Am I Asking For Too Much?

[kirbo7106]

Originally Posted by Whisky

Partskit.com has front wheels. (Grom replicas) on sale for 35.bucks right now

Thanks!

[kirbo7106]

Who’s in my wallet? Capital One! And they are disputing the charges for my Hellcat!

I just got off the phone with Capital One and they are taking care of my problem! It might take a while.

I’ll keep you posted!

[Whisky]

I bought my bike at Venom Motorsports and they told me
to inspect bike before signing receipt otherwise
they would not cover any damage claims, I personally had very good experience buying through them.

[scoot newb]

Originally Posted by Whisky

I bought my bike at Venom Motorsports and they told me
to inspect bike before signing receipt otherwise
they would not cover any damage claims, I personally had very good experience buying through them.

I would think that's impossible. The delivery person would have to be willing to wait around until you unboxed it, disassembled the cage, unwired the front rim and other parts connected to cage and inspect every thing. Then if something was wrong, wait around to re-assemble the cage and box it back up.

I get it though, you could check for signs of damage to the box. For me the condition of the box was fine. It was only after getting everything out of the cage I started to find problems here and there.

[Whisky]

Originally Posted by scoot newb

I would think that's impossible. The delivery person would have to be willing to wait around until you unboxed it, disassembled the cage, unwired the front rim and other parts connected to cage and inspect every thing. Then if something was wrong, wait around to re-assemble the cage and box it back up.

I get it though, you could check for signs of damage to the box. For me the condition of the box was fine. It was only after getting everything out of the cage I started to find problems here and there.

Everything was assembled , is all I had to do was put the handle bars on and I made the delivery guy wait while I un-boxed and inspected.
Sure I didn't look at everything but I did look at the most important things such as wheels, tires, engine, cosmetics. I paid for it so it better be what I paid for period.

[kirbo7106]

Originally Posted by Whisky

I bought my bike at Venom Motorsports and they told me
to inspect bike before signing receipt otherwise
they would not cover any damage claims, I personally had very good experience buying through them.

Yeah, I should have gone with Venom Motorsports! I really like the Hellcat, but not that much!

[neltron]

Really bummed to hear customer service not being awesome for Family Go Karts... they've been super nice on the phone and easy to work with. I'm waiting on my Hellcat but it worries me if I have issues I'll foot the bill since they're giving you the run around.

[kirbo7106]

Originally Posted by neltron

Really bummed to hear customer service not being awesome for Family Go Karts... they've been super nice on the phone and easy to work with. I'm waiting on my Hellcat but it worries me if I have issues I'll foot the bill since they're giving you the run around.

I hope you get a good one! What color did you go with? Keep us posted!

Enjoy the Ride!

[neltron]

Originally Posted by kirbo7106

I hope you get a good one! What color did you go with? Keep us posted!

Enjoy the Ride!

I got a blue one, I wanted white but they only had one at their store front fully assembled and wanted more money for it. I figured with the extra money I'd spend I could just buy new grom plastics for close to the same price. Hopefully it goes without a hitch but we will see.

[FamilyGoKarts]

Hey guys, Brad here from FamilyGoKarts.com. I usually try to follow up when our name comes up in the forum. I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner, but I didn't get a notice and just found this discussion today.

I'm really sorry to hear about all the problems you've experienced. The biggest problem we have in this industry, besides Chinese quality control issues, is shipping damage, and that is by far the number one issue we constantly deal with.

We recently switched from UPS Freight to Saia because of these problems, and we've been carefully monitoring them to see how it goes. For the most part, it has been much better, but there are still the occasional hiccups. So let me first thank you for reporting your experience in detail. I understand it takes a lot of extra effort to have to deal with a problem that never should have happened in the first place. Your report makes it easier for us to work on improvements both internally and in the industry as a whole. I definitely will be referring our Saia rep to this thread.

Secondly, please know that we really do try to make it right when things like this happen. However, we're generally at the mercy of the vendor/distributor and shipper when it comes to replacement parts, warranty concerns and shipping claims. Now, that's not to say we aren't sometimes to blame. I'll be the first to admit that we occasionally screw up support tickets and let a customer down. Sometimes we just get too busy with 'business', and an issue falls through the cracks. Other times, issues aren't cut and dried or easily resolved. And still other times, even though we solve the problem, we can't solve it as fast as the customer would like.

Nevertheless, this is not to try to offer excuses. A problem is a problem, and problems should be resolved. Customers expect to receive rideable products, not 'projects' as someone here has perhaps accurately called it. We get it. We want every order to go smoothly and every customer to be totally satisfied, and it's in that spirit that we try our best to fix every problem that comes up.

I wish I could say we always get it right... but we don't. So to you scoot newb and kirbo7106 and any others that we may have failed, I offer our sincerest apologies.

If you continue to have problems, and need to reach out, feel free to reply here and I will personally relay any input directly to the top or to the vendor or shipper. I'll do what I can to help.

Having said that, if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to speak to the topic of FamilyGoKart's reputation that has been brought up in this discussion.

Competition in this industry is stiff (and sometimes even cutthroat), and margins are tight. Pile on quality control problems, crazy high shipping costs, delayed or damaged deliveries, and slow or uncooperative vendors and the challenges can be mush greater than most customers realize.

