Another Squadron.com blunder..

[scapilot]

So, I typically don't do much business with Squadron.com, because quite frankly, I find their prices to be that of LHS's which are grossly inflated compared to where I can shop elsewhere. I do occasionally run across a good mystery deal from them, and take advantage of those.

I did so this past week when I saw the Hobby Boss F-14D's running for a great price. Picked up three of them on the 22'nd, and paid that morning. I was highly expecting to see my package on Saturday maybe, but definitely Monday for sure considering that I'm only 25 minutes from the warehouse location. After still not seeing anything today, I figured I'd once again call to get a status update since they still haven't seemed to figure out a way to offer online tracking for orders. Once I got a hold of the lady at the warehouse, I gave her my order number, and she asked me for my zip code. Provided that, and she said that my order has already been delivered. I said that was incorrect, since I clearly didn't have the package. She then proceeded to tell me that my last order, placed on March 8'th was shown as delivered. I told her that I was referencing the order I placed on the 22'nd, and kindly read off the order number for a second time. She then tells me that I didn't place any order on the 22'nd. I became a big aggravated at this point, and read off the order number that I was reading from my customer profile on THEIR site to her. She was adamant that no, I had NOT placed that order. And I simply just told her that my 138 dollar credit card transaction says otherwise.

She then became rude with me, and told me she didn't know what to tell me. <_< Seriously!?

Best she could offer was to get a hold of the webmaster (who had conveniently already left for the day) and find out what the issue may be, although she was still trying to convince me that I was making all of this up.

I laughed and asked if she was referring to the webmaster who, in 2013, still can't figure out how to offer real time tracking on their web site. She said that they do have a status feature on their website that shows orders. I said "Yes, you're correct, but it's still saying 'processing' on orders that were placed and received in December." She said "Well, it says that because you've already received it."

So, I suppose that I'll call back at 8am and sit on hold and listen to the recording tell me every 15 seconds how someone is going to be with me shortly for thirty minutes.

I guess what I have such a hard time figuring out is why these guys go out of their way to do everything the WRONG way. Their prices are through the roof, their shipping 'discount' isn't until you've spent half of a kids college fund, and although I only live 25 minutes from the warehouse, they still insist that I can't come pick up my order from a front office, but absolutely MUST pay the 12 dollars in shipping. Bad business all around, and this pretty much seals the deal on it for me. Granted, these aren't any items that I absolutely NEED right now, but it's the principle behind that fact that they don't seem to be hitting on any good business points. EVER. I don't know how they keep their doors open to be quite honest. Perhaps they'll continue to keep running circa 97' web sites, and charging ridiculous prices, and in no time at all, their entire warehouse will be selling at 'mystery deal' prices so that they can put a chain on the door with a 'for sale' sign on it. They've certainly got my last order.

Well, according to them they haven't.

[kiowafixer]

I have made one order with Squadron in about 3 years and that was for an item I was very eager to get my hands and it was the only place I could find it on hand and ready to ship. I pretty much live in a modeling abyss, the big highlight that has happened in the past few years in my local area was a Hobby Lobby opening up in a town about a half hour away, so I used to frequent and purchase from Squadron's site quite often, as in $100s a month.

I received an order I had placed and going through it after I got home from work at 2 AM and I found I was 6 items short so I immediately called their 24/7 phone line and was told I would have to call back and talk to the customer service representative that is only there during "normal 9-5 CST" business hours. Before I hung up, I made the comment that it was kind of sad that they have someone there 24/7 to take people's money, but no one there that can help solve problems that people have 24/7, and to the guy's credit during that conversation he agreed with me. So I called back the next afternoon at about 3:30 PM, told the lady that I needed to speak to the customer service representative, she told me he was on another line helping someone else and asked how she could help, I told her my situation and she told me I would have to talk to the customer service representative and put me on hold, less then a minute later she came back on the line and told me he had gone home for the day. As soon as I heard that, what to me was double talk, the little voice in my head said I would never get this problem resolved, but I continued on trying to contact the person to get the situation fixed. I called and emailed several times, every call was met with some reason that he could not come to the phone and ONCE I got all excited because I received a reply to one of the emails I had sent, in it he stated that he found my email in his "Junk Folder" and blamed it on an "Over Active Spam Filter", I replied to that email and never heard from him again.

In the end, I went to my credit card company to try and file a complaint but it ended up being outside the window to do that, so I ate the loss. This situation was kind of the last straw when it comes to things like this happening to me now. I only give people and companies 2 or 3 chances to make things right if goods or services that they have offered don't show up or didn't work out before I file something with whoever I have used to pay for those goods or services.

