Heartland gear for xmas...NOT!

I'm normally the one defending Heartland's customer service, but this year we got hosed. Since it was my request to my wife, and she took it on the chin, I felt I had to post for others to read and beware.

I ask for a shirt and hat for xmas with the words Cyclone on it. When she went to the Heartland website to order it, but before she completed the order, she double checked by backing up a page. In the process the web page defaulted her carts shirt size from XL to SM. She completed the order not releazing the error. Clearly we own SOME blame in the problem. However, this is where it gets interesting. Much to her amazement, Heartland doesn't actually have these in stock. They're made by some third party, and clearly not in the xmas spirit refused to take the item back and send her the correct shirt. All they would do is ALLOW her to order another one. At this point xmas was getting closer. They passed the buck between Jim B and themselves, and they were suppose to call back when they could sent out an XL (yea the girl was going to buy yet another one for me) but that call never happened. My wife called again after a few more days passed, and was reassured they would have it and call her. Xmas came and went...so did new years...we never recieved a phone...never the corrected shirt.

Wanna know what I got for xmas? A shirt four times too small, a bill for it, no customer service of any kind from any party involved, and a disgusted wife. Merry xmas Heartland, Jim, and whatever 3rd party they're sending you to for appearel.

"SOME blame"? Most small business--the T-shirt shop, in this case--simply cannot afford to be held accountable for custom order mistakes. I just ordered some custom sized window shutters. If I measured incorrectly should the company replace the shutters at their expense? I'm sure we all understand your disappointment, but take a deep breath on this on and re order. In the long run it's not about winning, it's about getting the T-shirt you wanted. Gosh, I hate it when I sound like Ann Landers! Sorry.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a disappointing experience - but on the other hand...we had an excellent experience with the company. We ordered shirts with monograms on them and when we received them - they had put the monogram that was suppose to be on the XL on the L and the monogram that was suppose to be on the L on the XL. (clearly their mistake, as reviewing the order it was ordered correctly) We contacted them and they were pleasant and sent us new shirts with the correct monograms and had us keep the shirts with errors.

Sorry you did not get what you wanted. BUT, the company you ordered them from is NOT part of HL. JB has nothing to do with it except that he found this company to provide shirts, coats, etc,etc at a reasonable price. We however, have always received what we ordered and if there was a mistake they corrected it at there cost. Janice, who takes the phone orders has always made sure we were happy. I never order online unless its a straight forward product that only comes one way. Have you called Janice and explained the issue?? Sometimes online orders go into siberspace somewhere never to be seen again.

I'm with gpshemi on this as far as heartlands customer service goes. Good luck getting them to call you back. I been trying to get some flooring issues resolved for months. I've heard good things about Heartlands customer service, but that hasn't been the case for me. I talked to Steve Kennel in customer service back in November, told him what was going on and my concerns. He says "let me check on it and I'll call you right back". Yeah right, that never happened. My dealer can't even seem to get anything out of them.It's funny, I never had any problems getting answers from Heartland when I was about to buy a new trailer and spend well over $50k.

Blocker, what does HL service have to do with ordering a T shirt. HL does not make or sell them. It is an independent outside company not owned by HL. Why is JB involved in this....he doesn't work for Martin Marketing??

We had some similar issues when we ordered hats... slow to respond to questions and not able to resolve all my issues with the logo they used. Overall the quality of the product is good, but I think it's best to place the order over the phone, rather than the website. Less chance for confusion. I too included Jim B in my emails toward the end of the transaction... I think as "Director of Owner Interests", he would like to know when an owner is not happy with a product/service that Heartland is endorsing.

Erika

I always wonder why people would pay to advertise someone's product? If the shirt was free or at least sold for just the cost of the shirt fine, but to pay extra to put some advertising on it? If that isn't bad enough then they mess up your order and won't help you out..I don't get it..Don

It's been my experience when ordering something online that "backing up" a page using the back button at the top of the screen is an invitation for trouble. Unless there is a "continue shopping" button, bad things can happen. Most sites give you the opportunity to review and edit the order before finalizing it.

At the very least, when reviewing the order confirmation and seeing the mistake, an immediate phone call might have corrected the problem.

As for Heartland's customer service, my limited experience with them has been very good.

GOTTOYS said:

I always wonder why people would pay to advertise someone's product? If the shirt was free or at least sold for just the cost of the shirt fine, but to pay extra to put some advertising on it? If that isn't bad enough then they mess up your order and won't help you out..I don't get it..Don

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Apparently, wearing "advertising" is the American Way! Does anyone have a shirt with a small alligator applique at the pocket? People seem to be willing to pay extra to get that little alligator. It says something about the wearer, that is important to them.

And to clarify, the "beef" is with Martin Marketing's customer service, not Heartland Customer Service.

If I ever order anything again, I will do it over the phone to make sure my order is clear and correct.

Erika

Bob&Patty said:

Blocker, what does HL service have to do with ordering a T shirt. HL does not make or sell them. It is an independent outside company not owned by HL. Why is JB involved in this....he doesn't work for Martin Marketing??

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Bob&Patty, Did you read the first line of the original post? I'm not talking about the fact that his wife may have accidentally ordered the wrong size shirt,I'm talking about the fact that when she contacted them, she got the run around and Heartland told her they would have it and give her a call and they failed to so. This sounds alot like the experience that I have had with Heartlands customer service.

I may be off track here, but it sounds to me like gpshemi "beef" is with heartland. Maybe I'm wrong, IDK.

It's just a SHIRT!!

Maybe somebody is getting an unscheduled visit to the proctologist. A big, ole message pops up saying the store is closed when trying to visit the Apparel Store.

Still, it's not Heartland direct, but a link they provide to a vendor.

closed.

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Blocker, sorry you don't get the idea here. HL has nothing to do with Martin Marketing. Martin Marketing is Not controlled by HL or JB. JB had Mike Kidd add the link to an outside vendor on the forum....thats all. How does calling HL about it get you what you want. To correct the problem .....you have to call Martin Marketing. So why are we bashing HL about this T shirt mistake.

Blocker you may have had an issue with HL service and that too bad. Martin Marketing does not build HL trailers and HL does not make T shirts and hats. If you have an issue with HL call them...if you have a T shirt problem call Martin Marketing. Seems pretty simple to me...but what the heck do I know.

GPSHEMI,

Sorry you had an issue with your order from Martin Marketing. I do like to hear when they messed up and also when they did well. As others have mentioned, Martin Marketing is not a Heartland company. They are a vendor who supplies products, in this case, directly to consumers. We allow them to use our logos when consumers want them on apparel and such. I will pass the facts of your situation on to the owner of Martin Marketing.

Sorry,

Jim Beletti