Hmmm. A very unfortunate series of events.
I'm disappointed to see that this has gone on and that RCB/Brewers Discount have behaved like this. Although in my quick read of your emails Mongo I do think you stirred the pot a little
, especially given that they did end up sending your order (or it appears so-if they didn't send it they definitely WONT now
) but hey they did stuff up your order and then spin you some crap about it. Long waits are very frustrating when things go wrong.
Unfortunately when you deal with so many orders all over the world you will get stuff ups time and time again, it's how you deal with them that makes things right, sets you apart from the others and gets you a good reputation. It's rare that you see people commenting about how good a place or service is when you get your order properly filled and it arrives on time with no hastles.
The comments about what a great business/customer service a company has or is, usually arrives from how they rectified the problem when things went wrong. This is what stands out. Say you make a mistake 1-2% of the time, on the internet that 1-2% stuff up rings loud and clear and resonates a long way and is there for all to see, even those not involved or interested. It also tends to generate even more dissatisfaction than those 1-2% because it incites people to draw up all the little minor problems they may have had as well which makes the problems seem bigger than they are/were. That's why as a business you really want to jump on those problems and fix them asap and to the best of your ability to stop the bad press circulating.
I'm certainily not defending BD/RCB here, they stuffed up with the order which happens, and they definitely stuffed up with that final email reply and there is no excuse for that. I have backed BD/RCB and promoted them and thier cheap prices from way, way back. Infact it may have even been me that brought up brewersdiscount on this site in the first place and recommended people look at getting their kegs there (I'm serious, do a search way, way back). I have ordered from BD half a dozen times, I did get an order with missing stuff once and they fixed the problem on the next order with no worries.
I think this string of events and this thread have really hurt BD/RCB for orders from Australia and they deserve it really.
The downside is I figure that orders from Australia consitute such a small fraction of their business that we wont even be detected as missing from their sales. So really it's going to be us that lose out as we will lose this line of cheap kegging bits and pieces. By the look of that last email it wouldn't surprise me if they come out with a blanket statement like "We no longer ship to Australia", given that little incite into their attitude/nature.
Oh well.
Cheers, Justin
