Mayflower's customer support

[sazr]

Hello all,

 

I have recently purchased a Objective2 + ODAC Combo from Mayflower. The item has not arrived yet, however, as LTT forum is sort of the place for Mayflower support and questions, I’d like to “review” Mayflower’s customer support.

 

As all of you probably know, Mayflower’s rep in the forum is really helpful. You can see my own threads where he promptly helps me out the best way he can. I have actually seen him recommend people not to buy his products when it was his honest opinion that, for that use case, the person did not need an amp or a DAC.

 

I think that’s very praise-worthy, and shows his sincere good faith in helping people out. However, this is all BEFORE people buy the products.

 

Unfortunately, I am very disappointed at Mayflower’s customer support after having bought the O2+DAC. I bought the O2+DAC on the 27th of November, and the item was shipped on the 29th: so far so good.

 

It has been over a month (almost 5 weeks) and I still have not received the item. I live in Portugal, so it’s a long trip, specially this time of the year, no biggie. However, in Mayflower’s site one reads:

“USPS First Class international is the the default shipping choice. It is the least expensive option, and generally arrives within 2-4 weeks. USPS first class comes with a tracking code and are NOT insured. If your package does not arrive within 4 weeks, it is being held from your local customs office, in which you may need to call to check the status of the package.”

 

When the 4 weeks passed, I contacted the portuguese postal services to check if the item was being held in customs. Yesterday I got the answer: the item hasn’t entered the country.

 

Obviously Mayflower’s knows better than I about the shipping service they use, thus, since they said 2-4 weeks, I sent a friendly e-mail asking if everything was OK, maybe they’d got some news or the item might’ve been returned, I don’t know.

 

Unfortunately, the attitude I got in the answer was far from pleasing as a customer. I’m a big boy and I can take it, but to me it shows a profound lack of professionalism. Maybe I'm just largely overreacting (feel free to tell me that, I can also take it  ), I’ll transcript the e-mails and add screenshots, that way you guys can judge and take your own conclusions.

 

To me it seems that there two approaches in Mayflower’s customer support: one BEFORE you buy, and one AFTER you buy. A friend of mine was also buying an O2+DAC combo from Mayflower (under my recommendation), after I showed him the e-mail he is already looking into the alternatives.

 

----- e-mail transcripts -----

 

My first contact message:

Hi,

My order still have not arrived. I have contacted the portuguese postal services twice (two weeks apart), and both times the answer was that the item never entered the country.

The tracking number is:

LJ XXX XXX XXX US

and the package is addressed to:

XXXX XXXXX
XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX, n°XX X°X
XXXX-XXX XXXXX

Could you please look into this?

Thank you,
XXXX

 

The answer I got:

I'm not the shipping company, I have no clue where it is.

 

It will take a while, it's the holiday's and shipping takes forever. Be patient.

 

The answer I gave:

I must say I am not particularly fond of the tone in your answer.

 

In your site you say shipping will take 2 to 4 weeks. "If your package does not arrive within 4 weeks, it is being held from your local customs office".

 

Since it's been over 4 weeks and the package is not even in the country, it is only natural that I contact you.

 

But I'll be patient. I'm sorry to have contacted you, my mistake. Next time I'll contact PayPal.

 

Regards.

 

[whatthe_fuzz]

Two things

 

1. First and foremost, the tone of attitude was condescending and unhelpful. It came across as rude. If something was wrong I wouldn't be sarcastic with the customer.....

 

2. USPS is NOTORIOUS for shitty shipping. The 2-4 weeks is an optimal time frame. They actually don't have a guaranteed timeframe. I've had packages that ship 'preferred' which means ~3day delivery, take over a month. USPS policy is that it will get there when it gets there and if it doesn't then "oops"

 

Sorry for your issues I hope you get it resolved

[Vague]

Not the most helpful reply. Hope you get your product soon.

[ShearMe]

[Vague]

[JupiteL]

I've never seen a costumer support answer shorter than the costumer itself, this is pretty rude.

[Freaky_spider]

it was pretty rude of them to say,'be patient' but they cant really help you really....

 

its pretty drastic for your friend to not buy from them again because of something that is clearly out of their reach

[sazr]

it was pretty rude of them to say,'be patient' but they cant really help you really....

