View Full Version : horrible service
Last week I decided to buy a Claytor Jungle hammock. I ordered but when I went to pay I saw that the only accept pay pal. I was working off shore and our internet is provided by the company and it has restrictions on it. Since I could not access my pay pal account, I sent them an email asking if the could call me or send me their number so that I could complete the purchase over the phone.
After waiting 2 hours I becamr impatient and went to order a DD frontline. Same problem, they wanted payment through pay pal. I sent them the same email that I sent Claytor and 15 minutes later they (DD) called me and I gave them my credit card info over the phone. I was told that it was too late in the day (Friday) and it would be shipped out Monday. Well, Monday I received an email confirming that my order had been shipped. DD is located in the UK, hammock was shipped out Monday and was delivered to my door Tuesday before lunch. How is that for service? Good job DD and fedex. I slept in my DD hammock last night ( Tuesday ).
Today ( Wednesday ). I received an email from Claytor saying they couldn't help unless I had family that could get to pay pal for me. I deleted the email without responding but I wish I had told them what I have told all of you here. From this experience I will be a DD costumer for a long time to come. I have already ordered 4 more frontlines for other family members. Sorry Claytor, you just can't get it done. Better step up.
Wow, good job DD! That's pretty incredible.
Southpaw
09-15-2011, 22:12
Not only is it poor service, it's also bad business. Not everyone likes the PayPal option. I know I don't, and even went to the bank and set up a separate account for Paypal, just so I could buy my quilt from Leigh Lo.
BrianWillan
09-16-2011, 11:04
Just for the record, one can pay via credit card with PayPal without having a PayPal account.
Law Dawg (ret)
09-16-2011, 11:16
Just for the record, one can pay via credit card with PayPal without having a PayPal account.
How? I pay via CC with a PayPal account...did you mean a PP bank account? I, for one wish PP had some serious competition without the political stuff PP can have (ie: purchase of firearms).
I received an email from Claytor saying they couldn't help unless I had family that could get to pay pal for me. I deleted the email without responding but I wish I had told them what I have told all of you here.
As to customer service with this outfit I don't know. One thing I'd say is payment has to be a real can of worms for smaller businesses. Plus we often expect them to jump through hoops they may not be able to clear at the moment we want it. To be fair, you should email them and discuss the problem with them...since the cat is already out of the bag here. Don't ya think?
Raul Perez
09-16-2011, 11:22
I think his issue was he couldn't log on to paypal due to restricted internet.
PapaSmurf
09-16-2011, 11:52
I believe this thread is incorrectly titled "horrible service".
Maybe it should have read "After waiting 2 hours I became impatient"?
I believe this thread is incorrectly titled "horrible service".
+1
Maybe it should have read "After waiting 2 hours I became impatient"?
I'm thinking something more along the lines of "Horrible Customer Expectations"
You got impatient after two hours and now Claytor is the bad guy?
And hammering a business because they use PayPay doesn't seem fair either.
Oh, and BTW, I took a look at the Claytor site and it shows that they accept as payment by, in addition to PayPal, US check, bank transfer or Western Union transfer. So if you don't like PayPal, use one of the other options.
Side note: You don't have to have a PayPal account to pay someone via PayPal.
I am still trying to figure out why the company you work for blocking access to PayPal is reason for you to go off on a business that uses it.
I think it is awesome that you had a great experience with DD. Good for you and for them.
However, I don't think your impatience, ridiculous expectations and limitations placed on your internet access by the company you work for should not be cause for you to trash another company.
Just my $.02 worth...
sidvicious
09-16-2011, 13:07
Not only is it poor service, it's also bad business. Not everyone likes the PayPal option. I know I don't, and even went to the bank and set up a separate account for Paypal, just so I could buy my quilt from Leigh Lo.
i'm with you southpaw; i don't like paypal either and i hate to be fooled by those graphics that lead one to think credit cards are welcome, only to find that it's paypal only.
i further ditto the dd hammock folks. i have no experience with claytor, but dd did a great job communicating with me. i too needed another payment option and they were glad to assist and did so with flying colors. got the hammock to me in no time flat.
sv-
sidvicious
09-16-2011, 13:08
Just for the record, one can pay via credit card with PayPal without having a PayPal account.
not if the same card or your email was once used with a paypal account.
not if the same card or your email was once used with a paypal account.
