OES Phone Number

**fishike** · 02-05-2012, 15:05

I have been as polite about this as possible. I have said I have heard good things about his work. I have even mentioned I feel bad about bringing this up. Others have mentioned that his customer service at times is lacking. Others have ordered and received their shipments, I have not. This is not about me bad mouthing him, this is me trying to set up some sort of a connection with Brian because email and messaging have not worked. I need to know when he is shipping so I can arrange to have someone here to receive the tarps. I do not care that the tarps are taking a while to be made or shipped out, I care that there is no communication.

I think it's also fair that others who are trying to get his gear before it's gone should also be aware of what's going on, good or bad.

**taylo** · 02-05-2012, 19:23

Sorry man, I retract my butthole comment. Good luck with everything. But I bet you'll have a response from OES soon, and more than likely, your tarp will be waiting on your doorstep one day soon.

**DemostiX** · 02-05-2012, 20:11

Anything wrong with establishing an expectation that there is no billing prior to shipping? Or that in the case of custom work, maybe half down, and the rest billed at shipping?

Jacks R Better maintains a large inventory. In their latest self-evaluation of where their business is, they estimated that they ship 98% of orders within a day of receipt. For all the exclamations of that's service that are made in HF: Come on. What the Jacks are doing is indeed service, investing in inventory so the customer gets immediate service.

No shortages propping up resale prices, either, by my analysis.

How about it: No billing by HF vendors until the item is shipped for stock items; and no more than partial billing for custom work until deliver? That's good and established business practice protecting everyone's money and reputation.

**Turtle Creek** · 02-05-2012, 20:40

Originally Posted by DemostiX

How about it: No billing by HF vendors until the item is shipped for stock items; and no more than partial billing for custom work until deliver? That's good and established business practice protecting everyone's money and reputation.

I am comfortable paying for custom made items in advance. I also read the vendor site, or correspond with them, and get an idea of delivery time estimates. I think your reputation is for you to protect yourself, not by a policy. It looks like OES has said they are going out of business for a while and the OP is concerned with having zero contact. I don't think that HF should (or could) try to impliment a standing policy with all other vendors because of one or two incidents. When I order from so called 'HF Vendors' I don't always mention HF or my username. For all they know I found them through a search engine or another hiking forum.

**DemostiX** · 02-05-2012, 23:17

Of course there's no HF mandate expected. I described standard good business practice for contracted work in most fields.

Requests such as the OP's don't come often, but they come up too often, leaving reputations challenged.

" I think your reputation is for you to protect yourself, not by a policy."

is not the best thought-through sentiment. When all vendors in a field -- potentially competitors-- agree on and present a policy that the most naive of buyers can trust, they all benefit by seeing fewer challenges to the reputation of any.

**FourCats** · 02-06-2012, 23:09

Let's also keep in mind that with the word of Brian temporarily (and possibly even permanently) closing up shop getting around, I am sure that his email has been swamped with inquiries, and I bet a lot of them are about items/sizes/colors that his site clearly says are no longer in stock. Combine this with a big move and the start of a new career in another city, having to find a place to live, etc. Just playing Devil's advocate here, although I would be frustrated if I paid for goods and didn't hear anything back.

What I don't understand is, when I bought my tarp a few weeks ago, I got a series of what looked like automated emails confirming the purchase, etc. Is it possible that this system is temporarily offline or kludged up somehow? <shrug>

.

**fishike** · 02-08-2012, 06:50

Brian finally contacted me last night when I sent an email titled "About to take my money elsewhere". He had evidently marked my order as shipped even though there were no Micro tarps in stock. My emails were then pushed down and deemed low priority. He said he had one more Standard tarp left that he was going to mail to me today with the guyline. He said he would refund my money for the Micro tarp. I asked that he do that and if he would be making any more micro tarps in the future and he has not responded.

But I did receive a message after that late last night saying all 3 items had shipped. We'll see what shows up.

Originally Posted by FourCats

Let's also keep in mind that with the word of Brian temporarily (and possibly even permanently) closing up shop getting around, I am sure that his email has been swamped with inquiries, and I bet a lot of them are about items/sizes/colors that his site clearly says are no longer in stock. Combine this with a big move and the start of a new career in another city, having to find a place to live, etc. Just playing Devil's advocate here, although I would be frustrated if I paid for goods and didn't hear anything back.

What I don't understand is, when I bought my tarp a few weeks ago, I got a series of what looked like automated emails confirming the purchase, etc. Is it possible that this system is temporarily offline or kludged up somehow? <shrug>

.

**SunshineHiker** · 02-10-2012, 23:01

Well I hope that means the Micro I ordered last week was actually in stock and shipped, though I'm seriously doubting it now. I came here to see what was up and if anyone else had had contact from OES because I ordered my Micro a week ago. The website indicates that he only had in stock items available and that in stock items were shipped Priority Mail 1-2 days after order. I too understand about being busy but I've had things shipped from all over the country and never had Priority Mail take more than three days in any of the Continental US.

I know waiting is par for the course with a cottage co. but taking someone's money with no product to give is really bad. Especially since I may have to cancel a trip if there isn't a micro for me.

**fishike** · 02-12-2012, 19:02

SunshineHiker,

He does not have any Micro tarps in stock. It said that he had them in stock when I ordered on 1/15/2012, but the website is wrong. He does not have any of these in stock, and has not had them in stock for a long time evidently. But I thought I read or was messaged that someone had gotten a Maccat Micro recently, last month or so.

It also says he does not have any Standard tarps in stock, but he had one to ship out to me...

He also said he would mail the tarp on Wednesday morning. He didn't mail it until late Saturday. He still has not refunded the money to my bank account.

Best advice SunshineHiker is to call the credit card company and get your money back.