K8stingerstore.com terrible customer service story

[Ohiocruiser]

Wow!! Some very emotional people are out there!! I am happy customer of k8 store. Ordered several parts from them. Only one was on back order. Eibach rear sway bar. Took several weeks to recieve it. But i SAW, it was on backorder. So i knew it was gonna take some time.

 

[Ric 'Ochet]

Wait a minute...just had an aha moment..
Is David at K8 Stinger the same David at K5 Optima?

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

Thank you all for leaving your feedback here regarding this.

I really appreciate members of this community sharing their thoughts on how they feel, as well those of you who took the time to share your own personal experiences here with us.

@Ric 'Ochet yes sir, just one man running both companies, with help from our great customer service rep @Daniel @ K8 Stinger Store

 

[Ric 'Ochet]

Thank you all for leaving your feedback here regarding this.

I really appreciate members of this community sharing their thoughts on how they feel, as well those of you who took the time to share your own personal experiences here with us.

@Ric 'Ochet yes sir, just one man running both companies, with help from our great customer service rep @Daniel @ K8 Stinger Store

Awesome. I thought that the email exchange looked like something David would have written.

Then I will confirm that David is by far one of the fairest operators out there. I’ve purchased many items from K5 Optima over the last 4 years for my Optima.
Helpful, knowledgeable and fair..hands down.

Grateful to have 2 solid options to buy my parts from.

 

[Kamauxx]

I will be making a post here, and making sure they lose business from not just me and my brother but possibly others in the kia community for poor customer service and business practices. I waited 24 hours, got no response to that email so here I am

Well that backfired. You probably gave them a few new customers.

 

[Blueangel]

I waited 3 months for MBRP from K8, knew it was on back order, but was always updated within a couple hours whenever I had a question of status. Was I excited? hell yeah but adult enough to be patient and chill out. Of all the crap that’s going on in the world right now, -$19 is what pisses you off?

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

Awesome. I thought that the email exchange looked like something David would have written.

Then I will confirm that David is by far one of the fairest operators out there. I’ve purchased many items from K5 Optima over the last 4 years for my Optima.
Helpful, knowledgeable and fair..hands down.

Grateful to have 2 solid options to buy my parts from.

Wow, thank you so much for your support over the years!!

I really appreciate the kind words as well.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Well that backfired. You probably gave them a few new customers.

Holy crap. I bet the OP is secretly K8 and this was their plan all along.

bastards.

 

[Kamauxx]

Holy crap. I bet the OP is secretly K8 and this was their plan all along.

bastards.

I'd like to see OP write the exact same post about Tork or Import Shark. The difference between how they deal with customers and how David does is staggering!

 

[Ohiocruiser]

I waited 3 months for MBRP from K8, knew it was on back order, but was always updated within a couple hours whenever I had a question of status. Was I excited? hell yeah but adult enough to be patient and chill out. Of all the crap that’s going on in the world right now, -$19 is what pisses you off?

It is not about $19. It doesn't even matter if it is $19 or $1900. If OP doesn't wanna cover it, i get it. But he has to ask himself why does this company have to cover it.All companies have their policies. No policy was broken here. And for op bringing his "brother that spent 1000s" is just sooo lame. What if i spent $2. Does it mean that "his brother or him deserves " some special treatment?

 

[Blueangel]

It is not about $19. It doesn't even matter if it is $19 or $1900. If OP doesn't wanna cover it, i get it. But he has to ask himself why does this company have to cover it.All companies have their policies. No policy was broken here. And for op bringing his "brother that spent 1000s" is just sooo lame. What if i spent $2. Does it mean that "his brother or him deserves " some special treatment?

I take it this is a rhetorical question lol

 

[Revvdmedia]

Yes sir, we can agree to disagree on this one, but please understand if we just gave a "simple full refund" to every customer that decided to cancel an order that was no fault of our own, we would be paying thousands of dollars a year in transaction fees, and we just cannot afford to do that. We are a very small business here, like many other vendors in this very small niche community, and things like this are what push the small business owners like myself away from wanting to work with the smaller communities. (Which is why there are only so much of us still around these days)

The note was there prior to you placing your order, and again we allow customers to pre-order parts that are sold out and in high demand, as it is only fair to allow those who want to pre-order to save their place in line.

