I have to start by stating - Thank you to the moderators and administrators that keep this site functional.

That being said, I continue to be shocked at the quality of some members on this forum and in the mini community. Having started my career in a customer facing environment I recall how important treating a customer with respect, giving proper attention and being timely in responses is. Today I find that either their truly is a disconnect in what "customer service" means or rather many members simply do not give a damn about the outcome of a sale.

Two transactions ago I had a member decide to take a one month "sabbatical" claiming he was unaware that he would be leaving the country for a month... the day after I sent payment for lowering springs. He refused to provide any contact to my emails and replies (although thank goodness he was able to post on NAM during this important period in his life). This resulted in a paypal dispute in my favor.

My most recent transaction resulted in yet another poor result. Over-promise and under-deliver most be a mantra sung by many these days. I purchased a seat delete kit by a member, sent payment immediately as asked (on a thursday) only to be told, tracking will be provided on Monday or Tuesday. When contacting the member yesterday I was angered that I , the buyer, had to follow-up to obtain this information that had been communicated during the sales process. When I obtained the tracking number I soon found out the member had dropped off the shipment that day, or possibly the night before (UPS makes it challenging).

I was candid and stated I was disappointed that he had communicated this delivery (Which I had anticipated installing this weekend) . His response was of course to insult me - stating to "Chill Out" and throwing out statements that he could have waited 30 days via paypal if he wanted.

What happened to customer service? I know there are many great folks to work with , however I feel these are becoming few and far between. Thoughts?

 

Sad but true, Rycase.....Once a week I tell my wife that I'm going to start my best-selling novel, "The death of common courtesy".....I'm amazed and dismayed by the behavior I see day in and day out.

The sales forum here is just a tiny snapshot of this. I participate on many car forums and at least it seems that the MINI folk are generally more civil to one another. My buying and selling here has been pleasent. Unfortunately, you seem to have found a few under-performers! Enjoy your NAM time and realize that the vast majority of members are good eggs and great to do business with.

Happy Motoring!

Tom

 

Tom pretty much said it all. I've done a bit of buying and selling on the Marketplace and haven't had any bad experiences. There's always going to be a few bad apples.

One thing you can do is leave feedback on NAM using the iTrader feature. It might give future shoppers the benefit of your experience with these particular sellers, and could help drive them toward doing business in a bit more customer oriented way.

 

I have been buying and selling parts on the NAM Marketplace for 6 months now.
Every transaction I have had buying, has gone smoothly and without any problems.
When I sell something to someone else, I try to treat them in the manner that I would like to be treated in a online sale.
Communication, Prompt Shipping, Reasonable Costs.

 

It is positive to hear feedback that others are at the very least completing transactions in a civil way. Telling someone to "chill out" when being cordial and stating they are disappointed by a 1 week turnaround time (moreso if they seller had stated, I am sorry, I simply was too busy) - is demonstration of what I already know - society is spiraling downwards rapidly. Regardless of the cause for delay, I simply expect candor in my transactions - If you screw it - take ownership - do not tell someone to "chill out".

I have bought and sold on the internet for over a decade and certainly feel that as a whole, my experiences are positive. That being said, having two flawed transactions in two months places a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

I fully intend on leaving neutral feedback (at the very least assuming the product is as described) for this seller. It should be known that their "acceptable business practices" include lack luster attention to delivery and further poor behavior in regards to meaningful conversation..


Thanks for the feedback guys

 

My rule is to look at feedback, posts and date the person joined NAM. I am always suspicious of first time posters and recent join dates. I tend to steer clear if a marketplace ad is on or close to join date.

Kevin

 

I just feel i should comment on this:

I am the one who sold Rycase the rear seat delete.

I have also sold numerous things of NAM, about 15-16 items.. 4 of which last week.

All of my experiences selling on NAM, has been wonderful, almost everything that I list sells, some people try to hassle down the price but that will happen anywheres. From a sellers view point, my experiences on NAM have been wonderful. Also, from a buyers view point on NAM, wonderful.

Every item I list on the market place I make sure i promptly "check in" on NAM for PM's, etc. For every sale i make sure i promptly respond and make the buyer feel reassured that they are getting there package.

Now to Rycase, Are you saying because i took 3 business days to ship it, that is not up to your expectations? on 5/14 I received payment from you (on saturday), on 5/18 (Wednesday), I gave it to UPS to ship it, so I was 1 day later than when i said i would ship it.

If you were to buy something through most online vendors, it would take them 3 business days, maybe longer.

Now, why was I 1 day later than when i said i would ship it? Tuesday,(date i said i would ship it), As i was bringing the huge package to UPS, I felt it didnt feel "safe for shipping" because of the way UPS handles items.

You bought a Rear seat delete kit, which includes a huge lump of plastic with tabs. Tabs can break easily, so i carefully made cardboard triangles for each tab.

If you look at the attached photos it is our "brief" convo.

In my opinion, conversation is the most important factor in online shopping.

Your message asking if i would take $130.00, i said ok, whatever, i mean someone is always gonna try to bring the price down.

Your first real message saying "130.00 shipping ok? i was going to be a used one from them for a little bit more."

When i read this i said to my wife, "oh no he cant speak English..."

After your short responses to information I ask, for example, where you live. Is important... You did not supply me with shipping info, your paypal did, which I just wanted to be 100% sure that it is accurate.
Your response:
"Yes."

From my viewpoint, having you saying you are "upset with me" and it is "upsetting" that it took me 3 business days to ship, and then post on the NAM feedback and have a great use of vocabulary and a well written negative feedback about me, is upsetting. Why could you not communicate with me better? After all, I am the one you should be talking to. I thought you didnt even speak english!

