[AcadNut]

Ok, just to vent and get this whole thing behind me, I thought I'd share my experience with ordering an RTV 3060 directly from RTV.


Thursday (10/19; ~1:50pm CDT): Call RTV. Order 3060. Request 'overnight shipping'. Done. Total bill: $879.94 ($79.99 for shipping)


Thursday (10/19; 2:09pm CDT): Receive e-mail verification of order. (Cool!)


Thursday (10/19; ~2:30pm CDT): Post to this forum the 'I have joined the collective !!' thread.


Thursday (10/19; ~3:30pm CDT): Read just_mike's comment about 'overnight' not being truly overnight. Mild panic.


Thursday (10/19; ~4:45pm CDT): Call RTV. Just want to check on the order. Discover that order processing doesn't 'hit' for at least 24 hours. Moderate panic. Explain to the less than intelligent person on the other end that I paid $79.99 for overnight delivery and expect to see it tomorrow (Friday 10/20). He repeats (at least five times, probably from a script) that 'overnight' means from the point it hits shipping, not from the order date. My skull is ready to pop at this point. Time to escalate. Talk to a wonderful rep at corporate. (I don't want to name him to spare him from the possibility of being asked for by each member here ! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif ) He says he'll see what he can do to get it out tomorrow (Friday 10/20) for Sat. delivery.


Friday (10/20; 10:00am CDT): Call my rep. He's working on it.


Friday (10/20; 5:30pm CDT): Call my rep. He's still working on it. Wife is less than pleased with my ranting.


Saturday (10/21; 10:00am CDT): Call my rep. It (supposedly) shipped. Gives me tracking number. UPS. Thank him enormously. Attempt to track said package. Doesn't exist in UPS system. I reach a further boiling point. Call UPS. No luck there either. Call RTV. Call center rep refused to put me through to my corporate guy. <grrr> Says that his 'notes' say the package shipped FedEx. Try that. No luck. Wife ready to file papers.


Saturday (10/21; 12:00n CDT): Leave to get hair cut, errands. No 3060. Need distance from wife at this point.


Saturday (10/21; 3:00pm CDT): Call wife. No 3060 she says. 'Don't worry', she says, 'What's the big deal ?'


Saturday (10/21; 3:30pm CDT): Arrive home. Less hair, cooler head. Wife says there are 'bees' in 7-year-old daughter's room. No 'bees' just a 3060. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Tell wife, love her, don't do that to me again.


Turns out that the neighbor brought the 3060 to us, as she saw it sitting at the SIDE DOOR of the house. UPS did not ring the door bell and did not ask for a signature.


Saturday (10/21; 3:31pm CDT): Want to setup 3060 ... 1.35-year-old daughter watching Elmo video tape. Dare not interrupt. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


Saturday (10/21; 6:00pm CDT): Finally done. Hooked to OTA and DirecTV. Called to mothership, registered by phone. Aaah. Enjoy.


---


Sorry for the length, but the moral of my story is this: Be careful if you order from RTV directly. In my line of work (IT guy) I order computer parts, software, etc. almost daily. When I ask for it 'overnight' I get it the next day. Never has there been an exception. ReplayTV has a *wonderful* product, great tech people here, and great customer care (at the corporate level). What they need is to clarify their definition of 'overnight'. By gosh, if I spend $79.99 for the 'overnight' service, that's what I should get ... not 'overnight' from when we decide to ship it.


If I'm wrong please set me straight. I'm more than pleased that RTV bent over backwards to rectify my problem and will be an extremely vocal advocate of the product. It's awesome !!


Thanks for listening ...


------------------

Todd.

 

[just_mike]

todd-

again, congratulations!


maybe you'll get more good news - don't forget, "my" rep saw to it that i got a refund for the difference in "perceived" shipping method: $30.00. you got 2 day shipping, you should pay for 2 day shipping. and so should everyone until they clarify what's on their web site (which still hasn't changed). or over the phone in your case!


------------------
...mike

 

[StuckOnReplay]

After many years in customer service and after many examples of the above in my own life I have come to once conclusion:


The days of customer service and quality treatement are gone.


It's a hard pill to take but once you adopt that ideal.. things go much better.. I find if I expect nothing I won't be disappointed. Oh, and the same statement also holds true for your server at a resturant.


Just my 2 cents.


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I would LOVE to beta test! I love my ReplayTV.

 

[RandyL712]

I'm going to try and be polite, because I too have been very excited about things, and concerned about timely shipping.


Have you EVER bought from a catalog or online before? You ordered on Thursday. You received on Saturday. That's overnight shipping to me, especially as you bought it at 2 PM Thursday. How you justify spending $80 on shipping I'll never know, I have some $500 hammers to unload (email me). You're totally paranoid and overdramaticizing the whole experience. In any event, you got the unit, enjoy it. Just RELAX next time. It's a fancy VCR, not a new Ferrari.