I think I bought a few badges from your store (some small stuff) and I had no issue.

I do have a legitimate question and maybe an opportunity for improvement. I first assume that a completed transaction for a pre-order initiates the payment process immediately, which is where the transaction fee occurs. Is it not possible to hold the queue, or at least a "soft" spot in line without triggering the payment transaction? This could theoretically avoid the cancellation fee. I have seen something along these lines since I've been browsing around for a Ryzen 9 CPU, some distributors will offer a full refund on the pre-order, although that is usually stipulated that it also stems from the possibility of the price changing. Just a thought.

For an opportunity for improvement, maybe the red text regarding the pre-order could have an asterisk and a note stating "Pre-Orders subject to cancellation charges, see full terms and conditions at xxxxxx"

Maybe this is the first time you've had this issue, but I feel like I might have been a bit perturbed myself if I had been in this situation myself. I often look at return policies for sites, but not always. Sometimes you have to make it dummy-resistant (nothing is dummy-proof). You know warning signs all exist because somebody did something stupid in the past...

 

[stoopid]

I think I bought a few badges from your store (some small stuff) and I had no issue.

I do have a legitimate question and maybe an opportunity for improvement. I first assume that a completed transaction for a pre-order initiates the payment process immediately, which is where the transaction fee occurs. Is it not possible to hold the queue, or at least a "soft" spot in line without triggering the payment transaction? This could theoretically avoid the cancellation fee. I have seen something along these lines since I've been browsing around for a Ryzen 9 CPU, some distributors will offer a full refund on the pre-order, although that is usually stipulated that it also stems from the possibility of the price changing. Just a thought.

For an opportunity for improvement, maybe the red text regarding the pre-order could have an asterisk and a note stating "Pre-Orders subject to cancellation charges, see full terms and conditions at xxxxxx"

Maybe this is the first time you've had this issue, but I feel like I might have been a bit perturbed myself if I had been in this situation myself. I often look at return policies for sites, but not always. Sometimes you have to make it dummy-resistant (nothing is dummy-proof). You know warning signs all exist because somebody did something stupid in the past...

I was about to post the same thing. To avoid confusion, having the "add to cart" button be a "preorder" button instead would make this situation (mostly) disappear. Also, I would not expect a withdraw/charge to hit my credit card until the purchase is completed/shipped. Holding onto people's money for weeks isn't ideal, and certainly this situation demonstrates why doing this differently benefits the seller AND buyer.

I think K8stingerstore has handled themselves well in response to the complaint, however I don't think they're blameless and with very minor changes in their purchasing process could/would/should avoid this for any future 'preorder' items.

Alternatively, K8stingerstore is not obligated in any way to offer a preorder. It's clearly a smart selling strategy to lock-in orders, mostly to K8stingerstore's benefit but also for the customer who wants a guarantee for receiving an in-demand product. The key here is that the customer is assuming most of the risk inherent in the transaction by eating the credit card fees via the refund fee. It's not altruism on K8stingerstore's part to offer the preorders.

We're getting in the weeds here... but if, hypothetically, there's a mid-April target date for product to be shipped that is not met, does the customer requesting cancellation still need to pay the refund fee? Is the estimated preorder date contractual? Wouldn't it be best to avoid this entire mess by not charging the cards until K8stingerstore has product in hand/confirmation of shipment (if it's being drop shipped)?

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

I think I bought a few badges from your store (some small stuff) and I had no issue.

I do have a legitimate question and maybe an opportunity for improvement. I first assume that a completed transaction for a pre-order initiates the payment process immediately, which is where the transaction fee occurs. Is it not possible to hold the queue, or at least a "soft" spot in line without triggering the payment transaction? This could theoretically avoid the cancellation fee. I have seen something along these lines since I've been browsing around for a Ryzen 9 CPU, some distributors will offer a full refund on the pre-order, although that is usually stipulated that it also stems from the possibility of the price changing. Just a thought.

