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Right on Scales Customer Service Sucks
I recently decided that we needed a set of scales that could cope with weighing over 10 kilos and setabout tracking some down.
After a few days of being perplexed by a range of options that made no sense to me, like tare and all sorts of other things, I came across MyWeigh and really liked their Ultraship 75's. I then set about trying to find a supplier in the UK..... except all their suppliers only sold their other scales!
The MyWeigh site has a list of UK suppliers and I found that Right on Scales sold the model I wanted, great, so off I go to order some.
The Right on Scales website looks very clean and clear, it had a returns policy, how to track orders and some contact details and I figured that it was safe to spend my money with them so I added them to my cart and then.... PayPal!
Now I'm an online retailer and also work in the internet business itself so I have an inside knowledge of ecommerce and what I trust and what I don't - what I don't trust is an online store that uses PayPal. Why? Because it says 'amateur' to me. If it's something small from a sole trader/crafter/little business I think PayPal is great and perfect for them and I trust it implicitly but when it's an online business selling a range of goods that top £100 an item I'm not keen on it at all.
So what do I do.... I still go and buy the scales as there isn't an alternative supplier!
First problem is that I can't use my business name as my PayPal account is personal so I'm not going to get a bill in the company name - not good for claiming it back says my accountant. I send them an email asking that the invoice be in the business name and get an autoresponder reply...
THANK YOU FOR CONTACTING US!
This is an automated responder letting you know that we have received your message. We strive to provide our customers with the highest level of service. Your correspondence will be answered shortly. Thank you.
To this request I never received any answer.
The next day I figure that I'd 'track' the order and clicked their link which takes me to Royal Mail, great, except that I haven't been provided with a tracking code! Yes, warning bells are ringing and I'm starting to regret buying from them.
The day after I get my parcel (hooray!) and open to find no invoice at all! I'm not sure I should have expected it to be in there what with the fantastic high level of service they've already shown to provide.
As I have 60 parcels to go out I get started to use them.... the readout goes haywire and jumps all over the place by tens, hundreds or thousands of grams! I look for the instructions and it says that they probably need to settle.... I leave them...... I leave them longer.... I look for the phone number for Right on Scales and dial..... then the scales settle.... then not! Now I have very little time to individually weigh all my parcels before the postman comes, am I pissed off, Oh Yes.
It's a Friday and by the time I'm finished it's too late to worry about contacting Right on Scales to sort it out.
I contact My Weigh directly and ask if they knew why it was playing up and I got an immediate reply suggesting a few things but no joy, they then said they'd need to be swapped out.
I contact Right on Scales by telephone and basicly get told that they need to have them returned to swap out and I ask if as a gesture of goodwill that they could send them out immediately as I didn't want to wait all week to get a replacement, 'send me an email and I will see what I can do' was the reply.
This is the email I sent to Mr Mangat at Right on Scales:
Hello Mr Mangat,
Further to our telephone conversation I am sending back the scales tomorrow (I've now missed my post collection) and I would appreciate it if you could send out another set as soon as possible as I'm sure you'll understand that weighting 100+ parcels a day by hand is not anyones idea of fun!
The scales just never seem to stay still, I have tried several sets of batteries to no avail, they just fluctuate all over the place.
Can you please let me know when to expect the new set as I am now in urgent need.
Many thanks
Klyve
And guess what... I get an auto response email and then nothing more.
My wife wouldn't let me contact them again as she knows I would go ballistic with the complete lack of service from this company so there I sat.... 3 days later with no scales and SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF.
So, to summarise so far, do NOT buy from Right on Scales unless you can pick them up directly from them, as for an online business I don't think it will be long before they go bust.
Part Two
My friends at Right on Scales did not let me down... they told me that they have not received the scales back and therefore will not be replacing them! Great, but then what did I expect of a 2bit company like Right on Scales?
No I have to claim back from the Post Office for the lost goods.
What is very interesting is that Right on Scales is a Limited company but does not advertise this fact on its web site or correspondence - another interesting fact is that they also quote their VAT number on their site but do not charge VAT on their invoices... and although I have requested a VAT invoice for the completely useless scales I received they have never supplied one.
Never mind, I spoke to Customs and Excise I and let them know that they do not charge VAT and have not provided a VAT invoice even after requesting one, so I'll leave that one to them. Customs and Excise have extraordinary powers in the UK.
I also wrote to MyWeigh asking if they had any other suppliers in the UK that could supply me with the Ultra Ship 75's I would like but apparantly not. Of course I also told them that "to say the customer service has been atrocious would be an understatement" and explained a few of the illegal practises of Right on Scales.
Once again, let me say that I doubt this company will stay in business.
Part Three
I again asked my friends at Right on Scales to provide a VAT receipt for my order from them, the order for goods (MyWeigh Ultraship 75's) that were faulty on receipt and then mysteriously disappeared when I sent them back. This time I copied in my other friends at the local VAT office:
This will be the third request for a VAT receipt for the goods we have purchased from you. Your website states quite clearly that you are VAT registered but we have yet to receive a VAT receipt and note that you do not show it in your invoice below.
I have copied in our local VAT office as I feel that this is highly irregular.
I then received this reply:
You think are smart, eh? I'll get you done for fraud, trying to screw us for an extra set of Ultras without sending back the 1st set, we have heard all bout you lot @ Watford Electronics.... Do you think we were are stupid? You have the VAT Reg. no. do the receipt yourself, because we dont have time for scammers like yourself. If you didnt know the VAT man allows you to do it yourself, so you cant be too clever...
Now it's obvious from this email that I'm not too clever so let's break the email down:
- "You think are smart, eh?" - well I am able to put together an email using the correct grammar and use of the English language
- "I'll get you done for fraud" - how anything I have done could be construed as faud I do not know, but then I have to remember that I'm not too clever
- "we have heard all bout you lot @ Watford Electronics" - what a complete idiot, doesn't he know that I'm the one that's 'not too clever'?
- "Do you think we were are stupid?" - I feel that this is a rhetorical question
- "Do you think we were are stupid?" - worthy of 2 mentions as he was obviously confused as to whether they 'were' stupid or 'are' stupid
- "If you didnt know the VAT man allows you to do it yourself" - whether this is the case or not it doesn't have any bearing as the real issue is that they are VAT registered and do not charge VAT nor supply a VAT receipt/invoice, a practise that Customs and Excise do not take too kindly to
Now I know I that I have obviously not dealt with someone with an ounce of intelligence here but his suggestion is that I should defraud the VAT Office by claiming back VAT that was never charged in the first place - I'd love to see their VAT return!
I have also found that they have recently sold out of MyWeigh weighing scales so their business abilities obviously match their customer service.
Now, where was I... Oh, yes, do NOT do business with Right on Scales.
Moral
So, all in all the moral of the story for me is 'beware so called online retailers that are so cheap that they rely on PayPal'. The moral of the story for Right on Scales is:
- Don't upset someone that knows about search engine optimisation and can get their rant at the top of the search engines for Right on Scales.
Just to remind you... that is Right on Scales, in case you missed it and they sell My Weigh Scales.
