Such a shame.
If you've ordered from him, or plan to, good luck.
Update: 9/7 - So he sends me another email again offering to sell me the other cage before he lists it on eBay (never said anything about the sliders). I responded and told him sure, just send me the cage and I'll pay for it if and when it arrives. He responded again telling me he's decided to sell only through eBay now. Right. I guess the shoe doesn't fit so well on the other foot. Piece of work, this guy.
