Globalscale Technologies Advice Please?

[fedor]

Hi,

I purchased a SheevaPlug Dev kit from Globalscale almost a month ago by Paypal. My order is still listed as not yet shipped.

Globalscale don't respond to email or to filling out the "contact us" portion on their webpage.

I'm just wondering if other people here have had similar experiences?

The Paypal payment was made as soon as I purchased the device so Globalscale have effectively taken my money but provide no updates.

I must say I'm feeling pretty disappointed with the service.

I live outside of the US and I'm thinking about contacting Paypal to retrieve my money.

Does anyone here have any helpful advice on what is best to do?

Thanks

[divdiv]

I purchased a SheevaPlug Dev kit from Globalscale almost a month ago by Paypal. My order is still listed as not yet shipped.
Globalscale don't respond to email or to filling out the "contact us" portion on their webpage.
I'm just wondering if other people here have had similar experiences?

I'm in the same boat, been waiting about almost a month too. Received an email yesterday which looked like a copy/paste job.

Thank you for your order.

Due to the demand of certain components, currently we are fulfilling all back orders for now.

Our record shows that you had called this morning regarding the status of your order. 

We expect to receive next lot production in by Nov. 17, 2009.

Your order will be among the first batch to be ship once units arrive and you will receive tracking number to your email for your tracking purpose.

If you need the units prior to the estimate date and with your permission we will process full refund to you immediately.

Edit: I _didn't_ call thismorning - I emailed over a week ago - but at least it's a response!

[fedor]

Thanks for that. Pretty amazing you got an email.

As a follow up, I finally managed to get someone there on the phone. I was told there was some sort of delay and my item should ship by 18 Nov. No notification whatsoever. They are happy to take my money and keep me in the dark. It cost me international phone rates to get information.

When I asked about emails and their own contact form on their website not being replied to, I was told they were short on staff.

Reading the forums here, it seems there are a lot of complaints about Globalscale's tardiness / lack of customer service.

Globalscale, if you are reading this, such a lack of customer service is going to cost you customers. There is a thread with customers getting their dev kits shipped rapidly from NewIT. Why purchase from Globalscale? Take my money, don't provide any update, don't respond to emails? I don't want such hassle.

I will certainly be taking my business elsewhere in the future. Yay for competition. I recall Globalscale were the only company selling these initially. Now there are others that are actually providing a service it seems.

[DamonHD]

And where do you NewIT are buying the plugs from to sell on?

If I were Globalscale I'd much rather sell in larger blocks and let someone else deal with the whining and the whinging and sense of entitlement and general bad behaviour of a significant fraction of retail customers.  (Been there, done that, don't want to handle retail again, ever, myself.)

Rgds

Damon

[fedor]

You come across as quite condescending. Do you work for Globalscale by any chance? Similar attitude it seems.

I'll reply to you just this once.

If a company takes my money knowing they don't actually physically have the item, then I consider that to be wrong. I'm not sure of the legality of doing that either. A deposit fine, but not the whole price.

To make matters worse, they don't tell you they have no stock, don't tell you how long it will take to get stock, don't give any update or respond to modern forms of communication. It cost me extra money to find out the status of my purchase, almost a month later.

You may be happy to take that, but some of us aren't.

This thread is getting a lot of views. No doubt there will be people here interested in purchasing a Sheevaplug. Who wants to be waiting ages, left in the dark and out of pocket with Globalscale when there is competition providing product rapidly and with customer service?

If you are happy to accept a similar experience as I've encountered, then buy from Globalscale and enjoy. If not, take your business elsewhere.

Rgds

fedor

[DamonHD]

Nice.

I have bought two plugs from GS, on separate occasions, and having been forewarned on their site that they were having difficulty keeping up with demand I wasn't astonished by a delay.  I don't know if that warning text is still there or indeed visible to you.  Yes, they we a little slow/abrupt in their email response to me the first time I prodded them.

No, I am not affiliated with them in any way.

There are usually two points of view to a dispute.  And I stand by my previous remarks about retail.  ~1% of customers are so unpleasant/dishonest/rude/scatty/whatever that they sour the whole experience at least in my experience.  GS support staff my have become a little jaded dealing with such people as demand has outstripped supply; I know that my customer support staff have been really quite upset over the years and I've had to 'sack' a few customers to protect those staff.  I wasn't referring to and attacking you as it happens.

Note: if GS took money before shipping goods (without warning you) then you may have redress through PayPal, though a 'business' account may be less accommodating, and I also believe that there are strict time limits on raising disputes.

Rgds

Damon

[erpel]

... general bad behaviour of a significant fraction of retail customers.  (Been there, done that, don't want to handle retail again, ever, myself.)

You don't really need retail customers to have this. You just need cluelessness; any (corporate) level will do (be it end users, or managers). 

[DamonHD]

You're quite right, indeed, but in retail the law generally assumes that the customer is right and hard-done-by and that the vendor is a scheming dishonest villain.  In B2B stuff then you can quite simply threaten court resolution if there is breach of contract (and I've occasionally had to do it even to large companies, and had results and kept on working with them).  In general B2B is much more rational and less emotional blackmail, throwing toys out of prams, and unrealistic sense of entitlement in my experience.

Rgds

Damon

[MarkF]

The globalscale web site currently has this banner -

Note:  Orders for this product will be delivered 2-3 weeks from the date of order.

This is the same banner it had when I ordered on Oct 18.  If, at that time, they knew they had a shortage, a different banner would have been helpful.  Just to set realistic expectations.

However, I'm excited to see that they may get a shipment on the 17th.  This may mean mine will ship soon.  I should have my streaming server completely written and debugged by then. 

[fedor]

That's interesting. I just checked Globalscale's site and noticed they have now written in friendly red text: "Note:  Orders for this product will be delivered 2-3 weeks from the date of order."

Bit optimistic, try at least 4+ weeks for those of us here who have posted and NOT yet received tracking numbers.

At the time I ordered, there was no such banner anywhere on their website.

I'm of the opinion they need to make it clear they have no stock and only take deposits, then notify customers when stock comes in for payment of the remaining balance. Anything less is just dodgy business. Anyway, too late now.

It looks like customers are being well and timely served by NewIT. There doesn't seem to be much info on Ionics. If anyone reading this has had dealings with Ionics share the info please. I'm keen to know if they provide service. Their Sheevaplugs look a bit nicer (not that that matters). I have plans for more purchases if I can achieve my goals with these devices.

[hungarianhc]

Just to throw my experience into the pot - I ordered two weeks ago. They happily charged my credit card, and I received no other notifications / emails after initial contact. I sent them an e-mail about three days ago, and I hope to hear back soon.

[vioan]

Yes, I can recommend NewIT. I ordered my item and I had it in the next day. Also you can get a lot of support from them. Great service.

[fedor]

That's good to know.

Almost 5 weeks and counting here. I'm hoping in the next day or so Globalscale advises us they have stock and send us tracking numbers. Not at all impressed... In Ebay parlance - "Would not buy from again".

[hungarianhc]

Yeah I agree this is REALLY pathetic customer service. Haha i've already created Debian VMs, started writing my scripts, etc. I'm ready to... actually have my product now...

I also think it's lame that they charge your credit card before they ship it. Is there any other USA retailer that carries it?

[fedor]

Looking at the retailers list:

Globalscale: have a US and China address listed
Ionics: Philippines address
NewIT: UK - seem to get their stuff via Globalscale

Yeah I'm all set up for mine as well - just waiting for the actual product.

Regarding billing credit cards before sending the item, maybe this sort of thing is legal in America? Simply bad form.