I recently placed an order via the 3DR store, and was pretty disappointed with how it was handled.
One of the items was backordered, so I contacted customer service and asked for an estimated dispatch time. It was only a few days, so I was happy to wait. I had paid for express shipping, so I had expected the parts to arrive a couple of days after the 're-stock' date.
10 days after the 're-stock' date, my order was still on 'backorder', despite every part being instock. I emailed customer support, and within an hour my order had shipped, with an apology about the delay.
The order arrives, but one of the parts I had specifically requested was in the wrong configuration. Customer service told me that the requested part had gone out of stock, so they sent me this one to fill my order. If I wanted to change it, I had to pay to post it back (international postage, not cheap), and they wouldn't post me a replacement until they received it.
From my perspective, this indicates that there are some systematic problems with 3DR's service. Are orders that have components on backorder being set aside? When a component returns to stock, are backorders being prioritised? Why are incorrect parts knowingly being sent, without contacting buyers first? If 3DR admits that it is their mistake, why are they punishing their customer to rectify it?
Replies
I have had a similar experience. I placed an order and got an email that the shirt I ordered wasn't available. I replied and said that is fine, just credit me back for the shirt and ship the order. I got the credit and thought everything was resolved. About 4 days later I decided to check on my order status and it said "On Hold". I sent an email and asked why it was on hold and when it would ship. I received the following;
"Thank you for contacting 3DRobotics, we are very sorry for the delay in our response there was an issue with shipping but it got resolved, your package will leave the warehouse after 5pm today, here is you Tracking Number:"
Seems like the ball was dropped and a generic "shipping issue" excuse was used. Not a huge deal but when I am paying about double for the same product I can get other places, it is kinda irksome. By the way, are they outsourcing customer service? The one time I called in for tech support it was kinda difficult to understand the young lady and was told someone would have to call me back. That coupled with some of the wording/grammar used in official communications and posts lead me to believe so.
Well I can certainly sympathize with you and the many others having problems with ordering and getting what you want. I have been trying to order just 1 APM 2.6 and my first ublox GPS since early August. I foolishly thought that even when visiting the US in August I could drop by 3DR and perhaps get one GPS unit. Sadly no. In late September I checked the online store and found that even though the web site stated 1-3 day order response, when it came to the check out the parts where showing out of stock on the GPS and APM2.6. I did write a few emails to 3DR and they responded quickly enough and were helpful but even today I am still unable to order the parts had verified by email a few days ago are in.
This time the online store will not let me log in. I tried to reset the password and put in a valid email and nothing came through. An hour later I tried again a still no email reset response. Is anyone having a similar issue?
Regarding orders not being what you want I thought I would order the older APM2.2 last year and solder the board myself. I figured the short supply of ready built APM's back then would allow my order to go through faster, but it was treated like the others and I waited 6 weeks (backorder) for the parts which the store confirmed the were in stock at the time.
Hopefully things will improve. I have also experienced the wrong part situation too. On receiving my 2 telemetry modules which came through fast enough, some of the DIL pin sets were tin plated not gold as per the web site photo and description. I mentioned this had happened, but never received any replacement pin sets. Whilst the ones supplied worked fine, it is not the point. You expect to receive the quality and specification of your order not a substitute. I would of course be understanding if there was a note saying we placed these in your order to get you by now and will replace the item when back in stock. No such luck in my case. So now today I have a mix of different pins types.
There is no doubting the technology, it is just really hard to get your hands on even one unit these days. I hope my latest order placement issue can be sorted.
I ordered the 3dr telemetry kit, shipping 1-3 days cool! After 5-6 days and no kit, I email for status, no answer but the order page shows on hold? hmm.
After 8 days and 2 unanswered email inquires I call to cancel and request refund which was promptly handled over the phone.
Not a huge deal as this just a hobby but come on guys, I have had emails and live chats with customer service in China answered within minutes-hours? nothing worse than being ignored, you can do better.
At the minimum don't take the order if it is out-of-stock unless back-order is agreed upon with the customer.