20 x 40 1 ½ Story – Lake Hartwell, GA

Started by LuvHartwell, October 30, 2008, 05:15:47 PM

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LuvHartwell

#50
Hi Frank,

We're practically neighbors!  I'm excited about following the progress on your project. 

The Hart County health department would not allow me to put the septic system in myself. I had to hire a contractor that was on their approved list to do the work. I think they're overriding concern was an inexperience landowner putting in a septic system that might somehow leach into the waters of Lake Hartwell and or the surrounding water wells.

Best,

Tony

LuvHartwell

R/L Carriers just delivered my 4 Renogy 300Watt panels purchased from Solar Systems USA.  Unfortunately the delivery was not without issues. 

One of the straps was broken, the plastic ripped and a perfect indentation of a boot heel punched through the top cardboard indicating someone had stepped on the shipment.





The R/L driver would not allow me to inspect the shipment before signing the delivery paperwork.  On the delivery paperwork it clearly states by signing you agree to have received the shipment in good condition. 

When I told the driver in order for me to determine if the shipment arrived in good condition I must inspect it.  He responded that it's against company policy to allow shipments to be inspected before signing the delivery paperwork indicating you received it in good condition.  Yes he really did say that.... Twice!

Anyone else have a problem with this oxymoron approach? This wasn't my first time dealing with companies like this so I simply told him since I wasn't going to be allowed to inspect the shipment I was refusing it and he could load it back on his truck. 

He then got on the phone with his customer service team and about 5 minutes later he gave me the go ahead to open and inspect the shipment. 

The good news is the panels were not damaged and I signed the paperwork.  The bad news is I'm giving Solar Systems USA and their carrier R/L Carriers a customer service score of "F" for putting me through this crap.

From and overall customer service point of view I'm giving Solar Systems USA "D+".  They have extremely poor internal communications. Evidenced by the fact multiple people contacted me multiple times regarding placing the same order. All of these people were independent contractors trying to book the same sales order.  This went on and on for over a week via phone and email before they finally figured out my order had already been booked and paid for.

I'm sure they've got explanations to everything that happened but for all the readers out there these are the facts man!

Now let's just hope everything else arrives without incident. 

Best,

Tony


MountainDon

Freight companies vary and in most cases we can not specify who we want to bring it. That is too bad as we've had better experiences with some than others. Some are more friendly in that their drivers volunteer the info that you can inspect the shipment before signing. Maybe that varies with the individual driver too as they all want to get home sooner than later. We've never had an issue with inspecting anything brought to us by Yellow. Maybe we've been lucky. That is not to say no problems, but inspecting never a problem and getting problems solved never a big deal. They have had some of the nicest delivery drivers.

Hidden in among all the terms and conditions there is usually ways to deal with hidden damage, but that too is sometimes not talked about.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

LuvHartwell

In my checkered past I co-owned a small OTR trucking company.  We had our own Authority.  I pretty much did everything from A-Z on the business side of things including negotiating rates on loads with brokers to having the trucks repaired to dealing with customers with damaged loads.  That led to starting and operating a small chain of shipping stores similar to the UPS store or FedEx/Kinko's.  Sold my interests in both businesses early 2008 before the bottom fell out of the economy.   I've been that guy on the phone talking to the driver making the decision what to do next when somethings gone wrong.  When I said in my original post this was my first time dealing with companies like this I really meant it. 

I know exactly what their angle was. The driver knew the shipment could've possibly been damaged.  He was standing right there with me looking at the damage packaging.  Once that little piece of paper indicating you received you shipment in "good condition" is signed their off the hook for any damage.  At best if there had been damage discovered after I sign a piece of paper I would've been an uphill battle trying to get someone to do the right thing.

Solar Systems USA policy related to receiving shipments clearly states all damage must be identified and documented before acceptance of the shipment.  I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and say it was a misunderstanding or I didn't understand the policy or there's probably some language buried someplace in the contract that would protect me.  Thats just not the way it was.

Am I saying all transport companies operate like this. Absolutely not. But I am saying this one tried to today.  Call me old-fashioned but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect professional courteous service and the ability to inspect something I paid thousands of dollars for especially when I'm the one footing the bill. 




Jarek

Hi,
I'm not surprised to hear about your expirience with trucking company. While ago I ordered toilet seat from internet company. I needed 10in rough-in and stores only carry 12in. Faucets.com company that I placed order with had exactly same policy inspect before signing and absolutly no returns. Since I missed the delivery I went to UPS branch to pick it up myself, UPS person told me that I need to sign first. I took a risk I was already waiting few days  :( . After I installed the tank it started to leak..., hairline crack. I called faucets.com explain sitiuation and they send me new tank. I would miss that crack even if I had oportunity to inspect it. It was not visible. But in the retrospect I should have refuse that package, but then what I still need that toilet. Thanks to faucets.com it worked out okay.

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