This Is C&c Distributing, In Ca. Usa, The Keg Guy.

[peas_and_corn]

TO ALL:
-We hate ebay! Back in Ausgust/September when I was in China we had some shipping problems and received some negative feedback. In January Ebay arbitrarily suspends our accounts. This is AFTER they approve all the remidies we took and proved shipment of goods in September! We are currently fighting with the all-too-powerful ASSHOLES at ebay to reinstate our accounts. A web page is coming soon.

-If you need kegs email us DIRECTLY at: [email protected].

-Keg availability: In spring of '06 Pepsi was supposed to shut down their PreMix soda lines, discontinuing premix soda; they did not. Now the supply of kegs is so low that Pepsi PacNorthwest (Western U.S. Division) is holding what they have until Pepsi Corporate makes a decision an whether to close down the premix production lines this time.

-Brewer's Discount: Late last year Terry and his wife gave me 24 hour notice that they had bought a house on the East Coast and was leaving....THE NEXT DAY! That just about killed ops here. It took us a while to revover. As far as I know, Terry is no longer doing anything with brewing related items.

-Will post here again when we get more kegs.
-If you have placed an order and not received the U.S. Customs send receipt, your CC has NOT been charged and will NOT be charged until goods are sent.

-I hope this clears things up.
Thank you,
Matt Chitiea

The CHI Company, LLC
6070 Enterprise Dr.
Suite K
Diamond Springs, Ca. 95619-9442
(530) 622-8265
[email protected]

Ebay is bad, eh? I looked up your accounts- apparently pepsiequipment had 3 negatives over the past year. I have severe doubts that Ebay would do anything to prevent you from selling with that record. HOWEVER, your kegs take a long time to arrive. When I bought mine I found that I could no longer leave comments because it had expired- there was a time limit for some reason. While I had no problems, there would be many people who have grievances, and didn't have the opportunity to voice them. The more people on this forum who say they haven't received anything- and have had no replies from you- the more I realise I must have been lucky.

Your hate of paypal might be justified; I don't know- I'm not a retailer. However, you must provide a secure method of transferring money which people can be confident will be secure. Email is never secure, everyone knows that.

There is a certain probability that my standards have been raised by the great service that craftbrewer provides (I don't know enough about the other online sellers who sell here to comment). However, your business lacks the professionalism that is required. A quick look through the thread will show many posts from you which have been full of CAPS and harsh language. The post I quoted above is an improvement, but it was merely to tell us that you have no stock- no replies to the people over the past so many pages saying they have already paid (Fingerlickin_B has been waiting for a year- why aren't you responding to his concerns?) and haven't received anything. If you hope to continue selling to this homebrewing community, then you should start by showing more respect for your potential customers and ensure that the worries many people have are taken care of.

It's weird, I thought that retail was about serving customers.

Dave.

 

[Wortgames]

Not sure I agree Dave - if you want prompt, professional service with speedy polite email replies, then buy from a local retailer. You get what you pay for, you can't expect rock-bottom, wholesale prices with Harrod's customer service.

I sell on eBay and I can support the assertion that eBay themselves ARE mongrels. Picture the nastiest kind of American, greedy, arrogant billion dollar company (with a Swiss bank account), run by a small team of conservative corporate mercenaries with no balls - they are paranoid about potential legal action, they shoot first on the flimsiest of complaints (your worst nightmare, on eBay, is a malicious competitor) and ask questions never. They exist in 'cyberspace' and answer to no-one. PayPal too is an expensive and highly risky method of receiving payment, they can freeze accounts and grab money with no appeals process or governing body to answer to. Sure, businesses should understand the peculiarities of eBay if they plan to use it as a marketing channel, but I don't think it's totally fair to judge a business by their opinion of eBay or PayPal.

I bought some 3gal kegs from BD, they took a while to arrive and they didn't appear to be as 'reconditioned' as I expected, but they were bloody cheap so I was prepared to accept that. I'm sure they would have sent me some new seals etc if I'd contacted them, but to be honest I was happy with the deal and couldn't be bothered. I paid my money and I made my choice.

If you want a higher level of service someone has to pay for it, that's why you have local retailers. You can't cut out all the middle men and then expect the wholesaler to do all the work the middle men would have done.

 

[PostModern]

I think you're too quick to defend the guy, Wortgames. he seems like a total cod-piece to me.

 

[Wortgames]

I think you're too quick to defend the guy, Wortgames. he seems like a total cod-piece to me.

