What happened MarineDepot???

[DevonianPlacoderm]

I've spent the last 2 1/2 weeks trying to order a 96w square pin actinic 03 power compact light. Well I guess i've been trying to receive it. Here's a short recap of the emails that transpired between myself and MarineDepot.com

January 21, 2005

I placed my order. recieved the 1st email confirming my order, yup there it is:

Item 3
------
Item Code: PC1964
Qty Ordered: 1
Description: 96W Actinic 03 PowerCompact Bulb
Price: $29.95

9 hours later I recieved this email :

Thank you for shopping with us. We have sold out of the following
item(s) that were in your order:

PC1964 POWERCOMPACT 96W ACTINIC03 BULB

No biggie, it happens

1/2 hour later recieved an email that my in-stock order has been shipped - YaY.

January 26, 2005

recieved an email that my backordered item was being shipped out. SWEET!

February 2, 2005 Things go south.

Hello,

My order number is SO-150134 (backordered from original order #100079218 on Jan 21 2005)
and the Product code is PC1964. It's description is PowerCompact 96w actinic 03 bulb. I received a powercompact 96w 10,000k/actinic 03 dual combo bulb manufactured by TRU. The bulbs I have ordered in the past have all been manufactured by SeaCurrent{postersnote: I was so confused and distressed at this point I meant CurrentUSA}. Please ship the correct bulb as quickly as possible and inform me as to what steps I need to take to return this bulb. Thank you

I also took the liberty to take photos of the bulb and improper(for the bulb sent at least) barcode on the cardbard box.

February 3, 2005
recieved this email in reply.

Thank you for your inquiry. We can indeed replace the bulb for you, however we will need to charge you up front for the replacement bulb. Once we get the bulb back from you, we can simply issue you a full refund.

Let me know if you would like to proceed, and I will setup a return for you.

Sincererly,
Josh Seeger
Marine Depot Customer Service

Huh? didn't I already buy it?

my reply:

Hello Josh,
I do not wish to be charged for the replacement bulb, This item was already backordered and received 7 days after the original items ordered were received. This is also the second time I have received the incorrect item due to mislabling in the past couple of months.

Thats another story that had a fast, happy ending.

I would like the bulb I ordered on January 21st shipped overnight. The incorrect bulb would be picked up then and the shipping charge paid for by Marinedepot when Marinedepot receives it.
Thank you,

I wasn't too sure how the return shipping thing worked, never happened to me before.

February4, 2005
received this reply

Unfortunately we will have to charge you for the bulb upfront until we get the original one back from you. I can indeed send you a return label so you do not have to worry about any return shipping fees. We apologize that the bulb was backordered, however I can not ship a bulb out free of charge until we have the other one back. I also do not mind shipping you the replacement bulb overnight.

You would be refunded immediately the full cost of the replacement bulb as soon as we get it back.

Look forward to your reply.
Sincererly,
Josh Seeger
Marine Depot Customer Service

free of charge??? Tell that to my visa card! I paid for it on the 21st.

My reply - fairly annoyed by now. not to mention strapped for cash. thanx college.

Hello Josh,
I still don't understand why I have to pay for that bulb again when I still haven't received it. There is no guarantee that the same mistake won't be made yet again, and if so - would your company charge me for a third bulb while I wait another week to get the bulb I ordered in the first place? To be honest, the money your company wishes to "hold" until your company receives the incorrect bulb back is earmarked to be spent on gas to go back-and-forth to school next week. Your company knows that bulb wasn't what I ordered, I sent photos. If Marinedespot still wishes to charge me again, your company can just send a return label and refund me (not store credit) for the bulb I originally ordered when your company receives the incorrect item. I apollogise if this sounds extreme, but I would rather deal with companies that correct their mistakes in a coherent, timley manner.

Ohhh what have I done now, they have my credit card number!!!

2 hours later Josh's reply

What I can do for you is offer another option. I can send you a return label for the incorrect bulb, so you do not have to worry about shipping. Once I can track the package on the UPS website that it has been shipped, then I can send you out a replacement.
I apologize for all the inconvenience, we are definitely not trying to make this hard. I can assure you either way we take care of this matter, you will not be short any money once everything is resolved.
Let me know if this will work for you, and I will make all the necessary arrangements.