For an opportunity for improvement, maybe the red text regarding the pre-order could have an asterisk and a note stating "Pre-Orders subject to cancellation charges, see full terms and conditions at xxxxxx"

Maybe this is the first time you've had this issue, but I feel like I might have been a bit perturbed myself if I had been in this situation myself. I often look at return policies for sites, but not always. Sometimes you have to make it dummy-resistant (nothing is dummy-proof). You know warning signs all exist because somebody did something stupid in the past...

Thank you for your orders with us.

This is a legitimate request, but the problem with this is we are a small business, and unlike Amazon or eBay, who may charge your card when the item ships, your card is charged immediately when you place an order on the site. We cannot reserve places in line for customers who have not paid, as it causes issues with us and our suppliers when it comes time to ship the item.

It's hard to explain here the inner workings of how it all comes together, but essentially, we cannot take an order, and then when it comes time to ship, run the card and it gets declined, but the manufacturer already shipped out the part. Or we have to play collections and then try and follow up with the customer for a new payment, etc.

As a small business, we take payment at the time the order is placed on our site, and then have it immediately shipped out. (If out of stock, we list the lead time for when it will ship)

Our return policy is very clear, and you're right, many people don't take the time to read it before ordering, but then again, many do. This is definitely NOT the 1st time this has come up in the past, however, the majority of our customers, 95% + are more than willing to understand, and work with us to provide them with a discount on their future orders, so no money is lost. The OP didn't want to hear anything, he refused all of my calls, and within 24 hours of emailing us, had already filed a dispute with PayPal.

Again thanks for all of your feedback guys... I think this thread has run it's course...

 

[stoopid]

It's hard to explain here the inner workings of how it all comes together, but essentially, we cannot take an order, and then when it comes time to ship, run the card and it gets declined, but the manufacturer already shipped out the part. Or we have to play collections and then try and follow up with the customer for a new payment, etc.

As a small business, we take payment at the time the order is placed on our site, and then have it immediately shipped out. (If out of stock, we list the lead time for when it will ship)

Since it's being drop shipped, could the manufacturer or warehouse have the shipping information withheld until they're ready to actually ship? It sounds like they're not holding you responsible for the item built/supplied, especially in the case of preorder/backordering where there's demand and a line of buyers waiting on the product. They'll simply sell that thing to the next buyer in line. This way... 1) They notify you the product is ready, 2) You run the card confirming payment, then 3) You send them the shipping info and they ship. It's an extra step and a half. But it benefits the customer, and ultimately your relationship with them. This happens often enough by your own words that perhaps it's worth investing a moment into doing it differently(?).

 

[343BlueR32]

I had a similar experience with David on something that had gone out of stock after I ordered it. I sent an email to cancel the order over the delay and he personally called me and talked me through exactly what happened, and then we BSd for about 20 minutes about everything.
Pre-covid and the impact it had on these types of businesses he even gave me an additional discount on something else I bought for the trouble.
Long story short, I often look at K8 even if it's a couple bucks more simply because of his great personal customer service.

Edit: just emailed K8 to verify on ATQ subframe fitment on an AWD and David responded to me in about 15 minutes at 8:30 on a Friday night. I ordered them immediately.

 

[ShannonC]

Perhaps someone can start a Go Fund Me page to get Jeremy $19.

 

[Ohiocruiser]

Perhaps someone can start a Go Fund Me page to get Jeremy $19.

That was a good one! But let's give a guy a break. We are living in such crazy times. We all can loose it from time to time.

 

[Schroedes]

Dude was triggered, lot of self righteous sallies out there these days

 

[CeramicGT001]

Perhaps someone can start a Go Fund Me page to get Jeremy $19.

I’ll send him $20 bucks to just have this whole thread deleted because it just got more ridiculous the longer I kept reading.
Felt like I was in one of those threads about which person can d*ckride lap3 or jb4 or tork tuning harder...

If Op wants to hear about something to really complain about I’ll tell you about the time I ordered a paint matched diffuser from import shark. They sent me silky silver even though I requested (C 4 S Ceramic Silver). After multiple questions about the order I received, they then gave me a paint fee refund (was never offered a full refund or ship back and redo it correctly). Also mind that the diffuser costs $150, paint fee $70 plus whatever shipping was.
Then I had to go take it to a body shop, have them repaint it to match my color which was like $200 something. So a roughly $250 diffuser turned into a $400 diffuser because someone couldn’t read order requests.