Wow, thought I was the only one having troubles with GM.
Stopped using credit card when they charged extra for shipping without informing me so went to paying with Paypal. Had the same message from the Customer service girl “The computer tried to process your order before I had a chance to apply the payment to your account. Everything is fine on your account. The payment has been applied and we are processing your order today.”
Two models and a magazine and they wanted $15, fine. Then a month later with no shipment received I contacted them and find out they had wanted another $15, so I canceled order and waited but just received excuses for two and a half weeks as to why my refund wasn’t happening. Contacted Paypal and made a claim before my 45 days were up and within the next day I had my refund. This is just the condensed version of what happened with the whole thing being a nightmare.
Never ever had a problem before this but because of this I will be doing my business elsewhere.
A word of advice on paypal usage… The best way i’ve found to secure paypal is to create a new checking account at your bank and attach paypal to that account. then when you purchase something you just log in to your banking site and transfer the money you need to that paypal account. Paypal pulls the money out and no more. It puts a layer of safety between your primary checking and the outside world.
I use sprue brothers almost exclusively now because they accept paypal. I am simply wary of entering my CC info online and a paypal account can be easily hacked these days. Just leave $5 in the account and if it does get hacked… they get $5! Take that! But if you use your CC for purchases… it can be hit repeatedly for shipping, screwed up orders, etc etc etc…
Maybe I am missing something here, but the explanation you got from GM makes no sense to me. ‘The computer does not allow you’ to duplicate an item??? So you can’t order multiples of the same thing??
You actually just reminded me that I need to follow up with GM - I cancelled an order with them and was waiting for a refund (it is ironic how they can take your money in the blink of an eye, but a refund takes 4 - 6 weeks to process) and I don’t think I have got it yet… [^o)]
Boyd, I believe what they were trying to explain is that you can’t order two of the same item, separately, in the same order…confused? I’ll clarify.
Generally, if you want 2 or more of a particular item, the online vendor allows you to select a quantity of that particular item. This keeps the consumer from having to constantly select the same item, over and over again, until he’s reached his desired amount.
I believe in the case above, he did not use the quantity selection but rather placed two of the same item in his cart. GM’s computer would then read that as a duplicate using the - since he’s already placed one of that item in the cart, why would he place the exact same one in there again? - type logic. Therefore, it is ignored.
Ahh, yes. Your explanation was clear as crystal. That makes a little more sense, but still is a bit ‘dumb’ if you ask me. Instead, maybe their computer should identify like stock numbers, consolidate them into one line item, and add them together for the total number…
I was thinking the same thing. Or at least verify with the customer that purchasing more than one of the same item was their intention. But I guess then they’d be making it too easy, wouldn’t they?
As for the multiple item thing, they had it right in the order confirmation email that they sent (automated) right after I placed the order.
But after their order entry messed it up I only had 1 item.
The same day I emailed them about it and they ignored me!!
THAT REALLY P###ED ME OFF!
Jon,
You are right but, 1st their software should be able to detect this and 2nd, I believe their order entry person, not the “computer” missed it because it was in the original order confirmation email.
You’re absolutely right, they should be able to detect this, and from what you say about the original order form, they did. Unfortunately, it got gummed up in the works. This is largely the reason I don’t do a lot of online shopping for models, so I can avoid this cyber-hassle. I probably miss out on a lot of sales, but I prefer to elude the potential headache.
However, I should note that I’ve ordered from Great Models two times. Both times I’ve received my items on time, without issue. I’m sorry you’re having troubles, and I hope that it works out in your favor. And in the end, I’m hopeful this is just a one-time occurrence.
I never had any major problems with GM but I got tired of ordering stuff their site showed as in stock, only to have it dropped from my order as out of stock when I made my order.
There was a time that it was acceptable to list items you don’t have in stock, but there are far too many good online shops with real time inventory (I’ve actually seen an items status change to available or out of stock while shopping with Sprue Brothers and Tower hobbies) and easily navigated websites to bother with places that stick with badly outdated software.
I drop about 50% of my annual purchases on the hobby in their lap–the rest goes to Squadron a few smaller places…and I’m a difficult SOB to deal with…I’m surprised they are still doing business with ME!
Ya’ll mofos need to use their toll-free number and talk to a live person like I do…they recognize my voice and know my name—German accent gives me away, I suspect…Also, try something novel like asking: “Is this in stock?” Anyways, the website shows what is and isn’t anyways and it has never lied to me…