And BTW: When you pay for ANY additional shipping method, be it 2nd Day, 3rd Day, Overnight, etc., of COURSE it's from the time of shipping, not ordering. Most companies have a pickup from Fed Ex or UPS once a day. It may be at 11 AM, it may be at 5:30 PM. If your order goes through all of their systems and makes it to the shipping center before the UPS man comes, it will go out. If not, it's the next day's business. This is quite standard especially in electronics. I've ordered at least 30 pieces of electronics in the past few years through catalogs and online. Just about everything gets shipped within 2-3 days.

 

[l8er]

Quote:

Originally posted by RandyL712: Have you EVER bought from a catalog or online before? You ordered on Thursday. You received on Saturday. That's overnight shipping to me.

Sorry, but there are many on-line computer product oriented

retailers who ship the same day ordered, with some even if you

order as late as 10 PM. If I'm ordering next day shipping, I

expect to be told I won't get it tomorrow. On the other hand,

it's usually wise to ask, "when will this order go out?", just

so there's not doubt.


-Gary




[This message has been edited by l8er (edited 10-23-2000).]

 

[AcadNut]

Whoa, Randy !


> Have you EVER bought from a catalog or online before?


Of course. Almost *daily*, like I said in my original post.


> You ordered on Thursday. You received on Saturday. That's overnight shipping to me, especially as you bought it at 2 PM Thursday.


To you, maybe. To me, not at all. If you have experience with shipping stuff, typically most offices (including mine) have *2* pickups per day, late morning and late afternoon. Had I not made the calls I did, who knows when it would have shipped ?


> How you justify spending $80 on shipping I'll never know, I have some $500 hammers to unload <snip>


Randy, I am an enthusiast. Furthermore, I enjoy the 'instant gratification' of a purchase. 3 day shipping is $49.99. The difference in shipping cost is less than I make in an hour. Easily affordable. As far as the hammers are concerned, they probably don't have an S-Video or component connection, so I won't need them for my home theatre.


> You're totally paranoid and overdramaticizing the whole experience.


Paranoid ? No. Expect customer service ? Yes. Overdramaticizing ? No. Warning other like-minded people ? Yes.


> Just RELAX next time.


I'm quite relaxed, thank you. I expect to get what I pay for.


> It's a fancy VCR, not a new Ferrari.


I'll let someone else debate the 'fancy VCR' part, but as far as the Ferrari goes, just like the hammers, no S-Video or component.


> I've ordered at least 30 pieces of electronics in the past few years through catalogs and online. Just about everything gets shipped within 2-3 days.


Jeez, I've ordered twice that much in the last two months, and on each and every occurance where I specified 'overnight' it was here the next *morning*.


Look at l8er's comments. I agree with him that I should have asked upfront. My bad. I'll bet if you took a poll, most people would believe that overnight means in your hands *tomorrow* (with obvious caveats).


Respectfully,


------------------

Todd.


[This message has been edited by AcadNut (edited 10-23-2000).]

 

[just_mike]

Quote:

Originally posted by RandyL712: I'm going to try and be polite... Have you EVER bought from a catalog or online before? You ordered on Thursday. You received on Saturday. That's overnight shipping to me...

i too hope that i come across as polite (especially since i've complained recently http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif )


randy-

while most companies do indeed have only one pick-up a day (mine included), those companies probably do not ship a significant-volume of product (if any) on a regular basis - i.e.: they don't sell "things". those that do would probably (want to) have their possibly one pick-up near the end of the day. i may be wrong.


regardless of what we're all guessing here in these posts, the actuality is the issue: what the web-site says (or doesn't), what customer service says (or doesn't) and what happens (or should).


if it says (which replaytv still does) "* Available within 24 hours." and if the form has a "Next Day" option, it's reasonable to assume that if i order "during the day" i should receive it "tomorrow". of course, the combination of these two statements is ambiguous. but, when something or someone says "next-day", i take it to mean "tomorrow". otherwise, it should say what many other sites say: "Usually ships withing 24 hours." that, though terse, gets the point across to me.


the reason i'm so vocal about it is that myself and todd both had to call to find these things out as well as get some resolution. my "next-day" was wednesday 11:00AM EST/EDT (that's 9:00AM at RTV) to monday (see todd's original post for my own saga). todd's was thursday 2:00PM CST/CDT (11:00AM RTV) to saturday. but if todd hadn't called, i bet they wouldn't have checked the "Saturday Delivery" option, and he would have gotten his monday.


also, i agree that payment for shipping should be from time of shipment, but if i thought (or they said or implied) that they were shipping today and they don't, then why should i pay next-day cost for a net 2-day reality?


why am i harping on this stuff? i want RTV to stay in business. i want more people to realize what a good idea it is and buy more RTVs. i want people to say "hey, i had [ this or that ] good experience with RTV! you should get one." the more people buy their product, the more profit they'll make, the more likely they'll stay in business, the more likely they'll enhance their product, the more likely i'll be able to get a multi-disk, HDTV 1080i, composite inputs, multi-tuner, master-slave-chain-able, scriptable, cool-running, expert-mode/novice-mode, 500 hour unit in the near future!


