Issue with Legal Speeding Enterprises

[RedMac]

Normally I wouldn't bother posting about a vendor, but the more I thought about this today, the more it annoyed me.

 

Back in March there was a posting on the board here for a thermoplastic case for a Escort radar detector from Legal Speeding. Given that I'm tired of pulling my radar detector off every time I hit rain, I thought it was a great solution. Fairly low cost, flat bottom so I would mount on my shelf. Just the ticket.

 

I went over to the Legal Speeding site and looked at the pictures. Perfect.. just what I was looking for. They had two versions, one so you could use a hard transmitter and one without with lots of pictures of the one without. So I ordered the one for a Escort without the hard transmitter (the one FOR a Hard transmitter had a extra area on the case that added room for the Hard transmitter). So I ordered the part (25 but 8 bucks shipping and handling).

 

I received the incorrect one, the one with the area for the Hard transmitter. Given that it was on the bottom of the case, I could not mount this on my shelf because the bottom was not flat. I gave legal speeding a quick call thinking it was no big deal, they had made an error. I talked to Aaron Zimmermann (the owner) and he apologized and said he could send me the correct item. Two days he emailed me back and said they did not have any of the ones that I wanted and were no longer going to make them and I could send the incorrect one back for a refund since they had a 30 day money back warranty (ummm.. YOU sent me the wrong one to begin with)

 

No biggie I thought.. I was disappointed because it was something I wanted. I asked Aaron for a shipping account to send it back. Aaron informed me that I would have to pay to ship it back and I would only be refunded the original price NOT including the 8 bucks shipping.

 

At this point I was a bit annoyed... After all they did not ship me what I ordered. I composed a polite email and let Aaron know that I felt he should cover the shipping back and reimburse me the entire amount as they had shipped me the incorrect item to began with. He sent me a rather curt email and said he could cover shipping back up to 5 bucks, with no mention of the original shipping cost. At this point I figure.. ahhh.. not worth getting into it with him and shipped it back.

 

A 5 weeks go by.. no refund. So I emailed Aaron and inquired about my return. He did email me back promptly saying he would look into it. Finally 3 weeks later I get a check in the mail for the full amount. On the check is written "RECPT PITA". Well.. where I come from PITA means "Pain In The Ass". No other reason I can honestly think of for that to be *handwritten* on the check. It's not an acronym for any product he sells. What the heck? I'm not the one that shipped the wrong product. All I wanted was to be treated fairly and honestly and I was never anything but polite to him. So who is the PITA here?

 

Sure.. this is a minor little thing. Honestly the shipping wasn't really a big deal to me, but it was the *principal* of the thing. They didn't send me what I ordered, they couldn't provide what they said they could. Why should I have to cover their mistake? I was never anything but polite when I emailed. What call does HE have to call ME a Pain In The Ass.

 

I have a buddy who runs a business providing MC stuff (fuzeblocks.com) and I hear lots of stories from him about idiots who argue with him which is one of the reasons I try to be completely reasonable AND nothing but polite when I have issues about things I order.

 

Sorry for this long story, the more I thought about it after seeing the check from him today, the more annoyed I got. Just had to get it off my chest

 

Needless to say, I won't be doing business with Legal Speeding again. And perhaps Mr. Zimmermann doesn't care. I don't know about any of you, but me personally, I expect a bit better customer service out of the companies I spend my hard earned money with.... treated with a modicum of respect and NOT to be called undeserving names.

 

On another note, if anyone knows of a fairly low cost solution for a Escort radar detector cover.. I'd love to hear about. I have my mounted on my BMR shelf with dual-lock.

[Herkypilot]

Some vendors just don't get it. I always remember the vendors who go the extra mile to help me out, even when a mistake is my fault. Some vendors think they don't have to earn repeat business. With forums like this, they can get a bad reputation in a hurry and wonder why their business is drying up.

 

Herkypilot

[rocks]

I'd be one of the first to say "the customer is NOT always right" But when they are, as YOU clearly are, move on and accept the responsibility.

 

As the other responder noted with the advent of the internet a bad reputation can spread quickly!

 

Thanks for posting

[jfremder]

On another note, if anyone knows of a fairly low cost solution for a Escort radar detector cover.. I'd love to hear about. I have my mounted on my BMR shelf with dual-lock.

 

For the last 5 years and many rains, I've just used a plastic 'shower cap' (free at the motel) over my V-1 when it REALLY rains, else a few drops don't seem to bother it. In a frog strangler I might add a rubber band, or just take it off alltogether at a fuel stop , as I won't be needing it in torrential rain. BTW, I hope I'm not one of the Guys Curt G. complains about...

[RedMac]

Ahhh.. good suggestion on the shower cap! I think I have have one of those laying around! Much better than the usual "plastic baggie".

 

 

[outpost22]

Well it seems to me that he just lost far more in sales than the shipping charges would have been based on your posting it here. I won't use anyone's services like that and I'm sure others won't either.

 

In contrast, I bought some golf balls on Fleabay and I did not receive them for 20 days. I contacted the seller 10 days into the sale and he said he had shipped them. He was very apologetic and gave me a full refund on the shipping. After another 5 days I contacted him as I still had not received anything and he made a total refund. 6 days later the balls showed up at my door with the original postal date that he shipped, and it took 21 DAYS to get them to me via USPS.

 

I sent him via Paypal the cost of the balls as it plainly wasn't his fault, but USPS.

This is the type of customer service you should have received.

[RedMac]

Just to make it completely clear. He DID in fact refund the entire amount to me including the shipping both ways (after I lightly complained).

 

It was his PITA comment on the check that really annoyed me, plus the earlier implication that I *should* have been responsible for the shipping for his mistake.

[Skywagon]

Similar story, different company, last week. I ordered a Fieldsheer cooling vest for the lovely summers here in Houston. I measured the area in accordance with the Fieldsheer measurement guide. It was so big I could have added the wife unit in with me. I called the distributor for return instructions and to send me a smaller size (smaller isn't usually my problem). Now I have 3 shipping charges. If this one is wrong and I have to send it back,I will have nearly as much in shipping as the vest cost. When it settles out, I'll write Fieldsheer. I don't think the well known motorcycle accessories distributor should be any more responsbile for the shipping than me. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[ratfink]

This website shows 37 different acronyms for PITA and none of them really make sense for what was on your check except Pain in the xxx

 

http://www.acronymfinder.com/PITA.html

 

Is it possible though that it was some bookeeping shorthand for something like Paid in total account or something?

 

Maybe I'm being naive?

[10ovr]

Any time a wrote my X wife a check,I would put Lap Dance on the memo line,,Took her a while before she saw it I had a problem with one of there units,,( bad board ) I had them call UPS to pick it up,,That way the shipping was on them,,,

[RedMac]

Hmm... ok.. I submit maybe it was Paid In Total Account. If so.. then I should probably withdraw my earlier post.

 

I guess that should teach me to post when I'm annoyed. I'm the first to admit when I could be wrong, perhaps I am in this case.

[ratfink]

RedMac:

 

I wouldn't suggest that you withdraw your post, I was just kind of thinking outloud.

 

Really the guy named his business with a handle that is either oxymoronic or suggesting petty anarchy .

 

His business is built on aiding and abetting violation of rules of civilized conduct. So it is no surprise that he may not conduct himself in a civilized manner.

 

Thanks for warning us about him.