Is this because you had a PayPal account and closed it? Otherwise, it shouldn't matter.
There have been numerous times where I have paid via a card and/or email I use with my PayPal account without using PayPal. It recognizes my email and encourages me to sign in to PayPal to complete the transaction, but I also have the option to complete it without signing in to PayPal. Have done that several times.
On the business side of things, we send out invoices via PayPal quite frequently to people who we know don't have PayPal accounts (they tell us so). We are able to get paid through the PayPal service without them having a PayPal account, but that just may be something unique to the level of service we utilize through PayPal.
Southpaw
09-16-2011, 13:56
I think people don't realize just how riddled, Paypal actually is with security failures. If you have never had it happen to you, then you wouldn't because Paypal does a great job of covering it up. I once had $1000 emptied out of my bank account through Paypal. Paypal reimbursed me three days later, but that was three days I had no access to my money. When I asked to explain how and why, I ran in to a wall. A few days after I purchased my Warbonnet, using the credit card option in Paypal I had 5 mystery charges to my credit card, so it had to be canceled. So Paypal is far from secure in my experience.
As to the two hour wait, what's reasonable? We are talking about doing business here! Would you want to wait two hours to order a pizza, or speak to customer service with your cell phone company? If you want to have a business, then you have to respond to people's inquiries quickly. If Brandon had made me wait two hours, he would have sold one less Hammock, because I was in a hurry when I called him.
flannery
09-16-2011, 14:12
You can set up a paypal accounts with a credit card and no bank account. I have this exact set up. Paypal keeps asking me to attach a bank account to my PP account but I won't do that.
Mike
Overgrown
09-16-2011, 14:15
Maybe the title of the thread should be "you snooze you lose" DD responded in 15 minutes the other co took several days.
I am sure they are both good companies but any business that is doing web based sales should be more on the ball that that.
Southpaw, it's not just limited to PayPal. I have had and personally know others who have also had fraudulent transactions appear in the accounts after using credit/debit cards at restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. There is just a risk in using credit/debit cards in any setting.
As for what's reasonable for a response time, I believe it depends on the type of communication method being used.
If I call to order a pizza, yes, I do expect the pizza place to answer the phone in a timely manner. The same goes on those occasions when I have to speak to my cell phone company (who I expect to have to wait on hold with).
However, as far as email is concerned, I view it as reasonable to get a response back within one business day. In my mind, email is not the same as 'instant messaging'. Although I think most people have the expectation that they are the same.
Cottage industry owners like Brandon sure have a tough time of it. They have to balance constantly checking email for potential customer questions and still producing products at the speed that customers demand.
In a comical way, I envision people out there saying to themselves "Brandon better be at his computer, ready to answer my email immediately for him to get my order. And once he gets it, he better turn off his computer, and everything else in his life, until he has produced the hammock (or other product) that I ordered".
It's the whole, "I don't really care what he does as long as I am the most important person in his life" syndrome.
YMMV.
Back to my original rant, the point was that if you don't like PayPay, there were other options available for payment and trashing a vendor like that in this forum was not right.
One thing to consider in this situation is that Claytor is located on the other side of the world from the US.....They were probably sleeping rather than sitting up all night waiting for an email to possibly come in. 2 hours is hardly a fair chance for them to respond during the middle of the night where they are. Not defending or promoting Claytor but just trying to put some geographic perspective on their side.
Obviously I did send them an email on friday morning early and they responded in a non helpful way on wednesday.
I sent DD an email late their time on Friday and had my DD hammock on Tuesday. How was I not being fair?
+1
I'm thinking something more along the lines of "Horrible Customer Expectations"
You got impatient after two hours and now Claytor is the bad guy?
And hammering a business because they use PayPay doesn't seem fair either.
Oh, and BTW, I took a look at the Claytor site and it shows that they accept as payment by, in addition to PayPal, US check, bank transfer or Western Union transfer. So if you don't like PayPal, use one of the other options.
