I'd like to share my poor experience dealing with these two vendors and hope that no one will have to go through this again. I also seek advice on how to resolve this issue.
I'm tagging the forum vendors involved in this transaction:
mike@x-ph.com and
Tiago@VRSF
I placed an order for two items on December 30th 2018, one N20 VRSF Street FMIC and one N55 VRSF FMIC via Extreme Powerhouse website. The N20 was for a friend and the N55 is for myself. It was my first time ordering from them. Their website looked professional enough, and I saw their "About Us" page and it seems that the owners are car enthusiasts just like the rest of us, which is typically a good sign for me. Plus
Mike@x-ph.com seems to have quite a reputation on E90post.
A few days later the N20 FMIC shipped but I got an email from Julian at x-ph saying that the N55 FMIC is on back order from VRSF and will be in stock in late January of 2019. I told Julian that I didn't mind the wait as long as they get shipped by late January as per the ETA. Julian assured me that VRSF, " are usually very precise and deliver on original ETA's given." I have ordered from VRSF before. Twice. And based on what I know they were not so great on ETAs. But it was last year and the year before, and I was willing to give them the benefit of doubt and agreed to wait.
Fast forward to January 28, I sent another email to Julian asking for a status update on my back-ordered FMIC. After saying that he needed to check with VRSF, Julian emailed me on the following day with update: my FMIC should be back in stock in a few days and then shipping out soon after. I was quite happy with the update.
On Feb 5th I received an automated email from x-ph.com saying my order was shipped. This was good I thought, sure, missed the deadline by a week but still within an acceptable time frame.
10 days later on Feb 15th the FMIC had not arrived and upon checking the tracking, only the label had been created on Feb 5th but nothing had been shipped yet. And so I sent another email to Julian asking for clarification. He answered me two days later on the 17th saying that he needed to check with VRSF.
Feb 19th I got another update from Julian. He said that there was an unknown delay from VRSF and that my order would ship at the latest by the end of that week, or early following week. And so I waited.
I checked the tracking again on Feb 27th (a week later) and it still hadn't shipped. I sent yet another email to Julian. Since Julian kept saying the delay came from VRSF, I also sent an email to Tiago at VRSF explaining my situation and asking for clarification. Tiago replied an hour or so later apologizing for the delay and that the FMIC would be in stock early the following week.
On March 5th I checked again and there was still no movement on my tracking number. I then sent another email to Tiago (VRSF). Taigo's answer was that my stuff was arriving at their warehouse the following morning (March 6th) and that it would be the first thing to ship out of the door as soon as they arrive. He also explained that this whole delay was because of a recent move from MA to FL. And so I waited. Again.
On March 8th I sent an email to Tiago asking for an explanation as to why it still hasn't shipped yet. I told him either he ships it that day or I was going to cancel my order with x-ph. There was no reply from Tiago after that.
On Sunday, March 10th I sent an email to Julian at x-ph asking to cancel my order. Got a reply a day later (not from Julian this time, from an unknown person at
support@x-ph.com) asking me to wait because it would be shipping on Wednesday. I explained that I had been in touch with Tiago from VRSF and it seemed like the product was never going to ship. I really didn't want to wait but I decided to give it one last chance. After all, it seems like this was out of x-ph's control. I told them I wanted to honor our transaction but if they don't ship by Wednesday, I wanted to switch to a different product. Hours later I got a reply from a not-so-friendly
support@x-ph.com guy saying that it doesn't matter where I bought the FMIC from, and that the delay came from the manufacturer. And that I should expect the shipment mid to end of the week. Then I thought, wait a minute, they said hours ago that it was Wednesday, now it's changed again? And why was the support guy so pissy at me. Despite my wait, I was still trying to be nice to them by not punishing them for VRSF's mistakes. But wanting to resolve this sooner than later, I reiterated that Wednesday is the deadline. If they don't ship by then, I wanted to switch to another product.
After taking a few days reading up on other products I decided to go with the Wagner Evo 1 Competition FMIC for my N55 and finally sent an email today (March 15th). Got a reply about two hours ago, and to my surprise they want to check with VRSF again before deciding whether to allow me to switch products. This tells me exactly how much they value me as a customer. After making me wait months, they are still acting in the best interest of their supplier VRSF, and not trying to immediately resolve the situation for me, their customer.
I can't tell you how extremely disappointed I am at both Extreme Powerhouse and VRSF, more at x-ph because my transaction is with them. I'm not telling them how to run their business, but as a business owner myself, I too, run into the occasional supply hiccup. Had the situation been reversed, no way I would ever make my customers wait so long for problems with my supplier, especially with their money in my pocket. I would've offered my customer a product alternative or a refund without making the customers wait so uncomfortably long. But hey, my company has only been around for 36 years, so what do I know?
It's been two and a half months since I placed my order. I think I have been patient enough. At this point I just want to cancel my order altogether and go with a different vendor. I have asked for this in my last email but have not replied received a reply. If they refuse to refund my money promptly, I'll have to call my bank to dispute the transaction, which I really don't want to do.
If someone in this forum can advise me on the best way to proceed, or maybe know these two companies or owners personally, I would be very appreciative. Again, I really hope sharing my experience here can help me get a resolution quickly, and that this kind of issue won't happen to anyone else.
Thanks so much!