Bowthruster Blues
I worked with the local Budget Marine chandlery on Friday and arranged for (and paid for) expedited shipping from the St. Maarten Budget Marine store. They had stated that the package might be available on Monday, the best case. So, I dropped by in the early afternoon to find that the part had not been shipped.
The bad experience started when I walked in and was told, “We have some bad news and some good news”. The bad news was that they had not found the part despite the inventory control system showing it as available. Then they said that the good news was that they would help me order it elsewhere.
I’ve been in the Caribbean for years, and the inventory issue didn’t surprise me much. But the fact that I’d told them that the problem was very time-sensitive, and they could have called me or e-mailed me on Friday afternoon, or during their business hours on Saturday, or all of Monday, and informed me of the problems. But no, they’d done none of the above. Nor had they looked around for where to source the part.
So, I was understandably irate. Had they told me on Friday, I could (and would) have ordered it in the USA, the U.K., or Germany and had it shipped, and it would have arrived on Tuesday.
They then said they would look into getting it, but that since it was now lunch in the Caribbean, the companies in Europe would be closed, implying it was my fault I hadn’t followed up earlier.
I still have no update from them and am looking into getting a blank manufactured so that the hole gets plugged and I can splash Zanshin soon instead of blowing another week of my waiting. And my level of trust with the shoddy customer service is about as low as it can get. I’ll have nothing to do with them in the future, but right now they are the only chandlery available.