| Author |
Message |
    
Emmett
Member
Post
Number: 133
Registered: 8-2001
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| Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - 8:08 pm:
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I've been a Kamado user and customer for several years
(over a dozen transactions including 2 Ks). I've had everywhere from
5-star service to down-right poor service. The majority of the time
it has been at least satisfactory.
Now, I've been cooking on
kamado-style cookers a lot longer than that. I've experience with
BGE, Grill Dome, Imperial Kamado, plus, of course, all manner of
conventional steel cookery contraptions.
I'll not make
excuses for the apparent spate of CS problems this thread would
indicate Kamado is having. However, I can say that, to me at least,
the quality, appearance, design advantages and effectiveness of the
K far surpasses anything else I've used or am aware of on the
market.
If I had it all to do over again and I knew that I
might wait anywhere from 3 to 30 weeks to receive it, I'd still
order one in a heartbeat.
LONG after any customer service
(good or bad) memories have faded, I'll still have two outstanding
cookers that will be the envy of all who see them and partake of
their issue.
While great customer service is definitely nice
icing to have on the cake, the fact is that what I want out of the
deal is a great COOKER. I've got that in spades. I'd rather Kamado
skimp on CS than skimp on the product.
Each person makes
their own choices about what's important when making buying
decisions. I try not to let short term considerations loom large
when making long-term investments.
Come to think of it, if I
were Richard's business consultant, I'd advise him to raise the
price of the Ks NOW, before the expansion, high enough that demand
did not outstrip the company's ability to offer satisfactory CS to
all customers. |
Harry
Member
Post
Number: 307
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - 9:17 pm:
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I agree. The K guys cannot afford the Customer Service
slagging they are taking. Their clients are not Babes-in-the-Woods.
I'm in a new home and fielding questions about my K's very
often. I'm being "cautious" about my responses.
Harry
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Ducky
New
member
Post Number:
5
Registered: 7-2002
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| Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - 9:19 pm:
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Well Emmett...you're one of the lucky ones I guess...more
hits than strikes with the customer service, but you've got alot of
patience and I can imagine your stress level is pretty
high...unfortunately mine is somewhat low and I get easily stressed
when people don't do what they say they will do. OK..if I knew going
it was going to take 6 weeks...no problem...I would have purchased
it knowing that off the bat, but once the 6 weeks have been pushed
forward and feeling like the customer service is giving me the
run-around...that's when I start to boil over. So right now...you
have to admit the average Kamado customer has yet to experience a
smooth-ride from beginning to end, so THAT is what is affecting my
decision not to purchase a Kamado.
So...as Richard
mentioned...I will sit on the sidelines and wait until he gets
sorted out. I'm glad he finally responded to this thread at least he
may be paying attention and realizes there are numerous disgruntled
customers out there and he needs to do something fast to rectify THE
and EVERYONE's situation.
Anyway, I will probably go ahead
and give-in to a Primo Oval as I've got to have a ceramic soon. I'm
sure the Kamado is an awesome pot, but I'm not in the position to
say which one is better. You'll obviously have folks from this camp
defending the Kamado and folks from the Primo and Egg camp defending
theirs. So who's right?? We should all be grateful that there are
choices out there.
Good luck everyone and good luck,
Richard. I hope you're still around and doing better when I get to
the point that I'm ready to try a grand-ole Kamado. You've got a
nice-looking pot there and alot of folks agree that it is a helluva
cooker, but it is the consensus that you need to concentrate on your
customer service more as your customers (and potential customers)
may begin to drop like flies if it doesn't improve in the coming
months.
All the best,
Ducky |
Henry
Member
Post
Number: 99
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 1:22 am:
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before you plop down the cash, find a Kamado, BGE, Primo,
whatever, and compare the quality of the PRODUCT. In my case, the
Thick Heavy construction sold me on a K7, not the pretty tiles. Heck
I would have ordered the Black texture model had it been available.
as far as CS goes, yes it could be better, but Once you get
everything in place, with that first slab of ribs on the grill, you
will have wished you ordered it sooner.
Just my $.02
Henry
|
Kemosabe
Associate
Member
Post Number:
19
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 4:11 am:
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Richardj,
Thanks for responding. Full moon or not, I
think the number of contributions to this thread, as well as most of
the content, show that this is not an isolated problem.
I am
glad to hear your ideas about expanding, especially in the service
department. I won't mind paying more money to receive more equable
treatment.
Please thank Deborah for me for the telephone call
letting me know that my new burner parts were shipped even though
Fedex still claims that they have no such tracking number. The call
was very much appreciated. As I've stated from my first message, the
grill itself is both unique in it's cooking ability and in it's
craftsmanship. For that I thank you.
