# What do you guys think????



## bigjay (Nov 17, 2009)

I was flipping through my Fingerstyle Guitar Magizine the other day and saw an ad for Alaska Pik's and decided to order some their web site to give them a try. That was Sunday past. Thursday I recieve this 

"Order received. Not much for an address on your order. Please clarify."

I sent them the address and added 

"I am kind of bummed out that it took until Thursday evening to receive this
I placed the order Sunday night and had hoped the order would have shipped by now. Looks like it would be Monday before that happens now."

I was eager to receive the new picks and try them out.

Friday morning I received a refund from pay pal with a _note from merchant_ " Not worth doing" and an e-mail from Alaska pick saying.

"We are not an insta-gratification service here. Two weeks or more is the
norm, and more, for out of country. I'm canceling your order with full
refund. I know when something is more trouble than it's worth."

Was I out of line or are some of you shocked as I am about my order being canceled.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Things that are painfully obvious to some are completely unknown to others.

Customer service is a dying art. These guys have missed that boat.

They'll be out of business in a year with an attitude like that.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

bigjay said:


> I was flipping through my Fingerstyle Guitar Magizine the other day and saw an ad for Alaska Pik's and decided to order some their web site to give them a try. That was Sunday past. Thursday I recieve this
> 
> "Order received. Not much for an address on your order. Please clarify."
> 
> ...


I don't know, I'd say it was a mutually benificial parting of the ways.


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## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

i dont think you did or said anything wrong. i mean your the client and you had a concern which you voiced approprietely,youd think theyd be happy for the input.

they could have just explained that it takes time,in a polite way and tried to keep you as a customer. it sounds like my ex-wife during her period is running this company.

its not like picks are this incredibly booming market where you can afford to tell everyone to eff off. i mean ffs,they make and sell picks. add being a jerk to your customers to that and its a real recipe for the "why did we even bother starting this buisness again? " award.

Bobby


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## bigjay (Nov 17, 2009)

If I was the business owner and had received this I might have replied " I am glad to hear that you are eager to try out our fantastic picks. Please be assured that they are on the way. Its just that it takes us a bit longer when shipping out of the country. Rest assured you soon will be enjoying our fantastic product"

Or I guess " Not worth the bother" works too.


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## brimc76 (Feb 14, 2008)

I've had replies like this from a few American companies when they find out that you live outside the U.S., but fortunately this is not the way most of them operate. What kind of pick were they bigjay? I have 3 of the aLaska Pik fingerpicks that I bought from Elderly's in Michigan but I didn't like them. If that's what you were after pm me with your address and I'll send them to you.

Brian


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

There are some US based companies that will not ship outside the US, but they usually will tell you on their websites, and usually they will be polite about it. I have emailed some companies I have seen online about finding their product in Canada-or if I would only to be able to order it.

Some have responded--some did not. One indicated they can not send their products outside the US.

One indicated that their products were available locally--so I checked out the store and bought some (Picks) I had questions about the picks after I bought them--and they emailed back and said they had changed the ingredients of the picks and sent me a sample of the new ones. I sent them back an email of thanks and a review of them.

It was a very pleasant experience, and I wasn't spending much , but they treated me like an individual and were very polite and went above & beyond what I expected. That store no longer stocks those picks--maybe they didn't sell enough, but having had that experience I wouldn't hesitate to order from them directly if I need more.

That company is Stash Picks. I like their double picks and Wicked picks--I just wish they made them in heavier gauges as well.

aLaska Pik--as they spell it on their site, has a lot to learn.


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

I don't understand why they don't forget retail sales and just sell wholesale to 
cover a broader market without the hassle.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

maybe it's just my opinion, but when you're in alaska, shipping "outside the U.S." should not be a concern. it's not like he's part of the continental 48. sounds to me like he's got an anger management problem.