Side note: You don't have to have a PayPal account to pay someone via PayPal.
I am still trying to figure out why the company you work for blocking access to PayPal is reason for you to go off on a business that uses it.
I think it is awesome that you had a great experience with DD. Good for you and for them.
However, I don't think your impatience, ridiculous expectations and limitations placed on your internet access by the company you work for should not be cause for you to trash another company.
Just my $.02 worth...
Some have trouble reading. I was offshore with restricted internet. Yes, waiting 2 hours only was inpatient on my part but, they did not contact me until wednesday the following week. DD returned my call within 15 minutes which is incredible. I asked claytor to call me or to send me a # so that I could call them. DD called and Claytor sent an email. This is hoorible service
HangingKayaker
09-16-2011, 15:09
"However, I don't think your impatience, ridiculous expectations and limitations placed on your internet access by the company you work for should not be cause for you to trash another company."
I agree with avenger on this.
Just let it go. You got what you wanted, when you wanted it and on your terms. Why keep beating it to death. Go out and enjoy your new gear!!
I believe this thread is incorrectly titled "horrible service".
Maybe it should have read "After waiting 2 hours I became impatient"?
took the words out of my mouth....
everyone wants everything right now .... thats not how the world works
also like others have said they are half way around the world and for all we know maybe they don't work weekends we don't know
not saying or defending Claytor ... but they did get back to you a few days later
not every business will get back to you in min ...
also lets leave PP out of this ... i don't see how PP security problems have anything to do with Claytor getting back to him
there is a key word that is missing in todays world ...... Patience
icedfire477
09-16-2011, 15:31
Coming from someone who owns and operates a web-based business, I can totally sympathize with Claytor. While it may be impressive that another company got back to you very quickly, while Claytor took a while longer, I don't believe this is grounds for "horrible service". Coming from someone who has been on the receiving end of service that was ACTUALLY horrible, the worst I could say about your wait was that it was "sub-par" and most definitely not grounds for starting an entire thread bashing one company for one "flaw".
Sometimes it's easy to forget that you are dealing with humans, as opposed to an autonomous voice on the other end of the phone.
Well done Nick, you must have jumped in your private jet and hand delivered it :)
I think that much of the "horrible service" is being side tracked by tangents to the actual problem. The DD info was added for a point of reference. If you take it out and just concentrate on the Claytor support:
Last week I decided to buy a Claytor Jungle hammock. I ordered but when I went to pay I saw that the only accept pay pal. I was working off shore and our internet is provided by the company and it has restrictions on it. Since I could not access my pay pal account, I sent them an email asking if the could call me or send me their number so that I could complete the purchase over the phone.
Today ( Wednesday ). I received an email from Claytor saying they couldn't help unless I had family that could get to pay pal for me.
I would have to agree, this is horrible service - very slow response and little to no actual assistance.
I agree with Ranger's conclusion.
I deleted the email without responding but I wish I had told them what I have told all of you here. Sorry Claytor, you just can't get it done. Better step up.
icedfire477
09-16-2011, 15:41
As far as the family member with paypal complaint goes: http://www.mosquitohammock.com/_private/payment.html
Southpaw
09-16-2011, 16:01
took the words out of my mouth....
everyone wants everything right now .... thats not how the world works
also like others have said they are half way around the world and for all we know maybe they don't work weekends we don't know
not saying or defending Claytor ... but they did get back to you a few days later
not every business will get back to you in min ...
also lets leave PP out of this ... i don't see how PP security problems have anything to do with Claytor getting back to him
there is a key word that is missing in todays world ...... Patience
I guess it just goes to show that everyone has different expectations. The market will work itself out. Claytor lost a sale to a competitor. It's really up to them to decide how many more times they want that to happen in the future.
I think the PayPal issue got brought up, because the question was raised as to why the OP company would block PayPal which is what caused all this in the first place. My answer was, that Paypal has security issues which make it reasonable to block it.
