Wow, all I can say is thank you Stephan for not letting customers like this drive you from the business.
Defender Marine
- Thread starter Lost Parent
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Hello Stephan!Stephan said:
I am on vacation. No computers, no email, just a cell phone. Started today. Three weeks.
My cell phone goes off while I am on vacation buying groceries in Walmart and the caller will not communicate what the call is about.
The ans mch message? I don't do messages, maybe you could pick up on that by listening to the recording that instructs callers not to leave a message. Text or voice is how callers are instructed to communicate. No text messages from you or your company.
The long and the short of it is you have a great company, I ordered something that somewhat delivered and partially back ordered. I await my goods this month.
Why do I need to call you exactly? I am sure you are a nice guy, but I would rather spend my 3 week vacation thinking about something else. I will pass on calling you, I prefer open forum. Party line!
The nature of retail is try to please everyone as best as you can. Seems to me your company has a pretty fair track record doing that.
Let me get this straight-
You complain about service, the owner of the company calls you, TWICE , you refuse to talk to him because he didn't meet your criteria.
He emails you, which you ignore
Makes a post to you asking you to call him so it can be straightened out.
To which you reply- I'm on vacation- screw you??
Pretty well sum it up?
I'd put your name on a list and inform staff not to accept orders from you again.
Stephan won't, he's too nice, but you begin to sound a little like a jerk here.
You complain about service, the owner of the company calls you, TWICE , you refuse to talk to him because he didn't meet your criteria.
He emails you, which you ignore
Makes a post to you asking you to call him so it can be straightened out.
To which you reply- I'm on vacation- screw you??
Pretty well sum it up?
I'd put your name on a list and inform staff not to accept orders from you again.
Stephan won't, he's too nice, but you begin to sound a little like a jerk here.
What utter BS. Really, Lost Parent, your anti-data mining "trick" is pretty lame. You answer the phone, he asks and all you had to do was say "yes, this is Lost Parent." If it was a data miner, just hang up. I get calls like that all the time, listen for a second and then decide to hang up or not. Pretty simple.
Given the facts that Mr. Lance provided, I think you have kinda a weenie of a case, and should really not have complained in public. :naughty:
Still hope you get your parts.
Given the facts that Mr. Lance provided, I think you have kinda a weenie of a case, and should really not have complained in public. :naughty:
Still hope you get your parts.
Stu This is Lost Parent ....You have me confused with someone else regarding yhis anti data mining thing ..I posted the original post and the owner of Defender Marine got o in contact with me immediatley and we talked and all my issues were resolved that day , Please watch whoes name you talk about
Tom
Tom
Glad I read this thread. In all my internet reading and searches about sailboat parts and such I missed Defender.
I need some dock lines before Friday. Checked Defender last night. Defender had what I wanted and at the best price. Ordered the lines this morning and got the shipment notice tonight that they will arrive tomorrow.
I need some dock lines before Friday. Checked Defender last night. Defender had what I wanted and at the best price. Ordered the lines this morning and got the shipment notice tonight that they will arrive tomorrow.
heh, heh, Stu.... I'm loving your rant and a very apt description it was.... wrong name at first, but we all knew who you were talking about.
I'd tell Stephan to remove Sail123 from his contact list....
Wow, this was an amazing thread. As others have said, someone complains about service but restricts their availability for their problem to be solved by the vendor who in my opinion went above and beyond to rectify the situation.
Stephan/Defender - You guys are awesome, I was so glad to be pointed in your direction a few years ago and now that I have my own boat, I check your website first for anything I need.
As for Sail123, looks like they got smacked with the stick.
Stephan/Defender - You guys are awesome, I was so glad to be pointed in your direction a few years ago and now that I have my own boat, I check your website first for anything I need.
As for Sail123, looks like they got smacked with the stick.
Mmm. Starting to look like we won't hear any more out of him here. Banned, wow.
Knocked out of a VERY nice sailing forum, for having a p***ing contest with a supplier on an open forum? Maybe not a wise idea.
