Bluetooth Steaming= Solved!
09-15-2011, 08:48 AM
#51
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E coupe
I tried to edit the original post but cant so I have to quote instead.
NOTE: fwiw cartronics.com are "good people" - even after my negative review and after some back/forth with them - they are still responding to my questions. I believe their 100% money back guarantee. I understand that many people have had success with this product. I'm in the process of trying to source an apple usb cable 'with authentication chip' (the apple store won't deliver to my country and not sure that the ones on ebay/amazon have the 'apple authentication chip' built in which is what I need). If I get my hands on one and try it out I'll post back here.
NOTE: fwiw cartronics.com are "good people" - even after my negative review and after some back/forth with them - they are still responding to my questions. I believe their 100% money back guarantee. I understand that many people have had success with this product. I'm in the process of trying to source an apple usb cable 'with authentication chip' (the apple store won't deliver to my country and not sure that the ones on ebay/amazon have the 'apple authentication chip' built in which is what I need). If I get my hands on one and try it out I'll post back here.
my 2 cents on the cartronics anystream:
2012 e coupe so very new firmware. I used the ipod connector cable which i verified as being the one 'supported' by cartonics (Mercedes part number A 001 827 82 04) http://www.cartronics.com/POM.html
My phone, htc desire hd running android 2.3, connects fine to the anystream and the led on the anystream flashes once every 6 seconds suggesting the connection phone<--->anystream is fine.
However the media interface on the car is stuck at 'activating device' and nothing else happens.
For the record, I called anystream and they took my call and were very polite. However the suggested 'solution' is to go and buy a composite av cable with authentication chip from apple to connect the anystream via usb - this costs very close to the price i paid for the anystream. With this in mind I may have opted for a different solution (like the motorolla gateway). I am also in Cyprus so sending it back is not really an option/feasible/cost effective. Thus I'm left with a $80 square of plastic. I may eventually go buy the composite cable but at this point i'm weary of spending more money on something that may or may not work. Caveat emptor.
2012 e coupe so very new firmware. I used the ipod connector cable which i verified as being the one 'supported' by cartonics (Mercedes part number A 001 827 82 04) http://www.cartronics.com/POM.html
My phone, htc desire hd running android 2.3, connects fine to the anystream and the led on the anystream flashes once every 6 seconds suggesting the connection phone<--->anystream is fine.
However the media interface on the car is stuck at 'activating device' and nothing else happens.
For the record, I called anystream and they took my call and were very polite. However the suggested 'solution' is to go and buy a composite av cable with authentication chip from apple to connect the anystream via usb - this costs very close to the price i paid for the anystream. With this in mind I may have opted for a different solution (like the motorolla gateway). I am also in Cyprus so sending it back is not really an option/feasible/cost effective. Thus I'm left with a $80 square of plastic. I may eventually go buy the composite cable but at this point i'm weary of spending more money on something that may or may not work. Caveat emptor.
01-20-2012, 09:10 PM
#52
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2007 CLK550
Cartronics Anystream Shipping Price Discrepancies
Eventually we will have a sale, but don't know when. They have been flying off the shelves at a rate of 20+ per day.
Our shipping charges are actual UPS with insurance + $1.25 handling (tip, if shipped to a business address, UPS charges a lot less). We can send USPS, but not FedEx. If you wanted us to send via USPS, that would need to be a phone in order. All of our orders have a $1.25 surcharge for handling, printing, pickup fees and applicable packing. At the time of this writing, UPS and FedEx are charging a fuel surcharge with every shipment, in case you were not aware.
Our shipping charges are actual UPS with insurance + $1.25 handling (tip, if shipped to a business address, UPS charges a lot less). We can send USPS, but not FedEx. If you wanted us to send via USPS, that would need to be a phone in order. All of our orders have a $1.25 surcharge for handling, printing, pickup fees and applicable packing. At the time of this writing, UPS and FedEx are charging a fuel surcharge with every shipment, in case you were not aware.
