West Coast Shaving Bad Customer Service

[hairless wonder]

I'd just like to put in a good word for WCS customer service. I have had several problems on orders, mostly related to thing getting damaged in shipping from South Carolina, incorrect number of items shipped, etc. I was not happy about that, but the reps in California listened to my concerns and made it good. I think they were more than fair with me and clearly cared about my future business.

Yeah, I had some positive experiences with the reps in California before. In fact, the first rep to assist me this time is (I believe) one of the California reps I met before.

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

The waiting isn't necessarily the bait and switch. The bait and switch occurred by the second rep stating he was ready to fulfill my order with a razor I didn't want and had not requested. Keep in mind the razor I had wanted to buy was still available, and in fact, WCS even sent me an ad later telling me it was available.

But to call that a "bait and switch" is a bit unfair to the folks at WCS. To me, this sounds more like the kind of honest mistake that is bound to happen during a blowout sale than any sort of malicious intent on the part of the vendor. My guess is that someone ordered the razor after you and are going to receive the item without issue. This probably wouldn't be the case if WCS staff was truly running a "bait and switch".

 

[hairless wonder]

But to call that a "bait and switch" is a bit unfair to the folks at WCS. To me, this sounds more like the kind of honest mistake that is bound to happen during a blowout sale than any sort of malicious intent on the part of the vendor. My guess is that someone ordered the razor after you and are going to receive the item without issue. This probably wouldn't be the case if WCS staff was truly running a "bait and switch".

You may be right as to the next buyer. However, all speculation aside, I'm going strictly by what happened in my specific case. The second customer service rep tried to get me to commit to buying a completely different (and roughly 60% more expensive) razor than that which I requested. That's pretty much a bait and switch. I was baited into ordering the original razor, only for the rep to attempt to switch out that razor for another one.

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Consider bringing this to the attention of the owners - they are vendors here and have been for many years. Send them a PM. My experience is that WCS is attentive and helpful with fast shipping. Your experience is valid and is centered around one employee of theirs. I am sure they would want to make it right with you and would welcome the opportunity to do so.

 

[hairless wonder]

Consider bringing this to the attention of the owners - they are vendors here and have been for many years. Send them a PM. My experience is that WCS is attentive and helpful with fast shipping. Your experience is valid and is centered around one employee of theirs. I am sure they would want to make it right with you and would welcome the opportunity to do so.

I know the original owners were members of this forum, but I thought I read that the new owners are not?

 

[noslen]

WCS for me has largely been fine, only thing I could fault them for is a couple instances where they'd take their time sending something and I'd get it well after something I ordered from CANADA roughly the same time as said item. Interesting... at least at some point they largely WERE a west coast store, always found it weird they were WEST Coast Shaving, yet my orders got shipped from out East

 

[xiletero]

I have had very positive experiences buying from WCS.
Interestingly , and I don't remember where I read it, some stores have even banned some customers as they were returning almost 50% of what they got.....so there are unscrupulous customers taking advantage of return policies to possibly try out stuff for free?

All in all, I would say that all sellers of shaving stuff I have interacted have been amazingly attentive and provide great service.

 

[RenoRichard]

WCS is still listed as a B&B vendor. Just reach out to them as The Captain recommended. There's no need to run off a rant about one order that went awry; it happens in all business. I've had excellent service from the forum vendors over many years, including WCS. Also try and remember that running a small business has become more difficult as firms like Amazon have been expanding into their markets. I recently read a post where a member here received a cheap brush in an expensive brush box from Amazon; even they have issues, despite their amazing inventory systems.

 

[xuzxuz]

Customer: Hey, I'd like to buy that Camry 2021.
Saleswoman #1: Sure. We offer 72 month loan.
Customer: Can I make that into a 36 month loan?
Saleswoman #1: Sure. Let me work that out for you. Mind waiting a few minutes?

2 hours later

Salesman #2: The Camry is sold out.
Salesman #2: But we have this brand new Lexus!
Salesman #2: Would you like to get the paperwork started?
Salesman #2: We DO offer 36 month loan on Lexus.

If OP's account of the story is to be believed, this is the classic definition of bait and switch.

Point about WCS possibly not doing it on purpose is well taken.

Each customer should assess his own risk/benefit when dealing with West Coast Shavings.
1 in 10 you might get shaken down for a bait and switch scheme.
If you are risk averse, just shop at Amazon and know that they'll stand behind you 110%.

