Help. My Stinky is... broken?

That people are inconvenienced is something I can appreciate however I do not understand why anyone is unhappy with Stinky. He trusted us as confidants of his frustration and attempted to rectify his issue by communicating with a group of enthusiasts. This is not a new phenomenon online. As a member of the customer service team I can attest to multiple people on a nearly daily basis who are almost impossible to help. I have experienced this in a few different industries.

http://www.bottlehead.com/

The site linked above is a community of audio enthusiasts who order a kit. If someone is having difficulty many enthusiast members who also have the kit will assist them. That a member of the male gender is insufficiently manually skilled to put together an ashtray is unfortunate in my opinion.

Stinky's company is small and he is most likely stretched thin for customer service duties. With certain quantity of buys in the industry he may get a very small margin from Cigar Bid and continued practice of replacement regardless of the vendor may hurt his business. Cigar Bid is known to provide steep discounts and the final price you pay may be significantly lower than he can justify a free replacement. He may also have certain agreements with his vendors regarding RMA policies and so forth. That he recommended a non-preferred process may not be convenient but it is most likely best for all concerned.

Stinky is a very pleasant man in person and he obviously is passionate about his business and wants to provide a quality product at a good price to his customers. I know it is hard to take these things into consideration as a customer, the phrase "The customer is always right" has ingrained a sense of entitlement to many people. I don't mean to offend anyone but, the customer is not always right and can sometimes be very difficult to deal with. Having someone dump their frustrations on you daily is degrading to the soul. I try to cultivate patience in my daily life, I know it's hard to detach emotional investment from material goods as we did work to acquire these things.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by greytowhite

That people are inconvenienced is something I can appreciate however I do not understand why anyone is unhappy with Stinky. He trusted us as confidants of his frustration and attempted to rectify his issue by communicating with a group of enthusiasts. This is not a new phenomenon online. As a member of the customer service team I can attest to multiple people on a nearly daily basis who are almost impossible to help. I have experienced this in a few different industries.

http://www.bottlehead.com/

The site linked above is a community of audio enthusiasts who order a kit. If someone is having difficulty many enthusiast members who also have the kit will assist them. That a member of the male gender is insufficiently manually skilled to put together an ashtray is unfortunate in my opinion.

Stinky's company is small and he is most likely stretched thin for customer service duties. With certain quantity of buys in the industry he may get a very small margin from Cigar Bid and continued practice of replacement regardless of the vendor may hurt his business. Cigar Bid is known to provide steep discounts and the final price you pay may be significantly lower than he can justify a free replacement. He may also have certain agreements with his vendors regarding RMA policies and so forth. That he recommended a non-preferred process may not be convenient but it is most likely best for all concerned.

Stinky is a very pleasant man in person and he obviously is passionate about his business and wants to provide a quality product at a good price to his customers. I know it is hard to take these things into consideration as a customer, the phrase "The customer is always right" has ingrained a sense of entitlement to many people. I don't mean to offend anyone but, the customer is not always right and can sometimes be very difficult to deal with. Having someone dump their frustrations on you daily is degrading to the soul. I try to cultivate patience in my daily life, I know it's hard to detach emotional investment from material goods as we did work to acquire these things.

I assume from your post that you know (have met) him and you think him pleasant. Many others have as well and think otherwise.

A lot of the dissatisfaction from the members here is based on first hand experience. Not getting satisfactory customer service on defective merchandise is not a sense of entitlement. It is wanting to recieve what you paid for. If you look at a business like Palio, now THAT is how a company stands behind its merchandise.

[sevans105]

That a member of the male gender is insufficiently manually skilled to put together an ashtray is unfortunate in my opinion.

WOW. I'm almost positive that you wrote that ad hominem attack without reading the actual problem. Gender aside, I'm not sure that I know many people without access to a CNC fabricator with the ability to "put together an ashtray" when the base in question is NOT SUPPLIED.

If this is "customer service" for you, maligning the physical and mental abilities of your customers, please find another career.

Originally Posted by sevans105

WOW. I'm almost positive that you wrote that ad hominem attack without reading the actual problem. Gender aside, I'm not sure that I know many people without access to a CNC fabricator with the ability to "put together an ashtray" when the base in question is NOT SUPPLIED.