 

its pretty drastic for your friend to not buy from them again because of something that is clearly out of their reach

 

it's not about the shipping mate, it's about the atitude... he's not buying because what if something goes wrong? he's gonna have to deal with this type of customer support

[MayflowerElectronics]

I didn't mean to come of as "condescending". I'm not sure how you got my attitude from an email? Anyway, I stand from the email. I don't control the shipping company, I have no clue where it is, nor do I have any control over the package once it leaves my hands. I've seen packages take 6 weeks, as in the email, I suggest you call your local customs agency. Do remember that it is the Holiday's and I'm sure that the shipping companies are just as busy as I am dealing with the giant influx of orders.

[ShearMe]

I didn't mean to come of as "condescending". I'm not sure how you got my attitude from an email? Anyway, I stand from the email. I don't control the shipping company, I have no clue where it is, nor do I have any control over the package once it leaves my hands.

 

If potential customers are boycotting you for the Post Office's faults, maybe you should start boycotting the Post Office. 

[MayflowerElectronics]

If potential customers are boycotting you for the Post Office's faults, maybe you should start boycotting the Post Office. 

 

I would, but they're the cheapest. I think Fedex is the next cheapest, and they want something ridiculous like $100 for the same package that costs between $15-20 from USPS.

[sazr]

I didn't mean to come of as "condescending". I'm not sure how you got my attitude from an email? Anyway, I stand from the email. I don't control the shipping company, I have no clue where it is, nor do I have any control over the package once it leaves my hands.

 

OK mate, then there's no problem I guess. I didn't and won't ever tell anyone to not buy from you, they can look at this thread and choose themselves what to do.

 

If you didn't mean to come as "condescending" you surely did to me, and the few folks that have answered thus far seem to see where I'm coming from (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Anyway, I'll wait for the item to arrive and hopefully enjoy a great audio experience with my new DT990 Pro's (which you recommended and I am VERY happy with).

P.S.: Just to point out again, this is not about the shipping time. I comprehend that at this time of the year things take a while to get around, this is not even the most delayed item I'm waiting for.

[MayflowerElectronics]

OK mate, then there's no problem I guess. I didn't and won't ever tell anyone to not buy from you, they can look at this thread and choose themselves what to do.

 

If you didn't mean to come as "condescending" you surely did to me, and the few folks that have answered thus far seem to see where I'm coming from (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Anyway, I'll wait for the item to arrive and hopefully enjoy a great audio experience with my new DT990 Pro's (which you recommended and I am VERY happy with).

P.S.: Just to point out again, this is not about the shipping time. I comprehend that at this time of the year things take a while to get around, this is not even the most delayed item I'm waiting for.

 

I apologize then, didn't mean to offend anyone. Duly noted.

[Turkatron]

Mission acccomplished guys. On to the next thread.

[atrash]

I honestly did not find Tyler's reply any condesending at all, but that maybe because I've been reading too much at his replies/posts on the forum to know the way his reply 'attitude' is like. Short and straight forward.

 

But that's just me. Hope you'll get your stuff soon. I live in Asia so having our stuffs held at customs for a very long period is nothing. 

[sazr]

I honestly did not find Tyler's reply any condesending at all, but that maybe because I've been reading too much at his replies/posts on the forum to know the way his reply 'attitude' is like. Short and straight forward.

 

But that's just me. Hope you'll get your stuff soon. I live in Asia so having our stuffs held at customs for a very long period is nothing. 

 

replying on a forum is not the same as replying to a customer mate. and the problem is not the item being held at customs, unfortunately.

 

I've been calling the customs services weekly and the answer is always that the item has not reached the country. tomorrow it'll be 7 weeks since the purchase, and I can't even make a claim in PayPal anymore (because 45 days have passed) so I guess I'm depending on USPS's competence (let us all LOL for a moment)

[Michael McAllister]

replying on a forum is not the same as replying to a customer mate. and the problem is not the item being held at customs, unfortunately.

 

I've been calling the customs services weekly and the answer is always that the item has not reached the country. tomorrow it'll be 7 weeks since the purchase, and I can't even make a claim in PayPal anymore (because 45 days have passed) so I guess I'm depending on USPS's competence (let us all LOL for a moment)

 

You're a member of this forum and a customer of his.  He replied to you.  What difference does it make if he replied to you on this forum or an email?

