doing business with businesses

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doing business with businesses

Postby Mutt » Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:00 am

Not only with forum members but with businesses in general. I have a beef with a company called SwainTech Coatings. They advertise in the AMCA magazine too.

Here's the story

I sent them a pair of 45 pistons for my stroker motor I am building. It cost me $7.30 to send the pistons to them. Cost was $40 each to ceramic the tops and teflon the skirts. I had no problems with the price. So I go to the PO to ship the little package and I enclose a
US Postal money order for $90 ($80 for the service and $10 for shipping, which is nearly $3 more than it actually cost me to ship it.)

A few weeks later, I get a phone call, telling me my pistons are done and that I need to call them with a credit card number. So I called and inquired. They got the Postal money order, but said I owe additional shipping. ????? They said I still owe them an additional $18.50 (for a total of $28.50). I asked why and they said that is what UPS charged them. They tell me that they ship THOUSANDS of packages each year (so that means they get a large UPS discount, pay far less than if ya don't have an account) I know, because my wife is manager of a store that ships UPS/ FedEx for the public.

I call my buddy in town that has a UPS account (motorcycle restoration and parts shop) and only sends maybe a thousand packages a year to get me the price to send this same exact package back to SwainTech. Box is 4"x 4"x 8" and weighs 2 lbs. My friend tells me it cost $9.97, just less than $10.

So I am talking to SwainTech and asked the guy to "prove" to me that UPS actually charged SwainTech $28.50, by sending me a copy of their UPS invoice showing the charge. He could redact everything but the UPS header and the line that showed my shipping charge.

The dude tells me " I will send you a copy of an invoice" . I asked him if it will be the one that UPS sends to them every month, and he says no, just an invoice showing that SwainTech charged me $28.50 to ship my box back to me !!! I get very pissed when someone blatantly STEALS my hard-earned money. I'm sure there are a lot of whiny cry-baby liberals out there that would just brush it off, but I ain't one of them. So I commence to tell the guy that if he refuses to provide me a copy of the invoice from UPS, that he is indeed, not only a thief (by him marking up his shipping charge by an additional 200%); but a lying thief as well. He tells me I must pay, I told him to come down to my place and tell me that to my face, of the which he wouldn't and for good reason. Thieves used to get beaten; LITERALLY. It was a deterrent, so the thief would think twice, before stealing from some one again.....................

So instead of losing $287 ($190 for the initial cost of the pistons and shipping to me from T&O & another $7 to send them out plus the $90 I had already sent SwainTech) I figured it would be in my best interest to pay the extorted fee. So, very angry at this thief, I paid the additional extorted charge.

So I get my pistons in, with a long letter from the jerk. The nerve of this ASSHAT. He tells me that I am the only customer they have ever had that disputed their "shipping charges" and that I had no right to be angry at him !!!! (he STOLE my hard-earned cash) and voice my opinion to him. That I should have called first and asked him about how much they charge to return my parts,etc ???? I already knew what it cost, so why should I have called ? He says they ship only UPS, because they had a problem with the PO not wanting to pay the insurance when they screwed up and lost or damaged the goods.

I emailed them back to let them know that I have had bad experiences with both UPS and FedEx in the past and that the reason they used UPS is really because UPS comes to your shop and picks up the packages and gives you a rather large discount, so ya don't got to go to the PO and that the packages from UPS don't have a $ amount on them , so he could charge whatever he wanted and no one would be the wiser (unless that person actually checked into the matter, which I did) I told him USPS also gives you free packaging, free tape, free labels and free pickup at your business; did I mention FREE?????

I gave them this senario:
So SwainTech, send me a job. I'll charge ya $5 for the service but I will charge you $95 for shipping the 2 lb. package back to you, because that is what I feel like charging, no other reason.
No one in their right mind would pay it right? I am 100% certain SwainTech would not. He didn't care

Not only all this, but one piston has a scuff of teflon on the skirt and a missing splotch of ceramic on the crown. I explained this to them and told them to send me a return UPS label, so they could fix their screw up (bad quality control). They refuse to answer the email or fix their screw up. I still have their letter and the pistons.

So BEWARE of the thieves at SwainTech Coating. You will get unfinished parts back and they will stiff ya for extra profit on the shipping, then when ya call them on it, they ignore ya totally.


sincerely,
Pissed in Texas
Mutt
 
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby Lisa » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:18 am

I don't blame you a bit, plain and simple common sense you got ripped off big time.
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby LDB » Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:57 am

Unless they told you in advance, and you agreed, that actual shipping charges may be higher when the shipment actually takes place, then they should be the ones to eat it in my opinion.