If this is "customer service" for you, maligning the physical and mental abilities of your customers, please find another career.

I was referring to the lady's son from the previously linked post when Stinky recruited a BOTL to assist one of his customers, sorry not to have made the more clear.

[Catfish]

...and he obviously is passionate about his business and wants to provide a quality product at a good price to his customers.

Of that there is no doubt.

Stinky is a very pleasant man in person

When he's playing salesman and/ or promoter of his product, he may be able to charm the balls off a brass monkey.

Speaking as someone that worked for him, I can assure you: His philosophy on certain aspects of interpersonal relationships seriously leaves something to be desired. My respect for this forum and my personal decorum places me in the position of not getting into a personal attack of his personality, regardless of the enormous arsenal of ammunition I hold in which to do so.

[poker]

Peter said it better than I could have.

I think we have quite different ideas about satisfactory customer service.

[icehog3]

I have witnessed first hand some questionable customer service from Stinky. It's good to be loyal to friends, but in this case, several long time members here have experiences to the contrary.

One of the experiences was with a friend who ordered (directly) a floor stand model. It was missing the bolt to screw the stand into. Stinky suggested that he go to a hardware store and buy the 15 cent bolt, and then have someone weld it on. More importantly, the tone of the reply was basically treating the customer like an annoying, whiny moron.

If the customer is whiny because the item he paid for came incomplete, and it is the customer's responsibility to purchase parts and weld them on to make said merchandise complete and functional, well, then feel free to label me "high maintenance".

[jonumberone]

Originally Posted by icehog3

One of the experiences was with a friend who ordered (directly) a floor stand model. It was missing the bolt to screw the stand into. Stinky suggested that he go to a hardware store and buy the 15 cent bolt, and then have someone weld it on. More importantly, the tone of the reply was basically treating the customer like an annoying, whiny moron.

I had planned to stay quiet, but the same exact situation happened to me.
I decided not to go to the hardware store, and just frankenstiened it together from parts I had around the garage.
When I told Stinky, I put it together with some nuts, bolts, and a washer I had lying around, He told me he didn't believe me.
He said he couldn't for the life of him figure out why I would use a washer, and that I had to send him a picture to prove it.
He never got a picture from me, or another nickel of my business.

FWIW, I met Stinky, and found him to be a pleasant enough man, but that doesn't mean he knows the first thing about customer service!

I am sorry to hear that his customer service has declined so markedly. It has honestly been about 3 years since I've dealt with the man in person and in that time it sounds as if his product quality issues with outsourcing his manufacturing to India have continued. Without an in-country factory it is extremely cost ineffective to take care of returns, I understand where he's coming from as a businessman, he probably is taking all of these calls personally and is frustrated beyond belief. I get it, it's hard being pulled in that many directions.

Regarding a new career, believe me I'm taking steps to get out of customer service ASAP. It is a soul crushing, Sisyphean effort to be pleasant on a daily basis and deal with stupidity. What I have stated is a rather honest assessment of anyone working in customer service, I do not know a single person working customer service that does not curse their customers behind their backs and to each other. There is a reason that health insurers make these customer service only companies pay higher rates, almost everyone eats and smokes to get over the stressful nature of customer service.

[BHalbrooks]

Originally Posted by greytowhite

Stinky is a very pleasant man in person and he obviously is passionate about his business and wants to provide a quality product at a good price to his customers. I know it is hard to take these things into consideration as a customer, the phrase "The customer is always right" has ingrained a sense of entitlement to many people. I don't mean to offend anyone but, the customer is not always right and can sometimes be very difficult to deal with. Having someone dump their frustrations on you daily is degrading to the soul. I try to cultivate patience in my daily life, I know it's hard to detach emotional investment from material goods as we did work to acquire these things.

First off, I never asked for anything free. I had no problem paying for a base.
Second, I'm glad you had a positive relationship with him, I did not.

If you were the Customer Service rep I talked to, I'd stop using that companies products, as I almost did with Stinky. Honestly, if you're an asshole, keep our product. Maybe Stinky should work on quality control (Which based on posts' I've read, is lacking.

Originally Posted by pnoon

I assume from your post that you know (have met) him and you think him pleasant. Many others have as well and think otherwise.

