SmokyTyrz

Hi folks

Before I tell my story (I'll keep it as short as I can) I want to be clear that I'm not flaming or venting here. This is a 100% fact-based post that I'd like to share so other people in the community are aware of my personal experience with NewEraModels.

I also want to mention that I'll not be responding to any flame or attack posts directed at me, as that would not be constructive either.

And finally, I want to mention that I am surprised by the interaction I just experienced with NewEraModels. In the past they have proved to be effective vendors with quality products. However this recent experience suggests to me that either something has changed over there or the folks there are simply no longer interested in the rc community.


My tale:

On June 8 I placed an order for some axles and dogbones for my Savage from NewEraModels. I had placed an order with them in the past, long ago, and decided to visit them again.

I placed the order, but during checkout noticed that they had my old address stored in their database. I spent about 10 minutes surfing around and found no simple way to update my address in their system. I decided to use the comment field to notify NewEra about the correct address to use, and that they should check into their ordering/shopping cart tool since it is not allowing customers to update the address.

The order was placed using Paypal, which I noted in the comment also had my correct address, which would display in the Paypal receipt and in the transaction notes on Paypal.

I also immediately emailed NewEra directly to inform them of the difference in address.



The following week I checked the tracking on this order, since it should have arrived by that point. Turns out it was headed to my old address in another state. I immediately emailed NewEra and notified them of the problem. This is the email I sent when I noticed the tracking problem:


From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: NewEraModels.com package has shipped
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:47:21 -0500

Hi there

I'm tracking my order from you (see below). You guys sent it to the wrong address. I even noted in my order what address to send it to, and to use the paypal address, which is:

###
Lafayette, LA 70508

Since your website offers no easy way to update this information (I tried for quite some time) this problem is created.

Please advise on the status of my package. You may need to contact the carrier to correct the destination, if that is possible at this point. Right now it seems to be bouncing around Allen, TX, my old address.

Thanks
-

I received this email in reply:

-
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:57:15 -0400
Subject: Re: NewEraModels.com package has shipped
From: @neweramodels.com
To: @hotmail.com

There is a comment area to write to us about conflicts we ship on the order address we do not check all paypal info on orders to see if the address is different or YOU COULD HAVE CALLED instead of letting us mess up........ the package will probablly come back soon we will resend to you as soon as it gets back

-



Now, at this point I'm feeling pretty burned about the problem being blamed on me. I did my best to work around the problem, provide the necessary information (using their website Comment field which is labeled only "Comment"), use email, and still make the purchase through the vendor. Obviously there no way for me to know they do not check their transaction records, read the order comments before sending out orders, or that the package would be sent to the wrong address until AFTER I checked the tracking. So, feeling a little insulted, this was my reply:

-

From: @hotmail.com
Sent: Thu 6/18/09 8:42 PM
To: [email protected]

You're right. I'm just another dumb customer that should have "known" all these things.

Sorry to have caused you trouble. Please apologize to your webmaster for me, as I have clearly failed him/her as well.

-



So now I let time pass. I watch the package make it's way back to NewEra. Once I see it has arrived at NewEra I patiently let a few more days pass for them to get the package back into line to ship out to the correct address.

After a few days pass, no correspondence originates from NewEra. I send three emails requesting status. I won't post them all here, but they are relatively bland. Just politely asking for an update. By now I've gotten over the previous insult and see it as water under the bridge. Maybe the guys at NewEra were having a bad day that day. At this point I have waited two weeks for a reply. On my third request for an update I make it clear that I'm now nearing a window where I will lose the opportunity to initiate a dispute case with Paypal. Here is that email:

-

From: [email protected]
Sent: Mon 7/06/09 5:45 PM
To: [email protected]


Hello again

I have not received a reply from you in a long time. Are these parts on the way?

I am trying to be patient, but we are now nearing the expiration of the window where Paypal's buyer protection policy will cover me. If I do not receive a tracking number for these parts (going to the correct address) before Noon on July 8th I will have to open a dispute case via Paypal's Protection team. I don't want to do that. I know from past experience and from friends' feedback that NewEra is a good and reputable company. However you seem to be ignoring me right now so I don't know what else to do.