Kemosabe |
Reklaw
New
member
Post Number:
2
Registered: 7-2002
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 1:54 pm:
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Dear Ducky.. I don't want to start any flame wars but if
you read my post on "Pre-sale" I think you would agree that my
service was more than acceptable. I have read a lot of posts before
buying a K and it is mho that if individuals have a problem with a
vendor a better place to resolve the problems is via e-mails or
phone calls. I know I would not want to be a small business man and
have to decide pricing, staffing and all the other factors and still
turn out an excellent product. |
Porkchop
Member
Post
Number: 35
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 2:50 pm:
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the issue of customer service will not go away until the
kamado company exceeds the expectations of its customers. the same
is true of any company. as far as a venue for resolution, this board
is as effective as any other method available. it may be one of the
reasons that kamado is good enough to allow this kind of thread to
evolve. also, it is a good place to vent and to realize that others
have gone thru what you are going thru now.
i'm hoping that
richard is really working on the "cracks in the system" that keep
showing up. good customer service may not pay off too much when he
considers current K owners, as there isn't much needed in options
after you buy one. but it does affect the way potential customers
shop.
i bet he's at the point right now where he just can't
really handle all the demand with the way he is staffed right now.
expanding the CS end of his business and passing that cost on
shouldn't bother him; that's how business is done.
good
customer service will eventually pay for itself! do a good CBA and
figure it out! |
Harry
Member
Post
Number: 309
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 3:19 pm:
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I do not agree with you regarding existing K owners,
Porkchop. Many of us have added to our our fleets and we all serve
as visible advertisements for the product. I had to beat the
Landscape guy [here to make quote], with a dead chicken to keep him
away from my #7.
My advice to Richard is to institute the
Customer Communications/Service/Stocking Centres RIGHT NOW and pop
the K prices to pay for this. The Target Mmarket doesn't give a rip
if their new K costs them an extra hundred bucks. This is not an
Entry Level product; Home Depot is not the competition and is a
"given" in this Forum that K is the Ultimate Ceramic Cooker "out
there".
Harry |
Ducky
New
member
Post Number:
7
Registered: 7-2002
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 4:39 pm:
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With all due respect, Reklaw...I think the number of
posts with complaints regarding Kamado's service speaks for itself
and folks are just crying out for help to other Kamado owners.
Eventhough I'm not a Kamado owner...not even a ceramic grill
owner..yet!...I really sympathize with them as I personally get
really really upset when I have to go through that.
I have
NEVER doubted the integrity of Kamado's product and I'm sure it
pairs up quite well against it's competitors, but we're talking
SUPPORT here and when you buy the product, you also buy the support
that you MAY need in the future and if there's alot of evidence that
it's no good...then why would I want to take a chance??
I
could just see it...the damn thing shows up broken and I spend
another 2 months trying to rectify the situation because noone
answers the phone, no replies to my emails, tell me something
different, etc. Uh-uh....if you've got the patience and don't mind
putting up with that...then more power to you, but sorry...not for
me.
Sure folks like yourself have good experiences...but the
MAJORITY of folks DO NOT have good experiences...so ordering a
product that's going to cost me roughly $1,000.00 with $500
down-payment and end up with crap service....yeah, I will be pissed
off...at them...AND myself because "I KNEW this was going to
happen".
You know...if I can't take on a customer's job,
I'll be honest with them and tell them I can't handle the work.
Straight-up and tell them that I'm booked up and can't provide him a
good service at this time...OK, he appreciates that and there has
been no love lost there. But! if I ACCEPT the job and don't perform
as expected...that's when the poop hits the fan and the customer
gets upset and ultimately, depending how bad the situation it is,
could damage our reputation with them.
So..what I'm saying
is...if Kamado can't handle the work right now and no means to
expand...put a stop on orders until you get back up to speed and
satisfy your CURRENT customers. I BET at least 99.9% of your clients
are by WORD-OF-MOUTH, so yeah...service for you guys is EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT.
So...are you a some kind of shareholder, Reklaw??
Just curious as you said, "I don't want to start any flame wars but
if you read my post on "Pre-sale" I think you would agree that 'my'
service was more than acceptable." Your ('my') service??
Cheers,
Ducky
P.S.: Listen to Porkchop, he knows
what he's talking about. |
Alanz
Moderator
Post
Number: 389
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 5:43 pm:
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Ducky,
What's this "...but the MAJORITY of folks
DO NOT have good experiences" stuff?
