Porkchop BMX - Bad attitude & shocking response

[dennyking]

It seems most people have a good opinion of Justin @ Porkchop so I'm baffled by the response to an enquiry I made after making a purchase.

My message
"I've ordered these chain tensioners. I would however also like some "Flite old school BMX bicycle grip foam donuts BLACK w/ WHITE STARS" but don't want to pay the expensive postage again when they could go in the same envelope. Would you be able to do this for me please? Many thanks, Dene

his response
"Postage is based on weight - adding an item, even something as light as foam donuts adds weight. In addition, we have the postage discounted 50% here on E-bay. Since that is "expensive", I'll go ahead and cancel your order so we don't take advantage of you"

What the...? All I was asking was to put 2 FOAM donuts in the same package. I was annoyed but had to laugh at the adding-weight comment. "Taking advantage? Weird.

Is it just me??

[griff]

Can't imagine that they'd add much weight, but then again chain tensioners aren't much to begin with..
I'm no postage expert, maybe it tipped it over some kind of magical threshold that doubled the price? 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

although the service that I've received from porkchop has been excellent, I completely understand where you're coming from with this. I recently bought a load of small brake parts/spacers etc from porkchop (totalling about £40). The postage was 'calculated' as being about $60. I can't remember what the actual shipping charges paid on the package were, but it was less than the quoted figure. I buy a fair bit from the states. and there is NO way the amount of stuff I ordered would have cost $60 to ship. Unfortunately as each item gets added to your basket, the cost of postage just automatically goes up (as if 2 alloy spacers would really increase the shipping by $5 (or in the region of). It's the same when you buy multiple items on ebay. Even if the seller so called combines the postage, you still over the odds. The proof is this (to ship in the uk, and depending on packet size/weight thresholds).

I bought a load of rit dye when I went to the USA 18 months ago. I sold some on ebay and the postage cost to send 1 packet in the uk was £1 (or thereabouts). One buyer bought 2 packets from me, and it cost the same to post 2.

Although porkchop do generally provide a good service, to add any additional charges for a set of donuts really is a joke at best, and a scam/dishonesty at worst. I really do not believe that the addition of donuts would put it into a different shipping price bracket.

[deeman]

That  is definitely a shitty response mate.....not good customer service AT ALL. I don't think the request was taking the pee at all, it certainly did not warrant that response.

[dennyking]

The postage to me is secondary to the childish cancellation of my order (which I'd fully paid for with the postage) & the sarcastic petty reply. I think he misunderstood where I was coming from. I'm sorry but 2 pieces of circular foam will not increase the package price which is why I'd reasonably & politely asked. He could have just said no, not cancel my entire order throwing his toys out of his pram.. I'd read good things about him on Radbmx, even his "customer service" so I'm baffled. I guess I'm used to the top notch service from Alan's BMX in Wigan. Just finishing off my new Hutch build & noticed the pro racer stickers were missing. Alan sent them next day no quibble. It's why I keep going back & I'm now loyal to the business. Pork man won't get any further orders & I'm planning yet more builds. Ps cheers Damo

[steve69]

I have to admit, I read your message and thought you were a bit harsh. It was a very negative message when you where hoping for a positive response. The written word can be taken many ways and the fact that it's written means you can read it many times and wind yourself up over it.
In my experience, you need to be overly polite in foreign communications to the point of creepiness (especially Germans and Americans) or they won't get it.

As this is also the written word.....    Don't take it the wrong way 

Bang up some pictures of what you wanted to buy, maybe the good folk of Rad could help you find what you are looking for over here 

[pickle]

I used to think he was a top guy until last year, I will never buy from him again 

[factory pilot]

I used to think he was a top guy until last year, I will never buy from him again 

Why Rob ? What happened ?

[pickle]

To be fair to him he was absolutely brilliant for MK14, I asked if he was interested in sponsoring the event and he sent over a huge box of goodies for the raffle prizes.

I asked him again last year and he was willing to sponsor the event again and sent a box of goodies, these goodies never arrived and seem to have got lost somewhere..........rather than doing nothing about it I emailed him and told him that they had got lost, I wasn't asking for another lot of stuff I just thought it was good form to let him know.  I got a very stinky email back going on about how many parcels he's sent to the UK and this is the first that's ever got lost and pretty much made me out to be lying as though I was going to keep them all??  after a few emails exchanged I paid his postage on the box of stuff as I didn't want him out of pocket and I believe he got the box back on return postage??

It left a right sour taste to be honest.

Can't fault his service though if you do buy anything from him.