It is shipping USPS and is currently en route (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) yet you charged me $13.45 in shipping as shown below:
Item Description Qty Taxable Unit Price Item Total
934806 AnyStream 1 N US $79.00 US $79.00
Shipping: US $13.45
Tax: US $0.00
Total: US $92.45
Two issues here..
As of 6/5/2011, the price for an Anystream was $69 as quoted by you in this thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...streaming.html
Then on 7/23/2011, you said you were eventually trying to lower the price as you began to sell in volume:
"Eventually we will have a sale, but don't know when. They have been flying off the shelves at a rate of 20+ per day"
So they are now $79 dollars which is fine, but here: http://www.cartronics.com/POM.html it currently states, in red letters, that the $79 price is a "sale".. so was your idea of a "sale" raising the price by $10? It seems like the $69 price was the actual "sale".. and didn't you state the price was supposed to go down after selling so many?
Additionally, you said in a previous message in these forums:
"We can use USPS, but they have lost up to 15% of our packages in years past, so we try not to use them unless a customer specifically requests it. The package with USPS is $5.95 flat rate, but a pretty big chance it gets lost or damaged, etc - plus very slow sometimes."
Yet my package is indeed being shipped via USPS (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) so you have charged me $13.45 for shipping it in a way that you pretty much stated you think sucks...
and... just to add to the fun, on 7/29/2011, you also said:
"People ask this all the time.. I don't know any service that will ship something for $3."
Yet on eBay, right now, you are selling the Anystream for $89.00, while stating that shipping is only $3 (via UPS).. So clearly you have simply raised the price on eBay while giving the appearance of lower shipping, yet contradicting yourselves on this very forum, and your own website... (while possibly sending them all via USPS)
Here is the link to that item..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartronics-A...#ht_1147wt_932
and here is pipermalibu's profile on e-junkie which indicates that eBay seller handle is from Cartronics.com:
http://www.e-junkie.com/bio/121569.php
Are you able to explain these discrepancies? because they are pretty glaring.. My main concern of course is that you pretty much slammed USPS in a public MB forum less than a year ago for sucking yet you are using them to send me my item, while charging me a UPS price..
-Gene
Last edited by gene621; 01-20-2012 at 11:14 PM.
01-20-2012, 10:23 PM
#53
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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Eurocharged 2004 E500, Eurocharged ECU/TCU 2005 SL600, 2010 Caddy SwaggerWagon
Bravo, Gene.
Even though it's only a few bucks, I love it when people do things like this on principle.
Cartronics appear to be good people, from what I can gather and I believe they'll make things right with you.
***stands up and applauds your investigation and subsequent complaint**
Even though it's only a few bucks, I love it when people do things like this on principle.
Cartronics appear to be good people, from what I can gather and I believe they'll make things right with you.
***stands up and applauds your investigation and subsequent complaint**
01-21-2012, 07:46 AM
#54
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atlanta
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05 CL65 AMG, 07 Ferrari F430, 03 Range Rover HSE
I just placed an order on Cartronics.com for one of these devices for $79 dollars..
It is shipping USPS and is currently en route (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) yet you charged me $13.45 in shipping as shown below:
Item Description Qty Taxable Unit Price Item Total
934806 AnyStream 1 N US $79.00 US $79.00
Shipping: US $13.45
Tax: US $0.00
Total: US $92.45
Two issues here..
As of 6/5/2011, the price for an Anystream was $69 as quoted by you in this thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...streaming.html
Then on 7/23/2011, you said you were eventually trying to lower the price as you began to sell in volume:
"Eventually we will have a sale, but don't know when. They have been flying off the shelves at a rate of 20+ per day"
So they are now $79 dollars which is fine, but here: http://www.cartronics.com/POM.html it currently states, in red letters, that the $79 price is a "sale".. so was your idea of a "sale" raising the price by $10? It seems like the $69 price was the actual "sale".. and didn't you state the price was supposed to go down after selling so many?
