Bad Buying Experience

[marksbonneville]

Originally Posted by sherco

When I called the seller to ask why there was huge restocking charge there was NO MENTION of any problem with the seat---only the marking on the outside of the box.

Now this weasel has come up with a story that the seat was not "as new" because I put it on my 1200GS to see if it fit. I think he realized the "marked on the box" reason for the fee was not going to fly so he had to come up with something else.

This ain't over......

Good Luck as I also think you were overcharged, return shipping would have been reasonable, but look at it this way you may have saved others from similar bad dealings.

[Yossarian™]

Originally Posted by sherco

When I called the seller to ask why there was huge restocking charge there was NO MENTION of any problem with the seat---only the marking on the outside of the box.

Now this weasel has come up with a story that the seat was not "as new" because I put it on my 1200GS to see if it fit. I think he realized the "marked on the box" reason for the fee was not going to fly so he had to come up with something else.

This ain't over......

I'm sure it's not over, but that does not mean that you are 100% right and that the vendor is 100% wrong.

If you did not check Sargent's measurements or actually see one of their low seats before you bought off the internet, then how is the vendor to blame that the product you bought is not what you thought it would be? They shipped the exact item you ordered; it was returned in not-new condition, and you want them to eat the costs? It'd sure be nice if we could all test-fit items to our bikes without any consequence if we decided we didn't like it, but that's not the real world.

I appreciate the PSSS manager's responses on this thread. They were factual and not emotional. In my opinion, the vendor has acted responsibly and reasonably in this matter.

Sometimes, we don't get what we want. Lord knows it's happened to me, and I know I'm not the only one.

[sherco]

I was somewhat surprised by the reasonable and measured tone of the sellers posting. It was a very different tone from the rude and contentious guy I talked to when I called them for an explanation of the restocking fee.

We all do a tremendous amount of business today via the internet and we blindly give out our credit card numbers to nameless/faceless people, and trust the system, hoping we don';t get ripped off, cheated, etc.

I've been around for a long while, and I have never contested a charge on my credit card, I have never filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, I have never sued or been sued, I pay my bills, follow the rules and don't look for fights.

Powersports Superstore of Austin Tx may not qualify for the title of "crooks" but they certainly are "ethically challenged". I returned the seat to them 9/19 ($26 return shipping). They then charge me an additional $82 restocking fee, specifically because I wrote the Return Authorization # on the shipping box. Then through this thread, the seller now has creatively claimed the fee was because of installation marks (ie: damage) and the seat cannot be sold as new. Check this guy's site and see if you find a discounted Sargent seat for a GS1200----you won't. He is clever, creative, and his postings here show he is glib and articulate----he just isn't truthful.

Buyer Beware of Powersport Superstore in Austin Tx.

[scooteraug02]

Originally Posted by Jnich77

I'm sorry... but if you pay over 300.00 for a seat, then piss and moan about a restocking fee... then you really need to reconsider your purchases.

What does this mean? Where are the under $300 seats?

[sherco]

Just got a call from Jason at Powersports and he offered a compromise /settlement. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

[Ride4Coffee]

Originally Posted by PSSS Guy

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031BL8II

If you look at that Amazon listing, below the "Sold by" line, there's a link for "10 new from $305.24". This seat is the first one listed, Condition states "New", sold by Powersport SuperStore.

Then again, I really want to buy this seat, especially at $305. Alas, my Roadcrafter is only three weeks old, so I think I'm done until Christmas (of 2013).

[heirhead]

Hello,

WOW!!! lots of action.
To bad Costco or Nordstrum doesn't sell all ADV products. You could just buy a Sargent and use it for 2 yrs then return when a new Corbin comes out. No restocking fee, no shipping costs. You could also have a Polish and Coke while you waited in line. Glad Jason is doing a Michael Jackson moonwalk, (backwards), as some will think that the company not having a used seat on Amazon looks a little Charlie Tuna and over a Benjie in costs to return is way to North. Maybe someone did buy it already but just the facts Mam!

Heirhead

[sailah]

^^^^^^That has to be one of the best responses I have ever read!!

[OffBeat]

So the seller goes through all the effort to put up a "used" seat on Amazon for us to look at??? They even sign up for an account here on ADV so they can respond to this thread??? All so they don't look bad by charging the restocking fee??? How much do they have invested in not trying to look like a tight wad business at this point??? Can you actually take an item out of original packaging to look at with out damaging packaging??? OP should have put their name in the thread title so that more search engines could stumble across it! Obviously this business is more worried about us than the customer that spent his money at their business.

[markgsnw]

Originally Posted by Yossarian™

I'm sure it's not over, but that does not mean that you are 100% right and that the vendor is 100% wrong.