[factory pilot]

Shame that Rob ...
I've not bought any repop muck for a while to be fair but he used to be spot on.
That response was very shitty.
I can't understand why post from the U.S. Always seems extortionate ....
For eg you can buy nos gloves for  $25.00 but it'll cost you $40.00 to have them sent over

[jonnydiezel]

I ordered some stuff from Porkchop a couple of months back and the package ended up lost by the courier.
It took a few weeks to unravel what had happened but Justin sorted it all out for me and resent the items and did me a great deal on some extras . So in the end I was a happy customer

I got a mail from him about a week after the items arrived saying that my original package had been received by another customer of his, and that somehow my package had got 'stuck' to his and gone through customs like that and arrived at his door.
Apparently the customer realised and unstuck them and gave my package back to the courier!
I never received that original package so god knows what happened to it after that :-)

[Retrodan72]

I've bought loads off him, he's always been a top bloke to deal with. I asked him about some tyres he had for sale on eBay, he told me to buy direct through his website as it will be cheaper for me as he adds a few $$$ on his eBay listing, to cover ebay's fees.

[Jono]

calling his postage expensive whilst asking for a favour was a mistake , you rubbed him up the wrong way , it was an unnecessary word to use and sadly you lost

[factory pilot]

calling his postage expensive whilst asking for a favour was a mistake , you rubbed him up the wrong way , it was an unnecessary word to use and sadly you lost

I think you are right in this one Ali ... It was all a bit lost in translation .... You need to be so careful when you deal with people ( even in the UK ) via text or email... People always get shirty too where money is concerned

[Andyboy77]

I'm glad you shared this,  because I had this shop on a list where I could probably get some stuff from. Even if it's only 2 customers out of 100, this is not the appropriate manner to deal with these sorts of issiues and for me reason enough not to buy there.

[Tel-boy75]

I've bought small bits and bobs from there and never had a problem. Maybe you just caught him on a bad day.

[pickle]

Andy, if you want bits he has then get them from him.......I've never had an issue with anything I've bought off him in the past

[dennyking]

Thanks for the responses - all of them. I think the lost in translation explanation makes most sense. I wasn't saying HIS postage was expensive. Just postage from the US in general. Bit surprised someone else could consider my message "harsh" so I guess he could too. It certainly wasn't meant to be. I love all things BMX and as such try to support businesses especially those that are involved in the old school scene. I find most like minded folk friendly & cool. I'll be more careful 

[Andyboy77]

Andy, if you want bits he has then get them from him.......I've never had an issue with anything I've bought off him in the past

Thanks Rob, I appreciate your advice.  I'm a little bit afraid of what could happen if it doesn't go well. I had to deal with these sort of issiues myself in the past (at different shops in my country), and noticed that everything was fine regarding the way I was treated as long as all went well. But as soon as a problem occured, everything changed. Maybe I was the one out of 100, but to me it is also important how things get handled even if I make a mistake. It wasn't my intention to talk bad about the shop mentioned above. Everybody has this to figure this out on his own. 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

I've never met him, but i presume Justin at porkchop is American? Even though the UK/US both speak English, you DO have to be careful sometimes, especially when things are written down, as phrases/language often gets misinterpreted. Whenever i go to the states, i find myself speaking in Topsy & Tim language or adopting American speak/phrases to make sure i'm completely understood. The same when i buy items on bmx museum. I always make sure i'm ultra polite, and give the seller almost 100% control on choosing the shipping method to get items to me. Unless you've dealt with the person before, i've found that being short/bullish never works. It seems like more effort is needed by US sellers to ship things internationally as opposed to domestically, so i try to keep them sweet to avoid toys being thrown out the pram

[jT Racing]

that was bitchy. simple as that

[Retrodan72]

Justin's a cool guy, just a translation issue here I think.

He's no way like the late Virginia from Rini's, God rest her soul. 

[McQUEEN]

I buy a few small bits and bobs evry now and then from PorkChop and the postage never in reality comes to whats on the total. I normally pay a lot less. I've always had good service as well.

There's very few people that you can deal with that don't have a bad day, especially Americans, sometimes they just don't get us.

Wasn't Porkchop the guy who called for support on the repop Ame Uniron reissue stocking thing last year - when you do that, you have to keep your nose clean with everyone unless their really taking the Micheal.

[bigfatolly]

I think it's just a cultural thing,I have had a couple of run ins with Yanks on vinyl groups on Facebook,they don't seem to get banter,they have little sense of humour,and seem to get their knickers in a twist over very minor things.

[Blacky]

Theirs bad attitude all over in the bmx scene as when buying, people just don't want to send the stuff In general I find weather it's down to cost I don't know