Additionally, you said in a previous message in these forums:
"We can use USPS, but they have lost up to 15% of our packages in years past, so we try not to use them unless a customer specifically requests it. The package with USPS is $5.95 flat rate, but a pretty big chance it gets lost or damaged, etc - plus very slow sometimes."
Yet my package is indeed being shipped via USPS (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) so you have charged me $13.45 for shipping it in a way that you pretty much stated you think sucks...
and... just to add to the fun, on 7/29/2011, you also said:
"People ask this all the time.. I don't know any service that will ship something for $3."
Yet on eBay, right now, you are selling the Anystream for $89.00, while stating that shipping is only $3 (via UPS).. So clearly you have simply raised the price on eBay while giving the appearance of lower shipping, yet contradicting yourselves on this very forum, and your own website... (while possibly sending them all via USPS)
Here is the link to that item..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartronics-A...#ht_1147wt_932
and here is pipermalibu's profile on e-junkie which indicates that eBay seller handle is from Cartronics.com:
http://www.e-junkie.com/bio/121569.php
Are you able to explain these discrepancies? because they are pretty glaring.. My main concern of course is that you pretty much slammed USPS in a public MB forum less than a year ago for sucking yet you are using them to send me my item, while charging me a UPS price..
-Gene
It is shipping USPS and is currently en route (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) yet you charged me $13.45 in shipping as shown below:
Item Description Qty Taxable Unit Price Item Total
934806 AnyStream 1 N US $79.00 US $79.00
Shipping: US $13.45
Tax: US $0.00
Total: US $92.45
Two issues here..
As of 6/5/2011, the price for an Anystream was $69 as quoted by you in this thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...streaming.html
Then on 7/23/2011, you said you were eventually trying to lower the price as you began to sell in volume:
"Eventually we will have a sale, but don't know when. They have been flying off the shelves at a rate of 20+ per day"
So they are now $79 dollars which is fine, but here: http://www.cartronics.com/POM.html it currently states, in red letters, that the $79 price is a "sale".. so was your idea of a "sale" raising the price by $10? It seems like the $69 price was the actual "sale".. and didn't you state the price was supposed to go down after selling so many?
Additionally, you said in a previous message in these forums:
"We can use USPS, but they have lost up to 15% of our packages in years past, so we try not to use them unless a customer specifically requests it. The package with USPS is $5.95 flat rate, but a pretty big chance it gets lost or damaged, etc - plus very slow sometimes."
Yet my package is indeed being shipped via USPS (Tracking #9405 5036 9930 0381 2708 86) so you have charged me $13.45 for shipping it in a way that you pretty much stated you think sucks...
and... just to add to the fun, on 7/29/2011, you also said:
"People ask this all the time.. I don't know any service that will ship something for $3."
Yet on eBay, right now, you are selling the Anystream for $89.00, while stating that shipping is only $3 (via UPS).. So clearly you have simply raised the price on eBay while giving the appearance of lower shipping, yet contradicting yourselves on this very forum, and your own website... (while possibly sending them all via USPS)
Here is the link to that item..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartronics-A...#ht_1147wt_932
and here is pipermalibu's profile on e-junkie which indicates that eBay seller handle is from Cartronics.com:
http://www.e-junkie.com/bio/121569.php
Are you able to explain these discrepancies? because they are pretty glaring.. My main concern of course is that you pretty much slammed USPS in a public MB forum less than a year ago for sucking yet you are using them to send me my item, while charging me a UPS price..
-Gene
I will try an address your issues raised to the best of my ability.
1. The retail price of the Anystream is $89. We had a pre-launch sale of $69 (basically giving them away for production costs) before we actually had them made in sufficient quantity. We do not discount them on eBay, as we have to pay eBay fees on each sale - on top of credit card charges.
2. The shipping on eBay is incorrectly stated, as that is first class mail in reality. We made a mistake on the listing, sorry about that. I am having our guy fix it.