They said that UPS charged them. So I take that to mean that they had already deposited that money order and shipped the parts to you. If so, no one could blame you for not paying the extra shipping as it is not your business to have to determine such things. You took their word for it at the outset when you agreed to do business. If they don't know how to figure the correct charges in advance, that's their problem not yours.

If they have a UPS account, they do get a discount. But to be certain what it actually cost, you can call UPS and inquire as to the cost of a 2 pound package at regualr ground rates from their addresss and zip code to yours. Then ask what would the amount be if they had an account.
LDB
 

Re: doing business with businesses

Postby LDB » Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:20 pm

Correction, I didn't read your post just right. They said, "That I should have called first and asked him about how much they charge to return my parts, etc. ????"

Wrong! The bast**d should have told you up front what the total turnkey price would be without you asking. Otherwise, it's a typical case of "Here, fix it for me" and they might see an opportunity to take advantage if nothing is said about the total turnkey price. Makes a person think, if that's how they do business then how else might they seek to rip people off?
LDB
 

Re: doing business with businesses

Postby Mutt » Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:34 pm

I even sent the guy $10 for shipping, versus my $7.30. I guess my giving him $2.70 for nothing wasn't enough. I' would have even sent him a freakin' flat rate bubble envelope folded up inside the bubble envelope I sent the pistons in,with the stamp already paid for and attached to avoid having to pay him a 300% profit when he did absolutely NOTHING to deserve the extra cash.. I paid $7.30, he charged $28.50, right at a 300% mark up for no reason, other than to make money.

I know a few other companies that will fraud ya on the shipping. I got banned from buying parts from one major vendor's website that specializes in 45 parts, because I called their bluff on "free shipping" and the dude's wife got pissed !!!
Mutt
 
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby LDB » Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:53 pm

"I know a few other companies that will fraud ya on the shipping."


The smart ones who want to rip you off call it S&H or "shipping and handling."
LDB
 

Re: doing business with businesses

Postby Mutt » Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:22 pm

Yeah, I have yet to get this.
People have a business that SELLS stuff to people all over the US. This is pretty much their sole business. The people in Washington State ain't driving to Texas to pick up a $12 part. The customer pays the $12 and the part is theirs. But the seller can't hold onto the part. The customer needs them to mail it.
They sell stuff every day, so they ship stuff pretty much EVERY day. That is part of the job,otherwise the buyer would not buy it from them if they just let it sit in the shop for eternity. They buy parts at whole sale price and sell them for retail price. That is how one makes money. UPS, FedEx and the Post Office ALL will come to your business and pick up your packages .

The Post Office has a online postage program where ya just type in the address and the package size and you can print out the postage label right from your printer. They also will give you free boxes and envelopes, free tape, free labels with your company name on them and pick up the packages from your shop EVERY day for free. So what makes someone think that gives them the right to charge 3 times the price, because they stick something into a box and put a piece of tape on it?
Mutt
 
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby Maxcapacity » Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:11 pm

To be consistent you have to acknowledge that the Postal Service is also over charging you on shipping even when you paid their exact charge. They have to over charge you in order to offer all those "free" boxes right?
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby Mutt » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:26 am

Yes, PO is ridiculous too. If you don't use their "flat rate " box, and the box you do use is smaller, it cost WAY more to send it. They hired someone to figure out the ultimate box sizes, that almost nothing fits in, you generally have to use the next size up flat rate box, which basically doubles the cost...............
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Re: doing business with businesses

Postby chuckthebeatertruck » Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:34 pm

Yep, this is all too common today -- especially on fleabay and the notorious "free shipping" from Flatland MC (who I believe has now banned me for life because I called Kurt out for ripping me off on a set of connecting rods).


As to Swain Tech -- this is about the fourth story I've heard about them. The work is apparently good; but they are not as "friendly" as their ads state.


So, I cheated and bought techline's ceramic coating to do it myself. Cost was about $30 for what appears to be a lifetime supply. Add to that buying 120 grit Aluminum Oxide for $10 from the ceramics store and the total all in for me was just about $50.

I coated the valves, valve chest, exhaust ports, and piston tops of my UL --- and still have 2/3rds of the "small" bottle.

No idea yet how it will hold up . . . but I'm also not worried.
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