My several experiences with QED have all been positive. My only gripe, other than the UI, is that he doesn't accept paypal.
Bad Experience with QED
- Thread starter jungatheart
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Changing an address: I've seen automated shipping software do that before, but from what I can gather from the HTML code on QED's web site, the address fields are simply pass-through fields -- that is to say, it isn't possible for anything to be "converted" by QED's web site. Whatever is typed in is what is transferred to QED. Is it possible a 3rd party application changed your address?
I'd be interested in seeing your entire conversation with Charles, beginning with your initial email about the shipping address change, and ending with the last email that you received from Charles. Perhaps a different set of eyes can see where the disconnect occurred, since obviously your experience is atypical of the norm when dealing with QED.
I've often looked at the QED website but never ordered from there, despite the glowing reviews Charles has on this forum. The reason was simply that seeing that mess of a website inspires a complete lack of confidence that my order could possibly be handled correctly. If the website is in such disarray how organized can the business be? Maybe that's not fair, but why should I risk it when there are many other vendors with equally good reputations selling most of the same stuff for about the same price? Now, Charles comes here and disputes this customer's story and says (paraphrasing) "contact me in private for the real story"... I'd much rather hear both sides of the story out in the open. This thread is definitely not inspiring me to become a QED customer.
I'm a little late getting to this thread, but my $.02 on QED is this:
His emails are all meat and potatoes. I appreciate this, but I can see how it might come over a little rash if you are expecting something involved.
Secondly, I've emailed Charles at 3am my time, I've emailed him at 3pm my time, and he always gets back to me inside of a few hours. The guy is not human, I'm telling ya!
My orders always arrive promptly and well packaged and I've never had the slightest problem with him in the past.
His emails are all meat and potatoes. I appreciate this, but I can see how it might come over a little rash if you are expecting something involved.
Secondly, I've emailed Charles at 3am my time, I've emailed him at 3pm my time, and he always gets back to me inside of a few hours. The guy is not human, I'm telling ya!
My orders always arrive promptly and well packaged and I've never had the slightest problem with him in the past.
A little constructive criticism -
I would imagine that most people would be interested in knowing what happened. However, do you really expect all these people to call you individually? Personally, I am interested, but I don't think I'd pick up the phone and call to find out.
I am sure that McDonald's had their side of the story when a customer spilled hot coffee and burned himself. Same with the supermarket about the customer that slipped on the wet floor. The difference is, when you accept money, there is a level of accountability that you accept.
And like it or not, the burden of dispelling negative publicity like this is not on the consumers that you expect to call you. Perhaps it is this attitude that many have found a bit offensive?
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3rzUi7FytI[/YOUTUBE]
I would love to see this worked out between Charles and anyone that has had a bad purchasing experience with QED. I would like to think that the right things would happen between both parties and maybe a "things are cool" response could get lobbed into this thread. IMHO I think having public dialog when two parties are trying to work something out is not the way to go. I don't want to see e-mails and I don't think calling QED (unless you are an affected party) is the right thing to do either. I'll probably get flamed for this. Good luck folks. (IMHO, YMMV)
I say this admittedly not knowing all the nuances of this particular transaction, but having read this thread, I can't help but ask if the most rational/self-interested response on the part of QED would have just been to apologize profusely, maybe offer some free samples, and make the $80 sale? Instead, what looks to be like a fairly fixable problem with incorrect customer information escalated into some pretty bad publicity among their most likely customer base.
I see this kind of behavior on the part of smaller retailers more and more it seems, and I really don't understand arguing points of principle with customers like this. I mean, instead of a retailer responding to criticism by asking individuals to call them to get their side of the story, wouldn't it make more sense to just apologize for any misunderstandings and get on with selling shaving cream?
I guess mostly I'm curious after reading this thread why a retailer would choose to argue about something relatively unimportant vs. making a sale, or potentially jeopardizing future sales?
I see this kind of behavior on the part of smaller retailers more and more it seems, and I really don't understand arguing points of principle with customers like this. I mean, instead of a retailer responding to criticism by asking individuals to call them to get their side of the story, wouldn't it make more sense to just apologize for any misunderstandings and get on with selling shaving cream?
I guess mostly I'm curious after reading this thread why a retailer would choose to argue about something relatively unimportant vs. making a sale, or potentially jeopardizing future sales?
I'm a little perplexed about that statement. Media coverage about people dying from food poisoning at a restaurant is bad publicity. So are stories about rust problems on a brand of car. Cheating by an athlete. Fraud at a charity. Drunk pilots at an airline. And I'm not sure that this thread isn't an example of bad publicity. Although there is a fair mix of good Charles / bad Charles.
