the best part at least sounds like he refunded your money without an issue
again at least he refunded your money, that's more than some big businesses.
After knowing what I do now, I'd caution attributing that to any good nature on Josh’s behalf rather than a self serving maneuver to protect his own interests. I paid for the gears via Paypal and told him directly I was more than willing to pursue recourse through them, likely motivating him to realize that Paypal's buyer protection policy would more than ensure I’d be made whole one way or another, and if he didn’t return my funds voluntarily, such an action brought against him could potentially jeopardize his standing with Paypal and/or payment processor, ultimately costing him more.
something to take into account for me is that I keep hearing ADD is a one man show...
To be so verbose and make claims suggesting what an experienced man about town he is (...I currently have items in transit moving between every continent on the planet Earth...) - but simultaneously be so naïve as to not understand he's ordering from a guy working out of his garage and not understand all of the new variables that introduces?
I take issue with multiple aspects of this rationalization.
Firstly, ADD, as I understand it, was established as a partnership and quickly diverged into entity consisting solely of Josh, and from what I’ve been told from several others, many who know both parties well and personally, there were numerous and valid reasons the other founding member severed ties with ADD and Josh.
Secondly, as one who has spent most of my life self employed and operating several small businesses, often shipping internationally, I fully appreciate the stress and efforts involved, which is why I initially chose to give my business to ADD, wanting to support a small and independent company; I only wish I’d known then what I do now.
However, despite the associated tolls of owning and running a sole proprietorship, many of the fundamentals are still the same and most of them count for even more when you’re small.
-Be honest and direct.
-Keep the customer informed and remain transparent.
-Take responsibility.
-Honor your word.
-Reputation is everything.
-Under promise and over deliver.
-Focus on what you’re good at.
-Don’t spread yourself thin.
-Sub out what you’re not an expert at.
From my perspective, most of these were violated by Josh/ADD in my recent dealing with him and I’m hearing from more and more others who feel the same way.
He never took responsibility for attempting to squeeze me for more funds, refusing instead to honor his word and the terms I sought out and verified in writing,
I wasn’t updated as the order shipped/progressed and his excuses for the sudden charges he attempted to pass onto me kept changing and were all bogus.
If there was a change to the import duty laws, what was it? US legislation doesn’t pass without public record.
If there was an applicable executive order, what was it? Everything Biden has passed has been intensely reported upon and the parcel was already in the process of being cleared by Customs at the time of his inauguration.
If rising steel prices were to blame, why hasn’t Marks4WD, who manufacture them out of raw steel, raised their prices?
Why did he send me an invoice for $92.11 USD on 2/8/21 attributing it to a copy of a paid DHL invoice for $279.31 USD from 2/3/21?
When I originally placed my order, with the 2020 discount, free shipping, and not tax, it struck me as a rather good deal, which is why I took the extra steps of reaching out and verifying everything with him in advance. As an authorized Marks4WD dealer, I presumed Josh/ADD's wholesale pricing agreement must offer a margin sufficient enough to cover the terms and pricing he publicly advertised.
It's important to note, I placed my order domestically, with a US based retailer, as such, the costs of importing and acquiring inventory are by definition the responsibility of that retailer, not the consumer.
I wasn’t making a purchase from a foreign entity, which would have shifted the burden of additional costs associated with bringing an item into the US onto me.
Any half decent business would factor those costs into their retail pricing structure. They may factor for smaller than normal margins, but if they're not even covering their own costs, that's just gross negligence; passing the associated costs and exposure onto a customer after the fact is all manner of wrong.
If Josh/ADD is not up to the task of accurately monitoring product and import costs, setting achievable retail pricing/terms of service, updating/managing shipping, maintaining an accurate email dialogue with customers, and keeping an up to date website to reflect all those elements, he should farm them out, hire someone who can, or pair down the business to a level he can manage.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m well aware of how challenging both small businesses and international shipping can be, that however doesn’t excuse the behavior he’s demonstrated.
Thirdly, I was aware of the potential for delays when I placed my order, one thing Josh/ADD was open and upfront about, and as such, it was never a big concern of mine. That said, there was still a lot left to be desired.
I was never informed or forwarded a tracking number when the gears did finally ship, having not heard anything for more than a month after placing the order, I had to reach out to get an update, by that time the package had already cleared customs in the US and was days away from being delivered to Josh/ADD in AZ.
It’s also of note that ordering directly through Marks4WD’s website yesterday, 2/9/21, at about 12pm, my replacement gears were in transit by 5pm that afternoon, with tracking info forwarded to me immediately and scheduled to be delivered on 2/15/21; a stark contrast to the timeline I experienced with Josh/ADD.
In posting this, I've heard from many who have had similar negative experiences as well others of you who seem eager to dismiss such experiences and write me off as petulant, butt hurt, or having an axe to grind.
I’ve no illusion that in sharing this I’ll convince many of you to spend your money elsewhere, which is fine, millions of people do business with both Walmart and Amazon daily despite the havoc they wreak; this is the world we live in.
However in reading this, you’ve now been warned, and like it or not, granted additional information upon which you can base your purchasing decisions. In this tiny, yet growing, community, which already suffers from a distinct lack of competition, there’s little room for bad actors, limited customer feedback is detrimental to our fellow Mitsubishi aficionados.
As to the repeated comments regarding the scope and length of my postings, I’m guilty as charged. Spacing it all out to make it more readable, likely doesn't help them seem any less long either.
Had I condensed any of this down, it would’ve significantly decreased the likelihood of believability, this is the internet after all and I don’t know any of you personally, so devoid of clear, compelling, and supporting evidence, who would believe what anyone online said?
In all things in life, be they professional or personal, I tend to be thorough, meticulous, and a stickler for honesty, accuracy, and transparency.
Take a moment and peruse my posting history, I don’t comment on here too often, but when I do, I do my best to provide as clear and accurate information as possible, often times resulting in longer posts.
I’ve mentioned before I don’t mind writing and I've the impression many of you over estimate the time it takes me to do so, however, the benefactors are those in this community who may find themselves facing a problem that I, or one of you, may have already discovered an elegant solution to and documented. I know I’ve benefited immensely from those who took the time to post in the past, sharing valuable and often hard to find information.
Ultimately though, if my posts are too long for you, by all means scroll on by, it doesn't bother me any, you're all free to read this or not, your participation is entirely voluntary.
