your good (or not so good) customer service interactions of late

[Shepman]

Called McMillan yesterday about some stock questions and the lady I spoke to on the phone was willing to go to every extent to get my answers.

 

[Davidson51]

Lucky Duck customer service has been A+ for me. Quick to respond and quick to help/resolve issues. This will continue to be my first stop for all my waterfowl-related needs, very impressed with them so far.

 

[taskswap]

I know Vortex comes up a lot. But mine fit the bill. In a crazy twist of luck I found a pair of damaged Diamondback 10x42's while hunting two years ago. They looked like they'd been stepped on by a horse and then left to rot a few years, but otherwise were more or less intact. Vortex replaced them for the price of shipping, no questions asked. So I feel good when I buy other stuff from them, for sure.

 

[Shraggs]

I bought and tried the walker rope active ear protection. Really struggled with the fit and retention so I called CS, I can’t imagine a more degrading defensive conversation with a product based consumer question. When I asked to speak to her supervisor she said no, and hung up. Since I was driving i decided to try again, another hour wait… to be told that my concerns did not warrant escalation to a supervisor…

GSM is now the parent company, for me I will go out of my to not buy from any of their brands they are accumulating.

 

[Felton]

I purchased a crossroads archer stabilizer. The thing was coming apart after short order. No abuse or hard hunting, just shooting my bow in the back yard. I called them up the gentleman I talked to said he wants it back to figure out what’s wrong so he sent me a new one in 2 days and told me to return the old one with a return shipping label supplied.

 

[SoloWilderness]

If you are in need of rural internet or phone:

Viasat - Absolutely awful to deal with. Expensive and terrible service. Spent probably 4 hours on the phone with them trying to get our service cancelled after our contract expired. As a result of this I missed a monthly billing cycle date (to cancel - bill is always paid with autopay) by one day during my back and forth with them. They wouldn't prorate the bill (which was 1 day into a new billing cycle, as a result of their inability to easily handle something as simple as cancelling service.) so charged me a full month ($267) to cancel, even though I told them I had already disconnected their equipment and it was ready to ship back the next day...

Centurylink - Trying to get a straight answer out of them whether the cost to bury a line they had temped on the surface would be theirs or ours was next to impossible. Guy just showed up with 0% communication to bury it, after I had been trying for over a month to get an answer on where they intended to bury the line (as it ran for almost 1000' across my property to get to the pedestal), and what the cost, if there was one would be. I ended up telling him to wait while I talked to a manager, who finally was able to confirm that the line would have been a few thousand to run... Probably spent several hours on phone and email trying to get a straight answer prior to this. Going to trench it myself this summer...

Starlink - Works great, easy to set up and reliable. Reasonable cost. Haven't had to use customer service yet but haven't had any reason to.

 

[mi650]

If you are in need of rural internet or phone:

Viasat - Absolutely awful to deal with. Expensive and terrible service. Spent probably 4 hours on the phone with them trying to get our service cancelled after our contract expired. As a result of this I missed a monthly billing cycle date (to cancel - bill is always paid with autopay) by one day during my back and forth with them. They wouldn't prorate the bill (which was 1 day into a new billing cycle, as a result of their inability to easily handle something as simple as cancelling service.) so charged me a full month ($267) to cancel, even though I told them I had already disconnected their equipment and it was ready to ship back the next day...

Centurylink - Trying to get a straight answer out of them whether the cost to bury a line they had temped on the surface would be theirs or ours was next to impossible. Guy just showed up with 0% communication to bury it, after I had been trying for over a month to get an answer on where they intended to bury the line (as it ran for almost 1000' across my property to get to the pedestal), and what the cost, if there was one would be. I ended up telling him to wait while I talked to a manager, who finally was able to confirm that the line would have been a few thousand to run... Probably spent several hours on phone and email trying to get a straight answer prior to this. Going to trench it myself this summer...

Starlink - Works great, easy to set up and reliable. Reasonable cost. Haven't had to use customer service yet but haven't had any reason to.

I haven't dealt with Viasat or Centrurylink, but they sound the same as Hughesnet. Horrible!

And my experience has been the same with Starlink. No complaints, and no reason to call them.

 

[Trr15]

Not hunting related, but a customer service PSA: don’t ever hire American Van Lines for a cross country move (or anything else for that matter). Absolute garbage service.

 

[hunterjmj]

If you are in need of rural internet or phone:

Viasat - Absolutely awful to deal with. Expensive and terrible service. Spent probably 4 hours on the phone with them trying to get our service cancelled after our contract expired. As a result of this I missed a monthly billing cycle date (to cancel - bill is always paid with autopay) by one day during my back and forth with them. They wouldn't prorate the bill (which was 1 day into a new billing cycle, as a result of their inability to easily handle something as simple as cancelling service.) so charged me a full month ($267) to cancel, even though I told them I had already disconnected their equipment and it was ready to ship back the next day...