Cheers
Jeremy
While I have no issue with anyone posting about their experiences with ANY vendor on the forum, I do have an issue with people using the forum to grind an axe or air what should be a private dispute. At this point, this is what this thread has turned into.
I've had good and bad experiences with vendors, but have never gone out of my way to start a thread trashing a vendor, which I see as an attempt to hurt their business. If someone seeks opinions or wants to know my experience with a vendor, I will post a response - good or bad, depending on my personal experience.
Charles is generally well-regarded because of his fair prices, fair shipping charges and top quality products. Does that mean he's perfect or never does something that upsets a customer - of course not. However, as Charles says, there are at least two sides of the story.
The fact that Charles doesn't post regulary on the board (7 posts since 2005) is solely due to his view that it is improper for a vendor to post on the board or attempt to defend complaints about service/products publicly. I respect his decision not to post e-mails or get into a ***-for-tat/mudslinging. First of, its ungentlemanly to air a private dispute in public and second, its not going to change anyone's opinion. However, I will say that that the fact that Charles elected to break his silence (his last post was made in January 2006) does suggest that there is a side of the story we don't know.
I'm not saying who's right, first off, I'm in no position to do so, and second, I really don't care. I don't know how anyone can take sides - since none of us can possibly know the relevant facts. This particular issue has clearly gone from being an issue related to a customer service aspect of a transaction to something personal (at least for jungatheart) - I say this because, in my view, it needs to be personal for someone to actually go to the effort to start and continue to participate in a thread of this nature.
Jungatheart - I'm sorry you had bad experience with a vendor. While I wouldn't have handled the situation the way you have (as in starting a thread), its your right to discuss your personal experiences with ANY vendor - as it is the right of any member. I think you've made your point/had sufficent opportunity to air your grievance. If you don't want to deal with Charles in the future, that's your choice and the best way to express your view is to vote with your wallet.
For those of us who have had positive experiences with Charles, I suspect jungatheart's experience won't change whether we do or don't do business with Charles in the future.
I certainly know that nothing anyone says about their positive experiences with Charles will change jungatheart's experience and views.
For those out there who have never dealt with Charles, make your own decisions and look at what people say about their dealings with Charles generally (as opposed to what any single member says) and make your own informed choice as to whether you would like to deal with him.
Since there's nothing further that can be accomplished by this thread, I'm closing it.
By way of disclaimer, I have ordered from QED a total of 2 times and my dealings with Charles are limited to asking questions relating to the items I purchased - I have had no other dealings with him.
I've had good and bad experiences with vendors, but have never gone out of my way to start a thread trashing a vendor, which I see as an attempt to hurt their business. If someone seeks opinions or wants to know my experience with a vendor, I will post a response - good or bad, depending on my personal experience.
Charles is generally well-regarded because of his fair prices, fair shipping charges and top quality products. Does that mean he's perfect or never does something that upsets a customer - of course not. However, as Charles says, there are at least two sides of the story.
The fact that Charles doesn't post regulary on the board (7 posts since 2005) is solely due to his view that it is improper for a vendor to post on the board or attempt to defend complaints about service/products publicly. I respect his decision not to post e-mails or get into a ***-for-tat/mudslinging. First of, its ungentlemanly to air a private dispute in public and second, its not going to change anyone's opinion. However, I will say that that the fact that Charles elected to break his silence (his last post was made in January 2006) does suggest that there is a side of the story we don't know.
I'm not saying who's right, first off, I'm in no position to do so, and second, I really don't care. I don't know how anyone can take sides - since none of us can possibly know the relevant facts. This particular issue has clearly gone from being an issue related to a customer service aspect of a transaction to something personal (at least for jungatheart) - I say this because, in my view, it needs to be personal for someone to actually go to the effort to start and continue to participate in a thread of this nature.
Jungatheart - I'm sorry you had bad experience with a vendor. While I wouldn't have handled the situation the way you have (as in starting a thread), its your right to discuss your personal experiences with ANY vendor - as it is the right of any member. I think you've made your point/had sufficent opportunity to air your grievance. If you don't want to deal with Charles in the future, that's your choice and the best way to express your view is to vote with your wallet.
For those of us who have had positive experiences with Charles, I suspect jungatheart's experience won't change whether we do or don't do business with Charles in the future.
I certainly know that nothing anyone says about their positive experiences with Charles will change jungatheart's experience and views.
For those out there who have never dealt with Charles, make your own decisions and look at what people say about their dealings with Charles generally (as opposed to what any single member says) and make your own informed choice as to whether you would like to deal with him.
Since there's nothing further that can be accomplished by this thread, I'm closing it.
By way of disclaimer, I have ordered from QED a total of 2 times and my dealings with Charles are limited to asking questions relating to the items I purchased - I have had no other dealings with him.
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