YaY progress!! Although at this point i'm still unsure as to how the label will get to me.

My reply

Hello again Josh,
That will be fine. My listed address is correct. Please overnight the label as well as the bulb when you have confirmation.

short and to the point, just hoping for it to all end soon.

josh's reply later that evening:

What I can actually do is send the return label via email to you. This way you would receive it tonight, and would be the quickest way. All you have to do is print out the label, and stick it on the box.
I will go ahead and send one to you tonightââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦so you can send it back to us ASAP.
The bulb will indeed be shipped overnight for you. Please let me know once you have sent the box back, so I can check the tracking number.

I waited. No label email. Later that night:

Thank you for shopping at Marine Depot. Your order is currently being processed by our automated warehouse system and, therefore, we are unable to modify or cancel it. etc. etc. etc.

Well I guess Josh decided to ship my bulb out to me before I sent the other one back! I could have my bulb by Monday! Or not....

The weekend passed, Monday passed. No return label email. No Josh. Then just minutes ago!!!

Thank you for shopping with us. We have sold out of the following item(s) that were in your order:

PC1964 POWERCOMPACT 96W ACTINIC03 BULB

ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Is there ANYONE at MarineDepot that knows when or IF i'll ever recieve the correct bulb?? Or better yet, does anyone know how to cancel an order and refund my credit card? That would be best I think. Just send me a return label, cancel my order, refund my money. and we can both just walk away from this mess.

 

[Daveyboi]

I know how you feel. I ordered a Tunze stream setup awhile back. I wanted it shipped next day, but it was shipped ground instead. So it didn't get here on the time I had wanted it to. I had to miss a day of work. The thing is I was promised a 25 dollar refund for the next day shipping by Josh, then Ben. But it never showed up on my credit card statement. This was way back in Nov 2004. Does it really take this long for me to get a credit back? Or maybe it wasn't even issued?? I don't know.

Anyways, for 25 bucks I didn't really think it was worth it to pursue it. They can keep it. I haven't shoped there since and don't think I will again. Too many other good venders.......

JMHO,


Dave

 

[hurleycr]

they are going down hill. What happended? RC happened, they made all that money, now they are all corprate and stuff.

 

[DevonianPlacoderm]

Thanks alot Argi and Marine Depot. Thanks for not even remotely caring about my situation enough to respond to this thread. You two are about as helpful as the rest of your staff. Now I know where they get it from. Ignore the problem (unless it creates a bigger sell) and maybe it'll just go away. I could make a lightbulb with a pack of matches and a bucket of sand faster than your company can send it to me. And with that I will go away, Plenty of more companys to choose from. I'll make sure to spread the word.

 

[silkchaos]

Thank you for posting this. I was going to order a MH/VHO lighting setup from them, but if this is their level of customer service, I will shop around and find another place.

Robinson

 

[MarineDepot]

Hi Francis,

I apologize for the wrong bulb being sent out to you. We are not usually able to ship out replacements without getting the original item back, but I would have made the exception for you in this case. I will check in to why it was not done for you on this.

I do see that the order has been cancelled for you already. At this point, I can offer to send you the bulb free of charge as soon as it comes in or give you a store credit for the same amount. I know this may be little consolation for your troubles, but we do not have the bulb to send out to you right now.

Dave - Please send me your info again, i do remember doing that refund for you on your order. I'll be sure to make it right!

As for Keith (ARGI) not replying to you, Keith actually was answering emails from home and is not able to access your orders. I am quite sure he would have replied to your email if he had the complete answer.

Again I apologize for the troubles. Let me know if you have any questions and what you would like to do on this order. You can contact me via email (customercare@marinedepot.com) or by calling in at 714.385.0080.

Ben R.
Customer Service Manager
www.marinedepot.com

 

[Dizzyswimmer]

Man I wish I would have read all these before I orderd from them.! I have never had a company tell me to contact the manufacturer when I bought somthing defetive from THEM. Not to worry though . I learn fast.