If it's a USPS problem, Tyler cannot really do anything about it.  Have you filed a claim with your local post office?  Have you contacted USPS directly?  It sucks that this happened to you, but there isn't much that can be done on Tyler's part.

[sazr]

There's nothing the local post office can do mate since the package never got to their hands. In what regards to USPS I have contacted them but have got no answer yet. It's clear they don't support international business very well since I had to lie about my address, state and postal code in order to submit their contact form. Obviously I know that Tyler is not USPS, thus when I contacted him, I was expecting him to check with USPS since it would be much easier and quicker for him than it would be for me to do it from the other side of the Atlantic. If they ever give me some news, I'll be sure to share it.

 

In what regards to the client/forum thing: the difference is that you have different responsibilities towards your client who paid for an item/service, than you have towards your fellow forum members who are here to help/learn/socialize/etc. by their own free will with no strings attached. If you can't see this then I feel very sorry for your business.

 

But as I said from the beginning, I'm not going to pass judgement on anybody. The information is here, and I'll try to keep the thread updated. In the end each one will be able to take their own conclusions. If you think that everything is OK and you see no harm done, than I truly hope you to do many great deals with Mayflower (I truly do, no irony is intended). If you think that maybe the attitude shown was not the best and want to search for other options, than I truly hope you find as great deals as you would with Mayflower.

 

I don't want to escalate this out of proportions, I just want the information to be out there and people to decide for themselves. I'm sure I'll be very happy if I ever get my hands on my O2 and I'll blow my eardrums in.

[raxx]

In terms of the shipping, the U.S. was hit with bad weather lately and I heard that lots of packages shipped before the holidays were going to be delivered late due to the influx of all the online commerce. That might be why there is a delay, but I have no idea.

[sazr]

really doubt it mate, since the item was purchased in the 27th of november, shipped on the 29th by Mayflower, and according to USPS tracking left the US on the 1st of December... that was way before the polar bears got cold...

[raxx]

alright I didnt know it was shown that it left the us. just trying to help

[mr moose]

So it has left the US but not entered your country?  I would have thought if a container/bag/carton was lost between countries the postal company would know about it by now.   I have stuff from the US sent to Australia every 6 weeks and each parcel (about the same size as the o2), takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks on average.

[Skylark]

I would, but they're the cheapest. I think Fedex is the next cheapest, and they want something ridiculous like $100 for the same package that costs between $15-20 from USPS.

Having worked for FedEx in the past, I can say that the full cost is significantly more.  Having said that, they do have account reps that can work out pricing, particularly for small businesses and corporations, without going into details I routinely saw several small businesses that got 30-50% off the full price.

 

If this is a recurring problem with customers and is affecting your business maybe it would be a worthwhile thing to address.  Of course the shipping costs would be passed on to the customer:

USPS: 4-6 weeks for delivery - $20

FedEx: 2 days for delivery - $50

 

Given the option I bet a lot of customers would opt for the extra $$$. Directly this doesnt generate revenue for @MayflowerElectronics, but indirectly it may help retain customers and prevent issues such as these.

 

Just my thoughts...

[MayflowerElectronics]

Actually this isn't a common problem, at all. I don't think I've ever had a package lost in the mail. I've seen a few take forever, but everything eventually shows up.

I have a $40 option that's USPS priority. Normally shows up within a week.

The closest fedex place is about 15 minutes away, the post office is within walking distance for me.

[mr moose]

Having worked for FedEx in the past, I can say that the full cost is significantly more.  Having said that, they do have account reps that can work out pricing, particularly for small businesses and corporations, without going into details I routinely saw several small businesses that got 30-50% off the full price.

 

If this is a recurring problem with customers and is affecting your business maybe it would be a worthwhile thing to address.  Of course the shipping costs would be passed on to the customer:

USPS: 4-6 weeks for delivery - $20

FedEx: 2 days for delivery - $50

 

Given the option I bet a lot of customers would opt for the extra $$$. Directly this doesnt generate revenue for @MayflowerElectronics, but indirectly it may help retain customers and prevent issues such as these.

 

Just my thoughts...

If the price isn't too different then as a postage option it certainly will help.  I know as a customer of online shopping here in Australia, with courier services sucking it bog time for residential delivery, And I am always happy to pay a few dollars more to know it is coming by Auspost.