RCMart headache

[James]

I have a headache.. here's how it all goes:

I log into rcmart with my account to order some x-ray stuff for Sly33 to repair his car for the nationals.

I pay for it, all is good, confirm shipping address, etc, several DAYS later I get an email saying they are out of stock of one of the x-ray parts, just happens to be the main part he needs, the chassis.

WHAT!? but I already paid, everything... it's sposed to be on its way.

They do not offer a refund, they offer store credit. So I have to transfer back the money to Sly33 that he paid me coz I put the x-ray stuff on my credit card, then I get store credit... for what?

I get them to cancel the order, and give me the store credit, only to find they have credited me back the amount minus $2 USD.. .WHAT!? i look through the records on rc mart in my account to find a non-refundable bank fee. I'm going to assume this is a paypal fee.

So then I'm looking at what I'm going to buy from them with my store credit.. I'll buy a Tamiya 'lunch box' they are cheap at $65.90. Only today when I log in, the price is $74.90 !!! WTF !!#!#

So I write them a stinky email, bashing at them for making a sale to me without having stock, for taking a non-refundable bank fee off my store credit, and for raising the price of the "lunch box" the day before I choose to buy it with the store credit that they gave me, that they reduced because of their lame fee's.

I'm now awaiting a reply, which may or may not get to me this week at all.

RC Mart is a decent online shop, with lots of stuff, they ship fast too, but they have some sort of management issues or stock control issues, or something along those lines.

The good friday I was having just turned into a really f*cking bad day. I'm in a foul mood now.. !smack

All this headache, and It's not even an order for ME! GOD DAMNIT!

To top this off, they dont ship to PO Boxes unless you have business proof that it's yours! (fax them a phone bill with your po box address on it or something) well well.. my business correspondance comes to my home address, my PO box is for r/c goodies... so they ship to my home address, I get a card in the mail when i get home, then I gotta goto the post office to collect it, in which by then, the stupid PO is closed.

argh !@#! !throwup

*breathe in, breathe out....*

[T4Trasher]

I think Opasx has had a similar thing happen I think. What are the part numbers james do you want me to get a price and availability??

[James]

XRAY (#301117) Composite Chassis For XRay USD$29.90
XRAY (#306105) Composite Batt Holders 2x3 Batt. USD$11.50

They are actually for Daniel (Sly33) on this forum. I dont know if those part numbers actually mean anything, could be RCMART numbers.. dunno.

I'm more pissed about the waste of time, and the fact they rolled me of a bank fee despite not having anything sent to me.

I'll buy the Tamiya Lunch Box with my credit, if they drop the price back to $65.90 USD which is what it was at yesterday. bastards probably saw me browsing it yesterday, and decided to up the price last night, or some sh1t. who knows.

Ever seen a Lunch Box with a 9-turn in it?

[nexxus]

See the way I see it, if you don't have stock, don't advertise it, simple. Noone wants to lodge an online order only to find that the company has to wait 7-10 days to get it from a supplier. Reality check, if it's in the shopping cart it should be on your shelf, if not, lets not waste each other's time! Personally, and this is my impatience talking, I try not to get parts in, I'd sooner go to a store who has it in stock, even if it costs a tad more.

[James]

Nexxus agree'd, and I do normally order my parts from a local hobby shop. I'd much rather support the local shops than give the overseas shops my money. No question, in this case, x-ray sh1t aint easy to get, esp around nationals time.

the rcmart shop is good, it's based on OSCommerce, which a LOT of online shops use these days, so it works pretty well, but as you said, how hard is it to integrate stock control into their system? "right it's out of stock, so the little icon on the online shop could have a cross through it" or something that says "out of stock".

OR, EVEN if the online shop didnt have that ability, the staff when processing my order could FIRST CHECK THAT THEY HAVE IT IN STOCK, THEN BILL ME FOR IT... farrrrrk. I guess automation is a factor here.

