Really bad encounter with FT

[Fathersmilk]

I don't usually write reviews about any website or devices but this was totally unacceptable.

I placed an order (#1) on 6 August 2014. I had some items inside that order that had to wait as the estimated shipping date was 18/08/2014. I was fine with it and i paid for the faster shipping option.

On 18/08/2014 i noticed that the item was still not ready to ship but i decided to wait another day. Maybe the system was updating or they were packing. However, on the 19/08/2014, the status was changed to restocking (no tentative shipping date). Ok. So i cancelled that item and repurchase a few more item (order #2). I chose the cheapest shipping method for order #2 as i was thinking they would combine it to my order #1. I was also charged more for my order #1 as i did not meet the minimum shipping amount to qualify for free. (Not sure why do i have to pay more when i am basically just adding more items in replacing the item which FT couldn't provide).

But that wasn't what really ...... me off.

I sent in a support ticket immediately after the order on 19/08/204 to have my items combined. On the 20/08/2014 which is today, The status was changed to packaging. But it wasn't until now, about 24-25 hours after submitting the ticket, did they reply to me. They claimed that the package was being packed and the orders couldn't be combined!!

SO, what they're saying is
1) I am being charge extra for shipping because they couldn't meet the deadline of my item.
2) I am not able to swap that delayed item for something else without paying more
3) The support ticket on the orders wasn't important for them to hold the shipment while waiting to reply the ticket.

Their items are cheap, so is their service. Now, i will have to wait at least 30 days for order #2 to arrive thanks to them.

I have replied to them about this but i doubt it's going to change anything.

 

[Katmar]

It can be very frustrating when you place an order and need to change it due to the vendor, then you receive no acknowledgement. Not a good way to run a business. Live and learn. And welcome to the forum!!

 

[dshgr]

I find that fasttech is only good if you don't have an issue. Customer service is terrible. I'm still waiting for a package shipped 5/26 and they are making me wait until 9/26 before they will refund my money. Between that and a few real misses on some clones, I've stopped ordering from them. Too much of a crap shoot.

 

[Katmar]

I find that FastTech is only good if you don't have an issue. Customer service is terrible. I'm still waiting for a package shipped 5/26 and they are making me wait until 9/26 before they will refund my money. Between that and a few real misses on some clones, I've stopped ordering from them. Too much of a crap shoot.

This needs to be in the negative review of suppliers forum, I think.

 

[Jaffo]

I always make China orders with a grain of salt. Fasttech seems really good for a huge Chinese supplier, but we will deal with little issues here and there due to the mass quantities of orders they deal with, all the way down to that language barrier.

In your case, it sounds like initial delay and the fact that you waited a week to contact them may have confused things a bit. Their order statuses won't always be accurate, and I imagine that if the order is packaged, it would be tough to find and resort it. It always seems to take them a couple days to respond to a ticket (in my experience, anyway). So you opened your ticket in the middle of their packaging process...just bad timing and bad luck. Not your fault, maybe their fault, but I can understand how it happened.

You're also getting decent quality stuff at very cheap prices. When we order from China, we can't expect perfect service and quick arrivals. Things are just different there, and they do process thousands of orders a day.

All that said, I have had negative experiences with China orders, but way more positive ones. So I will keep ordering, and hold my judgments against FT or other sites. MOST of the time they produce expected, positive results. But I hardly expect them to as much as they do.

I hope you either get this sorted out, or feel better about it somehow. Maybe when you get your stuff. I get that it kinda sucks, but it could be way worse...

 

[Jaffo]

Just adding a note - after 4 years of ordering stuff from China, I never expect a response to my inquiries sooner than a day or so. Their CS staff, even at the large suppliers, are minimal, because not everyone can communicate in English very well. Thousands of orders from dozens of countries... I just can't expect them to respond immediately. This doesn't make their CS suck. It's just the way it is.

 

[Fathersmilk]

Yes, to be fair to them, i had no issues with my previous orders. ...... that i am paying extra and waiting a MUCH longer time when the fault lies with them. Guess it'll not bother them as people will still continue ordering from them due to their cheap prices.

To anyone that experience a delay in their item, u should cancel the entire order instead of just that item. Or else you'll probably end up like me.

 

[herb]

This is known procedure with Fasttech , lots of threads about it . Many many companies clearly state that once you place an order it cannot be changed or combined with another . No surprise there , some allow it many don't.

Live and learn , Fasttech probably has the best CS and warranty out there by far , they have made it right by me whenever i had an issue , that they changed the order to restocking is unfortunate but it happens , just cancel.

Very few vendors offer a 6 month return policy .

 

[Fathersmilk]

I always make China orders with a grain of salt. Fasttech seems really good for a huge Chinese supplier, but we will deal with little issues here and there due to the mass quantities of orders they deal with, all the way down to that language barrier.

In your case, it sounds like initial delay and the fact that you waited a week to contact them may have confused things a bit. Their order statuses won't always be accurate, and I imagine that if the order is packaged, it would be tough to find and resort it. It always seems to take them a couple days to respond to a ticket (in my experience, anyway). So you opened your ticket in the middle of their packaging process...just bad timing and bad luck. Not your fault, maybe their fault, but I can understand how it happened.