When I'm heated about a particular "problem", I generally try and write my email, and wait until the next day to hit the send key. It feels good pounding on the keyboard, seeing my ignorance on the screen, but in the light of another day, an apology tends to be the reply, as apposed to the "blast" that I wrote previously.
Some months back, I had my wife call Defender, on Saturday no less, and the phone was answered. (She typically does my phone work). She was very impressed just by getting a human on the other side. In the questions regarding an item I was researching buying, the lady at Defender replied to one inquiry, "I don't know, I'll have to ask someone else Monday morning". I like that. I would not have expected the representative to know the answer anyway, it was a very technical question, about a high end electrical marine device. Instead of some BS I might have expected from other people, simply to sell the product, the response was appropriate. And greatly appreciated.
I've read about taking Defenders price to the Evil Empire, to get them to match the price. That almost makes me sick, on so many levels. When I shop locally, Auto Shack, Chinamart, and others is where I go in a last ditch emergency situation, when all else has failed. Why didn't they (wm), just price their product to compete with Defender in the first place? If they can sell it to you on a "price match", they could do it anytime, IF they were competitive. And when I step through their door, (very rarely), and there's some 20 year old girl at the sells counter, I know immediately that my chances of an informed answer about anything in the store, is highly unlikely..
Knocked out of a VERY nice sailing forum, for having a p***ing contest with a supplier on an open forum? Maybe not a wise idea.
When I'm heated about a particular "problem", I generally try and write my email, and wait until the next day to hit the send key. It feels good pounding on the keyboard, seeing my ignorance on the screen, but in the light of another day, an apology tends to be the reply, as apposed to the "blast" that I wrote previously.
Some months back, I had my wife call Defender, on Saturday no less, and the phone was answered. (She typically does my phone work). She was very impressed just by getting a human on the other side. In the questions regarding an item I was researching buying, the lady at Defender replied to one inquiry, "I don't know, I'll have to ask someone else Monday morning". I like that. I would not have expected the representative to know the answer anyway, it was a very technical question, about a high end electrical marine device. Instead of some BS I might have expected from other people, simply to sell the product, the response was appropriate. And greatly appreciated.
I've read about taking Defenders price to the Evil Empire, to get them to match the price. That almost makes me sick, on so many levels. When I shop locally, Auto Shack, Chinamart, and others is where I go in a last ditch emergency situation, when all else has failed. Why didn't they (wm), just price their product to compete with Defender in the first place? If they can sell it to you on a "price match", they could do it anytime, IF they were competitive. And when I step through their door, (very rarely), and there's some 20 year old girl at the sells counter, I know immediately that my chances of an informed answer about anything in the store, is highly unlikely..
Chris:
Thank you, your comments regarding the "price matching" by WM reflect a conversation I had with WM corporate a few months ago - it is an ethical failure that takes advantage of the ignorance of their own customers. I won't play that game. I shop elsewhere whenever possible - frequently at Defender. Loyalty down, loyalty up - that is the sailor way!
Thank you, your comments regarding the "price matching" by WM reflect a conversation I had with WM corporate a few months ago - it is an ethical failure that takes advantage of the ignorance of their own customers. I won't play that game. I shop elsewhere whenever possible - frequently at Defender. Loyalty down, loyalty up - that is the sailor way!
I've had excellent service from Defender over the years and find their prices better than my Port Supply price in many cases. I don't like Worst Marine's matching price policy either since it means that they will get more from their regular customers that won't take the time to research rather than set fair prices at the store level to begin with. But I too have had issues with Defender answering emails, they usually don't. That means I have to call to get my answers and there are times that an email is much more convenient. I hope that at some time in the future this minor issue gets corrected. I think that is what started this thread. Worst Marine has become my source of last resort and there seems to be no indication that the company is moving in a positive direction to change my mind. Their financials are improving but only through store closure, buying cheap products that won't last long in a marine environment and concentrating on selling high profit items like shoes and shirts. Chuck
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