I guess I don't even know how to respond to this. I will say that I am pretty happy with the drawers and shelves that I already have but behavior such as this is absolutely unethical. There are others that can do the same work for basically the same money. I guess if I can't get the order canceled I will take twenty5's suggestion and either try to presell them or sell em once I receive them.
Chasidor?
- Thread starter vivalanation734
- Start date
thegoldenmackid
Why Can't I be a Lancero?
If it gets bad, call the credit card company... I agree, sounds fishy. I do know he has taken a while to respond to e-mails, but the inconsistency is unacceptable.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, he shipped my replacement shelves a couple of days ago, so he is sending his product out.
I think we should see if we can get Chuck to respond to your guy's concerns both via e-mail and on this forum in an appropriate manner.
Regards,
Randy
I think we should see if we can get Chuck to respond to your guy's concerns both via e-mail and on this forum in an appropriate manner.
Regards,
Randy
Patience is starting to wear thin here....and no replies to any emails. Mind you, I'm not harassing him...have only sent one in the past 4 weeks. Shouldn't have to send more than one IMO.
Anyway...Order STILL isn't being processed, or "in line to be processed" (at least according to his site)....even though I got an email back on 9/13 saying the following:
The comments for your order are: Order Update: (Processing Order)
This email lets you know your Work Order has been printed.
Completion of your order should only take a few days depending on its size.
Shelf only orders should be ready within 24-48 hours of this notice.
Natural Cedar Tray Orders take several days to assemble and should
be ready for shipment within 3-5 business days.
Exotic Trays - At this point all spaying is complete, the basic tray is cut.
Assembling your order should take between 3-5 business days.
Stained Tray orders - At this point in the building process the basic tray
is complete.
All staining and spraying work is done. All that remains is lining the trays
with cedar, cutting the tops and should be ready for packing in 3-5 days.
Once construction is complete another Status update will be issued.
Thank you for your business and patience.
Your order has been updated to the following status:
New status: Processing Order
Anyway...Order STILL isn't being processed, or "in line to be processed" (at least according to his site)....even though I got an email back on 9/13 saying the following:
The comments for your order are: Order Update: (Processing Order)
This email lets you know your Work Order has been printed.
Completion of your order should only take a few days depending on its size.
Shelf only orders should be ready within 24-48 hours of this notice.
Natural Cedar Tray Orders take several days to assemble and should
be ready for shipment within 3-5 business days.
Exotic Trays - At this point all spaying is complete, the basic tray is cut.
Assembling your order should take between 3-5 business days.
Stained Tray orders - At this point in the building process the basic tray
is complete.
All staining and spraying work is done. All that remains is lining the trays
with cedar, cutting the tops and should be ready for packing in 3-5 days.
Once construction is complete another Status update will be issued.
Thank you for your business and patience.
Your order has been updated to the following status:
New status: Processing Order
I'm on the list as well. made an order containing the "scratch and dent" shelves and was given instructions through his web site to NOT pay until I get a confirmation from him. Well that was four weeks ago and I'm afraid if my number gets pulled and he sees there's no payment I'll be put at the bottom of the pile again
I have no horse in this race but ...
AFAIC, if you are selling items online (be it a real business or just a hobby) and you don't communicate with your customers, you're setting yourself up to fail big time.
Praise will often win more customers, but negative press is guaranteed to lose them further and faster.
AFAIC, if you are selling items online (be it a real business or just a hobby) and you don't communicate with your customers, you're setting yourself up to fail big time.
Praise will often win more customers, but negative press is guaranteed to lose them further and faster.
Interesting...way i recall the order process, he wouldn't even begin processing the order, until payment was made.
Of course, that was back in June...so memory might be failing me,
although almost positive I made payment immediately.
Agreed....using the "site updates" on his main page as a cop-out to not having to reply to customer inquiries is total BS IMO. Not saying that's what he's doing....but hard to see it any other way, with so many people having difficulty getting him to reply.
I want to weigh in on two fronts here, once as a consumer, and once as a "manufacturer"
Consumer - Communication is key, If I got the email that was pasted in above, and then waited for 4 weeks I would be upset... At minimum, I'd expect some communication...why doesn't Chuck set aside 30 minutes a day to handle correspondence? This small act would allow for greater visibility into the process and get the information needed into the hands of the consumer.
Maker - I admit that these things for me are a hobby, and as such everyone who contacts me is made aware right up front that the wait may (will) be significant. I feel this is fair as long as the expectations are clearly set. The other difference though, is that no one pays for their product until I am ready to ship them out. If you can't have your stuff... I don't think I should have your money. I'm not trolling for orders here AT ALL... I am way behind as it is and those waiting have been ridiculously patient.
I guess what made me chime in is the fact that it seems like there is very little difference between how I operate and how Chuck is operating... other than that he's positioning himself as a business and as such I feel he should be holding himself more accountable in how he is interacting with his customers.
The work is top notch though, and by all accounts is worth the wait. I do hope you all get what you paid for and can start enjoying your product. These customizations are how we transform a fridge into a humidor... it's how we are able to step away from feeling like we are just putting cigars in a fridge. That matters to me, and I think it's the reason why so many brothers are pulling the trigger.