3. Shipping is in turmoil right now. We do not like to use USPS, BUT as of Jan 1st 2012, UPS raised our residential delivery prices significantly. The other problem we have, is due to "security alert" problems in Atlanta... our Post Offices are not open past 5, and you can no longer drop off items. You MUST wait in line for up to an hour just to deliver something. It is a pretty big issue. So until something else is worked out, we have changed the shipping terms to "Best Available"(although the shopping cart manager is having trouble reflecting that - we are also due to change shopping cart managers in late Feb). It is pretty expensive to pay one of our techs to stand in line at the post office, but UPS has seriously raised rates. I understand that this may not be true in all parts of the country, but local post offices had a rash of scares and vandalism problems that screwed everything up for all of us. If in doubt, call the Glenridge Post Office here in ATL and ask. The drop boxes are all sealed up now, with big notices hanging on them. ALso, true to form, they have lost a few units already, and we are trying to evaluate the cost of lost units, vs. time and effort vs. just paying UPS higher rates.
As of this writing, to deliver a 5 once package via UPS, it is billed at a 2 lbs rate and costs $9.85 to deliver across town to my home here in Atlanta to a residential address. If it was a business address, it is $5.64. It is picked up at our office, but delivered in the same city!! OR, I can drive to the closet post office (about 9 miles), stand in line for up to an hour (I would happily video tape the wait too... it is absolutely ridiculous... 1-2 employees moving as slow as possible with a line going out the door - always) pay $6.75 and drive back.... choices, choices
I hope this helps answer the questions. We are working hard to find a better solution for all.
01-26-2012, 02:02 AM
#55
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2007 CLK550
Cartronics Anystream Shipping Price Discrepancies
Hello Gene,
I will try an address your issues raised to the best of my ability.
1. The retail price of the Anystream is $89. We had a pre-launch sale of $69 (basically giving them away for production costs) before we actually had them made in sufficient quantity. We do not discount them on eBay, as we have to pay eBay fees on each sale - on top of credit card charges.
2. The shipping on eBay is incorrectly stated, as that is first class mail in reality. We made a mistake on the listing, sorry about that. I am having our guy fix it.
3. Shipping is in turmoil right now. We do not like to use USPS, BUT as of Jan 1st 2012, UPS raised our residential delivery prices significantly. The other problem we have, is due to "security alert" problems in Atlanta... our Post Offices are not open past 5, and you can no longer drop off items. You MUST wait in line for up to an hour just to deliver something. It is a pretty big issue. So until something else is worked out, we have changed the shipping terms to "Best Available"(although the shopping cart manager is having trouble reflecting that - we are also due to change shopping cart managers in late Feb). It is pretty expensive to pay one of our techs to stand in line at the post office, but UPS has seriously raised rates. I understand that this may not be true in all parts of the country, but local post offices had a rash of scares and vandalism problems that screwed everything up for all of us. If in doubt, call the Glenridge Post Office here in ATL and ask. The drop boxes are all sealed up now, with big notices hanging on them. ALso, true to form, they have lost a few units already, and we are trying to evaluate the cost of lost units, vs. time and effort vs. just paying UPS higher rates.
As of this writing, to deliver a 5 once package via UPS, it is billed at a 2 lbs rate and costs $9.85 to deliver across town to my home here in Atlanta to a residential address. If it was a business address, it is $5.64. It is picked up at our office, but delivered in the same city!! OR, I can drive to the closet post office (about 9 miles), stand in line for up to an hour (I would happily video tape the wait too... it is absolutely ridiculous... 1-2 employees moving as slow as possible with a line going out the door - always) pay $6.75 and drive back.... choices, choices
I hope this helps answer the questions. We are working hard to find a better solution for all.
I will try an address your issues raised to the best of my ability.
1. The retail price of the Anystream is $89. We had a pre-launch sale of $69 (basically giving them away for production costs) before we actually had them made in sufficient quantity. We do not discount them on eBay, as we have to pay eBay fees on each sale - on top of credit card charges.
