Customer service stories to share

This is a copy of a message I sent out to all my cutting groups on yahoo as well as to the sellers.

I just wanted to post this about my recent experience with cricutmachine.com for those looking to buy anything from them. This ended with a good outcome please read on....
I also have a bad outcome story about an eBay purchase from proudparents2005 to share.


Just a little update to add to this.. I cc'd both of these companies emails on this message and got the following reply from cricutmachine.com:
Thank you for contacting CricutMachine.

We appreciate the great review you gave us. We have forwarded this on to our managment team.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Have a great day!

CricutMachine.com Customer Support
151 East 3450 North
Spanish Fork Utah 84660
Toll Free: 1-877-343-2881
Mon-Fri 8am-5pm MST
sales@cricutmachine.com


I had ordered a deal from them On October 19, 2011 (reconditioned cricut expression with 4 cartridge bundle for $59.99) with tax and shipping came to $109.08 to be shipped to Canada. actually had it shipped to my mother in law not me as it was going to be an early Christmas gift for her.

I teach cricut classes as well and had posted to lots of groups and my classes about this deal. A few others ordered it too. When I had heard they all got theirs I called my mother in law only to discover she still didn't have hers. I gave it an extra 2 weeks since she lives in a remote location and often takes much longer. Still had not arrived....
Checked the tracking number provided only to discover that FedEx had no record of picking up that tracking number. I called the cricutmachine.com customer service and was told that it appeared as though they never actually shipped it. She was very apologetic and offered to refund my money. I insisted I really didn't want the money just the product. I was told that there were only 3 left in stock and they may or may not be already promised to other customers... They would have to contact their shipping department and get back to me. If they were however they would refund my money plus issue a $20 credit to be used on a future order. I told them not to bother as if I did not receive my product that I ordered and was given a shipping confirmation for weeks ago I would not order from them again and would make sure I told everyone I could think of of the bad service, since they still have machines for sale that the correct thing to do for me would be to ship an equivalent. They said they'd check first and send me an email within the new few days.
I never did get an email however yesterday afternoon FedEx showed up at my address with the product I had ordered directly from provocraft instead of cricutmachine.com. I still now need to ship it to my mother in law on the other side of the country (I didn't bother to call and see if they'd fix this since this is not a problem for me as we are going to visit her Anyway and I can just bring it with us) but I received a replacement shipment.
I am quite happy with this outcome, and knowing that they will have some great black Friday sales coming up I wanted to share that they definitely have good customer service and I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again (and when their sale start at midnight this Friday I will be checking it out for sure!!)

My proud parents story is not so good. I ordered a rolling tote bag, a cartridge tote bag and a gypsy bundled with all the accessories and the destination cartridge. It took them a week to send me my combined invoice which I paid immediately, another 4 days to ship it. It was September 14 when I received a USPS tracking number from them as shipping confirmation. I still haven't received the product!! I have written them 7 or more emails through eBay and directly to them asking them for info on it (I never assume its the sellers fault, often customs delays shipments for crazy amounts of time) USPS can't track their shipments to the US border with the label number as it is just something the shipper prints off, they still have to take it to the drop box and pay for it. They need the shipper to provide the confirmation number they were given at the drop box to track it. In order to get this I'd need them to respond to me!!! I opened a dispute through PayPal and sent 3 more messages requesting info on my shipment through PayPal.... No response! I upgraded the dispute to a claim. PayPal contacted them and received no response so I got my money back from PayPal yesterday.
I have heard lots if good stories about this eBay seller but also lots of bad. I would say if you order anything from them make sure you keep an eye on your PayPal timeframes for opening a dispute so you can get a refund if it never shows!

Oh and YES I am copying this message to both of these sellers as well as posting it on my blog, Facebook and telling my classes!

Okay, that's my rant for today!! LOL