Thread: Buyer beware!!

Originally Posted by cagiva905

Most likely members who understand English or American English but for whom it is not their mother tongue will make this mistake. I for one always thought the difference might have been a difference of English and American (like in lift and elevator), but apparently was wrong in this

Yes, me too. I looked it up a few months ago in the "Free Online Dictionary", that misleadingly present them as synonyms:
3.warrantee - a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specificationsguarantee, warranty, warrant
surety, security - a guarantee that an obligation will be met



I understand now there's a subtle (?) legal difference.

Originally Posted by cagiva905

And as others already pointed out, guarantee and warranty regulations will most likely differ from country to country, and indeed in the Netherlands the seller is the one responsible towards the customer regarding the items he sells. Hence, for the end customer, it is the retailer that has to take on any issues and handle them with the distributor or manufacturer. Part of doing business and put a markup on the price. If this would not be the case, his mere existence would not be necessary and the customer would (should) be able to purchase directly from the manufacturer.

Apart from legal obligations, there's also the point of morality, and what most customers would consider good or bad after sale service.

My family owned a furniture store for 4 generations, about 150 years. It was upper end and sold known, expensive lines. We were sucessful because we understood that Customers have choices. A good retailer understands and values the customer's decision to purchase from them. Service is the critical component the retailer brings:
product knowlege
prompt attention and courteous treatment
interaction with the wholesaler/manufacturer

In return customers bring their loyalty - repeat business, referrals.

But today, you can get vast knowlege on the internet. Have you gone into one of the few shave retailers (AOS comes to mind) and not known more than the person assisting you? So you do your research then go online for the lowest price. Price and availability become more important to retailer sucess (to some) than anything else.

I can't imagine our furniture store ever telling you how to reach the manufacturer.....we'd have done it no questions asked!!!! While the premier retailers are being replaced by the mass market big guys, service can still be found. All of the retailers I've dealt with and have learned about on SRP have been terrific. My wife works parttime at Williams Sonoma........no questions...they take it back!

Customers! Awaken: We are tired of this and wont take it anymore!!!!

Good story anyway. Thanks for sharing (by the way, see how much bad press one gets from this kind of customer neglect!!).


Jim

Ahh, a wise man that get's the purpose for my post. Well done my friend, well done!!

Originally Posted by Bart

Yes, me too. I looked it up a few months ago in the "Free Online Dictionary", that misleadingly present them as synonyms:
3.warrantee - a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specificationsguarantee, warranty, warrant
surety, security - a guarantee that an obligation will be met



I understand now there's a subtle (?) legal difference.




Apart from legal obligations, there's also the point of morality, and what most customers would consider good or bad after sale service.

I am pretty sure that even if there is no written garantee there is always an implied warantee of servicability for which the item was designed and marketed. Lawyer comments? Jump in please!

Since you have asked CS and Dovo for help and received none, you might consider doing the repair yourself with some CA or Gorilla Glue. Then you could take your business else where. Chalk it up as experience.
I am surprised they have not contacted you to correct this after hearing it here. I can not imagine they want this kind of advertisement.

I haven't done business with ciassicshaving or Dovo since I tried to get some help from them 2 years ago on a 7 day set I bought from them 2 years previously. My imitation tortoise scales began to seriously warp for no apparent reason that I could see. I called classicshaving for assistance. They claimed there was nothing they could do but they would call Dovo for me. When they got back to me they said Dovo insisted that I must have got them close to a heat source and would do nothing for me. The closest they ever got to a heat source was a San Diego summer in the bathroom medicine cabinet. I thought the set was a life time purchase and figured the scales should last longer than 2 years. I found that the price of installing all new scales was almost as much as the set. This was before I discovered SRP. I sold them as quick as I could. I didn't want to look at them any longer.

I know EXACTLY what Jim means about going into a "specialty" store and knowing more than the clerk. In addition to my day-job, I have a part time business as a wedding photographer, and I have to really watch my tongue when I go into a Shutterbug or Ritz camera store because I invariably find myself having a pointless and circular conversation with a salesman who doesn't know which end of a camera to look in.

My solution for photography equipment was to find a small, privately owned camera shop. Sometimes I have to wait for him to special order what I want, and I usually pay a premium for the top quality service I get there, but it's worth every penny to me.

Sadly, what this thread so clearly illustrates, is that the days of the small, privately owned cutler are gone. If you live in a VERY big city, NY/LA/Chicago/London/Paris, you can probably find one, but most of us are stuck dealing with people over the internet; and on the internet, it's the "big sellers" that you find most readily.

All I can say is thank God for the SRP classifieds.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Sounds like Dovo doesn't want to take responsibility for their product's failures. It's a sad day when this happens. If they keep that attitude up, they may end up with a reputation like that brand Kamisori. Oh wait, doesn't Dovo produce the razors for Kamisori? I wonder in this case who should really be getting the bad reputation.

By the way O_S, that Japanese natural is developing a crack that is hindering my honing...

I thought this thread would have run it's course and died...lol
Dovo will "look at the brush" after I pay a fortune to have it shipped half way around the world. All that needs to be done is the knot needs to be re glued. I don't have the time or expertise to do it so I will ship the dang thing back to Germany and probably get stuck paying way to much to have it fixed. 10 years my a%$!! Once they have it in Germany I am at their mercy.. Oh well like I said earlier.. Lesson learned.

Tnaks for the comments/warning re classic shaving. Will give it a miss in the future considering their very poor customer support service.