Please advise

Thanks

-

Here is the loving reply that was returned:

-

From: [email protected]
Sent: Mon 7/06/09 8:32 PM
To: [email protected]


i have reversed your paypal please do not order again we have blocked you as you are not competent..........


-


The reply I sent to this statement was, well, direct but as cordial as possible. Any vendor who would rather lose money than acknowledge problems on their website is no judge of my competence, so I'm not too concerned about their feelings towards me.


Anyway, I just wanted to put this out. It's 100% fact. So please beware and take caution in your buying decisions. We have so many good vendors out there that take good care of us and our hobby that there is no excuse to have to be treated and insulted this way. Based on my experience I would give NewEraModels a 0/10 for customer support, 0/10 for customer caring. It is my recommendation (and only that, FWIW) that folks steer clear of NewEraModels. The same parts (even those made by NewEra) are available elsewhere.

I am sure there are many people here with good stories about NewEra. I used to be one of them. Please remember this post is not a personal attack on you either. It is just an experience I had, and nothing more.

Thanks for your time

-Dave Marcus

Accident42

wow, was it take-your-kid-to-work day?

jbooker82

My Feedback: (4)

Wow I gues that company has gone down hill. Thanks for the heads up.

cenracer1

I'm surprised at the comment from NewEra.. I have ordered from them in the past with great results, but not recently.. they don't carry what I run now... I guess they are really going down the tubes as well... Too bad.....

mindwreck

wow taht is terrible. I too have had good experience with them when i got some stuff for my revo and txt-1. maybe he just had a REALLY bad week...

kingmaruirc

The company went in the tank for customer service as well as produts and reputation due to the the recession being in the tank. [] They were and are a rip off company that buys products from other manufactures and sells them under their own name. LAMO.[]

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

Thanks for the heads up. I have picked up New Era parts before but will refrain from doing so based on this.

SAVAGEJIM

Thanks for the tip. I have in the past bought regularly from New Era, I built a twin engine Savage using one of their kits.
Back then, they did me right, even when I changed my order mid-stream, they adjusted my order before sending it.

I am sure companies have hick-ups every now and then, maybe they hire a jerk (who eventually gets fired anyway), but then there are cases where some companies simply do not care and everyone there treats you like crap.

I hop that New Era is not going down that path and this is only a one time incident.

If I ever get back into nitro seriously again, I definitly would want New Era there as one of my aftermarket choices.

SmokyTyrz

I feel the same way. I even told them this before they blew me off. I hope it is isolated to one person, and that person can be educated to come around.

3-172IN MTN

You know I would call there and speak to someone more important than the customer service individual. they are a larger company and should have a hierarchy in there. Maybe a manager or someone would do something for your troubles.

I know it is more time on your part, but I am sure someone will do something for you. You could play an integral part in removing that person from employment!

SmokyTyrz

I don't want to get anyone fired. I want the behavior to change, and to have our old NewEra back. Natural Selection will take care of the details.

And as far as my involvement, I could not do business with them again until they at least apologized to me. And even then, after statements like they made, I don't know if I'd ever trust them again. I'd be too concerned about the parts I ordered, if you know what I mean. That's hard to come back from, and regain trust. I certainly would not pursue a relationship with them, even up to the manager level. That is their responsibility now. And since that is as likely to happen as a pig being born on Pluto, I'm not really even considering it.

But they could turn things around and continue to build new relationships and try to leverage existing ones which haven't been burned yet. If they do not, then, well.. the community will ultimately decide their survival.

redfisher1974

Havent seen you around in awhile....Anywho thanks for the info smoky.

del1969

Why didnt you call, when you placed the order,about your address?

SmokyTyrz

I try to assume the best. I did not think a call was necessary since I sent an email, used their "comment" field, and Paypal includes this information in the receipt.