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## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

cheezyridr said:


> maybe it's just my opinion, but when you're in alaska, shipping "outside the U.S." should not be a concern. it's not like he's part of the continental 48. sounds to me like he's got an anger management problem.


i agree with the last part of what you are saying,and i dont think it changes anything. but just to be clear,they arent in alaska,they are in spokane,wa

Bobby


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## liderc (Aug 16, 2010)

You can mail order custom made glass picks from a guy off youtube and he's from Vancouver and the customer service is great i ordered one and it came 9 days after i mailed the money order he said he'd warrantee it as long as i owned it and i haven't had any problems and this was a year ago.. here is the link: YouTube - Engraved Glass Guitar Picks 2010


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## liderc (Aug 16, 2010)

You don't have to order guitar picks from the states. To buy custom picks just go on youtube and type in 'glass pick', you will find all the essential info there. This company is run by local musicians in Vancouver so please stop handing your money to the americans they don't respect our country period(.) and we're in a recession because of them. No american came up with the idea of a guitar pick that doubles as a guitar slide +(plus more). And I doubt these guys are going to let any one use their patent anytime soon.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

liderc said:


> please stop handing your money to the americans they don't respect our country period(.) and we're in a recession because of them.


maybe you need to go to your happy place? we (americans) actually have alot more love for canada than what i see from other folks here in toronto and ontario in general. i can understand not liking our government. we don't like them either. 
but c'mon dude, we ain't ALL bad. some of us (like myself, for example) are good looking, witty, intelligent, talented, humble people. and, seein as how you brought it up, it's not our fault canada is in a recession. it's our fault that america is in one though. believing others are responsible for for what one does to oneself only serves to keep them from fixing the decision that put them behind the 8-ball in the first place.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Bobby said:


> i agree with the last part of what you are saying,and i dont think it changes anything. but just to be clear,they arent in alaska,they are in spokane,wa
> 
> Bobby


Yanks were never that good at geography...remember the famous Britney Spears quote...""I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada."...that just about sums it up...(sorry cheezyridr...ha ha ha)


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

liderc said:


> You can mail order custom made glass picks from a guy off youtube and he's from Vancouver and the customer service is great i ordered one and it came 9 days after i mailed the money order he said he'd warrantee it as long as i owned it and i haven't had any problems and this was a year ago.. here is the link: YouTube - Engraved Glass Guitar Picks 2010


Are you promoting yourself here? The email address to order those picks is [email protected] and your name on here is liderc. Either you really love the picks or you're just pretending to be a customer.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

jimihendrix said:


> Yanks were never that good at geography...remember the famous Britney Spears quote...""I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada."...that just about sums it up...(sorry cheezyridr...ha ha ha)


hahahaha ok, so i switched my brain off on that one. i just *ass*umed that with the name "alaska pik's" that they would actually be in alaska. let me serve as a reminder to all never to assume. now i feel like this person:

[YOUTUBE]K8g3Gb5-jaY[/YOUTUBE]


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

kat_ said:


> Are you promoting yourself here? The email address to order those picks is [email protected] and your name on here is liderc. Either you really love the picks or you're just pretending to be a customer.


Hahaha, nabbed!

Back to the topic: I don't mind buying US if the product warrants it, but I certainly prefer to buy Canadian. It's no different than any country trying to keep their economy afloat, but the US isn't responsible for anyone else's financial problems any more than a dozen other reasons that can be rhymed off.

As for alaska pik, it's funny that it would have taken exactly the same amount of time to write a cordial email along the lines of "we custom make our picks per order, so they take a bit of time, etc etc." Like Bobby said, they're freakin' picks! What's the margin on one that you can afford to turn back customers? Then again, maybe Mr. Alaska Pik is independently wealthy and can afford to pick and choose his clientele.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

cheezyridr said:


> hahahaha ok, so i switched my brain off on that one. i just *ass*umed that with the name "alaska pik's" that they would actually be in alaska. let me serve as a reminder to all never to assume. now i feel like this person:
> 
> [YOUTUBE]K8g3Gb5-jaY[/YOUTUBE]


Hahahaha, that vid is golden! I love how she refers to Americans as "US Americans." 