The Kamado company has
perhaps thousands of customers, and this board has 400 members. I
can count on my hands and toes the number of people who have voiced
real dissatisfaction. Furthermore the folk that make the most
indignant posts over the last several months are people that don't
own the cooker.
All I'm saying is that when things go wrong
they are newsworthy, to the point that they get mentioned here. Most
sales go smoothly and quietly appreciated.
I've been
frustrated from time to time trying to get Kamado on the phone, but
I realize that they're not sitting by the phone waiting for me to
call... they're getting real work done.
Also keep in mind
that I don't work for or have any financial interest in the Kamado
company... I'm just a customer like everyone else who has become
enthusiastic about the cookers and the company that produces them. |
Harry
Member
Post
Number: 310
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 5:49 pm:
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Good Post, Alan. It's difficult to be frustrated with a
company when you've never dealt with them, eh.
Harry
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Deborah
Moderator
Post
Number: 27
Registered: 6-2001
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 5:53 pm:
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I just want you to know Mr. Ducky that I think you are a
flamer and have no business speaking your two cents. I think you are
either related in some way to our competitors and have found a way
to bad mouth us on our own forum so that you can get your rocks off
and hopefully will just maybe get a customer or two. You and your
insincere way of feeling about the poor customers how we have
wronged them, you have know idea how hard we work to do the best job
that we can only some people fall thru the cracks. I just wish you
would go away because I do not like all your negativity and your
insults to us. I just love the way everyone says "Oh, why don't you
just raise the price, people will pay a higher price to get better
service". Who says we don't give good service, the few that feel
they were wronged will get righted to their satisfaction. Let me
tell you, most people think our prices are outrageous and only when
they receive the product is when they know what a great deal they
got.
Why don't you and Mr.Porkchop take your flaming elsewhere,
so we can get back to business with real customers. I wish you would
post your name so I will remember it so I can turn down your order
because you do not deserve the best barbecue in the world. |
Thenakedwhiz
Member
Post
Number: 66
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 6:04 pm:
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Alan,
As I work in customer support for a small
3-letter company and have for about 22 of my 27 years, I realize
that in support you only hear about the bad experiences. You don't
have the 98% of your customers call in to tell you that they aren't
having a problem. So, it looks to me like everyone has a problem
since that's all I hear. Same thing for this board discussion of
problems. So I agree that saying a majority of folks have had a bad
experience is probably not at all accurate.
On the other
hand, saying that a company "isn't waiting by the phone...they're
getting real work done" is an excuse. I wouldn't get away with it.
Support IS real work. We try sometimes to take people in support and
put them to work on development projects, but we always end up
getting them back working on support when problems arise, because
you seldom lose a customer because some improvement is late, but you
darn sure can lose them if you don't help them when they have a
problem.
And just to stay on the up and up, I think you all
know I own a BGE, but I don't have any opinion of their
service/support because I haven't needed it yet. The problems I've
had have been dealt with by my dealer, so I can't say that I have an
opinion of BGE support. Hence, I've no basis to compare the two
companies and I'm not trying to criticize Kamado and praise BGE. My
comments are intended to be generic.
That said, whatcha'
cookin' tonight?!
TNW |
Davec
Associate
Member
Post Number:
19
Registered: 3-2002
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 7:29 pm:
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I received my #7 and #1 in late April, and I am satisfied
to date with the customer service I have received. I haven't posted
on this topic before, just because it appeared that several others
did, with the same view as mine. And there is no way I would ever
give up my k's! |
Ducky
New
member
Post Number:
8
Registered: 7-2002
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| Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 7:51 pm:
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Alanz..you're right...the number of the members on this
board probably do not reflect the number of clients they actually
have...therefore it probably doesn't reflect the number of clients
that are either happy...or mad, so ultimately you will never hear
those stories as well.
Deborah...I am not here to flame your
board and this will be my last post on this thread to prove it. I
believe this discussion is at its end and there's no reason to beat
a dead horse. I also do not work for any of your competitors and I
believe that would be silly move if I actually did.
This all
started with Kemosabe's post and how he could not get you to respond
to him despite his efforts to contact you; I understand that his
issues have been resolved and that is excellent news. I am in no way
affiliated with him nor do I wish to harm his order in any way.
I'm sorry to get you upset, but yet I'm glad to hear that
you are aware of the treatment some of your customers feel like they
are receiving and Kamado's effort to join in the discussions and
hear their voices.
Folks...gotta run. Have a good weekend!
Ducky |
Kemosabe
Associate
Member
Post Number:
24
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 5:34 am:
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Footnote:
My "issues" have not yet been resolved. I
am still waiting for the proper parts for my new burner which was
supposed to have come installed in my Kamado when it arrived months
ago. Now excuse me, I must go cook. 