Sad thing is now days most companies have no real reason to provide good customer service anymore, for every person that stops using them because of a situation like this, 10, 15, 20 or more new people will be using them the next day.

KiowaFixer

[EX_Birdgunner]

I hear your pain man. Last October I bought the HB F-14A when it was on sale, first time placing an order with them and the order itself went fine with reasonable shipping price via USPS to Canada given to me by thier website, which would have been the dealbreaker it it was too high. One week later my package arrives with FedEx stamped on it and I was quite happy and impressed. That is untila month later when I got a bill from FedEx to pay another $42 in customs brokerage fees. Now I ended up paying retail or more for the kit that I thought was a great deal.

I sent an email right away to Squadron, which I find quite annoying that theu do not have a seperate customer service email. I had no reply and tried calling them, twice, got put on hold and after 12 minutes the phone hangs up!?

I don't have time to keep persuing this and will take my business elsewhere. It is obvious to me that since Squadron.com is a major supplier to LHSs they do not need to care orworry about customers who buy directly from thier website.

Denis

[bashace]

I ordered a bunch of tools from Squadron some time ago, other than it took about a month to get them in the mail, everything went well. When it comes to feeding my modeling addiction, Gordon gets most of my business :thumbsup2:/> .

V/r

Ron

Edited March 27, 2013 by bashace

[Geoff M]

I also took advantage of the mystery deal. Got an email with tracking info from them within 24 hours. Fedex say it will be here thursday. I have been dealing with Squadron for over 30 years, never had a problem. Prices may not be the best but they are routinely putting stuff on "sale" so the prices are close to other online spots. Hope you get it all worked out.

Geoff

[Liberator24]

Tough stories here. I hope you get some relief from this, well, I guess you will when you aint gonna buy from them anymore. I love their Black Friday sales, but this year I had been waiting three weeks for a package that said it was still in process. One morning, I called and spoke to the "sweet little old lady", and she said that unfortunately with the big volume of sales it was still being processed.....

It arrived on FedEx that afternoon....

Anywho, all of the places have some issues that I just cant understand. I asked one of the big boys a question about an eduard set that was just showing the cockpit set, but on the eduard site for the product number, it showed the Big Ed under his customer number. I asked about the set he had and his response was, "You get what is in the photo." Moron....wont forget that when I order form that wanker-believe me.

Good luck.

-Jim

[echolmberg]

I wonder if I'm one of the lucky few. I've placed many orders with Squadron over the years and not once have I ever had a single problem come up. I place the order. The order shows up. End of story.

I hope you get your issue resolved. I think we all have the sad misfortune of knowing what it's like to have bad customer service but the company is only way too happy to take your money. I hope your order shows up soon.

Eric

[AX 365]

I've never ordered from Squadron but reading all these negative waves reinforces my urge not to and to continue to deal with Gord-o at Sprue Brothers. I have placed several orders with SB and I have never had a problem. Granted it may take a bit longer to ship to Canada but I am very satisfied with the service I receive from Gordon and SB. I hope everyone is able to resolve their outstanding issues with Squadron to their satisfaction.

[scapilot]

Don't know what to think. I called again this morning and talked to another old lady. Starting to wonder if they're outsourcing their business to retirement homes. Same spill from this lady as well. Wanted to tell me that my package from the 8th was delivered on the 12th. Nothing about my order from the 22nd. Said she'd have to check into it and call me back. I think they've got a policy excuse sheet that hangs on a wall that reads the same three lines of BS to get people off the phone. I know I'm losing patience. I could see chocking it up to a loss over a 14 dollar toy. But not for 140 bucks.

[Bigasshammm]

While I've not had any bad dealings with Squadron I can't also say I've used them much. I too like to go with the smaller guys and am a bit unnerved by the distributing companies that then turn around and sell the same kits to consumers that they're outsourcing to hobby shops to sell. Seems like their double dipping into the pot a little.

The stories of this customer service or lack thereof are outrageous though. I would screen capture the page that shows your order information and the number and such and email that to them. Doubt you'll get a response but it seems like their system is totally whacked. If they accepted the money from your card there HAS to be a record somewhere. Thats basically just theft at that point if they continue to not give you satisfaction. You could also obtain a copy of your bank/card statement that shows the completed transaction and bring that to their attention. Heck if anything threaten to contact the local police about it. Since you live in the same area that shouldn't be too hard. Maybe that will kick them into some kind of action? Or demand on the phone to talk to the warehouse manager, forget customer service. Or better yet the accounts manager or something.