Ham_n_Yak
10-10-2011, 23:25
I am not flaming the OP here. But I do think the original post is harsh, considering what Tom has done in the past to make his customers happy. When I made the decision to get off the ground this last spring, I decided on Claytor. Much because of the experiences of others discussed in this forum( and the price ). I also prefer to not use paypal, so opted to pay by check. E-mailed my order on Monday, check went out on Tuesday, hammock shipped on Friday,
and I'm hanging the following Thursday, check cleared the following week. Bonus for no shipping charges. Sorry to hear Tom lost a sale, but I'm ready for my second one, and it will be another Claytor.
You can't satisfy everybody no matter how much you try,,,its the American Way...we all have our opinions of this and that no matter how hard a business guy tries...its impossible.
dkperdue
10-14-2011, 20:26
Some have trouble reading. I was offshore with restricted internet. Yes, waiting 2 hours only was inpatient on my part but, they did not contact me until wednesday the following week. DD returned my call within 15 minutes which is incredible. I asked claytor to call me or to send me a # so that I could call them. DD called and Claytor sent an email. This is hoorible service
You could have sent them a check as well.
PAY by US$ CHECK
If it is more convenient for you, you are welcome to pay by US$ check. Please write down on the check the quantity and the name of the items you are ordering. Shipping is FREE. Please make the check payable to TOM CLAYTOR and post to the following address:
--------------
Tom Claytor
211 Radnor-Chester Road
Villanova, PA 19085
USA
You could have sent them a check as well.
PAY by US$ CHECK
If it is more convenient for you, you are welcome to pay by US$ check. Please write down on the check the quantity and the name of the items you are ordering. Shipping is FREE. Please make the check payable to TOM CLAYTOR and post to the following address:
--------------
Tom Claytor
211 Radnor-Chester Road
Villanova, PA 19085
USA
Is this his place of business or residence ? I only ask because this address is about 5 minutes away from me .
When I bought my Claytor several years ago I was pretty sure I had been scammed. It took over 2 weeks to get my hammocks and the only assurance I got was a jumbled email from Pui who did not speak very good English and could not answer my questions. To make matters worse when I looked up the pay pal account it was linked to some polo site that made no mention of hammocks. I was sure I would never see the two hammocks I ordered or my money.
Two and a half weeks after I ordered them, one made it to my house the other got held up at the post office. Both had international elephant stamps on it and were shipped in inside out in reused UPS bags but they made it and were quality products I have used and been happy with ever since. Weird buying experience but the end result was satisfactory.
hang em high
10-29-2011, 19:11
Good Hammocks, Good Prices, My first two came in paper wraped boxes with manila twine
tied around it and someones name Chatacheeaa. I looked like a WW2 care package. I still have a pic of it. I never have understood why Tom isn't a member here. Anyway, some people wouldn't even be happy if everything was instant and free.
As always
Have a good day.
bob2guns
10-30-2011, 21:50
i've had one day shipping with mr. claytor ..... thats not too bad i dont think....and payed with a money order on top of it....and it was shipped before the money order arrived at PA....
in addition to being half way around the world from the usa ....different time zones ...different night and day times....the guy has a life other than staring at a pc waiting for emails .....if you tried to contact him a year ago , he was on top of everest .......... don't think he would have answered right away...
that means one day to ship at his end after an email order (and not with paypuke) , and a week or so to go thru the mail ...
I have a Claytor, and the service was great. I was surprised how quickly it arrived.
You could have sent them a check as well.
PAY by US$ CHECK
If it is more convenient for you, you are welcome to pay by US$ check. Please write down on the check the quantity and the name of the items you are ordering. Shipping is FREE. Please make the check payable to TOM CLAYTOR and post to the following address:
--------------
Tom Claytor
211 Radnor-Chester Road
Villanova, PA 19085
USA
That's great, I can write a check and tom will get on a boat and come pick it up. I was offshore. Stop making excuses. DD did not make excuses. They got write back to me and took my info over the phone, shipped my order from Scotland and had it delivered to my door a full day before Claytor could send out a completely un-helpful email.
Not trashing the quality of Claytor as I have heard nothing but great things about their products. I really wish they had shown me better "customer service" as I looked long and hard to learn as much as I could about hammocks before making my first purchase. From what I had read here and on other forums I had decided that the jungle hammock was the one I wanted.,
Mustardman
12-04-2011, 12:26
If you think this constitutes poor customer service, you've never dealt with genuinely bad customer service.