Not especially defending him PoMo - I just happen to agree with his opinion on eBay/PayPal and disagree with P&C's expectation of 'retail professionalism' from a bargain basement supplier. I knew when I placed my order that I wasn't going to get gold class service from these guys - their eBay listing, website, email replies and forum posts told me everything I needed to know about how they operate, I weighed that up and took my chances nevertheless. I think it's a bit optimistic to buy under those circumstances and then expect perfect retail professionalism.

I haven't scanned this whole thread for details of who hasn't received their kegs (maybe it's time for a tally?), but I received mine and a large number of other AHB members have received theirs, so I would guess it's a small percentage. Hopefully they'll get their kegs or a refund soon enough - I suspect that (despite the use of capitals) Matt is an honest guy who wants to see everyone right, otherwise he presumably wouldn't keep sticking his head up here. He's also sent other people replacement seals etc, so I don't think he's a total cod-piece, just a bit rough round the edges IMO.

If you have placed an order and not received the U.S. Customs send receipt, your CC has NOT been charged and will NOT be charged until goods are sent.

-I hope this clears things up.
Thank you,
Matt Chitiea

The CHI Company, LLC
6070 Enterprise Dr.
Suite K
Diamond Springs, Ca. 95619-9442
(530) 622-8265
[email protected]

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

[peas_and_corn]

When I write I expect professionalism I merely expect a few simple things:

1- politeness. As I pointed out, there are too many posts here and on eBay by him and other sellers that are just written in too much caps- his posting in ebay about postage costs was incredibly condescending.

2- answering questions and problems. People have said they have paid for products they have not received with no real reply.

Whether or not ebay is annoying is not my concern- what is my concern is retailers who trade through ebay who for some bizarre reason talk down to their potential customer base and do little to make people feel rest assured that they won't be sold up the river.

this is a posting which is good. His listing was nowhere near as professional.

Still haven't got my parts ordered and paid for over a year ago...thanks Matt :angry:

 

[Stuster]

Wortgames, FingerlickinB has posted numerous times in this thread that he paid for his keg(s?) and didn't receive them. Unless he was completely blind, this guy must have seen those posts, but does not appear to want to respond to him. Personally, just seeing how he has not responded to FLB makes me sure I'd never buy any kegs from him. :angry:

Hope you get your kegs/money, FLB.

 

[Wortgames]

When I write I expect professionalism I merely expect a few simple things:

1- politeness. As I pointed out, there are too many posts here and on eBay by him and other sellers that are just written in too much caps- his posting in ebay about postage costs was incredibly condescending.

2- answering questions and problems. People have said they have paid for products they have not received with no real reply.

Whether or not ebay is annoying is not my concern- what is my concern is retailers who trade through ebay who for some bizarre reason talk down to their potential customer base and do little to make people feel rest assured that they won't be sold up the river.

this is a posting which is good. His listing was nowhere near as professional.

What you need to remember with eBay is that you can be dealing with ANYONE. If you always apply your own expectations regarding correct courtesy, capitalisation etc then you may find yourself frequently disappointed. We don't know really anything about Matt - he could be an 80 year-old paraplegic who has never used a computer before and has to hit the buttons with a stick in his mouth for all we know. In that case I think whinging about correct capitalisation would be a bit petty. You only see something as rude or condescendng because you judge it against your own 'scale', when it may simply be a lack of experience, poor nettiquette or a slack grammar teacher in school.

Regarding the 'condescending' tone of his listing terms, you'll find that's pretty common - if you sell much on eBay you'll soon learn that eBay customers contain a very high proportion of complete and utter morons out there clicking on buttons. They don't read terms, or they bid / buy and then argue over postage costs. I agree that better sellers generally try to avoid sounding like angry schoolteachers, and a condescending tone probably isn't great for business, but sellers have the right to set their own tone however they like, and like I said, you'll find plenty of worse examples.

Complaining that his listing is not as professional as someone else's is completely pointless. So he's not a graphic designer or web programmer - who cares? We're buying kegs here not eBay listings.

The bottom line is if you don't feel comfortable dealing with that person, then don't - nobody's got a gun to your head.

 

[Wortgames]

Wortgames, FingerlickinB has posted numerous times in this thread that he paid for his keg(s?) and didn't receive them. Unless he was completely blind, this guy must have seen those posts, but does not appear to want to respond to him. Personally, just seeing how he has not responded to FLB makes me sure I'd never buy any kegs from him. :angry:

Hope you get your kegs/money, FLB.