2. The shipping on eBay is incorrectly stated, as that is first class mail in reality. We made a mistake on the listing, sorry about that. I am having our guy fix it.
3. Shipping is in turmoil right now. We do not like to use USPS, BUT as of Jan 1st 2012, UPS raised our residential delivery prices significantly. The other problem we have, is due to "security alert" problems in Atlanta... our Post Offices are not open past 5, and you can no longer drop off items. You MUST wait in line for up to an hour just to deliver something. It is a pretty big issue. So until something else is worked out, we have changed the shipping terms to "Best Available"(although the shopping cart manager is having trouble reflecting that - we are also due to change shopping cart managers in late Feb). It is pretty expensive to pay one of our techs to stand in line at the post office, but UPS has seriously raised rates. I understand that this may not be true in all parts of the country, but local post offices had a rash of scares and vandalism problems that screwed everything up for all of us. If in doubt, call the Glenridge Post Office here in ATL and ask. The drop boxes are all sealed up now, with big notices hanging on them. ALso, true to form, they have lost a few units already, and we are trying to evaluate the cost of lost units, vs. time and effort vs. just paying UPS higher rates.
As of this writing, to deliver a 5 once package via UPS, it is billed at a 2 lbs rate and costs $9.85 to deliver across town to my home here in Atlanta to a residential address. If it was a business address, it is $5.64. It is picked up at our office, but delivered in the same city!! OR, I can drive to the closet post office (about 9 miles), stand in line for up to an hour (I would happily video tape the wait too... it is absolutely ridiculous... 1-2 employees moving as slow as possible with a line going out the door - always) pay $6.75 and drive back.... choices, choices
I hope this helps answer the questions. We are working hard to find a better solution for all.
So lets start shall we?
I just received my Anystream today.. Here is a link to a picture of the packaging..
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6638/shipping.jpg
As you are aware, you sent the Anystream in a LETTER envelope weighing ONE OUNCE without insurance. It cost $4.75 to ship it to me (a residential NY address in the same zone as you), yet you charged me $13.45...
You also included a note saying that to save the environment, there is no manual.. That means it will ALWAYS weigh one ounce, come hell or high water.. (and yes I know that rate just went up to $4.90 as of 1/22/2012)
Also, I did call USPS as you suggested.. and they sent me to this 'Request a Pickup' link:
https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAP...n!input.action
I made sure to ask if there was ANY reason why they wouldn't pick up from your specific address. They stated any security restrictions would be limited to drop-off's only, plus it clearly states on that page they will pickup if using Priority Mail, which of course, you do..
But lets say they can't/won't/don't.. Lets say I am crazy and the USPS agent on the phone lied and they really do make business's stand in line loaded up with 1 Ounce priority mail packages (which, by the way, your friendly mail carrier could take 20 of and they would still weigh less than 2 pounds total)
You claimed the post office is 10 miles away.. Yet this link shows you are a mere 6 minute drive (2.5 miles away) from the Glenridge Post Office based on the address shown on both the label and your website.
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=32...a=ltm&t=m&z=14
But wait! There's more!
In this forum thread when another customer complained about you shipping him an Anystream via USPS:
http://ww.mbworld.org/forums/e-class...eceiver-2.html
You replied:
"You should be getting a refund for the difference at card posting tonight. UPS was not able to deliver in a timely manner to several addresses today due to some service hub delays. In this case it was better to go USPS."
That was on 1/5/2012.. 5 days after the 'UPS price increase'.. Yet you shipped that guy an Anystream using USPS as well, but, as quoted above, for a completely different reason...
So exactly which reason is it that you charged ME $13.45 in shipping?
Service hub delays? Price Increases? Aliens abducting your technicians during the 2.5 mile drive to the post office? And do you really only send out one of these units per day? I clearly read that they were 'flying off the shelves' at a rate of 20+ per day...
