It pains me to write this as I love the forums, but the store... Shut it down Danny! Do us all a favor and don't dangle the carrot in front of us; especially when you have our money and won't send the product... The Priuschat store and I are on shaky ground. Starting with a group order for the Engine Block Heater back in the summer of '07. I got on the "list" by placing an order. I never received an invoice, never received any word at all. I emailed Danny and posted on this site til I was blue in the face. Nadda, ever. Think I'd learned my lesson, but I like this site and I wanted to give them another chance. So, I recently ordered the same EBH and a DICE iPod unit together and paid via Paypal. The PriusChat store took my money right away. I received the EBH in relatively short time (alleluia) but nothing on the DICE. It has been over a month now. Again, I wrote Danny, and AGAIN no answer. I posted on the forum and NO ANSWER. I finally had to submit a dispute with Paypal before I got a response. Then Danny said he would go ahead and refund me $10 and send the unit out; and that I was overlooked on my original order. Now several days later and no word from Danny or Nichole. I PM'd him again tonight. The Priuschat store is so inefficient that I am not sure it can be saved. If it were a serious business, they would respond to all emails and make sure that nobody was "overlooked" and ignored. I cannot tell you how many emails Danny has ignored from me (maybe 12). He has my money and I have nothing. I am still waiting with baited breath that he may actually follow through, but he has already proved, to me anyway, the Priuschat store is only a hobby and customer service is not a priority. That is OK if that is his business model, but I cannot imagine why. Why be in business if you don't want to bring great products to people, help them, and make money?? I dare you to prove me wrong!
While I too had a disappointing lack of communication back when I got my DICE unit, I just have to comment on this statement. While most merchants will not charge your card UNTIL they ship, this is not true if you pay with PayPal. That's not the merchant's fault, but is a fact of life when using PayPal. They debit you immediately, there's just no way around it.
True, you are right about that. I just think the seller knows this too and therefore, the impetus would be to get the product out ASAP or at least communicate a status so the customer (like me) doesn't freak out (like me)...
I like dealing with the forums store to support the forum, I would like to see replies to emails even if its a quick, "We haven't forgotten you and are waiting for part of your order to arrive." At least you know your email or PM has been seen. I'm sure the store is a hobby for Danny and Co and there is more in his life than PC but if he isn't enjoying the store he may be able to enlist some help from a member or 2 to help keep up with it. I want to make it clear that any dealings I have had with the store Danny has gone out of his way to help, I just need to be patient.
On a similar matter, I was having major log-in problems when I first signed up(May of 2007). Every time I tried to log on, I would have to get a new password. I sent numerous emails and they were never answered. Since the forum has been switched to the new software it has not been an issue though.
Confucious say "Righteousness begins tiwth the proper naming of things." or something to that effect. Solution to problem: rename the "Store" to a "Buyer's Club." Change nothing else. Or maybe put a disclaimer about how thing have to be ordered from suppliers, variable (to say the least) shipping times, etc. With a store, one has certain expectations, like stock and service. With a buyer's club you never know exactly what the situation will be. I ordered the BT skid plate. Pay Pal has my money. I know enough not to expect the thing for a while.
Caveat emptor or Cave canum Something like that. Latin 1 was many, many moons ago. EDIT: I've purchased 2 items from the store. The plate and the windshield shade thingy. Both arrived in a timely manner. Not faster than the speed of light, mind you, but I didn't grow old waiting for them.
I have made two purchases, from the store. The first was the winter floor mats,(front) and the second was the Scanguage II. The mats took close to 3 weks and i finally emailed and said where ae they? I got a nice email back right away and said they should have been there they were sent out on such and such...I go them the next day, and they are nice and fit well. The scanguage II i was amazed , but i got it in i think 4 Biz days since i placed the order. Cant beat that.
I don't go there because for some reason it either slows down or in some cases freezes up my browser. I also like to see the price of things before I put them in my shopping cart.
Brilliant idea. Danny, are you listening? While I understood this when I went in, others may not, and Doc is right, "store" has certain connotations that just don't apply here...
This is not a new problem as you can see from my post over two years ago. I won't buy from them again. I did receive my order eventually. Good Luck! http://priuschat.com/forums/priuschat-website-questions/14130-what-s-deal-pc-store.html
emtownsend - you have the basic facts about the matter correct. Your issue was that we simply overlooked your order when the new shipment of DICE units came in. I am not able to read every post on the forums and I'm not able to respond to every email that I receive due to the sheer quantities, but we do our best to respond in a timely fashion to all inquiries through the Shop. We haven't been able to find any emails from you since July of 2007, so once I saw the dispute on PayPal I was more than willing to look into your issue. We shipped your unit Friday via USPS Priority Mail and normally you would have received an automatic email notification letting you know that information. Since your DICE shipment was "out of the box" that notification didn't go out to you. So I apologize for that. But, that was Friday, today is Monday. I can't be expected to be on this site 24/7 checking PMs and emails - I normally work from about 9am - 8pm and then 10pm - 1am Monday through Friday. I do understand the frustrations that some customers have (koa, for example, is a Hawaiian customer and 90% of our vendors only ship to the lower 48), and I have been working for the last few months on addressing previous concerns while I have been building a new shop software. Communication will be our #1 concern going forward, though. The first step in that will be adding a 800 number for customers to call if they have questions regarding their order. I appreciate everyone's continued support of the Shop as it is what keeps PriusChat's doors open.
Thank you Danny! See, that's what I love to see! You are stepping up your game for your customers. Cheers!
I ordered mud flaps for my '08 in early Dec and received them last week. Although that may seem to some like a long time from start to finish, the Shop had contacted me twice along the way: once to apologize for the delay and another to say the flaps had been shipped. Seems to me like the entire process was handled just fine and I won't hesitate to order form the PriusChat Shop in the future - you guys "have it together" much better than most other grass roots operations.