So do I. Have you actually called him FLB? Forum posts probably aren't the ideal channel for sorting out customer problems. Admittedly if he's ignored your email that's bad form, but I don't think we're dealing with an IT guru here. Try speaking to him.

 

[devo]

Sounds like the good ole days/honeymoon period maybe over fellas cause I know when i purchased all my kegs back in 2004/05(i think) I never had any issues.

I guess i was one of the fortunate ones who bought at the right time for the right price.

I can't diss Matt because I got nothing but great service and communication from him.

 

[eric8]

I posted last night that I had emailed Mat, and i got a response from hime today. So I think FLB should probably email him again, especially since he posted on here today. I don't have any major prob with him, but you do have to wait a while and keep emailing him to get a response.
At $40 a keg I aint gunna complain to much.
Eric

 

[Eukanuba]

I ordered 4 or 5 kegs off him back in 2005 - never arrived..

After waiting 5-6 months, I emailed him and told him that I understood there was a wait.. but it was unacceptable..

Nothing came back via email..

Then I emailed him again, he assured me that they'd been sent.. by this time, ebay had removed the listing - my money was gone.. I thought " Oh shit ! I've been had ! " ( as has happened many times with sellers in the usa.. I've been swindled ! )

Anyhow, eventually - I got in touch with him ( he was in china at the time ) and he agreed to refund the money..

He came through with the refund, but I'd much rather of had the kegs - to be honest..

He was not too bad to deal with, a bit slow to reply - but then again, not everyone lives on or close to a computer to send emails.. ( and i know he probably has a life.. along with his business )..

If it's been 12 months - assume it's lost.. email him, ask for a refund.. maybe it didnt get out because of a shortage of kegs and you're on his waiting list ?

As they say " if you dont ask, you wont get "...

Best of luck mate, I hope it all comes out good for you !

- Chris

 

[glenos]

this is a posting which is good. His listing was nowhere near as professional.

There is a HUGE (deliberate caps) difference between kegs at US$32 a pop and a US$1645 bar. I would expect a lot more effort to go into listing a AU$2000 item.

When you go to Clints or Go=Lo go you expect top level customer service, the latest high quality shop fittings, high technology display stands and POS terminals - NO they just don't have the margins.

Matt seems to travel from the US to China on a regular basis and this causes an interruption to how he sells kegs out of the US, he has expressed that he has had problems with staff, sometimes orders do get "lost" in the system, this is unfortunate when it happens to you but it is a fact of online sales, especially when you are very busy.

I run an online business, not through eBay, and I have had orders that got lost, delayed and even duplicated. Funny story, the person who's order was duplicated freaked out, she thought it meat I was going to charge her twice, it took me 5 minutes in the phone to convince her I wouldn't ever do that, because it was my mistake.

As for the posting in CAPS, I have done it a few times, the PC I use at work has CAPS on most of the time, do you think I am going to retype a post like this if I realised now that it was in CAPS by mistake, no way. I had been using email and the internet for a few years before someone explained to me that CAPS meant I was shouting. When he told me I thought he was pulling my leg and being a pedantic tosser.

Bottom line is, if you don't like the way Matt operates shut up and go somewhere else.

 

[RobW]

Bottom line is, if you don't like the way Matt operates shut up and go somewhere else.

Go elsewhere? Absolutely.
Shut up? I don't think so.

I had a similiar problem with kegs from Matt but fortunately didn't lose or need to recover any money. The problem seems to be getting a response when there are issues with orders. I emailed Matt several times and never got a response. In the end I gave up.

I know lots of people on this list are more than satisfied with Matt's service and that's great but let's not forget the ones that get screwed around as well.

People need to know these operations aren't all sunshine and flowers.

Oh, and if you can type a post that long & not realise you've left the caps lock on maybe you need to think about checking the screen every line or so...... or take a touchtyping course

 

[benno1973]

I don't think people would be questioning his grammer or tone if he'd delivered to all his cutomers. But the point is that he hasn't, and when a retailer (online or otherwise) doesn't deliver, this reflects badly and other smaller issues are then raised to further illustrate the lack of professionalism.

