MD does not care about customer satisfaction

B

badgerlaw

New member
I purchased a set of Tunze Streams on 11/06/06 and received them on 11/07/07. MD is excellant at sending out products quickly. However upon plugging in one of the pumps the pump never started.

I immediately called Marine Depot for an exchange. They referred me to the manufacturer. The manufacturer indicated that they wanted the product returned directly to them.

I placed another call to MD and spoke with Walter who advised that they were unwilling to exchange the single pump. He told me that I had to deal directly with the manufacturer. What ever happened to standing behind the product that you sell.

In any event I demanded a full refund. He was unwilling to issue a full refund because he said I had put the pump in the water already. Of course I had to put the pump in the water to see if it worked.

I had made previous purchases from MD totalling over $8,000.00 in 3 years. In prior instances I was very happy with MD when it came to exchanges. They would immediately replace certain items. However I caution everyone about purchasing large ticket items from MD.

It seems that MD does not care about their customers and it is apparent that the bottom line is more important to them.
 
i'm totaly agree. i had the exact same problem with MD. i purchase a $220 pump that never started. they sent me to the manufacturer that refuse to exchange the defective pump. a lost $220 and Marine Depot and manufacturer don't care.
 
Hello Badgerlaw,



As we have already discussed, we are unfortunately not able to take back the pump that you are having problems with. We work very closely with our vendors and Tunze has asked us to refer any damages or warrantees over to them. Given the chance, Roger over at Tunze will be able to remedy the problem for you. In talking to Roger, he has offered you a return label at their cost and they would be willing to fix the pump right away. We have also offered to send you a new pump provided that we charge you first then provide a full refund for the amount when we receive the damaged item and that offer was also refused.



In cases like this, the manufacturer is oftentimes able to better assist you with the problem as they have intimate knowledge on their products. Should we find that the manufacturer is not able to provide a high level of customer service to our customers, then we would step in and resolve the situation ourselves.

Walter
Marine Depot Customer Service
 
I have documented the problem with MD by letter and should they fail to respond I will dispute the charge with the credit card company. More people should start doing this. Perhaps it would improve their customer service.

The bottom line is they don't stand behind the products they sell. They just want to sell products. I can respect that as a business owner. But in the long term cusomters will go away.

I have had much better customer service with Custom Aquatics.
 
Thanks for the reply Walter.

But you never offered to replace the pump for me. I would be more than willing to pay for a replacement pump while the other one is being fixed. Provided that you refund me the money when the broken pump is returned to you.

You are essentially recreating our conversation denovo. I documented our conversation in the correspondence that I sent to you.
 
i have an appointment with my attorney next week to resulve the issue with marine depot and the manufacturer (Aquamedic). don't make any deal with them. if you pay for a new pump, they will tell you like they did to me. (your pump is working, end of story). no refund. you'll lose the money.
 
Having been in the retail business I can understand both sides of this issue.

From all the products I had handled through about a dozen wholesale distributors when ever I returned a product I bought from them they replaced it no questions asked.

In many cases though local distributors did not handle some of the products my customers wanted. Therefore I would try to go directly to the manufacturer for the item. In most case they would deal with me provided they did not have a distributor in mythe area with different ideas of what my area was.

However when dealing with manufacturers direct it was a real varriable situation with returns. As far as items made in the US or by USA based comanies it was never a problem. With European based items it was a matter of extreemes, some companies would not want the product back and would give you instant credit on your next order, others would tell you to go see the carrierand file a claim with them. Then with the Asian based companies it was a completly different story. When ever something was deffective they asked one question and that was if I inspected it before I signed for it. If I did not then they would say it was fault I did not point it out to the carrier, and if I said i did then they said I should not have accepted the shippment or that it was broken after delivery. In noit one instance did I get a return credit from an asian country.

Now if you look at the wholesalers out there how many them are absorbing the costs of returns and how much of it are they getting credit for from the manufacturers? Then look at a large chain retailer that deals daily in large volumes. The volumes allow him to buy for less, however he also has the leverage to the manufacturers that if they do not serve them he will stock the competetors brand instead of theres.

Several time I had asked my distributors why don't you handle brand X. In most of the cases the answer was that they did not stand behind there products and we started taking a loss on there returns.

On a side not I did handle one Asian manufacturers lights for a short time. After my second order from them I started getting regular returns with burnt out ballasts after less than 6 months. Upon calling them they claimed the customer must have abused the product and would not stand behind it. In the long run it costed me more to handle there products than I could have ever made even if they were flawless. But in order to keep my customer "I had to absorb this loss to keep my customers happy.

Dennis


Dennis
 
True that, MD does not care. Same experience with faulty Euro-Reef skimmer. MD does not stand behind what they sell. Most retail establishments gladly take back defective merchandise and ship it back to the manufacturer. They get credits when they receive the next shipment, no sweat off their brow. MD did not let me post a review of the skimmer either, it has a known issue with faulty impeller. I called and was told a manager would call back - yeah, riiiiight. Still waiting, call collect if you'd like.
Our problem is with MD, their problem is with the manufacturer.
Last time for me MD.
 
When you do have consumer correspondence, you should CC these folks:
California Department of Consumer Affairs
1625 North Market Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95834
916-445-1254
916-445-4465
916-445-2643 (Correspondence and Complaint Review Unit)
Toll free: 1-800-952-5210 (CA)
TTY: 916-322-1700; Toll Free: 1-800-326-2297

California Department of Consumer Affairs
10240 Systems Pkwy.
Sacramento, CA 95827
916-255-4300
Toll free: 1-800-952-5210 (CA)
TTY: 916-322-1700
Fax: 916-255-1369

Office of the Attorney General
Public Inquiry Unit
PO Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
916-322-3360
Toll free: 1-800-952-5225 (CA)
TTY: 916-324-5564
Fax: 916-323-5341

Orange County District Attorney's Office
401 Civic Center Dr.
West Santana, CA 92701
714-648-3600
Fax: 714-648-3679
 
Hi guys thanks for your support.

I just spoke with Walter at MD and he has agreed to send me a new pump, provided that he charges me for it first. Upon receipt of the defective pump by the manufacturer, he has agreed to credit me back the cost of the additional pump.

I will keep you posted as this saga unfolds.
 
I'll agree that the best thing when possible is to contact your credit card company and demand a reversal of the charge. It is one of the benifits of being able to buy items with crredit cards.

When the retailer does not want to work with you to your satisfaction that is realy the best way of handling it. I had several shipment of livestock to customers in September 1999 that did not arive alive (after 10+ days for overnight shipment) Several of the customers reversed charges on there cretit card to me causing me to not only loose the sale amount but also picking up the % charge twice from the credit card company. Fortunatly the shipments were insured and the carrier picked up the cost of the shipmment and merchandise. But I was still stuck with the credit card charges,
 
Manufacturers point of view

Manufacturers point of view

First let me say that ReeFlo Sequence pumps has a simple replacement policy. As long as you let us troubleshoot the problem over the phone, we will replace the problem pump. We do need a cc to ensure that the defective one comes back (we have been scammed, can you believe it!). Unless it involves a dealer that is close by, we would rather handle it ourselves. We have found that about 60% of the problems can be handled over the phone. In this case the manufacturer should have done the right thing, replace the pump immediately, period.
 
I do not know what credit card company you have but CHASE will alway side with the merchant!!!! That is why I no longer use CHASE. These merchants do not think long term customers, all they want is your money.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8554876#post8554876 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by badgerlaw
Well guys Tunze Received the pump today and I got a refund today. MD kept their word. Thank you Walter.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear things worked out for you.
 
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