TEquipment.net blues: a really bad experience - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 12:40:18 am
content: This is a report of my experience with TEquipment.net, and a warning for other potential customers.To begin, I am extremely disappointed with them. If I knew in advance they were so disorganized, it wouldn't have minded paid more on another e-store... one that only sells items they actually have in stock, and won't make their customers wait like fools until they source everything.The problem is that they don't state beforehand when an out-of-stock item will be available, so you can't count on them. Besides, as I found out today, even items that their website show as in-stock, may not be. Therefore the stock info on their website is unreliable.I've placed my order on Dec 10th, and at the time all the items were in stock, according to their website. On the next day, I found out that wasn't so, and some items would only be available on the 18th, while others only in January (that info is only visible AFTER you checkout and pay for your order). I cancelled the items that would only be available in January for items that apparently were in stock, and decided to wait for items that would be availabel on the 18th.So, last week they shipped the items in stock, but 1 item - a Hakko tweezer - wasn't shipped, even though it was planned to be shipped on Dec. 11th. It was in stock when I checked out my cart and when the largest part of my order was shipped. Warehouse fuck up?Last week, twice, I was promised it would be shipped.Today support told me they don't have it in stock anymore (even although their website, at the time, states otherwise, and I have chat transcript to prove it). I changed the tweezer for a similar one with identical price, and they promised it would be shipped today. Guess what? It wasn't. Yet their site states they have 18 of them in stock (it was 19 this morning).I have no idea if the owners are aware of how messy things are over there, but I advise everyone not to do business with them until they undergo a serious remodeling of their system, website, support and shipping.Why am I making such a big deal because of a f* tweezer? Partly because I didn't like their attitude: lack of proper response, nor did they keep their word, but mostly because the friend of mine in Connecticut to whom I am having all of this shipped, is just waiting for the bloody tweezers so he can ship everything to me in Brazil. It would all be done by now if their system had realiable info or their warehouse didn't screw up - I am not certain which one is worse, but if happened to me, it can happen to everyone.To the owners of TEquipment.net, if they ever read this, here are a few "tips" (pun intented, since 95% of my order was Hakko tips):- if you state an "Estimated ship date" on the website (in the "My Account - Order History" page), and that date is overdue and the item(s) haven't been shipped yet, DO update the estimate date for a more precise one. Do not leave your customers hanging- for items that are not in stock, either don't allow the customer to buy them, or make it very clear when you will have them in stock, so the customer at least has a choice wether to wait or not for the item(s). This is specially important because we only get 1 free shipping for orders over $90, therefore splitting an order is not interesting for a customer on a budget- have precise info on the website. This morning your website stated that "Hakko 00B-SA" was in stock (7 units), while at the same time customer support (Theresa, to be precise) told me it wasn't, which made me change for a "Hakko 00-SA". She also promised it'd be shipped today, but it wasn't (or the info hasn't been updated yet, which is almost as bad).- your "Live Chat" button on the main page is not "Ad Blocker friendly". This is not a big deal, but something you might want to know.- have a faster answer time to e-mails. Not everyone have the patience or language skills to get on a Live chat, specially those that don't have English as a first language. Although I try hard to use proper English, and most ppl I talked to on the Live Chat were nice to me, some weren't.- If you want to have global reach - which I think you have the potential to, once you tweak some details and fix some flaws - have a better shipping option for international orders, and, again, make sure your staff know that not everybody has English as a 1st language (yes, it's that important).

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 03:48:22 am
content: Summarized: I didn't get my tweezers and I wanted them by Christmas.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 09:25:52 am
content: How much do you have to pay for import taxes? I hear Brazil makes importing really difficult.To the point that I heard Sony was going to open a factory to make PS4 in there so more people could afford them?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 09:42:34 am
content: At any point in the communication did you do commit the cardinal sin of mentioning the following two words."International Shipping"It's the fastest way to get TEquipment to ignore you (Intl orders require lots of paperwork at their end)To avoid the issue I use a mail redirection service and supply them a USA address.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 10:21:18 am
content: Quote from: Psi on December 22, 2015, 09:42:34 amHis friend was reshipping them.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2015, 12:03:07 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on December 22, 2015, 09:42:34 amIf you had read my post correctly, it's not International Shipping, since everything is being shipped to Connecticut, which is just around the corner from where TEquipment is. My credit card, whose billing address is obviously in Brazil, was autorized for the full amount of the purchase seconds after I submitted my order, so billing was not an issue.Besides, TEquipment's international shipping cost is prohibitively high.I make international purchases all the time, and none of the other companies make such a fuss about it like TEquipment does. Most parts of my computer were bought from e-stores in the USA: memories, SLI video cards, motherboard, kb, mouse, SSD, etc.Quote from: miguelvp on December 22, 2015, 09:25:52 amIn my state it is exactly 105% over the price of the goods and shipping (yes, we pay tax over shipping too). However that only applies for goods sent from a company. If the goods are sent from a person (like a friend, for example), there's an exemption of US$ 50.That story about Sony's plant in Brazil is partially true. The difference is that it is almost always one generation behind. Untill 3 months ago it was still producing the PS3. Now it's producing the PS4. Microsoft also produced the XBox 360 here for a while, but they came to the conclusion that gov't corruption and high labor costs where a prohibitive factor.Quote from: Shock on December 22, 2015, 03:48:22 amNo, it's nothing about that. It's about principles, respect, having the accurate info all the time, and warning other forum users what they may face if they decide to buy from TEquipment.A user that spends $ 5 and a user that spends $5000 should the treated with equal amounts on respect.

author: tequipment
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2015, 05:33:30 am
content: Guys its late here and I just saw this. Can you send me and email with what happened so I can look into it?Evan@tequipment.netAlso our stock shown online is 100% our stock. Its real and we dont change it or mislead anyone. I am going to send my sales manager an email to look into this order and get back to me and you.I look forward to hearing from you.ThanksEvan CirelliVice PresidentTEquipment.NET