I am glad that you are posting on the NAM marketing feedback, because i feel it is very important. However, i feel you have this transaction all wrong.

God i hope there aren't sellers like me on NAM who take 3 business days to ship an item! Then supply the buyer with a tracking number! What nerves...

Vollgas has been the most active member in the market place. Like he stated, i try to do everything he listed, communication, Prompt Shipping, Reasonable Costs.

And please dont let this stop you from posting feedback on NAM marketplace, like i said i think feedback is very important, i just feel you are misunderstanding this transaction.

-Keith

 

Man i cant help looking at your above post, you can actually speak english, and you speak it well! Listen i am not trying to come off how you think i am, i am shocked that this is the experience you received from me.

 

3 days to ship a rear seat delete?


How did you manage to do it so fast? Those things are huge.


looks to me like your "Customer Service" was fine.

Also to sellers and buyers alike, WHY do you insist on typing things like "130.00 shipping ok?" How bloody hard is it to type a + in there to avoid confusion?

 

Whenever I buy something off a forum member whether this forum or others I belong to, I always assume they are just regular folk with full time responsibilities. In other words, they have real life to deal with and this is not their career at which they earn a living. Also, communication is a two way street. If a buyer communicates with me very little, then I take that as a clue as to how they would like for me to respond. If they are very communicative, then I usually mimic that as well. I would not have handled the situation the way you have but we are all different and that is your right to do so. Just be prepared for others to remember this in the future.

 

Interesting.

I have to say that all my NAM transactions have been smooth and pain free. As stated above I am wary of those who just showed up to sell stuff.

 

I think the OP has unrealistic expectations...Why? No one here is a business. No one has a shipping dept. There is no customer service.

Now seeing the second half of your transaction everyone can make up their own mind as to whom they would like to deal with in the future.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

 

Regarding my lack of clear and concise communication skills - I apologize that my iPhone does not serve as a strong platform for replies to PM's.

Payment date was 5/14 - UPS tracking shows 5/19 - that is 5 days from the time of payment to drop a package off. Now as I posted above, I feel in no way that I had been slighted IF and ONLY IF you had simply said - "Hey, I was busy" - your reply - Chill out.

I did not call you out on the forum, I am glad you felt you needed to refute any "false statements" (yet I still find none).

Regarding low -ball - I gave you your asking price of $135 - since when is <5% under asking considered low-ball?

I am glad you feel that that this is the best place to have this conversation.

 

As I did not call out the seller, nor did I provide any context to the seller outside of a seat delete, I hardly feel that this was a venue for disputing this. I did not ask ANYONE on here to take action, simply asked about others experiences.


5 days from payment without a single contact- gosh I suppose I am way off here.

 

I am glad to hear you feel this is a miscommunication. I was frustrated at your response and wanted to obtain feedback regarding the marketplace (NOT you) so I posted here.

For what its worth, I find it rather amusing the one PM which you stated clearly the # would be provided (note: If someone has a tracking number, that implies it has been shipped...) on Monday or Tuesday ... was not attached to your array of photos intended to question my character.

All I ask is that people stand by their word.






For one of the above posters -GREAT - I hope the next item I sell on NAM the buyer takes note. I ship immediately and follow-through - I have no issues with this being posted.

 

And for what it is worth - I fully take ownership of the poor communication via a phone. I should have waited to post a more legible response later in the evening, however the seller made it quite clear there was a line-up. I wanted the seat delete!

 

I've been waiting on a brake caliper from a well-known manufacturer for a month now...The vendor (who is also well respected and who I won't name as it's not his fault) who sells it has been bending over backwards to get the manufacturer to get the damn thing on my doorstep (supposedly two have been sent, but none delivered. Mysteriously, no tracking # exists...).

So consider yourself lucky. Buying new doesn't guarantee the desired result either; the marketplace, if you use caution and vet the seller just a little, is a pretty damned safe bet. None of us who are regulars here particularly want to get bashed.

Look, both of you could have handled this transaction a little better, but when it's all said and done, it worked out, and this, compared to other things that have happened in the marketplace and with vendors qualifies as a molehill. Live and learn, and bury the hatchet; Rycase, enjoy your rear seat delete (And just be thankful you didn't order it from Palo Uber), Achilles, go out and buy a cold one, everyone's happy.

For what it's worth, I'd probably buy something from either one of you on the marketplace. But probably not from Palo Uber.

 

Palo uber

 

Rycase you really should just "chill out", you're being pretty ridiculous.

 

Holy **** it took 5 whole days including a weekend for something to get shipped to you and you want to *****?!?! That is the stupidest thing I have read all day... I think you caused me to even lose a few IQ points....

 

Funny coming from you Rycase. Remember our transaction. It took you 3 months to send me the exhaust hangers. I sold him a one ball pipe in exchange for money and the resonator side hanger to go back to stock. It took him almost three months to finally send the hanger to me. Yes in the beginning I said no rush, but when after 2 months my emails start getting ignored I get pissed. Then you decide you dont want to send me the part you promised because you dont like the sound of the one ball, not my problem, should have done your homework. After threatening to go to paypal he decided to send me the part he owed to me. So before you go on bashing others on this site Rycase take a look in the mirror.

 

I've had good luck with all of the transactions that have been completed through the marketplace.

I have had 2 people agree to sell me something for an agreed price only to have them sell to someone else who offered more after our agreement. Cost me no money, but it sure shows a lack of ethics on their part.

I feel most folks are good by nature, there are a few bad apples. Let the buyer beware.

 

Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. It's pretty obtuse of someone to complain about the very thing they do to others.

 

It seems to me that the thing that makes us the maddest, is the very thing we do to others!!

....Les