A good friend of mine runs a successful online shop (www.modyourcar.com) and it runs near faultless due to his dedication to customer requirements and focus. Coz if you cock it up, you loose the customer, its as simple as that.

by the way, if anyone wants an online shop, let me know, my business set's them up, as well as web hosting, web pages, or just about anything that is related to computer systems :)

[racer69]

Nexxus thats exactly what RMS do. They have thousands upon thousands of items in their online store, with every concievable RC car, yet they have SFA in their shop. You were defending them a couple of days ago, now you switch and bag what they do. Try some consistency guy!

[James]

keeping an online shop fully updated is a full time and a half job. seriously.. it's so much harder than what people think. And if it's not a stock issue, it's a pricing issue, items that cost twice what they do at other shops, coz the prices havent been updated for months or years, etc..

not as simple as people think.

I would be guessing that RMS make a killing from their online shop, I wonder what percentage of their sales are from that e-shop.

I actually think the system they have (the way they are running it all) works quite well. I know Julz spends a lot of time maintaining it, and readying customer orders, etc. At least if an item is not in stock they can tell you before you pay how long it will take to come in, etc.

Every hobby shop, should have an online shop! I know just the mob to set it up too! *hint hint* hahaha

[nexxus]

I guess the main difference here is with RMS you don't pay till it's all there, rcmart it sounds like you pay up front. That's always a significnt factor!

[T4Trasher]

i reckon that sucks i magine someone coming in paying for an emaxx then we don't have one??? no money back but you can have a credit slightly less than what you paid. so when we do get it in you gotta pay more anyway!!!

[James]

yeh, not happy to say the least.

[Sly33]

Hey James...

Any reply from them yet? Honestly i dont want to put you out too much, If you cant find anything there perhaps i can try and find something else on there that i might like??
Legally they certainly made the mistake and should offer a FULL refund! Pls if it becomes too much of a hassle pls let me know, might see someting else on there, perhaps we can try and wrangle free shipping or something???

[James]

no reply yet, I'll probably just spend the store credit and x-fer your beans back :)

[nexxus]

I ordered some motor shims last night from RMS, rang up today, bloody 2 weeks away?!?!? SCREW THAT!

[Matt]

interesting.

[opAsx]

James, check your PM and email me the details.

sherman is my bitch now and owes me a "sorry i ****ed you in the ass" gift.

[justo316]

In RCMarts defence, I should mention that most online stores don't have proper stock control (at least not all the ones I've used), that's not just RC stores either.

Plus, their non-refundable fee is clearly marked before you confirm checkout. What this is for and why no one else charges it I do not know.

No refund is bull$hit though.

With RMS, you don't pay til the stuff arrives only if you live local to them and can pick it up right? I'd hate to be ordering off them from over east....put an order through for an esc about 4 months ago. Checked last month and it still wasn't in. You reckon I'll still be picking it up f it ever comes in? I think not....

[James]

It seems my super polite emails *cough* to rcmart got me my non-refundable paypal fee back... they actually just paid it to me.. out of their own pockets... how nice of them.

Coz the thing is, If i order something else that costs more than the store credit i now have, I obviously have to pay the difference, and they'll charge me the non-refundable fee again, f*ck paying that twice...

I think from now on I'll email them and ask if they have the items in stock before I purchase, and I'm also reading their service agreements, etc... hrmm

[Alex]

yeh, im caught in that battle too James. RCMART is a good shop really. I had ordered twice from them before and the they have been flawless. this time 3rd time round..guess I hit a ditch.

Im still waiting for a confirmation for the shipping of my order that i changed after they informed me of the non-in-stock parts in my first order. And yes I got hit twice with the bloody fees. Whats worse still is that I paid for EMS serivce seems reeeeealy silly now.. groan....

Their communication is not too bad...but can be a bit hit and miss.. Oh well, I just sent an email back to "Julie" with "2nd Level Civil Dispute Mannerisms". Let see if this will jolt a prompt reply..