Seriously unimpressed with Scoobysport!!
03 April 2001, 08:20 AM
#31
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Similar issue for me, but with Vodafone.
Want to cancel 2 mobile phones, so I wrote them a letter (very rare!!), and no answer for 2 weeks, so I emailed, again no answer, so today Im gonna have to call, and whats the betting that they say, "write us a letter".
We have mail problems internally at work, let alone external mail.
robski
Want to cancel 2 mobile phones, so I wrote them a letter (very rare!!), and no answer for 2 weeks, so I emailed, again no answer, so today Im gonna have to call, and whats the betting that they say, "write us a letter".
We have mail problems internally at work, let alone external mail.
robski
03 April 2001, 09:06 AM
#32
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It seems that I have upset a few to many people with this, SDB you are right "seriously" was probably a bit strong to use.
But I don't think I wrote anything slanderous in my post and at the bottom I asked someone to get in touch with me as I wanted to buy something from them, so I have not written them of and gone elswhere.
Also I am not questioning there competence as engineers just there admin facilities.
I apologise to all you satisfied customers who have had your excellent service but I am not YET!! one of them but soon hope to be one.
Wurzel
But I don't think I wrote anything slanderous in my post and at the bottom I asked someone to get in touch with me as I wanted to buy something from them, so I have not written them of and gone elswhere.
Also I am not questioning there competence as engineers just there admin facilities.
I apologise to all you satisfied customers who have had your excellent service but I am not YET!! one of them but soon hope to be one.
Wurzel
03 April 2001, 09:15 AM
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I have had superb AND poor service from both SS and GGR - but comments made above are all fair.
Email is THE medium of the future. It is far more convenient, reaches far more people, enables far better time management for businesses and customers alike, has less 'noise' (ie miscommunication) - all in all one of the best business development tools since the invention of commercial advertising. BUT if businesses are going to embrace this fantastic method of communication, they need to fully embrace it, not just post a link, advertise the address and check emails in a spare 5 minutes. Either use it, or don't. There is no halfway house
I do 90% of my business by email, but that means I spend the first 45mins+ of the day responding to emails, read and respond to them all day, and spend the last 30 mins or so ensuring all mails that need/can be actioned are. We also employ an adminstrator whose sole directive is to ensure emails are answered and actioned, and our website is up-to-date - and we are still far from perfect.
Its all very well saying 'pick up the phone', but why should customers have to use two (or more) medium to contact a supplier. It is far more convenient and 'safe' to communicate by email. If Dave had spoken not emailed with GGR by email, he would have not have the written proof of what was said/sent.
I have had very good service from both Pete/Scoobysport and GGR, but have also had poor service from both when it came to emails
Either sort it or bin it!
Gary - getting off soap-box
Email is THE medium of the future. It is far more convenient, reaches far more people, enables far better time management for businesses and customers alike, has less 'noise' (ie miscommunication) - all in all one of the best business development tools since the invention of commercial advertising. BUT if businesses are going to embrace this fantastic method of communication, they need to fully embrace it, not just post a link, advertise the address and check emails in a spare 5 minutes. Either use it, or don't. There is no halfway house
I do 90% of my business by email, but that means I spend the first 45mins+ of the day responding to emails, read and respond to them all day, and spend the last 30 mins or so ensuring all mails that need/can be actioned are. We also employ an adminstrator whose sole directive is to ensure emails are answered and actioned, and our website is up-to-date - and we are still far from perfect.
Its all very well saying 'pick up the phone', but why should customers have to use two (or more) medium to contact a supplier. It is far more convenient and 'safe' to communicate by email. If Dave had spoken not emailed with GGR by email, he would have not have the written proof of what was said/sent.
I have had very good service from both Pete/Scoobysport and GGR, but have also had poor service from both when it came to emails
Either sort it or bin it!
Gary - getting off soap-box
03 April 2001, 09:37 AM
#35
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Just my two-penneth....
I completely agree with the point about big companies not being up to speed with e-mails. It seems that most of these companies seem to want to be seen embracing new technology, but actually end up alienating their target audience by offering electronic services but then not delivering the goods (so to speak...).
However, Pete and the Scoobysport guys have always been really helpful to me, either in person or via e-mail. Anybody who has been to Scoobysport in person I'm sure would agree with me, and this is borne out by the number of good recommendations and thank yous that appear on this BB.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Tony (SS sales guy) off sick at the mo, so Pete is running the shop single handed?? This could definitely explain the no reply, and the fact that Pete has not responded to this very thread, which I am sure he would have had he seen it...
So give the guys a break. If you are in desperate need of something, pick up the phone and talk to them in person - I'm sure the service you will receive will be second to none.
That is certainly what I have always found...
And come on Pete...drag yourself away from that gorgeous MY01 of yours and stick up for yourself!!!