If you did not check Sargent's measurements or actually see one of their low seats before you bought off the internet, then how is the vendor to blame that the product you bought is not what you thought it would be? They shipped the exact item you ordered; it was returned in not-new condition, and you want them to eat the costs? It'd sure be nice if we could all test-fit items to our bikes without any consequence if we decided we didn't like it, but that's not the real world.

I appreciate the PSSS manager's responses on this thread. They were factual and not emotional. In my opinion, the vendor has acted responsibly and reasonably in this matter.

Sometimes, we don't get what we want. Lord knows it's happened to me, and I know I'm not the only one.

I agree with Yossarian (that would make a great T-Shirt BTW) and would take it a step further. US consumer law (I believe the Moss-Magnuson Act of 1975) says that once the product ships from the vendor, you own it. As Yo said, the vendor shipped you exactly what you ordered. That seat belongs to you. You decide you don't want it, you sell it to someone else (Craigslist, advrider, etc.). End of story.


But you decided to sell it back to the people you bought it from and expect to get 100% back on it. What are they supposed to do with it? Sell it as a new seat? That won't fly, the guy/gal who buys it is going to say "whoa, that's not a new seat, WTFUWT?" If you weren't willing to sell your seat yourself and you weren't happy with the vendor's offer, why didn't you get your seat back and sell it to someone else? It's...your...seat.



This kinda crap is exactly what is killing retailing in the US and killing American capitalism. Buyers take no responsibility for their purchasing decisions and expect the retailer to absorb the buyer's caprice. Keep buying mail order and the local vendors are out of business. Keep insisting on lowest price above all else and everyone goes out of business except for the likes of Amazon, who have so f***ing much money that they can absorb hits on returns.



And aiding it all are internet forums like Advrider, where anyone can say anything about anyone without any fear of recourse or any sense of personal responsibility. We can destroy any business in a day through the libel that we're free to post here. The site host has no legal responsibility for the content. Any vendor that doesn't do exactly what we want when we want it is scum, a rip off artist, the lowest of the low. Even if they were a hero yesterday.



The high entertainment value of this thread is the image of the OP with "this ain't over", adjusting his coon skin cap, ramming another ball into the musket, and taking potshots at the Hatfields and McCoys from the front porch. The rest of us are left to enjoy the distopian future of no local motorcycle stores, no small businesses, no skilled individuals making high quality products for our motors, eagerly awaiting our made-in-China tat arriving from Amazon.

[roundtripping]

Originally Posted by markgsnw

I agree with Yossarian (that would make a great T-Shirt BTW) and would take it a step further. US consumer law (I believe the Moss-Magnuson Act of 1975) says that once the product ships from the vendor, you own it. As Yo said, the vendor shipped you exactly what you ordered. That seat belongs to you. You decide you don't want it, you sell it to someone else (Craigslist, advrider, etc.). End of story.


But you decided to sell it back to the people you bought it from and expect to get 100% back on it. What are they supposed to do with it? Sell it as a new seat? That won't fly, the guy/gal who buys it is going to say "whoa, that's not a new seat, WTFUWT?" If you weren't willing to sell your seat yourself and you weren't happy with the vendor's offer, why didn't you get your seat back and sell it to someone else? It's...your...seat.



This kinda crap is exactly what is killing retailing in the US and killing American capitalism. Buyers take no responsibility for their purchasing decisions and expect the retailer to absorb the buyer's caprice. Keep buying mail order and the local vendors are out of business. Keep insisting on lowest price above all else and everyone goes out of business except for the likes of Amazon, who have so f***ing much money that they can absorb hits on returns.



And aiding it all are internet forums like Advrider, where anyone can say anything about anyone without any fear of recourse or any sense of personal responsibility. We can destroy any business in a day through the libel that we're free to post here. The site host has no legal responsibility for the content. Any vendor that doesn't do exactly what we want when we want it is scum, a rip off artist, the lowest of the low. Even if they were a hero yesterday.



The high entertainment value of this thread is the image of the OP with "this ain't over", adjusting his coon skin cap, ramming another ball into the musket, and taking potshots at the Hatfields and McCoys from the front porch. The rest of us are left to enjoy the distopian future of no local motorcycle stores, no small businesses, no skilled individuals making high quality products for our motors, eagerly awaiting our made-in-China tat arriving from Amazon.