 

[phil519]

I have never had a problem with Marine Depot. I do agree though that it would be helpful to know if an item is in stock or not before clicking the "submit" button.

However, weighed against the imho great website and again imho excellent customer service (plus the price guarantee, free shipping on orders over a certain amount) - all in all I think they are a great online dealer.

Now - I'm not condoning what happened to you- but I think a simple phone call is much easier to resolve then sending e-mails over a few weeks. I'm glad Ben R appears to be trying to resolve. Let us know how everything works out - which is a good segue to...

How about posting your vendor experience? Typically I don't comment/visit this forum since it's really geared for MD to respond.Vendor Experiences.

I do not work for marine depot, nor do I have any friends who do. I am a satisfied customer relaying my personal experience.

 

[Dizzyswimmer]

The phone call didn't help me .

 

[senorpyro]

it sucks that they sent you the wrong bulb, but the whole temp charge on the card until they get the replacement back thing is standard fare now-days. wether it's computer parts, or fish stuff (both of which i order ungodly amounts of online) that's how returns are almost always handled.

it's not fun, but that's life, and as long as you go with a reputable company (ie not tigerdirect or aquatraders) there's really nothing to worry about...

 

[reef fanatic]

well senor, I agree and disagree to a point. Those companies that go ABOVE AND BEYOND get my business every time. If they shuffle me aside like you say its "standard fare" I will shop till someone wants/needs my business. I work in customer service myself and love the "feeling" I get when I make someone happy rather than mad. I would have made an exception much earlier in this transaction and sent out the CORRECT bulb. Take the gamble if they are a decent size company and hope that he is a decent customer, If not, chalk it up as a loss. PERIOD

 

[Dizzyswimmer]

They didn't offer me a temp charge they told me I could buy another pump and if mine were REALLY defective they would give me a credit. well after reading how well they seam to issue credits in the vendor forum, i decided to buy somewhere other than them.

 

[MarineDepot]

HI Folks,

Just for some clarification here, we did offer to send out the bulb free of charge for the customer once it came in or a store credit. Since we didn't have the item in stock, that was the only thing we could really do. We realized our mistake on this and was doing our best to correct the situation. In this case, the customer refused the Free store credit we were giving him. He will be refunded for the bulbs once the return of the wrong product is processed. I hope everyone realizes that people do make mistakes and in this case, the bulbs were apparently mislabeled. This is quite a rare occurrence for us and we do have efficient quality control measures to prevent this from happening again.

Should anyone have any further questions regarding this or any other matter with us, please send us an email at customercare@marinedepot.com or a call at 714.385.0080.

Ben R.
Customer Service Manager
www.marinedepot.com

 

[DevonianPlacoderm]

Offering to send the replacement overnight free of charge is great. But the offer stinks if it's something that you dont even have. You should try getting off your A** and walking over to the warehouse and visually checking stock once in a while before making such a great offer. By the by, I ordered the correct bulb from DrsF&S and had it within 5 days. It's not a miracle - its how you run a business.

 

[SaltTinker]

I've ordered many times from Marine Depot without any problems. I always call in my order and they tell me if an item is in stock or not. When it's not and I need it quickly I shop around. I've noticed they stock the better items you can't get at TFP or DRs F & S.

I like Marine Depot.

SaltTinker

 

[Dizzyswimmer]

I like their products ,but their customer service really stinks. So I shop elsewhere.

 

[Joxer]

I can olnly speak from my experience. I have spent a ton of money with MD over the past 2 years. I have yet to have any problems. Keep up the good work.

 

[Entropy]

Just got another shipment in from them yesterday. Zero problems and the order was shipped same day. A+

 

[iCam]

I ordered some pumps from Marine Depot 10 March, and received them 14 March. Everything was packaged well, and I received the package on time. I talked to customer service once, and the person I spoke with was friendly and helpful. So, I give them a good word.

I'm sorry that things didn't work out as well for you.

 

[paulpp187]

i 've ordered a ton of stuf threw them and yes some stuff got messed up along the lines but with a couple phone calls all is good i give marine depot A+++++++++++++++++++=