Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment - Review/Rant

[mayday0017]

Well as many of you know of my experiance with my compressor where I recently dropped and damaged it. I had sourced my parts online and found Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment to have the best price and quickly answered the phone when I called to place my order.

My order was placed on the June 26th, and I was told the Flywheel was in stock on their shelf and they needed to order the crank. They said they will have the crank the next day and then will ship my entire order. The told me I should be recieveing my order by Thursday (July 5th) or Friday (July 6th) due to the 4th being a holiday.

Thursday July 5th I called because I had recieved a charge on my creditcard for the order (on the 26th) but never recieved an e-mail with tracking or order confirmation as I was told I would (no biggie). At this time I was told by the supervisor Beverley that the person I spoke with had misinformed me of my delivery date, and they had several errors in my order. They had misspelled my name and my location I live Houston and they had it as Hewstin Tx. She corrected those errors and "called to check on my order", So far so good... Then she calls me back to say the Flywheel which I was previously told was on the shelf is on backorder with the manufacture, and also the crank is as well. Wait till Monday July 9th and and call back for more updated information.

So Today Monday July 9th I call ARK OPE back up and talk to Beverley who is anything but polite to me. She said "I told you it is on back order I don't know what more you want from me". She told me to call back later today and she would gather more information. At this point I decided to call my contact I had been working with at Sanborn (The manufacture). Dewain was nice enough to tell me they do have parts in stock and that there is no back order. He also told me the quantity of each on hand. Dewain was even nice enough to look up the company I ordered from by their address and told me their account is listed as AAAA Generator (www.AAAA-Generator.com) which matched the copyright at the bottom of the www.arkansas-ope.com website. From there he dug into their account and informed me they have no open orders with Sanborn and have NEVER ordered the partnumbers I have requested.

At this point I am confused on what to do, the manufacture says the parts are not on back order and the company I am buying from hasn't even placed an order with them. The company I ordered from keeps telling me they are on back order and insists they have contacted Sanborn and that Sanborn doesn't even know when the items will be back in stock. So I went and ate lunch and thought it over, my parts are already late and I will not be able to do work I have committed myself to on the 28th if the parts do not arrive. So I called www.arkansas-ope.com back up and talked to Beverley again. This time she was rude and told me "You are wasting my time with these phone calls, the parts are on back order, I do not know who you are talking to at Sanborn but they are idiots I have a confirmation from them and the parts are on back order. Why don't I give you your money back and you can annoy someone else with phone calls because I don't have time to put up with people like you"... I was taken back by this and interupted her saying "Mam, I have not been rude or short with you, I have been very fair when your company has been in the wrong several times. I simply want the parts that I paid for and assurance they will be here in a timely mannor". From there she continued being rude and mouthing about how she has better things to do with her time then stay on the phone with a customer. At that point I could take no more. I told her to please cancel my order as I will not be doing business with www.arkansas-ope.com again and I will be sure to let others know of my experiance as well. I told her they are a horriable company to deal with and if they have expectations of continuing then maybe it is best if she does NOT get on the phone with customers and if she is not the owner I would recommend they find a replacement for her and to have a nice day. At which point she replied "Whatever" and hung up...

That brings me to where I am now, I am calling Sanborn to order the parts direct for full retail, at least I feel like Sanborn will deliver the parts and will not give me the same toung lashing the previous company did. I firmly believe in word of mouth and am greatful when others save me from dealing with or supporting bad businesses so I am doing what I can to help save others as well. Hope I save someone else from doing business with them in the future, if you have any further suggestions or recomendations please let me know.

Company to stay away from:Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment (www.arkansas-ope.com)
AAAA Generator (aaaa-generator.com)



Robert

 

[signcrafter]

Somebody really doesn't want you to ever use this compressor!!!

It's hard to believe that anyone at any company would treat a customer like that after they had lied to them multiple times. Hopefully they refund your money in a timely matter.

Good luck with the new order.

 

[SMKS]

At this point I decided to call my contact I had been working with at Sanborn (The manufacture). Dewain was nice enough to tell me they do have parts in stock and that there is no back order.