They weren't as accommodating as you would like them to be. They didn't take your money and ship you a broken product, or promise overnight shipping and have a package arrive a month late. Calling this "horrible" customer service is a bit melodramatic, in my opinion.
wisenber
12-04-2011, 23:05
I think the PayPal issue got brought up, because the question was raised as to why the OP company would block PayPal which is what caused all this in the first place. My answer was, that Paypal has security issues which make it reasonable to block it.
As a manager of several networks, it is not uncommon for clients to request that shopping and other personal transactions be blocked from the network.
On the topic of Paypal security, most instances of accounts being compromised stem from the retailers "shopping cart" being compromised or having a security flaw more so than the Paypal network. Any transactions that involve the transmitting of financial data hold some risk.
wisenber
12-04-2011, 23:15
In looking at Tom's website, he states "ORDERS SHIPPED ON FRIDAY EACH WEEK". It is entirely possible that he doesn't work every day of the week on that particular business as he has no "brick and mortar" presence and may very well have other responsibilities as do many cottage businesses.
Then again, my expectations of a "cottage business" versus a "big box business" are not the same and certainly would not rise to the level of flaming a vendor for a slow response. Sending a bad or damaged product without attempting to remedy the issue would be bad service as opposed to the slow service in the OP.
Southpaw
12-05-2011, 07:58
In looking at Tom's website, he states "ORDERS SHIPPED ON FRIDAY EACH WEEK". It is entirely possible that he doesn't work every day of the week on that particular business as he has no "brick and mortar" presence and may very well have other responsibilities as do many cottage businesses.
Then again, my expectations of a "cottage business" versus a "big box business" are not the same and certainly would not rise to the level of flaming a vendor for a slow response. Sending a bad or damaged product without attempting to remedy the issue would be bad service as opposed to the slow service in the OP.
He is also a Bush Pilot from what I understand. That's his real job I think.
tncamper
12-05-2011, 09:47
In some ways, I see where people are coming from saying your inpatient. But, companies now are wanting payment as fast and as simple for them as possible. If that is inconvenient for the customer then, they should do what is necessary. I know (I'm in charge of circulation for a small newspaper) when customers are having problems with paying online, I get emails (tons at times) and will have to call or play email tag until I get it resolved. That is poor customer service.
This whole thread just proves the old adage of you can't please all the people all the time...
Horrible is a matter of perspective and why you need to understand when you read reviews that people get emotionally involved and may use words that seem harsh to us; yet are totally justified according to their perspective.
I HATE mystery menus, hard to find contact information, one-way pay systems, convoluted web-site search engines. A retail web-site has about 3 seconds to keep me hooked unless I am looking for something very specific that I KNOW can only be had on a certain site and I need to find it.
Otherwise, I move on.
As an example: I was looking for a nice conceal-carry shirt for my brother. I did not know the brand I was looking for but knew it needed to be button down, long sleeve etc. I ended up buying it at Sportsman's Guide because when I searched for the 'concealed-carry shirt' I did not get a bunch of tee shirts, jackets and other non-products listed. I will NOT look through 4 pages of tee shirts for the ONE shirt I need buried on one of the pages; not gonna do it.
Claytor missed the sale due to poor payment options and subsequent poor response time; DD stepped up and made the sale. I hate it when I call a vendor looking for a part and they ask me when I need it... I need it now or I wouldn't be calling!
wisenber
12-05-2011, 18:10
I hate it when I call a vendor looking for a part and they ask me when I need it... I need it now or I wouldn't be calling!
By that rationale, if you call them and you do not already have it, the vendor has already failed which would be a no win situation.
hang em high
12-09-2011, 03:20
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii223/draftdrift/photo-101.jpg
DemostiX
12-09-2011, 21:15
Start a new thread to post positive comments about Claytor.Every time a post gets put here, like this one, the top level thread bearing the slam comes up to a browser at the top level. This is getting old to us, but will be the first impression for new vistors to HF.