But but but... you say.. The post office loses packages and we have to make up that cost!!!!!.. True enough.. however, with insurance AND delivery confirmation for an $89 item, shipped from your zip to my zip, it only comes out to $7.90 w/ postage bought online.. and still way less than what you charged me.. and here is the evidence of that:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1853/shipping2w.jpg
So you complain repeatedly about them losing your packages all the time in a public forum, yet you won't pay a couple of bucks for insurance (including my package) when you -are- forced to use them? It takes zero effort to do so and is very bizarre that you don't...
I own a loaded CLK550 which I bought new. Obviously I don't care about the money.. but I really really hate this type of crap, and as an engineer, I will verify every single fact, until the absolute bitter end purely on principle.
Right now, as far as I am concerned, you charged me almost 3x the amount of shipping it cost you to actually ship the item to me, and provided justifications no reasonable individual would believe after checking out publically available facts. Therefore, I want a refund for the shipping difference ($8.70) and I will go on my way..
And I really like the product, which is a shame, because if you had just charged me 8 bucks for USPS shipping w/ insurance and called it a day, or refunded the difference after my first message (rather than trying to justify it) I would have happily written a really nice review of your product instead..
-Gene
Last edited by gene621; 01-26-2012 at 02:27 AM.
01-26-2012, 09:57 AM
#56
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atlanta
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05 CL65 AMG, 07 Ferrari F430, 03 Range Rover HSE
It does not answer all my questions.. In fact, I am annoyed at what I perceive to be misinformation (other than the timing of the 'sale' and eBay price explanation)..
So lets start shall we?
I just received my Anystream today.. Here is a link to a picture of the packaging..
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6638/shipping.jpg
As you are aware, you sent the Anystream in a LETTER envelope weighing ONE OUNCE without insurance. It cost $4.75 to ship it to me (a residential NY address in the same zone as you), yet you charged me $13.45...
You also included a note saying that to save the environment, there is no manual.. That means it will ALWAYS weigh one ounce, come hell or high water.. (and yes I know that rate just went up to $4.90 as of 1/22/2012)
Also, I did call USPS as you suggested.. and they sent me to this 'Request a Pickup' link:
https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAP...n!input.action
I made sure to ask if there was ANY reason why they wouldn't pick up from your specific address. They stated any security restrictions would be limited to drop-off's only, plus it clearly states on that page they will pickup if using Priority Mail, which of course, you do..
But lets say they can't/won't/don't.. Lets say I am crazy and the USPS agent on the phone lied and they really do make business's stand in line loaded up with 1 Ounce priority mail packages (which, by the way, your friendly mail carrier could take 20 of and they would still weigh less than 2 pounds total)
You claimed the post office is 10 miles away.. Yet this link shows you are a mere 6 minute drive (2.5 miles away) from the Glenridge Post Office based on the address shown on both the label and your website.
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=32...a=ltm&t=m&z=14
But wait! There's more!
In this forum thread when another customer complained about you shipping him an Anystream via USPS:
http://ww.mbworld.org/forums/e-class...eceiver-2.html
You replied:
"You should be getting a refund for the difference at card posting tonight. UPS was not able to deliver in a timely manner to several addresses today due to some service hub delays. In this case it was better to go USPS."
That was on 1/5/2012.. 5 days after the 'UPS price increase'.. Yet you shipped that guy an Anystream using USPS as well, but, as quoted above, for a completely different reason...
So exactly which reason is it that you charged ME $13.45 in shipping?
Service hub delays? Price Increases? Aliens abducting your technicians during the 2.5 mile drive to the post office? And do you really only send out one of these units per day? I clearly read that they were 'flying off the shelves' at a rate of 20+ per day...
