Kyle this one is for you...

Doug is on the money with that statement. Good customer service can seem like a pain and expensive in the startup phase of a new company, but it pays off in the long run.

We do stand behind our product, we conveyed the info to our manufacturing line when we first heard about a 175 watts 10K mishap (till date we are not able to reproduce this at our end, because the only bulb returned to us worked ok), who in turn contacted APL the supplier of the MH salts for most MH bulb manufacturers in the world based in Urbana, IL. They gauranteed that this was not something with the mixture used, we have also requested a 21 point quality check in the manufacturing line at additional cost, in addiiton to the ISO 9001 quality assurance program. May be it was an overhead that was not needed but we still absorbed it.

I don't know what more to say.

Also our sales has grown exponentailly and we do make every effort to satisfy our customers, but you'll also agree that it does not work always.

We aim for 100% satisfaction but I am not sure if there any prodcuts with a 100% satisfaction.

Venki

your local lower mainland aquarium supply retail outlets are being contacted at this time, soon our website will be up and running with a page listing retail outlets that are carrying our products. (Sun Aquatics bulbs & ballasts) When your local stores have been shipped product, you will know about it before they recive it. The wonders of the internet...

Well, I think the above is excellent. People like to know they can get a quality product at a good price.

What I would have done in your position with the previous client who sent bulbs back to you, would have been to burn in a set of bulbs, ensure the colour quality was fine, and shipped out a new set. If the client wont accept a new set, I would apologise for his negative experience and refund all of his money. Charging a restocking fee and not refunding the shipping charges is like kickin the guy when he is down.

I do know a little bit about customer service and retention, I run a company in a fiercely competitive industry. We have been around since 2000 and plan to be around until the market is dead (hopefully a long ways ahead). We aren't the lowest priced option, so for us, customer service is the #1 factor in retaining our clients and acquiring all their business. It is also the only reason we acquire new clients - our satisfied clients refer their business partners and friends to us.

Anyways, as I have said several times, I think your product is good and your price excellent. If you had better distribution and a gentler hand when it comes to customer service, I think you have a formula for a long term, profitable business.

Lost, I agree 99.99999999% Venkiw did say how ever that the bulbs worked on his end with their electronic Ballast (which isn't available to us yet). The customer however did use the recommended ballast when the problem occured. I don't think burning in a new set of bulbs would work but sending out a new pair before making the customer wait while they burn the bulbs in would have been satisfactory. If the customer still had a problem the blame could then be put on the ballast.(s)
One question I have is, did anyone recommend the customer move the bulbs to the other ballast.. IE Bulb A to ballast B and Bulb B to ballast A? Surely that would help determine if the problem were with the bulb or ballast, would it not?

Doug

Good points Doug^and Lost
We are working very hard to setup a good reliable distribution network, thing are being ironed out, we want distribition to be reliable, and efficent.... product availibility is just around the corner...

Sorry to hijack the thread bob :)

A restocking fee? :neutral: This is getting out of hand. You guys should have taken a few classes or at least some advice on how to run a business before jumping into this.

hehe, "How to lose customers 101" :eek: I know at my office we bend over backwards for our customers.. its only under certain circumstances we charge a restocking fee..