5/5

posted Apr-09-2012

I have bought cables and accessories from monoprice.com for a few years now. Their prices are good, shipping is prompt, and the quality of products is much more than what you expect for that price.

Until recently, I didn't have a chance to test their customer service. They shipped me a couple of products that were not according to their description. Their customer service rep. wasn't willing to pay for the return shipping charges, although they would pay 100% of the product price. I wasn't happy with that because their product description was wrong. I wrote to them about my displeasure and one of their managers promptly sent me a UPS prepaid shipping label for the return and apologized for the error. What he did reinforces my faith in monoprice.com as a trustworthy supplier that I'll continue to buy from. For a few years now, they have impressed me as an efficient operation that cares about customer satisfaction.

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5/5

posted Dec-14-2011

I bought some fixtures from them about 3 years ago and the experience was pleasant. Prices were good and they shipped promptly.

I decided to buy a couple of things again last weekend. Ordered something that was supposed to be in stock and expected to ship in 24 hours. But it turned out that it was backordered by a week or so. I contacted CS via online chat. They called the manufacturer and told me that it was indeed backordered and they apologized for the error. They offered to up the shipping to a free 2-day air as ground would take another 5-6 days to reach. I told them that I wasn't in any rush and that they could save their dollars and just ship ground. I hinted to the rep that I'd actually appreciate some sort of $ credit rather than 2-day air because I wasn't in a rush. I didn't insist and she didn't say anything. I just mentioned it in the passing and left it at that.

This morning, I get an email that they gave me credit of over 10% on that order. I was pleasantly surprised that they felt they wanted to do this without me insisting on any refund. I think it is a very nice gesture. I wish more merchants showed this type of common courtesy to their customers because it certainly wins loyalty.

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3/5

posted Dec-01-2011

UPDATE
-------
Within a day of my review post here, O2gearshop.com called back. They apologized for their mistake. They made good on the two issues I had. 1. Giving me the refund right away, and 2. Sending a UPS pickup tag to take back the erroneously shipped package.

The gentleman that called me appeared to understand what I had gone through and apologized for what happened. My interaction with him was pleasant and he resolved the issue. So I'm going to move my overall satisfaction to 3 stars from the original 1 star.

What follows is my original review post. I think it is only fair that other shoppers read both my original and the Update, and decide for themselves.

-----ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS-----
Had a bad experience. Here are the gory details.
11/4/2011. Ordered a jacket with a 5-7 day ETA. They charged my credit card.
11/21/2011. Nothing shipped yet. Canceled the order. Got notification that I'd be refunded.
11/23/2011. Got a shipping notification for the order I canceled.
11/28/2011. I contacted them to let them know of their mistake, and to confirm that my refund wasn't going to be held back because they mistakenly shipped it after I canceled. Lo and behold, that's what they want to do -- i.e., hold me hostage for returning their erroneous shipment before giving me a refund. I asked them to tell UPS to not deliver it and divert it back to them. They won't.

They shipped a package two days after I canceled the order and them sending me written confirmation that I'd have refund in 24-72 hours. It didn't seem right to me that I'd have to stay home to refuse the package or that I'd have to go stand in line at the post office and pay postage to ship this back to them. They should either not deliver it, or send a UPS pickup tag and pick it up from my house. I have no intention of keeping their merchandise. In fact, I even called UPS to not deliver it. But UPS said they had no means to stop delivery of this package. In any case, my credit card shouldn't be charged to cover their error.

Anyway, I relayed the story to my credit card company and they took off the charges. The credit card company said they would deal with the merchant.

In summary, I had two issues with this company. 1. Charging my credit card in advance, and not keeping up their ETA and then telling me every day that it was going to ship that day or the next day until it took so long that I finally canceled the order. 2. Erroneously shipping my canceled order, and holding me hostage for the refund until I incurred the extra effort and cost to send the merchandise back although it is their fault.

I'll not be shopping here in future.

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2/5

posted Dec-01-2011

I ordered 3 pairs of skates from them at a promotional price. Before the order shipped, their website offered their gift cards at a promotional price. I called to check if I could pay my promotional priced order with their promotional priced gift cards. The rep said yes. I even asked if the price of the skates would change by the time I got the gift cards. He said it won't and that he would put a note in my order to hold it until I got the gift cards and called in with their numbers. He did that and I was now waiting for the gift cards to arrive.

Two days later, I get a call from a different person saying that I can't use my gift cards to pay because that would be two promotions in the same order. I understood what he said and many stores have that policy. I totally understand. But this is exactly why I called to check if that was possible PRIOR to buying my cards and bought the gift cards only because it was unequivocally confirmed that I can use my promotional priced gift cards on my promotional priced order.

I ended up paying another $38 because of their now changed position. The extra money wasn't the real issue for me. It was the way they handled this that I didn't like. The person who called and informed me about not allowing the discounted gift cards seemed to be more intent on putting me on the defensive than accepting that they made a mistake and owning up to their mistake. He said the information is very clear in all the mailers they sent about the gift cards. I didn't get any mailers. I simply went to their website and bought their cards when it offered me the discount. I saw no mention of restrictions about using the cards with a discounted order. The cards I received or the paperwork they came with had no mention of restrictions either.

In any case, my point is that I called before I bought the gift cards, discussed the specific issue, and got a resounding OK to pay with the discounted gift cards for my discounted order. I proceeded to do this only after I was given an OK and they noted that in my order.

Condescending may be too strong a word to describe the person's attitude when he called, but the person on the phone sure didn't make me feel good with his talking or service. It appears that he is either the manager who runs that store or the owner.

I don't think they were trying to bait and switch or anything like that. People make mistakes. I want to believe that their rep misled me because he didn't know his own store's rules. Or that the store owner realized later that I was getting too much of a bargain that he didn't mean to offer. But what separates a good store from a bad store is how they handle their mistakes. The way this store handled it was very unpleasant.

In summary, I didn't like the buying experience. I will avoid them in future.

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