Barring that if you have a local hobby shop go talk to them and maybe they'll have a number for a Squadron sales rep you can call.

I am the nicest guy you'll ever meet, but at the same token no one has ever said I'm not the biggest ***hole also. As long as things are fair and just I'm cool once those lines are crossed I will think of everything to get justice. Hope these ideas have helped.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Bigasshammm

[Liberator24]

Nope....not for that amount of money. Is it me buddy, or do they see us coming???

-Jim

[Lodewijk]

Never ordered from them, but after seeing this thread I don't think I ever will.

[fulcrum1]

Never ordered from them, but after seeing this thread I don't think I ever will.

I have and never had an issue.

[scapilot]

Ironically I just got off the phone with my bank after checking my account and seeing that the transaction is no longer listed. Thinking I've flipped my lid I called and my bank indeed verified that yes, they released the payment authorization to squadron on the 22nd. It was then that I remembered back to the black Friday sale when they did the same thing. Drafted the account initially, redeposited the funds, then charged again once shipped. My bank said to just place the order again, which I will NOT be doing because they still technically have the authorization to pull the trigger on the initial funds that I have made available to them. This is just turning into a big soup sandwich.

Edited March 27, 2013 by scapilot

[galileo1]

My only bad experience with Squadron was during last year's Black Friday sale. Ordered two kits but received four (two duplicates). Was charged twice, of course. Emailed them so they could reimburse me for the duplicate order but never heard back. Decided to keep the kits and sell them off here. Worked out as I was able to get more than what I paid for.

Haven't ordered since and don't know whether I will any time soon. These stories really make me think twice about doing so.

Rob

Edited March 27, 2013 by TOPGUN

[salvine]

Hope my F-14 shows up.

[nerdling]

I've not had any really bad experiences with Squadron myself, other than a bottle of paint breaking in a shipment and spilling everywhere. Luckily there were no books in that shipment. But I really wish they would get the tracking thing figured out. I still have orders from September that show up as processing. I mean if every other online store can figure it out why can't they.

[Ken Cartwright]

I've ordered from Squadron 6 times in the past six months, and the only one that has given me pause is an order I placed on 3/21/2013, 6 days prior to this post. I haven't heard anything about it, so I don't know where it is after 6 days, but assuming it shows up soon, all will be fine.

None of the other orders were ever an issue, so I wonder if they've been overwhelmed recently or something.

Edit: Just an update - that order was on my doorstep when I got home today, so all is good.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Ken Cartwright

[Bigasshammm]

Ironically I just got off the phone with my bank after checking my account and seeing that the transaction is no longer listed. Thinking I've flipped my lid I called and my bank indeed verified that yes, they released the payment authorization to squadron on the 22nd. It was then that I remembered back to the black Friday sale when they did the same thing. Drafted the account initially, redeposited the funds, then charged again once shipped. My bank said to just place the order again, which I will NOT be doing because they still technically have the authorization to pull the trigger on the initial funds that I have made available to them. This is just turning into a big soup sandwich.

You could probably call back your bank and put a stop on any payments made to them if they decide to "find" your order. Might cost you a fee but at least you'd know that the money isn't going to magically come out at some time.

[scapilot]

I've not had any really bad experiences with Squadron myself, other than a bottle of paint breaking in a shipment and spilling everywhere. Luckily there were no books in that shipment. But I really wish they would get the tracking thing figured out. I still have orders from September that show up as processing. I mean if every other online store can figure it out why can't they.

Well, when I made mention of this to them on Tuesday afternoon, the older lady who refused to shut up long enought to actually let me finishe a sentence told me, "Well, it says processing because it's already been delivered." I was utterly confused at that point. If I had to equate what the frustration felt like, it would be roughly like trying to explain to my grandmother how to play Call of Duty online in five minutes when she's off her meds. Yeah, really.

I finally called them back yesterday afternoon after I woke up, since I had two missed calls from their office. Lucky for me, I got the same haggard lady that is always rude to answer the phone. I gave her my name and told her I was returning her phone call. She interrupted me about halfway through that after hearing the last name and said "I told you this morning we'd call you back when we figured something out, didn't I?" I was all but thankful that we hadn't created a technology yet that allowed you to reach through the phone and slap the hell out of a senior citizen. I told her that I DID have two missed calls, so maybe someone who was actually working on figuring this out attempted to call me back. So she started relaying messages from a "manager" about how they needed my card number again to run. I laughed and told her that they already had an authorization to process my card for payment (hence, how this all started to begin with) and she said no, that order never existed (here we go again.) I told her that I wouldn't place anything until I called my bank and verified that they'd put a stop on that authorization. Not surprisingly...SHE GOT MAD ABOUT THAT??!!! lol. I swear I don't know what to do with this chick any more.