Centurylink - Trying to get a straight answer out of them whether the cost to bury a line they had temped on the surface would be theirs or ours was next to impossible. Guy just showed up with 0% communication to bury it, after I had been trying for over a month to get an answer on where they intended to bury the line (as it ran for almost 1000' across my property to get to the pedestal), and what the cost, if there was one would be. I ended up telling him to wait while I talked to a manager, who finally was able to confirm that the line would have been a few thousand to run... Probably spent several hours on phone and email trying to get a straight answer prior to this. Going to trench it myself this summer...

Starlink - Works great, easy to set up and reliable. Reasonable cost. Haven't had to use customer service yet but haven't had any reason to.

Went from Centurylink customer no service to Starlink. Hooked it up and have had zero issues in the year we've had it.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Vortex customer service is great. Unfortunately, I know of this far too often.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Mystery Ranch = great service. One of the locking tabs on the autolock buckles broke on my Sawtooth 45. I e mailed about purchasing a replacement buckle and they ended up sending me THREE for free! Super fast processing too.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Maven = great service. Lost an eyecup on my c.2 binos. They shipped me out another for free pretty quickly.

 

[rodney482]

Today

Option Archery … A++

 

[ridgefire]

My son won a soft Coho cooler at a company party and the zipper broke after a couple years of use. He gave it to me so I emailed them about it and told them we did not purchase it and I wanted to buy a new zipper and they asked me if I wanted a refund or a new cooler. I said new cooler and one arrived in the mail about a week later. I would definitely buy one of their products in the future.

 

[sbaker0029]

Great customer service from Chris at Airguns of Arizona. Sportsmatch for tikka shows out of stock but also says call for availability so I called. Guy named Chris answered the phone and was super friendly and helpful. I said you have some rings that said call about availability, instantly he knew what i was talking about and looking for. He nicely gave me the run down on them, took my information and said they should get them in a week or two and have them to me shortly after.

Good customer service from Warne but disappointed in lack of QC in product. Picked up a set of mountain tech rings, known for being some of the best from what I've gathered. Open the package and one of the caps does not even come close to making a smooth complete ring, never seen a ring this bad before. Shot them an email with a picture. CS rep replied back those are terrible, apologized and asked for my address to get some new ones sent out immediately.

 

[Hunt_Jefferson]

Annoyed with Kuiu. My In-Laws generously got me a new pair of Attack pants for Christmas they bought on Black Friday sale. I wore them around the house and could tell something was off. Same waist and length as my other two pairs but were giving me the worst moose knuckle. Turns out they were sewn incorrectly and the rise is ~3/4” shorter than my other ones.

I wanted to exchange because of the defect but was repeatedly told “we operate on a return/reorder system, send them in for a refund and buy new pants.” I really didn’t want to bother the in-laws and let them know there was an issue with the gift they bought, but now I don’t have a choice. And the refund amount will be short unless I wait for another sale.

 

[Bigwilly556]

A little sour with kifaru. Purchased a shape charge in MC on their sale and received and email about the time I was expecting it to ship. Oversold and offered me a refund or coyote in it's place. No sorry for the inconvenience or will try to make this right, just take it or leave it. Received an additional email today asking me to rate my pack purchase I never received.

I May look elsewhere next time and I have five of their packs!

 

[CRJR45]

My bad is Nikon , sent two scopes in to be repaired (after calling first to see if they would)and they took forever then said they couldn't repair them and would issue me a reimbursement .Four months later still waiting .

Trijicon has been great , but I'm really beginning to question buying this scope . It brand new and been ack to the factory twice already .

Talley has been great , I ordered the wrong mounts , twice , LOL and they were great to work with .

 

[BWlongbow]

Had a experience with Lansky Sharpeners. Purchased the curved blade sharpening set in September 2022 and when I got the the Fine and Ultrafine stones were so soft that the blade I was using them on cut deep places into the stones.
I tried calling Lansky numerous times the week that I got the set with not results. No one answered the phone and no answering machine to leave a message. So, I sent a message through their contact page. After 2 weeks and no reply I resent the message and still no reply, so I just forgot about it.
I received a reply last week (3 months after I first contacted them) that the Fine and UltraFine stone were supposed to be softer than the medium and coarse stones. I questioned that logic in a reply stating that the Fine and Ultrafine stones were for honing a blade and should be harder than the medium stone. The sent an in-depth message about the design and materials and why they were used and stated the stones were supposed to be softer than the medium and coarse stones. After numerous messages back and forth between me and them, I just gave up.
So beware that the Lansky Curved Blade sharpening set is worthless and their customer service is terrible.

 

[66kodiak]

I think customer service is a thing of the past , I’m fighting with Keen right now a pair of boots that is terribly uncomfortable the last eight pairs I have bought have been great. Now they don’t want to warranty boots that have been worn a dozen times