ReplayTV-

outsource all your shipping! or change the wording on your site and tell your CSRs to pass on the real deal - if you just tell people what's really going to happen, and it does: instant good PR. don't over promise and under deliver.


*sigh* thanks for listening...


------------------
...mike

 

[DeadEd]

Quote:

Originally posted by RandyL712: I'm going to try and be polite,

Oh well, it was a nice try anyway.


Ed Leiken

 

[Keith Myers]

Can anyone help me? See my reply in "I have joined the collective thread"


It is now Monday nite and I still don't have my 3060 I ordered at 9AM on Oct. 18. I called again to customer service this morning and asked where my order is. After interminable holds, I finally talked to a "escalation representative" named Alex and asked him where my order was. He said that he had no information but to "just trust me, your order shipped on Friday and you'll get it today" I asked him for the tracking number, he said he could not provide one.


My Fedex delivery guy has been by 5 times today to our building and no delivery for me. I call customer service again at 4 PM and ask why I have not received my order and ask where is the tracking number. No answer. I ask is there anyway to prove that my order was ever processed or shipped. I am told no. I then state that since there is no proof that my order was ever processed or shipped that I wanted to cancel my order. I figure I could order a 3060 from ecost.com and get it really "overnight" and at a better price. I am told I cannot cancel my order until I receive my unit. I am also told that I would be charged for all shipping charges both to and from me. None of this makes any sense to me. I have never dealt with such incompetence before. I am the shipping department for my company and ship Fedex exclusively. I cannot fathom why Replay can't say whether my order ever shipped or what if any the tracking number is.


Can anyone give me a direct number to contact someone in corporate that can resolve this. If I didn't already like the product ( I have the Showstopper 30 hour ) I would just have not bothered with Replay ever again.

 

[matt-o]

Just FYI

for those who are looking for prompt delivery check out outpost.com

I have ordered late at night and had product next day! impressed!

 

[StuckOnReplay]

Todd --


If you wish to get refunded for the overnight vs. 2 day shipping and get no results from Replay let me know, I will give you my contact's name in their corporate office.


Ash


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I would LOVE to beta test! I love my ReplayTV.

 

[karog]

Quote:

Originally posted by AcadNut: UPS did not ring the door bell and did not ask for a signature.

I was home last week on a day I was scheduled to receive from UPS. I put a 10"x4" note on my front door saying "UPS: I am home. Please ring door bell."


Late in the afternoon when I hadn't received my package, I tracked it via the web and it said "Delivered." So I went to the front porch and there was the package directly below the note, which the UPS guy completely ignored.


Even if they are not looking for a signature, is it really so hard to ring a door bell just in case someone is home? I don't think so.




[This message has been edited by karog (edited 10-23-2000).]

 

[Serra]

I had the exact same experience with an order from Replay's website. Replay was unable to provide me status on my order for a week and a half. They kept telling me to call back in a few days and they would give me a status/tracking number. I later learned that the 3060 had not been shipped even after a week and a half from the fulfillment center. I finally cancelled my order and had one from another site in two days with ground shipping.


Replay should stop accepting orders on their website because their outsourcing plan causes major customer dissatisfaction. The whole system is flawed and is substandard at best. It seems like they have no need to be in the direct order taking business so why piss off every customer who orders from them?


I love my ReplayTV 3060, it is wonderful. I think that Replay has done a good job of building the product and the support is above average as well. It is a shame that the company has to subject itself to all of the bad publicity that it is getting by direct marketing its product through a website that years behind the industry. People who order products over the Internet know how other companies ship and how long order turn around should be. If Replay can’t provide that level of service, it should get out of the market and let other companies handle it.

 

[AcadNut]

Hey guys ...


Isn't it interesting that the ReplayGuys are quiet on this issue ?


I know they are engineering types, but they do have some inside info on shipping, I'd guess.


If I had it to do over again, I'd go the outpost or ecost way.


Love it 'tho. Can't wait for 3.0 !




------------------

Todd.

 

[Serra]

It would be nice if you called Replay to get a status and they told you it had been turned over to a fulfillment company and then proceeded to give you the company's number. (Which I have at home, want it?)

 

[Serra]

Here is the information I got from the fulfillment center:


Fulfillment #452

6960 Eastgate Blvd

Lebanon, TN 37090


Voice (615) 449-8877 (7:30am-8:00pm CST)

Fax (615) 449-0809.


I'm not sure what would happen if you call to get information about your order, but as a last resort...

 

[RandyL712]

Always pay with a credit card. If you don't feel you got what you paid for ($80 shipping certainly isn't the actual shipping cost, you're paying for their service as well) I'd just dispute the charge and let them justify it to VISA http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

[AcadNut]

Serra -


Friday, I would have. However, my nice rep at ReplayTV circumvented the system for me and had the unit shipped.


Perhaps the forum would want to know generally ?? http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif


------------------

Todd.

 

[StuckOnReplay]

I have sent an email to The Customer Care Advocacy Manager and invited her to join us in this forum. Maybe she can get some insite into her company as well as offer some solutions.


We shall see...


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I would LOVE to beta test! I love my ReplayTV.