Art of Bonsai and Knowledge of Bonsai Store

ovation22

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Well, the pot finally arrived. The quality of the pot is good, but my experience was not.


Jul 17, 2009 - Reproduction Ming Dynasty bonsai pot ordered and payment sent via PayPal link from their website.

Jul 18, 2009 - Received email from Will Heath stating I needed to send an additional $6 for shipping.

Jul 20, 2009 - Sent additional $6 for shipping via PayPal.

I continued to read any update posted to the thread here waiting for any indication these were shipping.

Sept 19th, 2009 - Shipping announced in the thread here.

Nov 4, 2009 - Sent email inquiry, "Any update on when these might ship?" (No response)

Nov 5, 2009 - Posted to thread here, "So, has anyone received their order?"

51 minutes later there was a response:

About 120 people to date, The people here on this thread either have or will this week.

So, did you order a pot Ovation, if so, let me know and I'll check the status, if not......?

To which I replied:

I did, and have emailed you, and am awaiting your reply. I ordered on July 17th and have received no update since. That, and whatever "if not......" means leaves much to be desired.

Which received a response:

Your pot was shipped early this week.

The rest of that thread continues in the usual fashion.

Nov 5, 2009 - AoB/KoB store claims to have shipped my order "early this week".

Nov 10, 2009 - Sent email inquiry, "Any chance you have a tracking number? Still no pot, and it sounds like others are waiting as well." (No response)

Nov 10, 2009 - Sent pm, "I'm not sure if you're getting my emails. Any chance you have a tracking number? Still no pot, and it sounds like others are waiting as well."

Nov 11, 2009 - Received a pm, "I dropped almost 100 pots at the post office and it seems they have, for some reason, been shipped in groups of about 20, your pot is in this batch, I will stop there again today and see if I can get a single tracking number for yours."

Nov 13, 2009 - Sent pm, "Great. Let me know what you find out." (No response)

Nov 16, 2009 - Sent pm, "Any word on this?" (No response)

Nov 17, 2009 - Robert Steven friended me on Facebook, so I contacted him to see if he could help.

Nov 17, 2009 - Received a pm, "You should have it by the end of the week."

Nov 18, 2009 - Sent pm, "Thanks Will. So, do you have a tracking number for me? Any idea what the hold up is?" (No response)

Nov 19, 2009 - Received the pot in a USPS Medium Flat Rate Box, postmarked Nov 17, 2009.


I hope others had a better experience. I'm afraid this will be my last purchase from the AoB/KoB store. Too much trouble to go through again.
 
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I'm glad you are now able to enjoy your pot... may it give you waves and waves of happiness just looking at it to make up for the heartburn of getting it.:eek:
 

Attila Soos

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I hope others had a better experience. I'm afraid this will be my last purchase from the AoB/KoB store. Too much trouble to go through again.

Patience, guys! When spending decades on a bonsai, the 4 months that you waited for a pot should feel like the blink of an eye.:)
 

ovation22

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It's not so much the time that bothers me. It's the lack of customer service, the lack of communication, and the apparent false statements about when things shipped.

Poor customer service = loss of return customers.
 
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In reply...

1) The pots went on sale for "advance" orders before they even left China, this was made perfectly clear.

2) The PayPal page also plainly stated to allow 6 to 8 weeks for shipping, minimum.

3) It is very hard to track an order or communicate about an order with a person going under the name "ovation22" when the order was placed by "Matsu Bonsai" and inquired upon by email by a "John Callaway."

5) As Robert is aware, I have been 268 milkes away from home and the pots due to a family situation, although this is not your problem, nor an excuse, it did delay many shipments and caused some miscommunication about shipping dates.

4) I don't respond well to attitudes.


I am happy you recieved your pot, by the lack of complaint, I assume it came in one piece, undamaged, and as promised, by the end of this week.

Orders have been steady and are coming in from many countries, thank you for your purchase.



Will
 

ovation22

Mame
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In reply...

1) The pots went on sale for "advance" orders before they even left China, this was made perfectly clear.

2) The PayPal page also plainly stated to allow 6 to 8 weeks for shipping, minimum.

3) It is very hard to track an order or communicate about an order with a person going under the name "ovation22" when the order was placed by "Matsu Bonsai" and inquired upon by email by a "John Callaway."

5) As Robert is aware, I have been 268 milkes away from home and the pots due to a family situation, although this is not your problem, nor an excuse, it did delay many shipments and caused some miscommunication about shipping dates.

4) I don't respond well to attitudes.


I am happy you recieved your pot, by the lack of complaint, I assume it came in one piece, undamaged, and as promised, by the end of this week.

Orders have been steady and are coming in from many countries, thank you for your purchase.



Will


1. Not disputing that.

2. And, I did.

3. I submitted payment to Thaddeus Kotynia (will@artofbonsai.org) (The recipient of this payment is Unverified). I inquired by replying to you via the email you sent requesting additional payment for shipping. You did not respond. My signature and profile here very clearly lists my identity, as well the as the signature line of multiple emails I sent. If there was any question, a follow up email or PM would have been gladly replied to with clarification.

5. I hope all is well with you and your family. Some communication (instead of apparent false statements) would have been appreciated and circumstances understood.

4. No attitude here, Will. Just stating the facts. If you're interested in running a business I would imagine some respect to your customers would be appreciated. And yes, I was a customer.


Take care.
 
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cascade

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Sorry for the trouble you experienced in regards to you order, Ovation22.

-dorothy
 

Smoke

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It's kinda like getting to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop....

.....the world may never know.:p

It's 11PM and I just got home from bonsai meeting....

I read this post and it made me laugh so hard I may have to stay up and watch the news for a change

I love you.....
 
