I'm sticking with IO

[Anonymous]

A while back, I signed up for a free sample of Oceanic salt. (lots of people around here did!) Most of you received your samples in the mail. I didn't.

I emailed Oceanic yesterday:

good morning,

A while back when you first launched your salt mix, you were giving away free
samples. I gladly signed up for one, hoping to find something better than
Instant Ocean I use now. But then the free sample never showed up! Have they
not shipped yet, ("please wait 4-6 weeks. . ."kinda thing?) or did my
name get missed on the shipping list?


Thanks
Brett

This is the reply I got from them:

As far as I can tell all requests have been shipped out except for the more
recent ones, as we are now out of stock on the samples.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if I can be of further
assistance.

Thank You!

Matt Kaplinsky
Oceanic Systems Inc.
1-800-554-6229 ext 721

This is the reply I sent:

So I was promised a 5 gallon batch, and I'm not going to get it?

That's great customer service. I'll be posting your reply on various
message boards.

And I guess I'll be sticking with Instant Ocean.

Brett

It's good to see great customer service from a (supposedly) good company.

B

 

[Anonymous]

Hey that's the same guy I talked to over the phone about tank colors. He was saying something to me about how their website was being refurbished or somethin. He was really no help what-so-ever. Not really a big help or hindrance just kinda on the other end of the phone. Actually acted kind of stuck up when I mentioned other tank colors and stuff from oceanics past.

 

[cdeakle]

Thanks for the heads up!

I will gladly make sure they get none of my cashola.....

 

[Anonymous]

WOW.................That's the same guy that sent me 2 samples and sent the first one overnight because I told him I was getting ready to do a water change(which I was) then 2 days later I got the 2nd sample.Sorry he treated you like that I got the total opposite from him........Big Time!
_________________
grape ape plant

 

[ReefMon]

That's the same guy that sent me 2 samples and sent the first one overnight

Sounds like he got his a$$ chewed out for spending all that $ on overnighting free salt samples.

FWIW, I never got my sample, and was contacted by him 6 or so months ago.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm happy with IO and will continue to use it.

 

[Anonymous]

That's the same guy that sent me 2 samples and sent the first one overnight

Sounds like he got his a$$ chewed out for spending all that $ on overnighting free salt samples.

FWIW, I never got my sample, and was contacted by him 6 or so months ago.

lol I guess he might have.It really surprised me maybe it had something to do with me telling him I had an Oceanic Tank and wanted Oceanic salt with my Oceanic tank :twisted:
_________________
g13 diesel photos

 

[Big R]

Good reason to stick w/ IO. :roll: Oceanic didn't promise anyone a free sample. I beleive they said samples would be available "while supllies last". I'm sure there are many others that didn't/won't get a sample, but there was only so much to go around. Honestly, they have not been able to keep up with the demand for this salt from paying customers; not sure how much sense it makes to give out any more for free.

R

 

[Eheim_Dave]

I signed up months ago and never got a sample. Considering they ran the banner about the free sample for so long, I don't buy the fact they ran out. They should have taken the banner down if they already had more requests than samples.

PS
Sorry my first post is negative.

 

[teevee]

Wow. It's a free sample people. You don't really have much of a right to complain, and it shouldn't be a big deal. There's no need to run around slamming Oceanic. If you want it that badly, buy it.

 

[cdeakle]

Wow. It's a free sample people. You don't really have much of a right to complain, and it shouldn't be a big deal. There's no need to run around slamming Oceanic. If you want it that badly, buy it.

Actually he does have a right to complain. I wouldn't necessarily complain about getting left out of a free promotional offer but he definately has merit about being upset with bad customer service in response to him being left out of a promotinal offer.

Great customer service can sometimes be hard to find in this hobby. We need to reward good companies with good customer service by spending our hard earned money with them and be extra cautious with companies that have bad customer service....

 

[Eheim_Dave]

You don't really have much of a right to complain, and it shouldn't be a big deal.

I just think its bad practice to run an add offering the possibility of free product for at least two months after the free product has been used up. I'm not trying to slam Oceanic. I'm offerring my advise to them that people view things like this as bad practice.

 

[manderx]

alot of people didn't get samples because their database crashed.

 

[cdeakle]

alot of people didn't get samples because their database crashed

Not according to them:

As far as I can tell all requests have been shipped out except for the more
recent ones, as we are now out of stock on the samples.

:lol: Could it be another example of bad customer service?? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Bingo,

in my experience it is better to use a little flattery, but to a limited degree.

maybe something more like

'Am i to be under the impression that i will not get a free trial of your product? if so, this is too bad. i was looking forward to having a better dissolving product as yours claims to be and would love to give your product a try but there are many to choose from'... etc

ending these types of letters with a supporting comment seems to yield the best results.
something like,

'i am a fan of your products and buy other items in the Oceanic line but i must admit, not exclusively. i may eventually try your salt but only after i hear it is worth my dollar to do so'

this way the rep reads a genuine interest in the product and this sets your dissatisfaction apart from the other complaints that are certainly in his pile... going off on him and alienated yourself from his graces will provide you with nothing but sour memories.

 

[Big R]

Podman is correct. A pleasant attitude can certainly affect what a customer service rep might do for you. I always say that I wouldn't trade places with our customer service reps, even for more money. Getting hammered all day for problems that they had nothing to do with is not exactly a fun time. Also, here's a hint for you. Threatening to post your complaint on the web is not going to in any way get you any better service; if anything, just the opposite.

R