Put another way, do you call every vendor you order from every time you order from them to double check that they know what they are doing? Most vendors I know would be annoyed by that.

Perhaps I should have called, especially in hind-sight (and we know what they say about hind-sight). I really thought I was going above and beyond with the email. Phone calls can get received and forgotten, depending on who receives them. eMail is more reliable. It is written record. And one would assume the vendor reads their email.

Bottom line regarding the phone call is that I assumed too much about NewEra. I assumed they checked and read email from their customers. I assumed they looked at their receipts and orders before shipping off product. And I assumed they used the "comment" field they provided for customers to use.

They seemed like fair assumptions at the time.

rotzilla

i am very disappointed in their response to you. as i have used their parts and been happy with them. from what you are saying i dont see where you did wrong, but i would do like 3-172in mtn said and call them and talk to a higher up to try to resolve this situation as they wont be calling you. i hope it works out for you....

KRO

Sorry , this was your fault not New Era's .... You should have called them right from the start and told them about the address change instead of ordering and writing something in the notes .

They might get hundreds of orders a day , how long would it take someone too go through and read all of them ?

I will still buy from New Era cause they have NEVER done me wrong and when there was a problem they took care of it quickly .

rcnitrohead

At this point who even cares if it was his fault? Look at New Era's response, that is despicable and speaks volumes about their company.. They aren't getting crap from me....

SmokyTyrz

Maybe... but by the same logic if every customer called them after placing an order to double-check that they knew what they were doing, how long would it take them to get through all the calls?

Druss

I've never used (nor even heard of) neweramodels before but after reading this I would never even consider ordering from them. You can't run a business like this, I've had as bad or worse responses on ebay from individual sellers but this is unacceptable from a business.

From my point of view, even if it WAS the customers fault, which it clearly wasn't or at least it's ambiguous in this case, there is no cause for that type of response. I order online all the time and would never accept that insult in the final email. I've had better customer service from HK or even China than that.

Everyone makes mistakes, customers and businesses, but in the end it's always better to resolve them than resort to the type of childish name calling shown in the last email. If you want to be viewed as a professional company you must ALWAYS act professional, regardless of the provocation.

Airbus 9e

I have to agree with this....

Most every RC online dealer I've bought from has an edit function built into the account management on their system....You could have used that, or if theirs does'nt, you could have just opened a new account with your proper shipping data....

Customer service counts, but so does being a smart customer....assuming they'll figure it out is'nt a smart way to deal with it....

snowbl!nd

I can't believe a few of you guys are siding with NewEraModels by saying he should have called to confirm the change of shipping address.

He indicated this change of address by THREE different methods (paypal, comment box & seperate e-mail) - and they still messed up. If he was ordering online why should he have to jump through even more hoops because it's not as easy as it should be to change the delivery address online? Simple. He shouldn't - he's the customer.

Also the replies from NewEra are a joke. Smoky was polite but to the point in his correspondence and they respond with poorly written, misleading and downright rude e-mails.

NewEra should be ashamed. In this economic climate you can't run a business that way and expect to survive.

Airbus 9e

Nothing beats person to person contact....if they screwed it up after talking directly to a service rep, then I'd say he has a beef....plus they may have been a bit justified considering he cost them time and money trying to correct issues he could have easily prevented to start with....

Barber420

My Feedback: (1)

I think both parties are to blame here, but I think you are the most to blame in the situation. You were a little foolish/risky in assuming they'd look at the note and e-mail before the order had been processed and shipped. They are a larger company and receive many, many orders a day. I would have done what they said and either called them or sent an e-mail BEFORE making the order. This would've have cleared up all of the trouble from the get go. As for New Era's response, how do you think they are going to respond when you send an e-mail saying,"You're right. I'm just another dumb customer that should have "known" all these things. Sorry to have caused you trouble. Please apologize to your webmaster for me, as I have clearly failed him/her as well." This is childish behavior, especially for this having been a simple mistake that they said they were going to fix!

The real shame is that I think you realized this and then tried to all of a sudden be professional/grown up and send the proper kinds of e-mails.

