Topic: $12...am I being unreasonable?

[medic09]

Fastex-type buckle broke on my Motopak tank bag.  I emailed the company, Red Line Sports Ltd. in BC Canada.  They told me $12 to send me a plastic half buckle under the warranty.  After looking around for a few days, I find that the buckle is really an odd size (we have all kinds in my house for mountaineering and motorcycle gear), and I'll have to get it from him.

I figured (silly me!  ) for $12 for such a small piece I must get expedited shipping, eh?  Nope.  So 6 days after I PayPal-ed the guy, I email and ask where's my buckle.  His response "It did ship.  Shipping/mail from Canada to U.S. is stupid.  As soon as its bigger than a standard letter they start racking up the fees."

Am I unreasonable thinking that I paid way too much for slow shipping?  It is now 9 days after I paid $12 for an item that I really thought would cost about $1 if it were going by post.  True, it is a relatively insignificant item, though I can't use the bag without it.  True, it isn't a huge amount of money.  But it doesn't seem right to me, either.

[754]

If the packed thickness is over 20mm (just over 3/4 inch), the shipping is at least 10 bux..

[dustyc]

One one hand, yes it's a sub 1 cent piece of plastic.  On the other hand, it's a special size.  I'd probably have made due with one that was just close enough.  But on the other hand it's only $12, so I might have ordered it to have it right. 

I guess it's priced just right for them to make a good great profit and yet still cheap enough that people think "Ahh it's only $12."

[medic09]

If the packed thickness is over 20mm (just over 3/4 inch), the shipping is at least 10 bux..

For slow route!  Yikes!  Like I say, I thought for that price for shipping alone (the piece is warranteed) I was getting fast route.

Dusty, I tried all sorts of buckles.  None were close, and the bag won't stay on without this one.  It is the single buckle that connects the back of the bag to the bike.

[Uncle Ernie]

Brother- I'm with ya!  Cancel the order and refuse delivery.  There has GOT to be a way to fix that bag.  When mine broke, I went to a camping store and bought a whole buckle for $1.98 (that's a rip-off too, but...) and sewed it on with dental floss.  Ugly, but good-looking in the "rugged indiviual, I did it MY way, screw corporate stupidity" kind of way.
Since I've been twiddling my thumbs and poking at the BMW, I have to send a state or 2 away for one special set-screw.  Do they pop it in an envelope?  Nooooo- it has to go UPS.  Costs 9 times as much as the Post Office and doesn't get here any faster.

This company is doing this because they can.  Not enough ex-customers are telling them to stick their bad attitude and they just messed with one little guy in the world who's not going to take it.

You have made to inexcusable mistakes here;
No pictures
No company name.  You need to warn people.

[tramp]

if you can fix it yourself, cool
if you have to order the part, be prepared to be bent over

[754]

If it cost 9.00 or more to ship I am not seeing a problem, except I would have asked for two..

I got to ask you guys though, if you worked there would you stay  or work off the clock to wrap and address label, and drop it off in the mail

[misterpunch]

I costs more to ship to within Canada than it does to ship to the US from Canada.
I just sent out a pair of tank badges from eBay and it cost me $11  for regular mail.

[bradweingartner]

$12 sounds pretty reasonable to me to ship anything anymore, especially international. Prices HAVE gone through the roof. Futhermore, most companies don't just figure the price of shipping, but also the price of packing - "handling". Anybody who has ever done a large volume shipping knows that the expense of packing materials can not be absorbed. Now, the question of whether or not charging you shipping/handling on a warranty item is up for debate, but I'm sure in your fine print that's what it says anyway.

So, yeah, a little bit unreasonable.

If they said "Fly a Kite! You broke it, not covered." Or "Send it in and let our team of expert warranty snuffers void your warranty on the basis of abuse". The list goes on, anybody who's warrantied anything nows the drill. That would be a different situation all together. I'll take "$12 shipping and we'll have it out right away" anyday.

[FunJimmy]

I went to a camping store and bought a whole buckle for $1.98 (that's a rip-off too, but

$1.98 for a complete two piece buckle is a rip off? Have you ever been in the business of distribution and/or retailing? First off there’s the supply issue, followed by shipping logistics (which aren’t getting any cheaper thanks to fuel surcharges etc) then the customs brokers have to mess with your stuff, next it has to find it’s way to a retailer who has financing costs, staff to pay and light bills that need payment or you might have a hard time finding the right size in the dark. If the business owner rents his store space, that $1.98 doesn’t go very far.

Since I've been twiddling my thumbs and poking at the BMW, I have to send a state or 2 away for one special set-screw.  Do they pop it in an envelope?  Nooooo- it has to go UPS.  Costs 9 times as much as the Post Office and doesn't get here any faster.

UPS will pickup and the post office won’t!!
754 said it already.

I got to ask you guys though, if you worked there would you stay  or work off the clock to wrap and address label, and drop it off in the mail

Doubt it!

Medic09

I think that kind of customer service is unacceptable from any company, and I agree that you have a right to complain. Red Line Sports Ltd should send the buckle out to you completely free of charges including shipping. If I where you I’d write the company and voice my dissatisfaction with their customer service policies. Sometimes it needs to brought to the attention of senior management to get companies to value their customers opinions.

PM me with the contact information and I’ll get you a couple of buckles and mail them out if that helps.

[754]

Perhaps we should explore the cost of the injection molding dies to make the buckles....

[medic09]

Well, I wasn't even complaining about the price; rather that I expected that price to buy me fast shipping.  9 or 10 days later I still haven't seen the buckle.  If the buckle would've been shipped 2 or 3 day delivery for that price, I don't think I'd care.