Once I called back after contacting USAA I asked her if my total was going to be for the same amount for the same three kits. She said "Well, the price is going to depend on if we have it in stock." Another one of those moments.

I said "Maam, what does that have anything to do with what my card is going to be billed." Once again, she started rambling, and I finally took the opportunity to cut her off for once and said "All I'm trying to verify is that you guys aren't going to charge me full price for something that I paid for at mystery deal price." She sounded confused for a second and said "Well, sir that mystery deal is over." I told her that I understood that, but at the TIME THAT I PLACED MY ORIGINAL ORDER FOR 139 DOLLARS IT WAS STILL VERY MUCH ACTIVE. She then referred me back to the "depends on if it's in stock" excuse, and I told her that if it wasn't going to be the same price, then just frickin' forget about it. She said, no, it would go back to my original priced quote from the first order (oh, so you're saying that IT DID exist).

So I passed on my credit card info, fully expecting all this to be settled after that. She rushed me off the phone, and that was roughly 4pm yesterday afternoon.

As of 0545 today, there's still no updated status, and my card still hasn't been billed. I think I'm just not supposed to have these kits for some strange reason.

As a side note, I did ask her when we were trying to figure it all out who I had to talk to about any discounts for their mistake in all of this. She said "Well, you already got a discount on the prices with it being the mystery deal." I said "yeah, but that was under the assumption that you guys took my money, boxed my kits up and sent them to me without a hundred yards of hassle." She proceeded to tell me that this has happened to hundreds of other people, so if they were to compensate everyone of them, then there's no way they'd make any money. Anyone else here anything wrong with that?? My first response was "Well, wait, just yesterday you said that you can't understand why this is happening to my order, and today you're saying that hundreds of people are going through the same thing. Furthermore, you're saying that you don't have an obligation to take care of mistakes that you guys make, by making it up to the customer?" She had no reply. In short, I think I've figured out why they call it a Mystery Deal. Because its a mystery on whether or not you'll ever get your stuff.

[Model-Junkie]

Yikes, I've placed 6 orders with Squadron in December and I received every one within a week. I did have one issue where a kit I ordered was missing a part, not Squadron's fault, but I did attempt to contact them to enquire about a return or help with obtaining a replacement. I never heard back from Squadron and luckily in the end I was able to get the part from the manufacturer, who responded within 4 hours.

I am/was going to place a $200 order with Squadron later today but now I'm not too sure. The lack of a tracking number was not a problem as I received my orders quickly. My last order was on 12/27/12 and that was the order that had the missing part and they never got back to me. Communication means a lot to me and although the missing part is not Squadron's fault I would have liked a reply, even if it was to say sorry they can't help.

[Bigasshammm]

After all this you still gave them your credit card info again? I think that waves your right to complain about their service if you knowingly still gave them your info. You had a free out and could have canceled and moved on without any further headaches.

[scapilot]

Well, I can somewhat see what you're saying with that, however my attempt in trying to regain the order was to see what their next move was going to be to try to fix the problem by offering some sort of reasonable offer for my time and trouble. Worry not though. For a bit of morning humor I figured I'd call them to check on the status of my newly placed second order and like clock work..... They don't have any order for me. I'm done. Waiting on the day shift manager to call me backyhere in a few minutes so I can personally share my thoughts with how I feel about their pathetic attempts to run a business.

[scapilot]

Happy to announce that the COO of squadron called me personally to apologize for the mishap in all of this. She assured me that my package is going out today with next day delivery and free shipping. Despite it all I told them to save their money on the next day shipping and just go ground since I got it next day anyway. She also offered me an all access pass to eagle fest in June, a 60 dollar ticket for free. Nice as could he and extremely courteous. Apparently they had a huge back up starting on the 22nd that lasted for a day or so that was locking certain features from being used I.e orders being accessible. I didn't expect anything for free, and would have been willing to work with them provided the lady wasn't rude as hell in the process. I'm satisfied that they have taken the measures to try to make things right, which is all I asked for from the get go.

[Ken Cartwright]

Nice to hear everything ended up working out - thanks for the update!