If I were to offer advice to you guys, it would be this: keep communicating and document your communication. If you need it later, you'll have it. Additionally, remember you're ordering a custom product, and these things take time. For the money, I know Chuck is NOT making out like a bandit on these, he's making a wholesale markup at best... if you were to find these products on a shelf (which you won't) you'd be looking at a minimum of a 100% markup, if not more... hopefully that eases the pain somewhat, you're trading time for value and craftsmanship.
Happy customizing fellas!
Consumer - Communication is key, If I got the email that was pasted in above, and then waited for 4 weeks I would be upset... At minimum, I'd expect some communication...why doesn't Chuck set aside 30 minutes a day to handle correspondence? This small act would allow for greater visibility into the process and get the information needed into the hands of the consumer.
Maker - I admit that these things for me are a hobby, and as such everyone who contacts me is made aware right up front that the wait may (will) be significant. I feel this is fair as long as the expectations are clearly set. The other difference though, is that no one pays for their product until I am ready to ship them out. If you can't have your stuff... I don't think I should have your money. I'm not trolling for orders here AT ALL... I am way behind as it is and those waiting have been ridiculously patient.
I guess what made me chime in is the fact that it seems like there is very little difference between how I operate and how Chuck is operating... other than that he's positioning himself as a business and as such I feel he should be holding himself more accountable in how he is interacting with his customers.
The work is top notch though, and by all accounts is worth the wait. I do hope you all get what you paid for and can start enjoying your product. These customizations are how we transform a fridge into a humidor... it's how we are able to step away from feeling like we are just putting cigars in a fridge. That matters to me, and I think it's the reason why so many brothers are pulling the trigger.
If I were to offer advice to you guys, it would be this: keep communicating and document your communication. If you need it later, you'll have it. Additionally, remember you're ordering a custom product, and these things take time. For the money, I know Chuck is NOT making out like a bandit on these, he's making a wholesale markup at best... if you were to find these products on a shelf (which you won't) you'd be looking at a minimum of a 100% markup, if not more... hopefully that eases the pain somewhat, you're trading time for value and craftsmanship.
Happy customizing fellas!
Appreciate you chiming in Mike...so thank you for your perspective.
I'd be MORE than happy waiting, I honestly would....if I could just get an update as to status straight from him, that isn't "automated"....as apparently (by the timeline of the email I got saying 3-5 business days over 5 weeks ago now), they are not even remotely accurate.
I'd be MORE than happy waiting, I honestly would....if I could just get an update as to status straight from him, that isn't "automated"....as apparently (by the timeline of the email I got saying 3-5 business days over 5 weeks ago now), they are not even remotely accurate.
They should be here tomorrow after 2 months of waiting... Hopefully the quality is better than the service
My order that I tried to cancel 3 times without response is ariving today. I ended up taking twenty5's suggestion and have sold them on the forums. As I've stated before Chuck make a very nice product but his customer service lacking to say the least... non-existant is more accurate. The ONLY communications I got from him was automated stuff. I don't think he's going to fail as there are too many others wanting the product but I definitely won't be buying from him again. I wish I would have given mav_sd the business when I made my first order.
I've been waiting 4 months for my order. The time isn't what frustrates me, it was the lack of communication. My order was moved to "Processing" over 2 months ago, but I had no further communication since then. No response from anything I posted on the website, or reply to the previous communications I had received. I finally found another way to contact him, and got a response in an hour. Since then, we've swapped e-mails several times regarding build status, and I couldn't be happier with the communication. Quite frankly, had I known going in that it would take this long, I still would have placed the order. The "customer service" part of the experience has been awful, but I'm convinced the product will show the passion, and craftmanship which goes into making them. I'd agree with one of the previous posts that I would have a hard time recommending to a friend based on my experience. I can say that since he's put up the shop cam that I have a better understanding of the time that it takes to make a single drawer. Multiply that by several drawers per order, and more that a hundred orders (at least since mine was placed), and you'll get a good idea of how long you're going to wait. I think what started as a hobby turned into a full time job. Good for Chuck, but he needs a helper in a bad way.
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
I was in the same order as 2 5 a year ago. HIS COMMUNICATION IS SH!T and HIS EXCUSES ARE EVEN WORSE. IE "The kids brought the grandkids over and we had to watch them all weekend so I couldn't catch up." This was a real excuse he used during our build time. Good thing the product is top notch for his sake IMO.
I have placed my order with him. I knew that it would take longer then 4 weeks. I would think that as he quite his full time job to make these things he would treat it as a buisness. I mean at least 8 to 5 if not to midnight. when you own your own buisness the hours is the last thing that you worry about. I just hope they get here before chistmas.
Well....there's his timeline....took 2 months for your 2 drawers.....
I've been waiting just at 4 months now for 4 Cocobola drawers and a couple shelves.
1 month wait per drawer. At least u ordered in August and already have yours. Apparently he's not joking about exotic wood orders taking longer.