Kemosabe |
Spongebob
Member
Post
Number: 44
Registered: 6-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 7:12 am:
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Kemo
Were you the one that was actually given a
tracking number?
bob
|
Kemosabe
Associate
Member
Post Number:
25
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 7:50 am:
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Yes. lol ... I'm the guy who started this thread! lol ...
I didn't mean to personally injure anyone. I'm talking about a grill
and a business here. But to answer your question: Yes. I was given a
tracking number and told that my stuff was being picked up by Fedex
"in a few minutes." Fedex has no knowledge of such a tracking
number. They did say "maybe it hasn't been brought to our sorting
station yet." But that was Monday when I was given my tracking
number and told that the truck was on it's way to pick up my order
and deliver it to me. Hmmm?
Kemosabe
|
Porkchop
Member
Post
Number: 36
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 11:21 am:
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why would i be considered a "flamer"? first of all, i own
a K and i love it. second of all, i complement your openness to
allow this kind of thread to go as far as it has. this would never
happen on BGE forum, just because BGE is very thin skinned when it
comes to comparison shopping. so, kudos!
HOWEVER, i stand by
my statement. CS can be a very big deal. i've dealt with customers
(in a past life) that have had standing backorders for 6 months to a
year. they are unpleasant to deal with. i will tell you EXACTLY my
advice to potential customers. if you are looking for something
bigger than a BGE (#5), go with Kamado and call til you wear out
your fingers. i was ready to settle for a large BGE (and, yes, i
mean settle), even tho it wasn't as large as i wanted. my friends
did an end-run around me and bought the #7. furthermore, the one
friend that was spearheading this deal had to call several times
because he was given different delivery times each time he called.
that is very frustrating to a customer, especially when a deposit
has been made. btw, i have no problem with the idea of half up
front. makes perfect sense.
i have heard it suggested that
these slips (some of them very major slips) should be put down to
"growing pains", and i am inclined to believe that is the case.
regardless, i don't foresee needing a whole lot of customer
service myself, as i am pretty well set until i decide to get a #9
(or bigger) to go next to Kong. i'm sure by the time i'm ready for
that, these issues will be ironed out, or (hopefully) you will be so
successful that i can go down to the pool store here in town and buy
it instead of an egg!
so, anyway, i don't feel like a
flamer! i like my K. buy one and be a pest! |
Kemosabe
Member
Post
Number: 26
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 3:05 pm:
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Yeah, I like my Kamado too! I LOVE my Kamado! Best taste,
best moisture, best looks.
Kemosabe |
Kemosabe
Member
Post
Number: 27
Registered: 5-2002
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| Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 3:07 pm:
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It's the grill that gives me the thrill. It's the service
that makes me nervous. |
Glenn
Member
Post
Number: 92
Registered: 7-2001
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| Posted on Sunday, July 28, 2002 - 7:46 pm:
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Well,
I think that all of these problems could be
solved by a couple of million dollars. I think the "problem" is
finnished goods inventory, there isn't enough! Because of this if
ANYTHING happens in the supply chain everything gets messed up. Now
the only way to fix this problem is to build up inventory, but how
can you do that when you need more space, more employees, more raw
materials and more Richards? Building a company one K at a time is a
slow and troubled process, but that is why we all love our K's,
because they are built one at a time! My guess is that if Richard
wanted to contract to have them built in Mexico and drop shipped to
the customer the supply would go up and the quality would probably
go down. Would any of you know the difference, if you didn't have
one to compare with? Who knows? I too work in customer support. The
company that I work for has customer support as a part of marketing,
so I get to see the sales as well as the support issues and I can
tell you that throwing more money at a supply chain issue won't get
the job done. Now is you want say your stainless burner right now,
maybe Richard should offer you the option; for another 30 dollars
you can have it Fedex'ed from Indonesia. It is a constant trade off
between cost and availability.
My thought is that if you want
the right to complain about something, maybe you should have a
stake. I think that everyone would be happier if Ducky bought a
Primo or something else. Because I am not sure that he would ever be
happy with the service that he gets here!
Right now Kammado
company carries half of the inventory costs. I think that a lot of
supply chain issues could be ironed out if they required 100%
payment up front. That would at least supply a cash infusion that
would make expansion easier. Charging more for a K so you can hire
another person to tell you that your part isn't available won't
work.
So Ducky good luck with your new family, relationships are
sometimes difficult, maybe they will be a better fit.
Glenn | |
What
is wrong with Kamado customer se...