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It's 11PM and I just got home from bonsai meeting....

I read this post and it made me laugh so hard I may have to stay up and watch the news for a change

I love you.....

Then we are even... because I have found you endlessly entertaining for years... :D
 

ovation22

Mame
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Who is Thaddeus Kotynia ?

No idea. That is what was listed on the PayPal receipt. It was Will who replied requesting additional funds for shipping using the same email address, so I can only assume the man who abhors pseudonyms uses one himself.

Very strange.
 
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No idea. That is what was listed on the PayPal receipt. It was Will who replied requesting additional funds for shipping using the same email address, so I can only assume the man who abhors pseudonyms uses one himself.

Very strange.

John,

Assumptions do not look good on you and jumping to conclusions usually makes one look silly.


Ted Koytina is a long time (but silent) member and patron of AoB who was most recently seen purchasing a few items in the Vaughn Banting Memorial Auction.

When the pot sale was beginning, AoB treasurer had not yet set up the AoB PayPal account, so Ted let us use his, changing the email contact so that I could receive all transactions personally.

Pretty simple, just a good deed and a helping hand from a supporting member.


Now that I have set your weary mind to rest....

John, as a principle in the new forum BSG, are you fearful that some would assume that this thread is rather self serving? In our last communication, I told you the pot would arrive by the end of this week, you got it far earlier than my estimate, yet you still took the opportunity to post this, after the pot was received. I am curious, why not complain during this "wait" for the pot?

"Very Strange."

Ah, not important, as I said, I'm happy your pot arrived safely, so far we have a 100% survival rate, lol.
 
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ovation22

Mame
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Assumptions do not look good on you and jumping to conclusions usually makes one look silly.


Ted Koytina is a long time (but silent) member and patron of AoB who was most recently seen purchasing a few items in the Vaughn Banting Memorial Auction.

When the pot sale was beginning, AoB treasurer had not yet set up the AoB PayPal account, so Ted let us use his, changing the email contact so that I could receive all transactions personally.

Pretty simple, just a good deed and a helping hand from a supporting member.


Now that I have set your weary mind to rest....

John, as a principle in the new forum BSG, are you fearful that some would assume that this thread is rather self serving? In our last communication, I told you the pot would arrive by the end of this week, you got it far earlier than my estimate, yet you still took the opportunity to post this, after the pot was received. I am curious, why not complain during this "wait" for the pot?

"Very Strange."

Ah, not important, as I said, I'm happy your pot arrived safely, so far we have a 100% survival rate, lol.

As I said, it was an assumption, and I knew the risk of making it. Thank you for clearing that up.

No, this is not a self serving thread. Nowhere in my profile, or in this post did I mention my affiliation with BSG. Is that because I am trying to hide something? No. It simply doesn't belong in this thread, and I question your reasoning for bringing it up now.

As it stands now BSG does not have a "Vendor Experiences" section, nor did you advertise your pot sale there. It was here, and here that "Vendor Experiences" are welcome and encouraged. Thank you, Bnut, for providing this service.

As for why I didn't "complain" during my wait? I attempted communication to get some indication as to why the long wait. You indicated it was shipped weeks ago, so I waited to give you the benefit of the doubt. When it arrived with a postmark of 11/17, it was clear the previous statements were false.

I started this thread, as a customer, as a report on my experience with the AoB/KoB Store, which was poor. Yes, the pot arrived. Perhaps you missed my first sentence in this thread? However, my experience with (lack of) communication and false statements from the AoB/KoB team were awful, which was part of my consumer experience. I hope that clears up any possible misunderstandings regarding my motives.

Honestly, I was hoping someone would post up a better/different experience, but sadly that has not happened.


Take care
 
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However, my experience with (lack of) communication and false statements from the AoB/KoB team were awful, which was part of my consumer experience. I hope that clears up any possible misunderstandings regarding my motives.
Could you list the members of this "team" you speak of or are you purposely painting every member of the aob/kob team with a broad brush? According to your own statements in this thread, I was the only team member you communicated with and in fact, I am the only member dealing with the pot sales and shipment. What exactly are your "motives" in attempting to bring other members of other forums into this?

Honestly, I was hoping someone would post up a better/different experience, but sadly that has not happened.
I think one complaint out of the hundreds sold is an excellent record, thank you for clarifying that.


Again, I am happy you received your order earlier than I anticipated and I am sorry for the delay, please enjoy your purchase.










Will
 
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ovation22

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Could you list the members of this "team" you speak of or are you purposely painting every member of the aob/kob team with a broad brush?

You are correct Will, I misspoke. You are the only one with whom I had direct communication. However, when you represent a "store", you represent the entity, and your actions are reflected on that entity.

Again, I am happy you received your order earlier than anticipated, please enjoy your purchase.

Considering I was told it shipped weeks ago, I don't agree with this statement. If you're referring to your "promise" that I would have it by the end of the week, I still don't agree. As "end of the week" isn't an accurate unit of measure, that could be taken to mean anything after Wednesday. Having received it Thursday, if I were to take your latest "promise", then yes, it was accurate to state that it was received as promised. Earlier than anticipated? I think not.

As I originally stated, this is my report on my experience. I'm sorry that you seem to be unhappy with me sharing it, but I believe it to be fair and accurate.

Unless you have anything you would like to dispute in my original post I'm done with this interaction.


Take care
 
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Nope, I pretty much responded as much as I feel was warranted, enjoy your purchase and good luck with your new forum.

Thanks for your thoughts,



Will
 

Redwing

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Nope, I pretty much responded as much as I feel was warranted, enjoy your purchase and good luck with your new forum.

Sorry to threadjack your little catfight, ladies, but what's this new forum to which you refer?

-rw
 
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