If you don't like capitalism you should probably post about that in JM, not here

[ozmoses]

/dystopian/

For Klay

[hamiamham]

Interestingly I ordered an Airhawk from this vendor and it came in printed box that cast some doubt as to whether the neoprene version I paid up for was inside or the lower quality version; confusion caused by the manufacturer not the retailer but interesting all the same and I digress. Having lost a small fortune running an Internet retailer - we sold high-end children's clothing - I can certainly see both sides of the argument here. It's a pain in the ass to go on the Internet, order stuff, have it shipped to you, unpack it, fit it, find out it isn't as expected, contact the seller, re-pack it, goto the shipping place and send it back. As for the seller his margin is being driven down by manufacturers who sell direct as well as potentially dozens of other guys who are seeking to under-cut his price. He has to have some policy otherwise he is out of business; trust me, I know. I will not make any judgments here except to say it all comes down to expectations. There was once a time you could go into a fully stocked store, get some good advice, examine the item, try it on, etc and, for the privilege pay m.s.r.p. some people know what fits, don't need advice, refuse to pay full-price and now we have what we have now which - at least in my experience - are brick and mortar stores with no stock and hit or miss on service. Personally I find I can't win; oftentimes, even when I am willing to pay full boat, I go into a full-price store, get sh-tty service and they still still have to order it for me. I know everyone is going to throw grenades at me for this but it's a monster of our own creation as American consumes. We want it all. We want it cheap. Who can blame us. As much as we may want it the sad truth is you can't have it all. That bring said. Advice to the vendor - as this will cost him thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars - is suck it up. The customer is always right. $60 - or whatever it is - is a rounding error in the annuity value of a loyal customers future purchases. Good will is paid back spades ask ll bean, ect.

[SpeedyK]

If you go to the vendor's website, this is what it says in big red letters...notice the selective retractions below that...this is what is hurting this business, they are not totally straightforward in their presentation, this copied segment alone would drive me elsewhere. I also see both sides of this dispute, but offering one thing in big red letters and then taking part of it back in little black letters is not forthright. Also, if a saddle description says it's lower I think it's reasonable to expect that it is in fact lower...anyway, from the vendors front page...

GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES*
FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $74.99 WITH QUALIFYING ITEMS*

NO SALES TAX*

HASSLE FREE RETURNS*

GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

*If you find the same part at a lower price (after shipping and sales taxes, note we cannot lower or alter sales taxes for TX residents), we will beat that price plus give you 5% off your next order. If we cannot beat that price, you will get 10% off your next order!
*Look for the green truck on items that qualify for free shipping on orders over $74.99. Subtotal of qualifying items must be greater than $74.99.

*Texas residence subject to sales tax (8.25%)

*See our return policy for details

And then, just try yourself to find the Return Policy, if you go to Help in the upper right of the page there are many topics, but none currently posted that state the policy. Under International Shipping you can find a link that says What Is the Return Policy, here's what you get if you click it...

So the Terms and Conditions is not directly linked on the help page, it is linked under an answer in the wrong category of the Help section (should be under Shipping and Returns, not International). I'm surprised that it's not in Urdu or Cyrillic.

So if you're ordering something from this vendor, you need to do some extraordinary detecting to find the info, all of which belies the bright red letters in plain sight on the front page saying nebulous things like Hassle Free Returns. I have shopped on sites where the restocking fee is clearly stated in plain sight.

Link to Help Page

Here's what it looks like right now...a typical buyer might think, from looking at the Help page, that there was no domestic return policy at all...

[_cy_]

Originally Posted by sherco

Through Amazon I bought Sargent low seat for the GS from a place called Powersport Superstore in Austin Tx. It arrived on time and in good shape, packed in a cardboard shipping box with styrofoam peanuts. After checking the seat about 50 times and getting three other opinions I decided that it wasn't any lower than my stock seat ( this thread is not about low Sargent seats).

I called the seller and got the OK to return and received their email that stated "PLEASE INCLUDE THE AMAZON ORDER NUMBER ON THE PACKAGE: THIS WILL ACT AS YOUR RETURN AUTHORIZATION NUMBER"

I packed the seat all nice and neat in the shipping box it came in, used a Sharpie to put the number on the outside of the package, paid return shipping ($26), and chalked it up to experience. I then get an email notification of an $82 re-stocking charge !!! All the web info says clearly that there is NOT a re-stock fee.

Originally Posted by PSSS Guy

Hello ADV riders,

My name is Jason and I am the manager at Powersport Superstore and responded with the above email.

To add to that and address some of the other statements, we do have a store front and because of the condition of the manufacturer packaging, I have simply set this unit up on display in the store front at a discounted price. Sure, that restocking fee is also instated to reduce costs on us as the company, it is primarily there to cover the loss for now having to sell it as a used item. In any event, we do not charge a restocking fee on orders that are returned in the original condition. So this statement "The real reason for restocking fees is the credit card fees. I'm in the business. The dealer or amazon takes a hit when you pay by card, which you obviously do have to through amazon. when the card is refunded, not all the fees are, especially the transaction fee and there is also a fee on a credit. Plus all the labor etc to get the box out the door." is not valid.

just read this thread... how did this ended up????

briefly scanned responses, but didn't see what's got to be the most important factor.

" Did the seat come in exactly as described?"

if seat is indeed a brand new Sargent seat, low version and received in excellent condition. then seat belongs to buyer with no fault to seller.

if seat came in wrong, IE standard height. then seat belongs to seller and should pay for shipping back with no re-stocking charges. unless terms of sale specifically states otherwise.