It's easy for businesses, especially online businesses, to seem impersonal and distant, but we do care very much about every customer and every order that comes through. We're a very real, albeit relatively small, family-owned business with around 20 super dedicated, hard-working employees that pour their hearts and souls into their jobs. We couldn't ask for a better group of people. Most of us are located in the tiny little town of Browns Valley, MN, but some are distributed across the US from California to Arkansas. And even though we may sell Chinese imports for the most part, every order placed with us helps to support real US workers and put food on the table for real families, adding to local economies from coast to coast.

We're a conservative, family-centric, God-fearing, US-loving bunch of folks, and we work hard to personify that culture to our customers. We understand that may not sit well with some people given the current political and social landscape, but it's who we are.

However, even though we're small, we are the largest online retailer for most import distributors with whom we have a relationship. Other dealers don't even come close. Our employees have served well in excess of 50,000 customers over the years and the vast majority have been satisfied. The last time we ran the numbers, we were in the 99.997% satisfaction range. So I take slight issue when people point out negative reviews they've found online.

Of course, we've certainly had our share of unhappy customers. And those customers are always the most vocal, seeking out any and every platform to air their grievances; even platforms of highly questionable business practices, of which we consider the BBB.

Most people think the Better Business Bureau is some kind of altruistic, non-profit organization that looks out for consumers' interests. In reality, the BBB is anything but fair and impartial, and it most certainly is not non-profit, although it does little to dispel that myth. The BBB is just another business, plain and simple, and it makes it's money by collecting passive reviews and then forcing real businesses to pay exorbitant fees and invest man hours in dealing with their paperwork all because a customer thought it was a good idea to file a complaint. We have a mighty low opinion of the BBB and consider it to have highly questionable business practices that border on extortion and do little if nothing to help businesses actually improve customer relations.

If you'd like to know more about some of our misfortunes with the BBB, check out this article on our blog:

https://www.familygokarts.com/blog/w...aid-of-the-bbb

It's a little dated by now, but the experience taught us a valuable lesson about dealing with the BBB.

The same is true of the myriad other so-called "online complaint sites" that only collect passive reviews. If you don't believe me, just spend a little time Googling some of them from a business perspective. They have literally destroyed businesses and ruined the lives of the people who owned them. They are shady, unethical sites that prey on consumers beset by the emotions of a deal gone bad and then use the content they milk from these people to blackmail businesses to pay huge fees to repair their reputation.

We do continue to respond to BBB complaints, but we do so only as a courtesy for customers that don't understand how the BBB is taking advantage of them. Basically, we place a higher value on trying to make customers happy than we do on stiffing the BBB. However, we much prefer to deal with customers via a valid, third-party, active review service or even an unbiased online forum like this one. There are plenty of reputable ratings platforms and legitimate review services out there to get to know a business's reputation. Google Business Reviews is one example. We use a third-party review system called Shopper Approved that lets customers rate our company and review the service we provide. And unlike online complaint sites, only verified customers are allowed to submit a review, and we see every review that comes through... and we respond when necessary to resolve any bad ratings.

For reviews from real customers, check out this page:

https://www.shopperapproved.com/revi...ilyGoKarts.com

There's also more information on that page about the difference between Passive and Active reviews.

Now, I said all that to say this; we really do care and we really do try. We never leave fake reviews anywhere. And we never leave a customer unhappy when they have a valid complaint. We don't have a magic wand that can fix every issue that arises, but we will do whatever we can do within reason to compensate a customer if a problem occurs. These machines are very expensive to ship, and everybody loses if one is returned and shipped twice. So we do our best to help customers correct any problems they might experience.

All we ask is that our customers also do what they can to help.

If you've read this far, I commend you! For those of you that have ordered from us, thank you for trusting us with your purchase, and thank you for supporting the families that make our company what it is. We genuinely appreciate your business!

And scoot newb and kirbo7106, please do follow up here if I can help with your issues in any way.

Sincerely,
Brad Holland
CIO - Director of IT
Backer Wencel, Incorporated

[scoot newb]

Yes, you have a disclaimer on your site about the BBB. The positive reviews are obviously fake. I urge anyone reading this to see for yourself. The negative reviews are spot on and match the lack of service I've been receiving.

It's been 2 weeks since I've taken delivery of the Hellcat and nobody there has done anything to get the bike up to Dot or State inspection standards. If I hadn't spent money and time it wouldn't even be running yet.

What are you going to do about this? How much longer should I wait before these problems are resolved?

Jeff should be able to fill you in on the problems. I can PM you the trouble ticket number if you'd like.

I mean really the weekly reply from Jeff always has some excuse about him 'not being in the office', so he is the only person assigned to handle problems? It is beyond ridiculous.

[scoot newb]

I hope you get one without any damage.

[2LZ]

This sucks to hear about your issues and also, family go carts. They're "Local-ish" here in Vallejo and I was hoping for better service. The last thing we China Riders needs is another Manny.

[Douglass]

They're "Local-ish" here in Vallejo

Not to get off topic too much, but where abouts in Vallejo are they? I have been to GoKartsUSA in Benicia.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Douglass

Not to get off topic too much, but where abouts in Vallejo are they? I have been to GoKartsUSA in Benicia.

Whoops. My error. You're correct. GoKartsUSA in benicia.