Cheers.
Darren
I completely agree with the point about big companies not being up to speed with e-mails. It seems that most of these companies seem to want to be seen embracing new technology, but actually end up alienating their target audience by offering electronic services but then not delivering the goods (so to speak...).
However, Pete and the Scoobysport guys have always been really helpful to me, either in person or via e-mail. Anybody who has been to Scoobysport in person I'm sure would agree with me, and this is borne out by the number of good recommendations and thank yous that appear on this BB.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Tony (SS sales guy) off sick at the mo, so Pete is running the shop single handed?? This could definitely explain the no reply, and the fact that Pete has not responded to this very thread, which I am sure he would have had he seen it...
So give the guys a break. If you are in desperate need of something, pick up the phone and talk to them in person - I'm sure the service you will receive will be second to none.
That is certainly what I have always found...And come on Pete...drag yourself away from that gorgeous MY01 of yours and stick up for yourself!!!
Cheers.
Darren
03 April 2001, 10:27 AM
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From what I can gather, Scoobysport are not the size of say, Prudential or Barclays bank, so when somebody is off, hols, sick etc. there isn't an army of bods to cover. They have been associated with all this Subaru club stuff as long as I can remember and whilst I have never had the urge to buy anything, I have always had the impression they are a bit of a cottage industry. And I mean that in a praiseworthy sense, I specifically do not mean they are a Michael Rodent setup, simply that I expect it would be more like dealing with your mates/neighbours rather than some impersonal business.
I agree with GaryC's points and I think a "half ar5ed" approach to e-commerce (for want of a better expression) is present in many major organizations. Web sites which are 12 months out of date for example on large hotel chains Christmas pages.
There also seems to be an effort by some companies to respond to one e-mail then ignore any more from the same person, a sort of "I've told you once" type of argument.
All these big corporations blather on about customer service, yet they employ kids from school (bless 'em, I was one once) don't bother to train them to answer a phone or have induction courses to their business, then expect them to answer cranky whinge bags who usually know more about what they're doing than they do.
From the bean counters perspective where Good = expensive and Poor = Cheap
Good customer service = visible cost.
Good customer service = intangible benefit.
Good customer srvice = lower profit.
Poor customer service = lower visible cost.
Poor customer service = intangible benefit.
Poor customer service = higher profit.
All this is of course short term. But "consultant" bean counters don't tend to stick around after they shout 'Bingo', do they?
I agree with GaryC's points and I think a "half ar5ed" approach to e-commerce (for want of a better expression) is present in many major organizations. Web sites which are 12 months out of date for example on large hotel chains Christmas pages.
There also seems to be an effort by some companies to respond to one e-mail then ignore any more from the same person, a sort of "I've told you once" type of argument.
All these big corporations blather on about customer service, yet they employ kids from school (bless 'em, I was one once) don't bother to train them to answer a phone or have induction courses to their business, then expect them to answer cranky whinge bags who usually know more about what they're doing than they do.
From the bean counters perspective where Good = expensive and Poor = Cheap
Good customer service = visible cost.
Good customer service = intangible benefit.
Good customer srvice = lower profit.
Poor customer service = lower visible cost.
Poor customer service = intangible benefit.
Poor customer service = higher profit.
All this is of course short term. But "consultant" bean counters don't tend to stick around after they shout 'Bingo', do they?
03 April 2001, 10:45 AM
#37
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Hi Wurzel
I am sorry that we have not been able to reply in the time you allocated for a response.
Any company must match its staffing levels with what its turnover can afford. Whilst my company is now 8 strong, the sales dept is run by myself and Tony Wittridge. Whilst we may be a major company in our market, we are minnow in corporate terms and do not have any secretaries or personal assistants.
A balenced level of experienced and friendly staff is difficult to achieve, but something that we feel is about right at the moment. New management proceedures have further improved the efficiency of this department and we are normally able to cope with our workload.
3 weeks ago Tony contracted Shingles. This is a very serious and highly contageous disease, so he has been confined to bed for the past 2.5 weeks. The effect of this is that our sales dept was reduced to 50% of its normal capacity... and during what is our busiest time of the year.
The department has suffered on many fronts and replying to e-mails is not the only area where we have fallen behind.
In order to continue offering the best service possible in the circumstances, some functions of the department had to receive a lower priority. One such function was replying to e-mails received from our web site.
Whilst it may seem crazy to ignore 50+ potential sales enquiries, every day, a high proportion of these are...
"what chips do you sell?"
"I want an Impreza, which one should I get?"
"what parts do you do for an SVX?"
"how much is your backbox?"
"I like Imprezas and will get one when I can drive. Please send me pictures of Imprezas."
Whilst we enjoy reading these mails, they tend to come from customers that have a lower urgency in their needs or from people requiring general information. We reply offering what help and information we can, but our customers that require immediate attention normally telephone us (or mail my personal account as shown in my profile on here).