But but but... you say.. The post office loses packages and we have to make up that cost!!!!!.. True enough.. however, with insurance AND delivery confirmation for an $89 item, shipped from your zip to my zip, it only comes out to $7.90 w/ postage bought online.. and still way less than what you charged me.. and here is the evidence of that:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1853/shipping2w.jpg
So you complain repeatedly about them losing your packages all the time in a public forum, yet you won't pay a couple of bucks for insurance (including my package) when you -are- forced to use them? It takes zero effort to do so and is very bizarre that you don't...
I own a loaded CLK550 which I bought new. Obviously I don't care about the money.. but I really really hate this type of crap, and as an engineer, I will verify every single fact, until the absolute bitter end purely on principle.
Right now, as far as I am concerned, you charged me almost 3x the amount of shipping it cost you to actually ship the item to me, and provided justifications no reasonable individual would believe after checking out publically available facts. Therefore, I want a refund for the shipping difference ($8.70) and I will go on my way..
And I really like the product, which is a shame, because if you had just charged me 8 bucks for USPS shipping w/ insurance and called it a day, or refunded the difference after my first message (rather than trying to justify it) I would have happily written a really nice review of your product instead..
-Gene
So lets start shall we?
I just received my Anystream today.. Here is a link to a picture of the packaging..
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6638/shipping.jpg
As you are aware, you sent the Anystream in a LETTER envelope weighing ONE OUNCE without insurance. It cost $4.75 to ship it to me (a residential NY address in the same zone as you), yet you charged me $13.45...
You also included a note saying that to save the environment, there is no manual.. That means it will ALWAYS weigh one ounce, come hell or high water.. (and yes I know that rate just went up to $4.90 as of 1/22/2012)
Also, I did call USPS as you suggested.. and they sent me to this 'Request a Pickup' link:
https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAP...n!input.action
I made sure to ask if there was ANY reason why they wouldn't pick up from your specific address. They stated any security restrictions would be limited to drop-off's only, plus it clearly states on that page they will pickup if using Priority Mail, which of course, you do..
But lets say they can't/won't/don't.. Lets say I am crazy and the USPS agent on the phone lied and they really do make business's stand in line loaded up with 1 Ounce priority mail packages (which, by the way, your friendly mail carrier could take 20 of and they would still weigh less than 2 pounds total)
You claimed the post office is 10 miles away.. Yet this link shows you are a mere 6 minute drive (2.5 miles away) from the Glenridge Post Office based on the address shown on both the label and your website.
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=32...a=ltm&t=m&z=14
But wait! There's more!
In this forum thread when another customer complained about you shipping him an Anystream via USPS:
http://ww.mbworld.org/forums/e-class...eceiver-2.html
You replied:
"You should be getting a refund for the difference at card posting tonight. UPS was not able to deliver in a timely manner to several addresses today due to some service hub delays. In this case it was better to go USPS."
That was on 1/5/2012.. 5 days after the 'UPS price increase'.. Yet you shipped that guy an Anystream using USPS as well, but, as quoted above, for a completely different reason...
So exactly which reason is it that you charged ME $13.45 in shipping?
Service hub delays? Price Increases? Aliens abducting your technicians during the 2.5 mile drive to the post office? And do you really only send out one of these units per day? I clearly read that they were 'flying off the shelves' at a rate of 20+ per day...
But but but... you say.. The post office loses packages and we have to make up that cost!!!!!.. True enough.. however, with insurance AND delivery confirmation for an $89 item, shipped from your zip to my zip, it only comes out to $7.90 w/ postage bought online.. and still way less than what you charged me.. and here is the evidence of that:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1853/shipping2w.jpg
So you complain repeatedly about them losing your packages all the time in a public forum, yet you won't pay a couple of bucks for insurance (including my package) when you -are- forced to use them? It takes zero effort to do so and is very bizarre that you don't...
I own a loaded CLK550 which I bought new. Obviously I don't care about the money.. but I really really hate this type of crap, and as an engineer, I will verify every single fact, until the absolute bitter end purely on principle.