You're also getting decent quality stuff at very cheap prices. When we order from China, we can't expect perfect service and quick arrivals. Things are just different there, and they do process thousands of orders a day.

All that said, I have had negative experiences with China orders, but way more positive ones. So I will keep ordering, and hold my judgments against FT or other sites. MOST of the time they produce expected, positive results. But I hardly expect them to as much as they do.

I hope you either get this sorted out, or feel better about it somehow. Maybe when you get your stuff. I get that it kinda sucks, but it could be way worse...

I did not wait for a week to contact them.

I placed an order on 6 august. That specific item was on backorder and the estimated shipping date for that item was on the 18/08/2014. I contacted them on 19/08/2014. Which was only 1 day later. Order #2 was also placed one day later. Actually a few hours later as it was midnight (so its the next day).

And yes, i do not expect perfect service and quick arrivals that's the reason why i waited 13 days for that item to be back in stock without complaining or rushing them.

I do agreee it could be way worse.

 

[Fathersmilk]

This is known procedure with Fasttech , lots of threads about it . Many many companies clearly state that once you place an order it cannot be changed or combined with another . No surprise there , some allow it many don't.

Live and learn , Fasttech probably has the best CS and warranty out there by far , they have made it right by me whenever i had an issue , that they changed the order to restocking is unfortunate but it happens , just cancel.

Very few vendors offer a 6 month return policy .

Yes. i agree that their return policy is very good.

I did cancel the restocking item but i am made to pay a higher shipping fee plus a delay on my new order (as i thought i am able to combine them (stated on their web))

Should have read all the previous threads about combining orders but i didn't as i did not have a problem with them in the past. Hopefully this is a one off thing but i definitely wont be doing my shopping there anymore. Shall wait for their response and update here for future shoppers to see.

 

[szot]

At FT, whenever U want to change an order, YOU have the option to HOLD the order yourself and do whatever U want, contact Customer Support , and have them do anything U want....the Support /hold button is right there with every order..if the total order is over $20 U can request to split the order (still only 1 order with 2 shipments), when your 1 item went into restocking, and FT would ship all available items immediately for free as U selected which shipper and send the restocking item free also using that same shipper, once it was available..also U could have yourself cancelled the entire order, requested an immediate gift certificate, and created a new order with items that are ready to ship, in stock, available in 1-2 business days, and had what U wanted, shipped any way U wanted, and in 1-2 days, with no assistance required from customer service or creating a ticket....either of these choices would be 1 order, not 2, and could have been handled all by yourself...knowing the FT system is half the battle...once you know their ways, U would have no problems...as far as "packaging " status, obviously FT is not going to hunt down your order and repackage it, amongst the thousands of other orders they have daily....at this point there is nothing FT can do, since U already made these decisions and FT has complied with those wishes....good luck, now just sit back and forget about this order and it will be at your door eventually..U cannot change anything now, so relax..but in the future, U do have other options to get what U want , cheaper and faster there at FT...BTW, there is a FT forums here in "Products and Vendors"...

 

[TinyTimberGal]

My last 2 orders I chose the China Post e-packet option (free) and my order got to me (in the midwest) 8 days from the ship date.

 

[twgbonehead]

I have had great luck with FT, although once did have to wait about 4 months for a refund on a lost package. Generally very happy with them.

Here's a tip, though. If you want to make a change as you did, put the original order on hold when you send in a ticket. This keeps it from going into shipping until they've had a chance to deal with the issue.

 

[Jaffo]

Your OP really hit home, because I placed an order a week ago, and one item out of 4 has a shipping date of 8/26. The rest were available to ship the next day after my initial order. So the entire order waits for that delayed item. I kinda saw that coming, but figured I'd just deal, or see if they automatically split the order. Also had to decide if I wanted to cancel the delayed item and just chose another. I decided against that. My order has been sitting in "order received" status for a week because of that one delayed item. As of today, it is "in progress".

Now, knowing any contact with them regarding my order a few days after the original order date could cause problems in general, I but the bullet and opened a ticket anyway to see what could be done. It took 30 hours for them to respond, and they simply asked if I'd rather split the shipment or cancel the delayed item. I asked them to split it. I think I hit that lucky timing where they were actually were working with my order at the same time that they finally got to my support ticket. So, I'm feeling positive about this, but know anything can happen. LOL. Just nice to actually receive a response from them. From everything I've ever seen about Fasttech, they really don't seem to WANT to p!ss anyone off or have unhappy customers, so again, I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, of they can make the simple adjustment to my order today, and ship via China Post as requested, I could have all but the delayed item in a little over a week. Or, they could screw it up somehow and I could get none of it, or get my delayed item cancelled, or the full order all at once early, or all of it delayed still. It's like a little Chinese adventure. You never know what's going to happen.

I've had orders show up at my door several days before the expected arrival date - with online tracking still showing that order sitting in NY or some other USA hub. LOL.

BTW, this is my very first experience ordering vape gear from China, and my first mech mod and RDA. All of my other experience over the last few years with China suppliers has been with budget flashlights and related gear. There will be no difference. I used to order so often I'd get new China mail a couple times a week from orders two weeks or so before that. LOL. Fun stuff, really.