A lot of the dissatisfaction from the members here is based on first hand experience. Not getting satisfactory customer service on defective merchandise is not a sense of entitlement. It is wanting to recieve what you paid for. If you look at a business like Palio, now THAT is how a company stands behind its merchandise.

Well said Peter.

Originally Posted by sevans105

If this is "customer service" for you, maligning the physical and mental abilities of your customers, please find another career.

Quite true.

Originally Posted by greytowhite

I am sorry to hear that his customer service has declined so markedly. It has honestly been about 3 years since I've dealt with the man in person and in that time it sounds as if his product quality issues with outsourcing his manufacturing to India have continued. Without an in-country factory it is extremely cost ineffective to take care of returns, I understand where he's coming from as a businessman, he probably is taking all of these calls personally and is frustrated beyond belief. I get it, it's hard being pulled in that many directions.

Regarding a new career, believe me I'm taking steps to get out of customer service ASAP. It is a soul crushing, Sisyphean effort to be pleasant on a daily basis and deal with stupidity. What I have stated is a rather honest assessment of anyone working in customer service, I do not know a single person working customer service that does not curse their customers behind their backs and to each other. There is a reason that health insurers make these customer service only companies pay higher rates, almost everyone eats and smokes to get over the stressful nature of customer service.

No offense but quite whining. We all do crap we don't want to at work. Man up and be thankful you have a job.

Also you throwing a fit and insults at people isn't your best bet on a solid introduction to the forum.

[BHalbrooks]

Update on the update:
I talked with Stinky more, after he saw my post in here, and realized I wasn't quite happy with the way things played out (He thought I was gonna take him up on sending it back, and buying one for that price from him.)

At his request I called his cell... and had an hour long talk where we cleared the air and shot the ****. He's a really nice guy actually. He again offered to sell one at the discounted price, and that he had found a brown base he'd give me. He doesn't do the assembly, nor is the assembly done near him (Which I had thought it was), so it's not like he can just walk behind his house and grab a base. Really nice guy. He reminded me of my Father in law haha.

[Ogre]

Originally Posted by BHalbrooks

Update on the update:
I talked with Stinky more, after he saw my post in here, and realized I wasn't quite happy with the way things played out (He thought I was gonna take him up on sending it back, and buying one for that price from him.)

At his request I called his cell... and had an hour long talk where we cleared the air and shot the ****. He's a really nice guy actually. He again offered to sell one at the discounted price, and that he had found a brown base he'd give me. He doesn't do the assembly, nor is the assembly done near him (Which I had thought it was), so it's not like he can just walk behind his house and grab a base. Really nice guy. He reminded me of my Father in law haha.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by BHalbrooks

Update on the update:
I talked with Stinky more, after he saw my post in here, and realized I wasn't quite happy with the way things played out (He thought I was gonna take him up on sending it back, and buying one for that price from him.)

At his request I called his cell... and had an hour long talk where we cleared the air and shot the ****. He's a really nice guy actually. He again offered to sell one at the discounted price, and that he had found a brown base he'd give me. He doesn't do the assembly, nor is the assembly done near him (Which I had thought it was), so it's not like he can just walk behind his house and grab a base. Really nice guy. He reminded me of my Father in law haha.

Meh.

**** happens. It always does. How a business immediately reacts and deals with it is what defines and separates them.

When a business handles that first chance poorly and has to be called out on the carpet, pointed to a public discussion of their many similar poorly handled incidents ultimately resulting in a limp wristed phone call, that's not customer service to be praised, it's cover their ass back paddling of what they should have done right the first time.

Color me unimpressed.

[poker]

Originally Posted by T.G

Meh.

**** happens. It always does. How a business immediately reacts and deals with it is what defines and separates them.

When a business handles that first chance poorly and has to be called out on the carpet, pointed to a public discussion of their many similar poorly handled incidents ultimately resulting in a limp wristed phone call, that's not customer service to be praised, it's cover their ass back paddling of what they should have done right the first time.

Color me unimpressed.

Being in customer service myself, I have to agree 100%

[Ogre]

Originally Posted by T.G

Meh.

**** happens. It always does. How a business immediately reacts and deals with it is what defines and separates them.

When a business handles that first chance poorly and has to be called out on the carpet, pointed to a public discussion of their many similar poorly handled incidents ultimately resulting in a limp wristed phone call, that's not customer service to be praised, it's cover their ass back paddling of what they should have done right the first time.