 

[hairless wonder]

WCS for me has largely been fine, only thing I could fault them for is a couple instances where they'd take their time sending something and I'd get it well after something I ordered from CANADA roughly the same time as said item. Interesting... at least at some point they largely WERE a west coast store, always found it weird they were WEST Coast Shaving, yet my orders got shipped from out East

The delivery time for a package from West Coast Shaving is not ideal, but since I'm never really in a rush, I was always fine with it. That said, it's also another reason I preferred to walk into the Chino store to buy things in person.

 

[hairless wonder]

I have had very positive experiences buying from WCS.
Interestingly , and I don't remember where I read it, some stores have even banned some customers as they were returning almost 50% of what they got.....so there are unscrupulous customers taking advantage of return policies to possibly try out stuff for free?

All in all, I would say that all sellers of shaving stuff I have interacted have been amazingly attentive and provide great service.

I've had some great experiences with WCS customer service, especially in person. It's just been my last two interactions that have gone awry. Interestingly enough, it's been the same rep who mishandled things these last two times. Like I said, the first time I figured was a once off. Everyone makes a mistake some time. But this second time really bothered me, especially with the attempted bait and switch.

 

[hairless wonder]

WCS is still listed as a B&B vendor. Just reach out to them as The Captain recommended. There's no need to run off a rant about one order that went awry; it happens in all business. I've had excellent service from the forum vendors over many years, including WCS. Also try and remember that running a small business has become more difficult as firms like Amazon have been expanding into their markets. I recently read a post where a member here received a cheap brush in an expensive brush box from Amazon; even they have issues, despite their amazing inventory systems.

Agreed. I hadn't meant for the post to sound like a rant. Rather, I just wanted to provide a data point for others who were considering doing business with WCS. I know I appreciate reading the reviews of a business before doing business with it.

I'm not anti-WCS by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I prefer one of their razors over my Muhle headed AoS R89. That said, I have found WCS's customer service to be inconsistent (at best) since the company moved to South Carolina. If the rest of you have had positive experiences with WCS, that's fantastic! I really do hope that WCS doesn't show everyone the same disregard it has shown me. Still, that does make it more difficult that I somehow drew the short straw a couple times in a row.

 

[hairless wonder]

Customer: Hey, I'd like to buy that Camry 2021.
Saleswoman #1: Sure. We offer 72 month loan.
Customer: Can I make that into a 36 month loan?
Saleswoman #1: Sure. Let me work that out for you. Mind waiting a few minutes?

2 hours later

Salesman #2: The Camry is sold out.
Salesman #2: But we have this brand new Lexus!
Salesman #2: Would you like to get the paperwork started?
Salesman #2: We DO offer 36 month loan on Lexus.

If OP's account of the story is to be believed, this is the classic definition of bait and switch.

Point about WCS possibly not doing it on purpose is well taken.

Each customer should assess his own risk/benefit when dealing with West Coast Shavings.
1 in 10 you might get shaken down for a bait and switch scheme.
If you are risk averse, just shop at Amazon and know that they'll stand behind you 110%.

It's something like this. Only WCS didn't even tell me the original razor I wanted was sold out. The scenario was more like this:

Customer: I'd like a Camry, a Corolla, and a Tercel. I received a special offer that discounted the cars. I'd also like to have the free floor mats you're offering for the Corolla and Tercel. I tried to do an online purchase of the vehicles, but the system wouldn't let me apply the discount and the free floor mats. Is there something you can do about that?

Saleswoman: Sure. Just tell me the specifications of the vehicles you wanted and I'll take care of that for you.

Customer: Thanks. *Provides the specifications of the vehicles copied directly from the online sales site*

[Several hours pass]

Salesman: Hey, we only have a Lexus in stock. Want to proceed anyway?

 

[B_R_A_D]

@hairless wonder sorry you had a bad experience with WCS and hopefully this in the exception and not the norm. Luckily there are many other vendors out there with great service you can use if you don’t want to use WCS again.

I have made one order with WCS, mostly because I’m in Canada so try to order from Canadian vendors and unfortunately when I’ve had to order from US, I try to get everything at one place due to the cost of shipping and trying to take advantage of free shipping. Unfortunately, WCS is usually out of an item or two I want so I usually order from Maggards, who always seems to have the items I want in stock. Maggards doesn’t offer free shipping to Canada but has cheap shipping. Anyways, I ordered a few things from WCS including two colognes. When the package arrived, one of the colognes had leaked about half the bottle and the other cologne was not the one I ordered, they had sent me the wrong one. I contacted their customer service, advised them of the mix up, asking them to put a shipping label in with the proper cologne I ordered so I could send back the wrong one and advised them as an FYI that they should tape the lid of the bottle on to avoid leakage, only expecting for them to send me the right cologne. They responded in a timely manner and I believe went above in their customer service. They sent me the correct cologne with priority shipping, told me to keep the wrong cologne as it wasn’t cost effective to send it back and refunded me a portion of the leaked cologne.