As it is, the buckle is an odd size, and I've paid the price (10 days ago) so I'll just have to wait on it.  From what you all are saying, it may be that I'm being a bit too demanding, especially with the prices of shipping in Canada.  I didn't recall that when I lived in Vancouver I paid so much more for postage or shipping, but that was quite a few years ago.

[Raul CB750K1]

If they use a cheap plastic buckle that breaks under warranty is not your fault; they should send it to you totally free of charge. You shouldn't have to incur in charges for their lack of quality.

[754]

medic, shipping costs have risen.. I used to pay thru the nose for min parcel from states to here all the time.. here to there was cheaper.. but not anymore..

Shipping cost too much to bother with the little stuff on ebay anymore..

 But if it was under 20mm it will go letter.. and priority mail in a pouch is about same price as cheapest parcel. but not all shippers know that.


 So if it gets to you in a week you are doing well, if 2 weeks it is not unusual...... i dont start worring till after at least 3 weeks....

 

[Uncle Ernie]

Yeah- as a matter of fact I DO take things to the post office to save customers money.  I got sick to death of UPS and FedEx' attitudes.  All they want is bigass companies to service and the heck with the little guys who put them on the map.  The USPS still likes me, and they charge less.

I've seen commercials on TV that say the PO will pick up.  Haven't been interested so far.  When I'm working from hme, I look for excuses to get out.

I've worked retail in one form or another most of my life, btw.    

[754]

I take stuff to the PO too,

 but try getting employees to do it..


When I made a few tach plugs ( gotta make a few more), I went to the PO and checked rates first, cuz I knew that if it was 2 big that it would cost the price of the part to ship it..

So I can fold a piece of cereal box cardboard over the plug & tape it and put it in a regular envelope.. now if I  use corrugated cardboard, or a padded envelope shipping is 4 times the price..

good thing is I can ship up to 4 for the same price as 1.



But back to the buckle.. do you really expect plastic exposed to sunlight to last forever when you buy the product ??.. I would not...

[medic09]

But back to the buckle.. do you really expect plastic exposed to sunlight to last forever when you buy the product ??.. I would not...

I wasn't complaining about the buckle.  Stuff happens, and it was covered under the warranty.  It was less than two years old.

Actually, these buckle can last quite a long time.  I have such buckles on mountaineering gear that have been abused over 20 years, and still do their job. It depends, of course, on original quality. Doesn't my 30 year old bike have plastic on it?  But again, they agreed to replace the buckle and I accept that stuff happens.

[FunJimmy]

I got sick to death of UPS and FedEx' attitudes.  All they want is bigass companies to service and the heck with the little guys who put them on the map.  The USPS still likes me, and they charge less.

I hear you on that note.

When I list parts on ebay, I list several at a time and plan the auction to end approx the time I'm expecting a package from the US.
That way I can take the sold items to the US Post office at the same time I go to pickup from the US.
Shipping is way more affordable and convenient in the US.
Interestingly, a package sent from the US to Europe is about half the postage it cost to mail from Canada to Europe. Go figure!

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah it's all relative Mordy, I went to a nut and bolt shop recently and bought eight  8mm x 40mm stainless steel cap head screws with spring and flat washers for fitting the exhaust headers to my GS1000 engine, and the guy only charged me 4 bucks for the lot!

When I got home I realized that with the old Yoshi pipe flanges I'm using (sadly the Yoshi pipe is rusted out, but I can still use the flanges) I'd need 30mm screws, so rather than cut the ones I bought, I went back and bought twelve 8mm x 30mm stainless screws, once again with washers. I got served by a different guy this time, who charged me 24 bucks! Ouch!

I almost said he could keep them, but I thought, "Oh well, this is the "right" price, so I did well last time, so shouldn't complain"........... 

[Uncle Ernie]

That's funny.  Sometimes at Asheville Bolt and Screw the guy gets a gleam inhis eye when he says "I don't have it".  He knows I'm being lazy and I'll just go home and pick up a hacksaw.  I think they think I'm weird.  All these contractore come in and buy cases of stuff and I come in and say, "Have you got one of these...?"

I love messing with the owner.  His face never changes.  He'll say, "well, what's it for?" 
1952 BMW R67/2
"The 52's were 501's" he says without blinking an eye.
I'm talking about a motorcycle BMW-
(Is that a twinkle, or did the light change...? "Well why didn't you say so."

[bradweingartner]

When it comes to Warranties it's all in the fine print.

Warranty is not warranty if they say it's not, they make the rules on how they want to honor it. I hate to stick up for the 'companies' here but I've been on both sides. Not all companies are going to go above and beyond, in fact, most won't. Maglite has sold a billion flashlights and they can easily absorb costs, and they aren't a niche product either.

Smaller companies can't always compete on that level. So even if a company doesn't go that extra mile it doesn't mean they are bad. Just means they are just doing exactly what they said they would do when you bought the product. Holding the warranty to the T - "Something broke, we will replace it for the cost of shipping." That has always sounded reasonable to me.

Turns out you can't win. If you charge a lot for a product so that you can afford to have a stellar warranty, people complain. If you lowball the MSRP to move product with a lesser warranty, people complain!

[nickjtc]

So post the exact size of the buckle, and a pic, if possible. Maybe one of us has something similar......

[754]

I tell the girlz..

 "DONT TEASE ME, USE THE BUCKLE!!"         


Oh.. Ummm, Medic.. HOW did you break it BTW...

[medic09]

Well, after a month without a tank bag, I just went to the New Enough site and ordered a Cortech Super 18. Just over $106 with 2nd day delivery, from a company we've always had good dealings with. I'm going to start looking like a Cortech advertisement, though    (jacket, tank bag, tail bag, and Tour Master mesh pants).