Color me unimpressed.

What I dont think you guys fully understand. Bill (Stinky) does not deal with daily sales and distribution. It is controlled by a company in Miami. Bill doesnt have control over what websites like CI and Monster does. If he warranties the ashtray, those sellers have made their profit and not have to take care of these issues.

[bobarian]

Originally Posted by Ogre

What I dont think you guys fully understand. Bill (Stinky) does not deal with daily sales and distribution. It is controlled by a company in Miami. Bill doesnt have control over what websites like CI and Monster does. If he warranties the ashtray, those sellers have made their profit and not have to take care of these issues.

Sorry Larry, that is completely irrelevant. Sellers do not warranty products, manufacturers do. If a customer has already reached out to the retailer(seller) and chooses to escalate to the manufacturer, then he deserves instant satisfaction if his claim is valid. By offering to sell the customer a second product Bill is netting double profits as the he has already collected on the wholesale price he sold to the retailer.

For comparison, look at the customer service offered by Mark Aub at Palio. Immediate exchange at the retailer or upon mailing of product. I dont think Mark is making Palio cutters in his barn, but he keeps a supply on hand to satisfy claims. If not directly on hand available immediately if not sooner.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Ogre

What I dont think you guys fully understand. Bill (Stinky) does not deal with daily sales and distribution. It is controlled by a company in Miami. Bill doesnt have control over what websites like CI and Monster does. If he warranties the ashtray, those sellers have made their profit and not have to take care of these issues.

Sorry my friend, but no.

As the retailer, CI's only obligation is to take back the defective product from the customer per the terms of their return policy. It's not their responsibility to warranty it, fix it, or provide spare parts for it. The fact that CI went and tried to find a spare part for Brian speaks volumes of their high quality of service.

Now, when Stinky, the manufacturer, was contacted about the problem with one of his products and he gave a blow off response.

Originally Posted by BHalbrooks

Update:
Well, I PM'd Bill "Stinky" asking if he could do anything to avoid having to send the entire upper part back to Cigarbid. This seemed like the easiest solution for everyone.

The reply I got seemed... cold, and like I was a giant pain in his butt. He said to basically send it back to Cigarbid so they can fix their mistake (Which is true, they messed up, not him), but it was how he came across... Really short and a bit pompous.

When I said that I really would appreciate him letting me buy a base off of him, he said, "Send it back to Cigarbid, get your refund. When you get your money back, I'll sell you one for the same price." That was a really nice thing of him to do; I'd rather deal with sending the upper part back however.

Then, after he was pointed at this thread, and the public commentary about his repeatedly piss-poor customer service and shirking of responsibility, then he decided to do something.

Originally Posted by BHalbrooks

Update on the update:
I talked with Stinky more, after he saw my post in here, and realized I wasn't quite happy with the way things played out (He thought I was gonna take him up on sending it back, and buying one for that price from him.)

That chain of events speaks volumes of Stinky. None of it good.


I have nothing personally against Stinky, but, quite frankly, his company's customer service really sucks.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by T.G

That chain of events speaks volumes of Stinky. None of it good.
... his company's customer service really sucks.

Such an unfortunate event all around. And what's really, incredibly sad is: Bill could have taken care of this SO quickly and SO easily.

I like some of his products. I'll tell people about them. I'll even wear the shirts he bought me. ( Thx, Bill!)

[jluck]

Originally Posted by BHalbrooks

Update on the update:
I talked with Stinky more, after he saw my post in here, and realized I wasn't quite happy with the way things played out (He thought I was gonna take him up on sending it back, and buying one for that price from him.)

At his request I called his cell... and had an hour long talk where we cleared the air and shot the ****. He's a really nice guy actually. He again offered to sell one at the discounted price, and that he had found a brown base he'd give me. He doesn't do the assembly, nor is the assembly done near him (Which I had thought it was), so it's not like he can just walk behind his house and grab a base. Really nice guy. He reminded me of my Father in law haha.

Why not send you a exchange a new (free) one for the crap one? <I would, and yes I have ran a business>Didn't you buy one already?

He may want to find a different sweat shop to have these made. I think I will retire my stinky today, There are too many good company's out there to support ones with crap customer service ethics and Integrity.