I've actually heard of this problem before. Local dealers claim the parts aren't available, but when you call the company directly they tell you the parts are available.

I would guess it's because the dealers don't want to go through the hassle of ordering the parts, they don't know how to order the parts through the manufacturer, or both.

Buying the parts directly from the manufacturer is probably your best option. I have also ordered parts from the official Sears Parts website and had a good experience.

 

[pop pop]

As a young engineer many years ago, I learned a valuable lesson on ordering and receiving needed parts.

We had a vital machine break a part we did not stock, or at least if we stocked it, it was not warehoused on site and likely "on order". I headed to our purchasing director's office to explain my needs and its importance. He was NY foul talking short tempered lamb of a guy. He listened to my story, quickly checked his records to verify it was ordered, wheeled around to his speaker phone, dialed the company up and some nice lady answered the phone. "*** mfg. Co. This is Mrs.***, how can I help you?" He asks for someone to accept a very important rush order. Mr. YYY comes on the line. He answers politely and hears we need a part ASAP. He starts in with what seems like a "normal" order. Where upon my guy interrupts and asks who he works for. He states Mr. WWW. Purchasing Dir. asks to speak with him. OK. Mr. WWW comes on the line as in "hello, this is Mr. WWW, how may I help you. Purchasing Dir. only asks who he works for. This continues for about 7 layers till Mr. ZZZ answers and Purchasing Dir asks who he works for. Mr. ZZZ stammers a bit at the question then states, " Well I guess nobody since I'm the President of the Company". Purchasing agent immediately bores into him about needing a part they promised but not shipped.

A private plane delivered the part to the private airport about a mile away that night.

 

[Ryan]

Interestingly, Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment is threatening to sue to me due to this post... I will keep you all updated.

 

[930dreamer]

This is very interesting, can't wait to see what the outcome is.

 

[purplezr2]

Wow, I didn't know a company could due that, how its it any different then giving a negative review on amazon.

 

[firebox40dash5]

Wow, I didn't know a company could due that, how its it any different then giving a negative review on amazon.

They can threaten whatever they'd like. If they want to proceed without a good reason, it's not going to end well for them.

Frivolous lawsuit + countersuit can= triple damages for OP

 

[padronanniversary]

Now it's getting good. Well at least I know where not to do business with

 

[Zeke]

I think many forum owners have faced this numerous times. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there is a forum for forum owners. I know a very large forum owner personally and I know he has faced this. So far, I think he has prevailed w/o a lot of trouble.

If you want to discuss it privately, your moderator Jack Olsen knows of whom I speak. He is also very well acquainted.

 

[Ryan]

Wow, I didn't know a company could due that, how its it any different then giving a negative review on amazon.

It's not... However, a negative review here carries much more weight... I suspicion the company found the post after Google searching their name. And, of course, such a post can be very damaging when it has a high Google rank.

I'm sure they are frustrated, pissed... and haven't even bothered to check the validity of the claims against them.

In any case, the thread remains.

 

[Ryan]

I think many forum owners have faced this numerous times. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there is a forum for forum owners. I know a very large forum owner personally and I know he has faced this. So far, I think he has prevailed w/o a lot of trouble.

If you want to discuss it privately, your moderator Jack Olsen knows of whom I speak. He is also very well acquainted.

I'm 9-0!

 

[jhelrey]

Interestingly, Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment is threatening to sue to me due to this post... I will keep you all updated.

Can't sue if it is true!

 

[jhelrey]

http://www.yellowpages.com/jacksonville-ar/mip/arkansas-outdoor-power-equip-9706640

You're not the only one!

 

[sharkytm]

I've dealt with this same situation. A MFR who claims to not deal with the public, and forces you to use a "dealer". This dealer doesn't care about the small parts sale, and basically just ignores you (after billing your card, of course). Repeated calls end up with the same lame excuses, and you spend hours on the phone for nothing.

I had a similar experience with a bank regarding a refinance on a loan. They said they'd call me back "tomorrow" for about 2 weeks, during which the rates jumped by over a point. I called the bank and asked who I should talk to regarding a loan of over a million dollars to finance a large commercial project in the area. Needless to say, that tactic got me someone very high in the loan department. I then told her my story, and (and this was the key) compared my phone log notes with theirs. She agreed that they had screwed me over, and offered to do the refi for the lowest rate offered in the past 90 days.