 

[GinnyTx]

I finally have a little ego rings order out there right now with FT.

I've ordered from China when I had my bead store and remember the time and language differences in dealing with Chinese orders.

if it gets the tiniest big complicated, cancel the whole thing and reorder, if there's changes, modifications, add ons, it gets lost in the translation, even if they do speak excellent English, if you're doing all of that OP it's going to get messed up.

I learned my lesson the hard way once, that's all it took. Imagine if someone speaking Chinese did all of that with you?

you get what you pay for yah know?

 

[Fathersmilk]

At FT, whenever U want to change an order, YOU have the option to HOLD the order yourself and do whatever U want, contact Customer Support , and have them do anything U want....the Support /hold button is right there with every order..if the total order is over $20 U can request to split the order (still only 1 order with 2 shipments), when your 1 item went into restocking, and FT would ship all available items immediately for free as U selected which shipper and send the restocking item free also using that same shipper, once it was available..also U could have yourself cancelled the entire order, requested an immediate gift certificate, and created a new order with items that are ready to ship, in stock, available in 1-2 business days, and had what U wanted, shipped any way U wanted, and in 1-2 days, with no assistance required from customer service or creating a ticket....either of these choices would be 1 order, not 2, and could have been handled all by yourself...knowing the FT system is half the battle...once you know their ways, U would have no problems...as far as "packaging " status, obviously FT is not going to hunt down your order and repackage it, amongst the thousands of other orders they have daily....at this point there is nothing FT can do, since U already made these decisions and FT has complied with those wishes....good luck, now just sit back and forget about this order and it will be at your door eventually..U cannot change anything now, so relax..but in the future, U do have other options to get what U want , cheaper and faster there at FT...BTW, there is a FT forums here in "Products and Vendors"...

I am not sure if u read whatever i said. I cancelled that item on re-stocking for gift certs to purchase a new order (#2). Once i have cancelled that item and placed a new order, i immediately informed them through support and created the ticket.

To make it clear, order #1 was around $20. Cancelling that item resulted in me incurring shipping charges (i was ok with that even though i am not sure why should i pay for the extra shipping charges when i am using the cancelled item to purchase more stuffs). The thing is FT carried on processing with the orders without opening my ticket (24-25hours). When they did open the ticket, the 2 orders are already under packaging status and they said they cant do anything about it. So i am paying extra for the shipping (which made no sense), and they did not bother about my ticket. I did not want to split my order as i preferred them coming together. I did NOT have an issue waiting for that 1 item to be in stock.

Order placed 8/08/2014. ETA 18/08/2014 for that 1 item to restocking(?). Contacted them on 19/08/2014. They continued to process the order on 19/08/2014! but replied on 20/08/2014.

Its the same thing as u opening a ticket for a return/refund on a product, but they replied u one day after the deadline telling u you're too late? I didn't hold my order as some of the items became ship in x days at the product info. As holding them = re-ordering = waiting for it to restock again? I may not know their system well. But them making me pay extra for the shipping when i just amended the order, and causing order #2 to be shipped via ~30day shipping method is quite ridiculous. I wouldn't have order it if it would take ~30day to arrive. I would have ordered more stuff or not order at all.

Fyi, i created another ticket regarding another order. 2 days and they still have not get back to me. well done FT. But of course, they have thousand of orders. Just hope they could manage their customer service better. It's like im getting scammed. Those that did not encounter any problems, good for you. But do take note about this incident so it will not happen to others. Just sharing and venting. Nothing i can do other than this.

 

[Griff.J]

A long time ago I purchase an eGo cone ring from them that ended up having a blemish on it. They stated that while it had a blemish, it still did what it was supposed to do mechanically. I replied stating it's purpose is for it's cosmetic use on an eGo battery. They agreed to send me another one at no cost and to keep the blemished one. They paid a lot more in shipping than the stupid little ring was even worth. And while I haven't used eGos for over a year, I've been happy enough with their CS ever since.

 

[EBates]

I am a FT fan, Ok. I think I've done about 15 orders since Oct 2013. I have split shipments, added additional items to shipments already in progress, exchanged defective and products that quit working after approx 1 month. Yeah, I've been frustrated with delivery times. Yeah, it takes time to exchange email with them. Yeah, I've fired off rants like fathersmilk and others. But at the end of the day, they have good prices, good selection, free shipping, and responsive CS. So, even after I whine and cry over how they messed up what ever I'm back ordering something else. Does that make a masochist.... Excuse me I have to complete this order.

 

[Pinggolfer]

Just adding a note - after 4 years of ordering stuff from China, I never expect a response to my inquiries sooner than a day or so. Their CS staff, even at the large suppliers, are minimal, because not everyone can communicate in English very well. Thousands of orders from dozens of countries... I just can't expect them to respond immediately. This doesn't make their CS suck. It's just the way it is.

You use FT ticket system which I'm translates to Chinese when they read them. My cell phone can translate hundreds of languages. Customer service is what the company wants and pays for.

 

[fati]

You just had to cancel first order before they shipped and then make a new order including all.