I would've liked to have seen the "relatively bland" e-mails. I have a sinking feeling that they weren't as "bland" as you say they were and they were probably very similar to what I quoted above. If it were me, I may have just found it easier to not serve you as a customer anymore either.

I also think New Era could've handled this whole situation much better as well. They could have comped your shipping for the mistake. That would make you happy and not cost them much. Problem remedied and they maintain a satisfied customer. As others have said though, you may have been dealing with a bad employee, someone in a bad mood, or who knows what.

I'll be one of the few on here to say that I will still gladly buy New Era components!!! They are a good company with good stuff.

P.S. - As for the comment stating, "They were and are a rip off company that buys products from other manufactures and sells them under their own name. LAMO." That is business as usual for MOST companies. Their are only 3 companies that make automotive batteries, but their are dozens of battery brands out there. What does this mean? Almost all automotive battery companies are buying someone else's product and putting they're name on it!!! Their are SOO many obvious examples of this. It's how the world works, and to think that all companies out there are making their own stuff all of the time to sell is just ignorant/naive.

And no, I don't work for New Era, I just get annoyed when I see people complain about a good company, because of a mistake THEY made![&:]

SmokyTyrz

I guess there are just different perspectives as to what "customer" means. I have a particularly concentrated definition, because I am a usability engineer by trade. My job is to help engineering teams design software that is usable by the target audience. My job is to listen to customers. To find out their pain points. And then to educate the engineers as to how the customer really thinks.

Like any field, we have a mantra..."There is no such thing as user error." If a user (customer) makes a mistake, it is the system that is to blame for allowing the mistake to be made. In this case:

-the ordering system should have provided an easy way to update my address and contact info. It does not. In fact, after 10 minutes of searching I found no way to update the customer record at all.

-when an ordering system uses Paypal, the customer is trained via legacy experience to expect that the contact information used in the Paypal transaction will be read by the vendor. Some vendors offer systems where you do not even type in your contact info...it is extracted completely from Paypal.

-there is nowhere on the site indicating "if you have problems with your order, call us directly."


To assume the customer will go above and beyond to give a vendor money is a big mistake. In my experience, after doing countless usability studies and end-user research, the average person will give up. I thought I was dong NewEra a small favor by completing the transaction, giving them my money, and being patient, rather than giving up on them completely. I even took the time to write them and inform them that their ordering system was being odd, and offered a clear message about the shipping address discrepancy. They apparently did not see it this way. Their reaction suggested that as a customer not willing to do their job for them, I was annoying them.

But then again, everyone has different perspectives and tolerances. However good and polite customer service is something I think we have all a fair expectation for, and IMHO NewEra did not meet even the most minimal criteria in this regard.

SmokyTyrz

I can forward the remaining correspondence to you if you'd like. The first couple emails were simply, "Just checking in to see if the order had shipped." The last was a response to their comment that I was incompetent. In a nutshell, I replied with a question as to how they came up to this conclusion... perhaps it is the education I've earned for myself or the disposable income it yields to buy products at their store.... that kind of thing. Then I simply closed by saying I am glad they refunded my money, and not concerned about their judgement of me, nor about being able to buy from them again (especially since I can get their products from other vendors if need be). That was about it. Pretty humdrum compared to the rest of it.


And my response to an email is only equal to the intention with which it was sent. NewEra didn't kick off the interaction with "Hey, you're right. Our ordering system needs work. Give us time to recover the package and we'll resend it." They said "why did YOU let us make a mistake?" Well, I dunno...I didn't feel like I placed that order just to set them up so I could laugh at them later. I just thought I was buying a part from them. I didn't realize I had other responsibilities besides paying for the part and being as clear the system allowed to describe the destination. Therefore I felt like a "dumb customer". See what I mean?

I wasn't looking for a battle. I just wanted some parts for my truck, like anyone else. They turned it into an affront on them because "I let them make a mistake."

Makes me wonder who else I'm responsible for, to insure they don't make mistakes, and I'm just not aware of it!