Right now, as far as I am concerned, you charged me almost 3x the amount of shipping it cost you to actually ship the item to me, and provided justifications no reasonable individual would believe after checking out publically available facts. Therefore, I want a refund for the shipping difference ($8.70) and I will go on my way..
And I really like the product, which is a shame, because if you had just charged me 8 bucks for USPS shipping w/ insurance and called it a day, or refunded the difference after my first message (rather than trying to justify it) I would have happily written a really nice review of your product instead..
-Gene
We do NOT ship from the return address you stated. We ship from a warehouse where the techs work.
USPS will not reliably pick up at the warehouse due to the security gate there, so we have to deliver them.
We are still charging UPS fees, until we can get our shopping manager changed over to handle things correctly.
Our unit does now ship with a box (and we set up the shipping to anticipate this, but were slightly off on the date), so the shipping is more than 1 oz. We would have liked to have the bare bones shipping that you received, but our customers would rather have the box and manual - so that is what we are now delivering.
This thread, which is supposed to be about the product, has turned into something about shipping and handling. If you have a question, or believe that we have overcharged you, please call our customer support. That is what they are there for. We have no idea who you are in this forum and customer support does not participate here (I am the mobile tech). They can be reached at the main number below. I am sincerely sorry we messed up your shipping. We rely heavily on the e-junkie shopping cart to calculate things based on the lookup tables. We are changing shopping managers because of this and several other issues we seem to have outgrown. Shipping for very small products IS in flux as of today for all the reasons I mentioned. As of today (Jan 26, 2012) we are having to go back to UPS because of all the USPS difficulties we are having - BUT I know that can change. It is a fairly large problem we are having shipping very small items for a reasonable price (and labor involved getting it done). Again, please call customer support and discuss your refund or situation and they will be happy to help you.
01-27-2012, 02:17 AM
#57
Member
I think Gene owned you guys in an appreciate manner. Bravo Gene! Sounds like Cartronics wants to make a couple bucks off of every "20+" orders a day. Its pretty smart actually on there part. Its not like every customer would be like Gene and would care to check. No ethics in many businesses these days.
01-27-2012, 09:19 AM
#58
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atlanta
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05 CL65 AMG, 07 Ferrari F430, 03 Range Rover HSE
I am sorry you see it that way. We are just a small company that is working our hardest to do the best thing for all involved. We are not trying to make additional money on shipping at all. We do try to recover some of the fees involved, instead of raising the price of the products. However, in Gene's case, he got caught in the holiday swing of shipping problems and when he simply called customer service, he was refunded for the mistake (charged for UPS instead of USPS) without any question (so I was told). The shipping issues should all be resolved in a couple of weeks when the customer can select the shipping method (which they can not now Jan 2012) - when our new cart manager is fully operational.
08-09-2012, 02:40 PM
#59
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Maryland
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Eurocharged 2004 E500, Eurocharged ECU/TCU 2005 SL600, 2010 Caddy SwaggerWagon
Bumping this....
Just bought a very cool solution for those that don't have an iPOD connector, or an aux jack in the glovebox. My W211 has the aux jack, but I'm using this in my SL600 and it's wonderful.
They have it for Android too, if you don't have an iPhone.
New Potato Tunelink
I paid $59 on eBay. It was a returned item or something, but it looked damn new to me.
Just bought a very cool solution for those that don't have an iPOD connector, or an aux jack in the glovebox. My W211 has the aux jack, but I'm using this in my SL600 and it's wonderful.
They have it for Android too, if you don't have an iPhone.
New Potato Tunelink
I paid $59 on eBay. It was a returned item or something, but it looked damn new to me.
08-10-2012, 03:44 PM
#61
Junior Member
Simply agreeing with the customers very detailed and understandable complaint and providing him with information to contact a person within the company who can rectify or resolve the problem would have been the more buisness like approach. I would be concerned about how other more meaningful problems would be handled if a buisness person is willing to continue an arguement with a customer over such a petty item rather than follow a fundamental buisness principle such as "The customer is always right"