In any case, let them threaten to sue, they don't have a leg to stand on if you are telling the truth. Best of luck.

 

[b1ghwx]

Now it's getting good. Well at least I know where not to do business with

+1 This will backfire on them. I will not ever consider Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment for anything

 

[mayday0017]

Wow, I have never been more happy about taking time out of my day to share my bad experiance. I was really only trying to save fellow GJ members from having the same bad experiance I had. It's 100% true and if you need more info let me know, all calls were placed from my Cell phone and I can go back and find exact times I talked to each person fairly easy if needed.

On side note I would like to thank OPE for making yet another bonehead move with a threat like this. Now this post is new all over again and even more interesting to read. Keep it up, you will be more likely to find this thread in a google search then their actual business.

Wonder if Beverley is still working there....

 

[Kracin]

it's only illegal if it isn't true.

the best they could do is doctor their own records to show that they had the part the whole time and didn't ship it.

kinda makes you wish you'd remember to record all your phone calls just so you can save those special ones when they do happen to come up. i know of a few instances where phone calls have turned nasty. phones were the precursor to the internet in terms of being a big shot on the other end of something where you aren't face to face with someone. also why i tend to walk into places directly to make orders sometimes or deal with problems.



although this reminds me of a funny situation about the same, where the company literally goes out of their way to screw with a customer, so bad that the customer starts to leave bad reviews everywhere they can find because they were so dissatisfied with the service and treatment. it's no wonder places like wal-mart are doing so well in business, they go out of their way to just literally throw money at unsatisfied people, which keeps their name in the green zone.

all it takes is one unsatisfied customer to make your business look bad, so why not take the time to make sure everybody is happy (to the greatest of your ablility within reason of course). it's only good business.

 

[CNGsaves]

So WHEN . . . if Ever . . . did the company or any of it's agents cure the problem . . . ie since this thread is so old??

 

[neophyte]

it's only illegal if it isn't true.

the best they could do is doctor their own records to show that they had the part the whole time and didn't ship it.

kinda makes you wish you'd remember to record all your phone calls just so you can save those special ones when they do happen to come up. i know of a few instances where phone calls have turned nasty. phones were the precursor to the internet in terms of being a big shot on the other end of something where you aren't face to face with someone. also why i tend to walk into places directly to make orders sometimes or deal with problems.



although this reminds me of a funny situation about the same, where the company literally goes out of their way to screw with a customer, so bad that the customer starts to leave bad reviews everywhere they can find because they were so dissatisfied with the service and treatment. it's no wonder places like wal-mart are doing so well in business, they go out of their way to just literally throw money at unsatisfied people, which keeps their name in the green zone.

all it takes is one unsatisfied customer to make your business look bad, so why not take the time to make sure everybody is happy (to the greatest of your ablility within reason of course). it's only good business.

This is Illegal in many jurisdictions. If the companies phone system has a recording that says something like "this call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance" you may be OK. Also if you do it simply to take notes about what exactly was said during the conversation you may be OK if you don't release the recording. The specifics of the law vary per state.

 

[Automatic Slim]

maybe a tornado got her trailer and she was having a bad week?


The toothbrush was invented in Arkansas, otherwise it would have been called a teethbrush.


Never used this group but familiar with the name, they squat about 25 crow miles from my shack.

Is the part in stock? Seems like a Y/N question to me and then to get bent taint right

 

[Kracin]

maybe a tornado got her trailer and she was having a bad week?


The toothbrush was invented in Arkansas, otherwise it would have been called a teethbrush.


Never used this group but familiar with the name, they squat about 25 crow miles from my shack.

Is the part in stock? Seems like a Y/N question to me and then to get bent taint right

it obviously sounded more like a shady business practice of telling people that they have the item so they can make the sale, and hopefully they have a customer that doesn't follow up and ask questions, they just wait 4 weeks to get a part that should take 3 days to get there.