Friday
Apr182008
Wind-B-Gone (part 3)
Friday, April 18, 2008 at 7:27AM
Maybe you remember my story about the weather station I got as a birthday gift back in February...
And the great experiences with customer service I shared... twice.
You MIGHT have thought everything was better.
Well - I had to call again in the middle of March because the shipped me the wrong parts... and they told me they would ship out a whole new unit with free return shipping... then at the end of March I called to find out where my unit was... Back ordered... "call back next week and see where things are at" was the direction offered...
OK - I'm not being difficult or demanding here - this is a tool. I'm trying to determine siting feasibility of a windmill for power generation - perhaps. Trying to measure the micro climate of the farm for this year and next years plantings - for sure. So you have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
Well - I was instructed to call back - so call back I did - April 14th. And was offered a lesser model to get the case closed - nope - won't work because I already received as a gift the software to have the station update the internet. Then I was offered a better station that was several years old - nope - won't work because it does not have the ability to talk to the solar sensor my mother in law bought me - which is crucial for the evapotransporation calculations the software performs. Final resolution - sorry - you have to wait for another X period of time.
That was it - something inside my brain shorted out - I politely got off the phone with the very polit customer service rep at Oregon Scientific - and formulated an email... Really - it was going to be the mother of all emails to the place the unit was purchased from to see if I could enlist them in my cause... but as I was rummaging across the internet I came across the email addresses of several of the brass at Oregon Scientific... I told Kelli if anything came of this - I would eat the old weather station. So - included for posterity - with the names removed to protect the innocent - I give you the message that got results:
And the great experiences with customer service I shared... twice.
You MIGHT have thought everything was better.
Well - I had to call again in the middle of March because the shipped me the wrong parts... and they told me they would ship out a whole new unit with free return shipping... then at the end of March I called to find out where my unit was... Back ordered... "call back next week and see where things are at" was the direction offered...
OK - I'm not being difficult or demanding here - this is a tool. I'm trying to determine siting feasibility of a windmill for power generation - perhaps. Trying to measure the micro climate of the farm for this year and next years plantings - for sure. So you have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
Well - I was instructed to call back - so call back I did - April 14th. And was offered a lesser model to get the case closed - nope - won't work because I already received as a gift the software to have the station update the internet. Then I was offered a better station that was several years old - nope - won't work because it does not have the ability to talk to the solar sensor my mother in law bought me - which is crucial for the evapotransporation calculations the software performs. Final resolution - sorry - you have to wait for another X period of time.
That was it - something inside my brain shorted out - I politely got off the phone with the very polit customer service rep at Oregon Scientific - and formulated an email... Really - it was going to be the mother of all emails to the place the unit was purchased from to see if I could enlist them in my cause... but as I was rummaging across the internet I came across the email addresses of several of the brass at Oregon Scientific... I told Kelli if anything came of this - I would eat the old weather station. So - included for posterity - with the names removed to protect the innocent - I give you the message that got results:
Dear Support Professional,
I'm writing to you because Oregon Scientific appears unable to stand behind their product and offer a reasonable solution regarding an item purchased through Ambient Weather (Order:xxxxx) - on January 6, 2008 by (some name here). The WMR100 was purchased as a gift and delivered as such on January 27th. The unit was installed on January 28th and performed as expected for about 3 weeks - then the wind speed sensor ONLY stopped reliably sending data.
Recognizing that Ambient Weathers policy clearly stated that after 30 days a claim should be made with the manufacturer regarding warranty items - I contacted Oregon Scientific (OS) on 2/22 regarding the claim. Here is a record of the sequence of events (OS RMA# xxxx):
2/22 - spoke with (a guy) and was issued a RMA number to return the ENTIRE unit and OS would send me a replacement, event though only a single part was defective.
3/3 - called back and spoke with (a different guy) - he informed me there was an alternative approach to the direction (the first guy) had given and he was going to mail me out the correct replacement part.
3/11 - a package from Oregon Scientific arrived at my home. It contained a solar charger ONLY for the anemometer component of a WMR 968 - so not only was the part incorrect for my system - it wasn't even the correct part IF that had been my system. I called Oregon Scientific again and this time got in contact with (a nice lady). She stated that a completely new unit would ship out to me - and when I received it - I should return all of the old one and the wrong part.