I can't talk about this retailer - I've never ordered from him and I don't plan on it. I have enough kegs bought locally, and I'm very happy with them. But speaking about online retailers, I'd never expect that paying less money might mean that I'd never see the end product. Retailers who offer products at a discount should do so if they have a way of passing on bulk purchasing power, rather than just not delivering to some cutomers.

Additionally, professionalism extends to replying to cutomers emails and queries about products. The sooner cowboy net retailers are forced to close up shop, the better for other reputable and professional online sellers. Until then, the bulk of purchasers will buy from physical retail stores or online at big name retailers (such as Amazon).

 

[PostModern]

If he wants to sell on ebay, then he should learn how to deal in that market. Just from members here we've seen lots of complaints. I imagine there'd be a similar proportion of issues with the rest of his customers.

He's flogging off Pepsi's excess stock of kegs retail, so he has to deal with retail customers. I personally think professionalism is overrated, but if he promised goods in a certain condition for a certain price within a certain timeframe he has to deliver once he takes your money. If he can't do that 100% of the time or make up for any shortfalls, he shouldn't be placing the ads on ebay or elsewhere.

 

[Wortgames]

The problem with buying online is that everyone wants to get their goods for 'cost price', squeeze out all the middlemen, and then whinge and whine when the seller doesn't jump through hoops to take care of their precious order (for a couple of bucks profit).

I never suggested that paying less should mean that you may never see your goods, I am simply pointing out that buying from overseas from the cheapest guy on the net will likely mean more hassles when things don't go to plan. I would have thought that was blindingly obvious. If that bothers you, open your wallet a little wider and buy from a local retailer - don't buy cheap and then whine about the lack of service.

There seems to be a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon and dissing this guy. Perhaps we should stop carping on about the quality of his listings or grammar, and instead start posting up A RELIABLE LIST of the folks who are actually out of pocket and still haven't received their goods? Maybe including the actual date your CC was charged too? I have had a good look through a couple of the main threads on the subject (there have been many) and the only members I found who haven't received goods are FingerlickinB who ordered some parts (by his own words, low value) over a year ago (he received his kegs etc), and possibly Mark Casey who joined the forum specifically to diss Matt some 12 months after placing an order. Eukanuba waited 6 months for his order to arrive, then got a refund. There must be a few more judging by the amount of negative press the guy seems to be getting - I mean, surely we aren't all trashing the guy based on slack netiquette and one missing parts order?! In contrast, there must be DOZENS of us who are happily using Matt's kegs, including several who were sent extra parts by way of an apology.

So those folks that ARE missing stuff, have you actually CALLED the guy to try and sort it out? It seems obvious that his email answering sucks, and this forum isn't really achieving anything - especially if your AHB ID doesn't match your name in any way. The forum threads look like a nightmare of unidentifiable people wanting to change their order or ask about shipping. Hardly a constructive channel for a seller that struggles to deal with the email he receives. If you whinge to eBay about a bad seller the FIRST question they will ask you is 'have you called them'. It's the simplest way to cut through any technology barrier, and you'll be surprised what you can achieve in a 2 minute call. He has posted his number in this thread. YES it's an international call, YES it's a hassle, YES you shouldn't have to, YES he should answer his emails, but there comes a time when you just have to try and solve the problem instead of flinging mud and whining about how things should be.

Let's start seeing some names and dates of credit card debits and missing orders.

 

[mchitiea]

I'll save everyone the hassle.
Here are unfulfilled orders as of 4/24/07 due to Pepsi not releasing kegs
# Initials City State Item
1. N.A Muchea WA 4 kegs
2. M.E. hayle Cornwall, England 3 kegs
3. J.P. Moruya NSW 2 kegs
4. D. H. Blackwater QLD 8 kegs


I hope this helps those that believe we are scammers, or those that have been screwed by others in the past and like to "stir things up" for others.

Thank you,
Matt Chitiea

 

[Sammus]

For the record, I agree 100% with Wortgames.

 

[Shunty]

I emailed matt yesterday asking about keg availability - had a reply within an hour. The previous order i placed with him arrived on time and in good nick. I have no problems buying from him again. Unfortunately he was out of stock - always happens when the kiwi peso is at an all time high

 

[mchitiea]

To all,
-As many of you know C&C Distributing sent hundreds of kegs to AU.
-C&C is no more. The CHI Company, LLC. has taken its' place.

-We now have a website located at: www.chicompany.net

-Please see current posts concerning usage and shipping updates.

Thank you,
Matt Chitiea
www.chicompany.net
[email protected]