I would gladly order from WCS again with confidence that they would provide proper customer service if an issue arose

 

[Jaybeez]

I know quite a bit about WCS as live in Chino Hills and have shopped 3 of the 4 locations they've been in over the years. They used to ship from the store location in Chino, but the assortment was limited. When John (original owner) sold the business, shipping was moved to a fulfillment warehouse, which didn't work out well, though it did allow for an increase of assortment. It then moved to WCS' own warehouse in South Carolina. Up to about a year ago, all the Customer Service was handled out of Chino, but the reps went virtual when California locked down. I'm pretty sure they closed their store, as I drove past the location recently and there is a different business there now. I also think they added some customer service folks in or around their warehouse which makes sense as they can deal with East Coast orders earlier in the day. That said, if you spoke to someone in South Carolina they are likely a newer employee and may not be as experienced as those in California. I do know there was quite a bit of "banter" between the reps in Chino every time I shopped there, and without everyone in one place the "banter" goes missing and along with it some of the training newer folks would absorb from those that have been around longer. I'm a big fan of small businesses, and find that while Amazon excels at logistics the experience is not very personal. Having the ability to chat with wet shaving experts makes the hobby more enjoyable for me. If I had an experience like yours, I would ask to speak with a supervisor and explain my situation. I'm sure they would want to make it right, and it would probably give them an opportunity to provide training to the rep(s) you interacted with. Just my two cents, as again I'd rather take the time to help out a small business that works hard to support my passion than pick and choose a more limited assortment from Amazon.

 

[hairless wonder]

I know quite a bit about WCS as live in Chino Hills and have shopped 3 of the 4 locations they've been in over the years. They used to ship from the store location in Chino, but the assortment was limited. When John (original owner) sold the business, shipping was moved to a fulfillment warehouse, which didn't work out well, though it did allow for an increase of assortment. It then moved to WCS' own warehouse in South Carolina. Up to about a year ago, all the Customer Service was handled out of Chino, but the reps went virtual when California locked down. I'm pretty sure they closed their store, as I drove past the location recently and there is a different business there now. I also think they added some customer service folks in or around their warehouse which makes sense as they can deal with East Coast orders earlier in the day. That said, if you spoke to someone in South Carolina they are likely a newer employee and may not be as experienced as those in California. I do know there was quite a bit of "banter" between the reps in Chino every time I shopped there, and without everyone in one place the "banter" goes missing and along with it some of the training newer folks would absorb from those that have been around longer. I'm a big fan of small businesses, and find that while Amazon excels at logistics the experience is not very personal. Having the ability to chat with wet shaving experts makes the hobby more enjoyable for me. If I had an experience like yours, I would ask to speak with a supervisor and explain my situation. I'm sure they would want to make it right, and it would probably give them an opportunity to provide training to the rep(s) you interacted with. Just my two cents, as again I'd rather take the time to help out a small business that works hard to support my passion than pick and choose a more limited assortment from Amazon.

You make some great points! I'll keep them in mind for my next interaction with WCS.

Also, the Chino store is closed, now? Darn it! I'd been hoping to visit after the pandemic.

 

[checkers1942]

I live in Myrtle Bch where the new WCS store and warehouse is located and went by there last week. Two of the people I met had relocated from Chino and were very knowledgeable of the products and more important extremely friendly and willing to help me in anyway possible. I saw them as just a hard working group of people trying to make the business successful after being forced out of California by the pandemic. I know this doesn’t help your frustration but thought I would share my impression after getting a first hand view of the business.

 

[AtraSensor]

I bought a bunch of aftershaves from them during their year end 2020 holiday sale. One 300 ml bottle was missing about 15 ml. I sent them a photo and they offered a $5 discount which I took because the sale price was pretty good. My guess was that someone may have used the bottle before and my policy is never accept used aftershaves, but I made an exception with this one.

I asked why couldn't they exchange it and they told me it was the last one. I responded that if they could see the level of the fluid was about an inch lower than the rest of the bottles, why did they sell it? All retailers get credit from the wholesaler for damaged or less than full items towards future stock prices. They didn't respond.

 

[noslen]

If WCS is no longer ON THE WEST COAST, I think a rebranding should be in order

 

[hairless wonder]

If WCS is no longer ON THE WEST COAST, I think a rebranding should be in order

Maybe "Worst Coast Shaving" would be appropriate?

We all know the West coast is the best coast!