3/31 - I called Oregon Scientific and spoke with (a jerk) regarding the status of my replacement unit. At this time he informed me all WMR100's were back-ordered - and my only option was to call back "some time next week"
4/14 - I called Oregon Scientific and spoke with (the same nice lady) again. She pulled my call history and acknowledged that the sequence of events thus far constituted poor service and she was thankful I was in such good spirits as she could only imagine how frustrating this was. To get the case closed and generate a satisfied customer, (nice lady) offered a WMR90, then a WMR968-JD as replacements... neither were acceptable options as I have purchased the software to attached the unit to my computer AND had purchased a UVN800 in February when the unit was working. The only 2 viable options given those constraints are a WMR100 or a WMR200. She told me she would call me on 4/15 when the "parts guy" returned with availability of a WMR200.
4/15 - (the nice lady) called back to report the "parts guy does not have anything to ship out to you as a replacement - you are in the same boat now having to wait for a back-ordered unit".
Obviously these problems are those of Oregon Scientific and not Ambient Weather - but since you were the reseller of the unit - I'm now turning to you and your good faith to help me find resolution to this issue since it now appears obvious Oregon Scientific has no intention of satisfying the terms of their warranty.
The final answer is simple - I want a weather station that works - I don't care if it's the WMR100 or the 200. I remain willing to do whatever it takes to reach that resolution, but unfortunately, it appears Oregon Scientific is not.
Thank you for your help.
Within an hour of sending this email things started moving - Ambient Weather responded immediately and acknowledged that this was in fact out of their coverage period - but they were more than happy to assist me in getting this resolved... great customer service!
But that's only the tip of the iceberg I soon discovered...
Interested in the results... check tomorrows post for the end of the story!
I'm writing to you because Oregon Scientific appears unable to stand behind their product and offer a reasonable solution regarding an item purchased through Ambient Weather (Order:xxxxx) - on January 6, 2008 by (some name here). The WMR100 was purchased as a gift and delivered as such on January 27th. The unit was installed on January 28th and performed as expected for about 3 weeks - then the wind speed sensor ONLY stopped reliably sending data.
Recognizing that Ambient Weathers policy clearly stated that after 30 days a claim should be made with the manufacturer regarding warranty items - I contacted Oregon Scientific (OS) on 2/22 regarding the claim. Here is a record of the sequence of events (OS RMA# xxxx):
2/22 - spoke with (a guy) and was issued a RMA number to return the ENTIRE unit and OS would send me a replacement, event though only a single part was defective.
3/3 - called back and spoke with (a different guy) - he informed me there was an alternative approach to the direction (the first guy) had given and he was going to mail me out the correct replacement part.
3/11 - a package from Oregon Scientific arrived at my home. It contained a solar charger ONLY for the anemometer component of a WMR 968 - so not only was the part incorrect for my system - it wasn't even the correct part IF that had been my system. I called Oregon Scientific again and this time got in contact with (a nice lady). She stated that a completely new unit would ship out to me - and when I received it - I should return all of the old one and the wrong part.
3/31 - I called Oregon Scientific and spoke with (a jerk) regarding the status of my replacement unit. At this time he informed me all WMR100's were back-ordered - and my only option was to call back "some time next week"
4/14 - I called Oregon Scientific and spoke with (the same nice lady) again. She pulled my call history and acknowledged that the sequence of events thus far constituted poor service and she was thankful I was in such good spirits as she could only imagine how frustrating this was. To get the case closed and generate a satisfied customer, (nice lady) offered a WMR90, then a WMR968-JD as replacements... neither were acceptable options as I have purchased the software to attached the unit to my computer AND had purchased a UVN800 in February when the unit was working. The only 2 viable options given those constraints are a WMR100 or a WMR200. She told me she would call me on 4/15 when the "parts guy" returned with availability of a WMR200.
4/15 - (the nice lady) called back to report the "parts guy does not have anything to ship out to you as a replacement - you are in the same boat now having to wait for a back-ordered unit".
Obviously these problems are those of Oregon Scientific and not Ambient Weather - but since you were the reseller of the unit - I'm now turning to you and your good faith to help me find resolution to this issue since it now appears obvious Oregon Scientific has no intention of satisfying the terms of their warranty.
The final answer is simple - I want a weather station that works - I don't care if it's the WMR100 or the 200. I remain willing to do whatever it takes to reach that resolution, but unfortunately, it appears Oregon Scientific is not.
Thank you for your help.
Within an hour of sending this email things started moving - Ambient Weather responded immediately and acknowledged that this was in fact out of their coverage period - but they were more than happy to assist me in getting this resolved... great customer service!
But that's only the tip of the iceberg I soon discovered...
Interested in the results... check tomorrows post for the end of the story!
Reader Comments (2)
Ok, that's just evil! Granted, I haven't made the follow up time yet to get the rain gauge working - there's much higher stuff on the priority list - but I'm worried I'm going to be going down this path soon myself...
Tease! Give us the rest of the story!
You will just have to wait my friend... all good things take time - this experience has taught me that.
:)