Situation:

On April 12th, I ordered a set of OEM replacement burrs for my old Gaggia MDF -- figuring I'd replace the burrs before putting it up for sale -- from _____________. I received an email confirmation the same day. On April 14th, however, I received an email that the part was on backorder. I emailed them back asking if they had any idea how long, etc., etc. On April 15th, I got a reply saying the ship was docking on April 19th, so by the time it cleared Customs, got into the warehouse, and shipped . . . two weeks maybe? I said fine, and that was that.

I'm still waiting . . .

I emailed _____________ yesterday at 6:30 am (9:30 am their time) asking what the status was. After receiving no response, I called them some seven hours later. Basically, the person I spoke with was polite but "cool," shall I say. I was told that no burrs were on that shipment (they wouldn't have known that when I placed my order???), and that there should be some on the next shipment which would be arriving in four-to-eight weeks (they couldn't have contacted me to let me know???).

Questions:

Am I wrong for feeling like they should have known there were no burrs on that shipment? (I used to import containers of wine from Europe every month; I always knew what was on my containers!)

Am I wrong for feeling like they should have contacted me?

Or is this "normal customer service" in the 21st century, and I should just sit tight and wait?

Cheers,
Jason

I'd just go SUUUUUUUUUGAR! with them like I advised in the thread here.
More seriously: maybe they did not know what is going to be in the shipping? In Poland it happens quite often... though I considered US to be civilized country

Unless ___________ is the only place to get the parts, cancel the order.
Waiting rewards them for bad service.

Even if you have to wait somewhere else, at least you have the satisfaction of using ___________'s time to process the paperwork for no DoReMi.

I'm saddened to see the editing of the vendor's name above. In particular as there are other threads which mention vendors' names. This vendor has, in the recent past, had a thread about them regarding their customer service on this very site. Their response at that time was that they took all complaints very seriously and were trying to resolve their reported issues.

Granted, for every possible negative post listed, there may be 50 positive outcomes. Sponsor or no sponsor, they should have had that same opportunity to respond here instead of being given a free pass.

Oh, don't be sad . . . after all, it's not like people don't know I'm talking about Whole Latte Love.

The edit is my own idea, because -- TRULY -- I'm not ranting and raving about it (a la some fiery people we may [or may not] know). My questions are serious: is this what customer service has come to? am I nuts for being upset? (And, truth is, I'm more disappointed and saddened than I am upset.)

I did this after getting three PMs from people with similar experiences/disappointments with the vendor, but -- for whatever reason -- they chose to respond privately. It honestly wasn't until after I edited the title that people posted responses here.

Cheers,
Jason

Jason,

I'm not sure if you're right about customer service in today's modern society, but sadly, we live in a Wal Mart country. The vast majority of consumers just don't care enough about the bad customer service to go out of their way to make the offenders feel it in their pocket (i.e. take their business elsewhere).

I live in a town where customer service is notoriously horrible and I try to go out of my way to patronize those few places in town that really take care of their customers (but really, only when it's convenient). If you take your money someplace else and let the vendor know why, you MAY have an impact. If many people do this, there may be change.

On a positive note, GREAT customer service is an easy and effective way for a vendor to set themselves apart in the online coffee business. As an example, Chris has similar prices on his site as most other retailers, but I find myself looking there first whenever I need coffee equipment.

By the way, I've had several of those un-reported good experiences and am a happy WLL customer.

HB wrote: Everyone makes mistakes... it's what you do after you realize your mistake that matters!

SO true, Dan; so true.

HB wrote: But #3 is entirely within the service department's control and represents an opportunity to build your trust in the service organization's ability to recognize and correct their mistakes.

So true. I was offered a replacement part on a new machine, albeit it was deeply discounted as it had sat in the warehouse (or somewhere) for a few years. This is a copy of another brand's machine, with (supposedly) interchangeable parts. When the original part didn't perform well out of the box, they suggested that I could send it back or get the new part and install it myself. Being handy, and not wanting to be without the machine, I said to send me the part. After a lot more'n a week, I called and asked about tracking information, and they said that it was back-ordered. Shoulda told me that when I started the conversation. I waited the two months that it was supposed to take to get the backorder filled (far too long for a warranty repair part, regardless of the discount, IMO) and then waited some more. And more. I finally wrote an email to ask if I had been forgotten. Apparently, my parts were on the same boat, and they couldn't find mine either, so five months without the machine later, I suggest that they have a couple of options: Replace the machine, refund the price of the machine, or go out and beat the bushes for a part. They found another machine that had been returned for repairs and sent me the part scavenged from that. Almost six months to replace a part under warranty. I'm going to insist that the warranty be extended by that period, but I'll note that the part from other vendors for the identical machine (although branded as the original) was available from at least two vendors the entire time, just waiting to be shipped.
All of this would have been far less annoying if they'da copped to it, and I wouldn't have had to contact them each and every time for updates, out of sheer frustration. Mediocre service for a non-customer makes them go away, potentially. Inadequate customer service/parts/ and repair after the sale pretty much guarantees it.