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First and last time I do business with Kevin at the battery station

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cheaperrooter

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Was searching for a case for my 123's. I own what I think is the perfect case, slim and holds 12 and fits in your back pocket, but they stop making them years ago and I don't know why as they are great cases, but I came across a picture of what seemed to be pretty close at the Battery Station.

A couple emails back-and-forth verifying BEFORE I placed an order with some general questions and was told that some come with a foam insert and some do not.

I replied something very simple and very articulate. I am placing the order now and I ONLY want the cases that have foam in them. I placed the order for four cases at $10 each and a few days later the cases arrived. Two had foam and two did not...

Few things in life are as frustrating as when you take the time to dot i's and cross t's like I always do before placing an order, just to have that order arrive as if you haphazardly placed it without taking any extra caution.

As it turns out, Kevin wasn't interested in going the extra mile in explaining why my request was unrealistic BEFORE the order was placed, but was at no loss for words explaining why I couldn't have foam after I sent him a very rude email telling him that I basically think he's an inept moron.

It wasnt a nice email, but then again, when you take the extra time to request something and they send the order totally ignoring your request, well, I couldn't think of anything nice to say that's for sure.

Those are one of those things that I just will never understand and will never be able to comprehend. How can you send an email to somebody requesting that the cases only have foam, just to have that email ignored, cases sent without foam, and then act totally shocked and bewildered when you receive a rude email?

He then goes on this big long diatribe about how because of this and because of that and how he would have to go through all the cases and blah blah blah and at no time did he make an apology and at no time did he seem to care about anything other than the rudeness of my email.

I am self-employed and if I received an email like the one that I wrote, my reply would simply be
"wow, we must've done something really bad to irritate you like that, I apologize. Yes we dropped the ball on that one and I should've taken the time to blah blah blah. I will be more than glad to go through my supply and find ones that have the foam and send them to you at no charge"

That's what you do when you really care about your business and you actually care about your customers. Instead, he chose to act like a six-year-old and roll around in the mud with me and trade insults back-and-forth along with his partner who was a bigger jerk than he was.

These guys obviously have no concern whatsoever about things like customer satisfaction and as such not only does he lose me as a customer, which not to brag, but I drop a considerable amount of money on batteries and accessories as a prepper AND I was a first time customer, but he has to endure reviews like this which hopefully will lead to more lost customers...

My advice would be to stay clear of such shenanigans because anytime you deal with an owner who doesn't care about his customers then you can guarantee yourself future heart aches dealing with him.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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So you sent him a rude email calling him a moron
right off the bat as your first reactions? Did I read that right?
 
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scout24

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WW- That's how I read it. Suprised they didn't hand deliver a double order of new ones at no charge after that.
 

KITROBASKIN

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Kevin was probably as frustrated as you were. Best to move on and ask for a refund.

Sounds like cheaperrooter is being honest about his angry response to a frustrating event with a vendor that is not willing to provide extraordinary customer service. This sounds kind of ordinary with a lot of companies, even if emails were sent. The packer of the order may have had no clue about customer communications...
 

Ozythemandias

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Sounds like cheaperrooter is being honest about his angry response to a frustrating event with a vendor that is not willing to provide extraordinary customer service. This sounds kind of ordinary with a lot of companies, even if emails were sent. The packer of the order may have had no clue about customer communications...

This is the part most frustrating to me. I've imported container loads of goods that don't match my communications with sales or even the samples they've provided. Nothing is worst than waiting 60 days for ocean freight to show up with product other than what the customer is expecting.

Off topic but I'm passionate about it, sorry.
 

bykfixer

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WW- That's how I read it. Suprised they didn't hand deliver a double order of new ones at no charge after that.

Honey vs vinegar and all that.
Now I've never had a single hitch from Battery Station after a bunch of orders but...
After the 9th consecutive fouled up order from a very reputable light maker (I won't name here) I just cut my loss and quit buying their products.

Just put some toilet paper in the cases and move on dude. In case you catch cold or get cut you're prepared...
Win-Win.
 

TinderBox (UK)

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Rooter, You are in the right after confirming your order via email and receiving the wrong items, Battery Station should send you 2 with foam for free, But you need to keep your communication friendly.

John.
 

cheaperrooter

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Dec 3, 2012
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No doubt I could've been friendlier. It was just one of those "shaking my head" moments in complete shock and utter disbelief that after all of the extra work and exchanging of emails I went through, I still got the product I did not want. So yeah, I was pretty much of a jerk in my response. But I also know who I am. I'm not going to ask for a refund because I'm not going to take the time to ship the product back, its just not who I am, leastways not for $20.

Knowing this about myself is why I take extra care and make sure everything is as it should be. Of course I really don't have to do that as 99% of everything I order is self evident and no explanation is needed and no reason to send emails questioning a product when it's obvious.

In this case there was some speculation, hence the emails. As far as moving on, I pretty much have, and I normally don't take the time to post complaints about a companies lack of customer service because as Kitrobaskin says, bad customer service is so ordinary nowadays, it's not worth complaining about.

I made an exception here simply because not only was I blown away by just how rude his emails were in response to my rude email, but most importantly, i am posting because he threatened to sue me if I posted a bad review, which did nothing more than make me want to post one even worse :)
 
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The customer is always right.

Smart business people live by that saying. They know that it doesn't mean the customer is never wrong.

Someone at Battery Station should have made sure CR's order was right, or informed him they weren't willing to do so. They, Battery Station, had two opportunities to make CR's order right. They chose not to.

The fact that CR was rude has no bearing on the above stated facts.

~ Chance
 

batterystation

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Guys and gals. This mess started out with a simple miscommunication which I still do not understand. The FIRST email from this customer was laced with the F word. Here is the Subject line of the FIRST message I got from him. (I removed the F word for this forum) "It was a simple f***ing request JJ". Had he actually posted the profane string of emails here, a moderator would have had to delete the whole thing. I tried to salvage this but no luck. Some people are never happy no matter what you do. This guy lost me in all the hate and profanity. I would have gladly refunded, swapped, or whatever to make this right. I was never allowed the chance. I do not post much here but anyone that has been here for any amount of time (15+ years) knows I do the best I can do treat people the way I want to be treated. I will not debate this guy any further. I cannot win. He is miserable and I cannot help him with that. I am sorry. Kevin at The Battery Station.
 
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vestureofblood

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Jun 19, 2008
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cheperrooter, This post is bordering on trollism if you ask me. Jeers should posted in extreme circumstances or to warn others about flat out scammers. In the 9 years I've been at CPF I seen many dark shadows cast on sellers/buyers/vendors, but until now never hear battery station mentioned. If you really have the kind of time it takes to post long dramatic episodes like this you could just as easily take that time and look else where to buy a battery case ( or make your own for that matter).
 
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Chadder

Enlightened
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Jun 21, 2007
Messages
277
Location
State of MO
I have nothing but great things to say about Kevin and the Battery Station team. There is such a thing as giving grace to someone if there is a mistake made. Pointing it out in an appropriate manner and allowing the vendor to correct is what should have been done. That's my opinion of course. I suggest the op reading a book called, "be angry but don't blow it." Great read!!
 

Empath

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Nov 11, 2001
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One would do well to consider Vesture's comments. The thread is no more than one would expect at the complaint window of an establishment. The need to know, or even discuss is less than the purposes of the Cheers 'N" Jeers forum. Both sides have posted their positions, and little can be accomplished other than to demonstrate their personal resolve in the situation. The thread is closed.
 
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