But...maybe, just maybe...she's differentiating between CONUS Americans and Alaskan/Hawaiian Americans, or making a political commentary about expatriates living outside of American borders?


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

hollowbody said:


> Hahahaha, that vid is golden! I love how she refers to Americans as "US Americans."
> 
> But...maybe, just maybe...she's differentiating between CONUS Americans and Alaskan/Hawaiian Americans, or making a political commentary about expatriates living outside of American borders?


i'm going to put my money on blind panic. hahahahaha


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The central problem, as I see it, is that ANYBODY can throw up a website that makes the smallest basement/bedroom/cottage/hobby-industry look like there is an army of operators waiting to take your order, and a 10 square-block production facility, when in reality it is 1 person who has a day job, and when they get a cold the "business" is closed.

There are several things that emerge from this:

1) Customers approach the business with unreasonable expectations (and "It's been a week and I haven't heard back from them" is one of the most common.)

2) The person who can plan out the business, but should NOT be the person in charge of customer relations is, unfortunately, the only person available to handle customer relations. It is rare that any single person possesses all skills pertinent to the functioning of an organization.

3) I imagine all the people who work the phones and order lines at Mouser run into a "difficult" customer from time to time, but the universe of difficult customers is finite, and is shared amongst all those people working the order desk. When it's a 1-man cottage industry, anything and everything that has *ever* gone wrong with respect to customer relations is aimed squarely at the same person, so their fuse gets a little shorter every day, without having much chance to grow back. Couple that with no other choices for who is going to handle customer relations, and you have a problem. If it wasn't their business, and they were just someone working the customer service line, they could quit and find another job where the calls are generally a little less probematic. But it's their business and they can't quit, or else they lose their investment. And that can make some folks easily resentful.


Now, NONE of this is to put the blame on you. If the dealer has to operate under severe constraints, they should draw that to the customer's attention on their website, so that nobody has unrealistic expectations, and dealer/customer rapport can be maintained. Hell, for that matter, you could even post "Look, I'm a crusty sumbitch, but I don't mean nothing by it. Please be patient with me while I iron out my character flaws, and enjoy our fine products.". So, the retailer has some responsibility here.

At the same time, if it was a physical store that you walked into, and the sign said "Ralph's Guitar Gadgets", and it was a cluttered messy hole in the wall with one guy there, wearing a bowling shirt that said "maybe I'm Ralph, maybe not", it wouldn't be hard work to scale back your expectations. It's the way that the web can misdirect about business capabilities and physical places you *can't* see that you have to be on guard against. I.E., don't expect too much.

Now, as for this particular case, I can empathize with the owner thinking "Oh jeez, another one of these impossible-to-please 'Why can't I get overnight priority shipping?' twerps!". At the same time, whatever his prior experience has led hm to think, he needs to remember that every customer he's cheezed off is potential (and likely) someone who is going to post something like what started this thread. Sometimes you just gotta zip it, bite your lip, and accept that customers can't always be your dream date, and running a business is hard.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Wow, saying, "We decided it was more trouble than it was going to be worth" when you simply expressed concern about their turnaround time for an email about your address is basically saying "F*** you". 

Recently, I wanted to order a hat from an American online retailer. On their website their policy is that they don't ship to outside the USA. Fair enough, but it doesn't say they won't SELL to a person in Canada. Since I was willing to have this shipped to a parcel receiving place on the USA side, I tried to place an order but their form didn't even allow me to put in a non-USA billing address. Bummer. So, I emailed the company a polite message to let them know of my disappointment at not being able to put in an order. The next day, I got an email from a manager of customer relations for the company with a phone number and she asked me to phone her. I called and this manager was the nicest person ever. She apologized for the limitations of their forms and gave me a method to work around it. She took down my billing address info and told me she would watch for the order and then manually update it once it was in the system. I was blown away by their customer care and the willingness to help a person trying to buy a $20 item.


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