Obviously, within my website mails are genuine enquiries, such as your own. I am sorry that my descision to delay replying to these mails has meant that we may have lost your business, but I hope you can see why our priority was with customers that have been telephoning us.
Tony is now back at work and we are gradually catching up with the backlog.
I hope we can offer you a better service in the future.
Subie Gal... the commute from Seattle would kill you
I am sorry that we have not been able to reply in the time you allocated for a response.
Any company must match its staffing levels with what its turnover can afford. Whilst my company is now 8 strong, the sales dept is run by myself and Tony Wittridge. Whilst we may be a major company in our market, we are minnow in corporate terms and do not have any secretaries or personal assistants.
A balenced level of experienced and friendly staff is difficult to achieve, but something that we feel is about right at the moment. New management proceedures have further improved the efficiency of this department and we are normally able to cope with our workload.
3 weeks ago Tony contracted Shingles. This is a very serious and highly contageous disease, so he has been confined to bed for the past 2.5 weeks. The effect of this is that our sales dept was reduced to 50% of its normal capacity... and during what is our busiest time of the year.
The department has suffered on many fronts and replying to e-mails is not the only area where we have fallen behind.
In order to continue offering the best service possible in the circumstances, some functions of the department had to receive a lower priority. One such function was replying to e-mails received from our web site.
Whilst it may seem crazy to ignore 50+ potential sales enquiries, every day, a high proportion of these are...
"what chips do you sell?"
"I want an Impreza, which one should I get?"
"what parts do you do for an SVX?"
"how much is your backbox?"
"I like Imprezas and will get one when I can drive. Please send me pictures of Imprezas."
Whilst we enjoy reading these mails, they tend to come from customers that have a lower urgency in their needs or from people requiring general information. We reply offering what help and information we can, but our customers that require immediate attention normally telephone us (or mail my personal account as shown in my profile on here).
Obviously, within my website mails are genuine enquiries, such as your own. I am sorry that my descision to delay replying to these mails has meant that we may have lost your business, but I hope you can see why our priority was with customers that have been telephoning us.
Tony is now back at work and we are gradually catching up with the backlog.
I hope we can offer you a better service in the future.
Subie Gal... the commute from Seattle would kill you
03 April 2001, 10:55 AM
#38
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I also wish to add that I am very touched by all of the mails of support that have been posted here.
I don't normally get emotional, but I am very very priviledged to have you guys as customers and friends.
I don't normally get emotional, but I am very very priviledged to have you guys as customers and friends.
03 April 2001, 11:29 AM
#41
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Pete
I've just realised i'm probably contributing to your correspondence backlog - whenever someone posts on here "how loud is my Scoobysport exhaust" or similar I always tell them to call/email you.......sorry mate!
I've just realised i'm probably contributing to your correspondence backlog - whenever someone posts on here "how loud is my Scoobysport exhaust" or similar I always tell them to call/email you.......sorry mate!
03 April 2001, 11:47 AM
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Pete - Please accept my apologies for any trouble caused by this post. I have deleted the original message. Having slept on it and thought about it, the post was probaly unnecessary and badly timed, but atleast you know know what sort of following you have.
Regards
Wurzel
Regards
Wurzel
03 April 2001, 11:58 AM
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I have spoken to Pete and I will collect the hoses on behalf of Wurzel either late this week or early next so hopefully this is now closed.
Wurzel has offered me 10% commission and Pete's gonna supply and fit Leda suspension to MY98 for free
Wurzel has offered me 10% commission and Pete's gonna supply and fit Leda suspension to MY98 for free
03 April 2001, 12:12 PM
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Top boys " scoobysports" treated me royalty even though i just turned up on their doorstep for a bb+ filter ... and you know what they even fitted it as well at 05.10 pm
03 April 2001, 01:38 PM
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Glad this all appears to be resolved happily.
I am a very happy ScoobySport customer and am glad that Pete has been touched. I can also confirm I have never touched him myself personally, but that is just my prefernce to blondes ( and females!! )
Sorry, I could not resist.
I am a very happy ScoobySport customer and am glad that Pete has been touched. I can also confirm I have never touched him myself personally, but that is just my prefernce to blondes ( and females!! )
Sorry, I could not resist.
03 April 2001, 07:09 PM
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I have to say that I popped in to scooby sport at the end of last week and found that they really were extremely busy and very short handed through no fault of their own. I am sure that they are doing everything that they can to please everybody, but sometimes that just isn't humanly possible.
Cheers,
Nick
P.S Cheers for my reply Pete, will arrange bringing up of my car with you early next week.
Cheers,
Nick
P.S Cheers for my reply Pete, will arrange bringing up of my car with you early next week.
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