I just got $26 stolen from me by Skip. I'm on Social Security disability, so that's a good half of the spending money I have for a month. Here's the story:
I've been buying their strings consistently for about a year. Some of their odd-numbered gauges are the perfect tension for my needs and no one else has them. I ordered 2 sets of guitar strings for $26 (Priority Mail shipping) on 10/2. They gave me a tracking number on 10/4. On 10/10, tracking still said USPS hadn't received the package. Waiting to record, I had to buy strings from a store, but no one else has the odd-numbered gauges that Kalium has so I also had to setup/intonate my guitars for the gauges I was able to get in-store. I emailed saying I already had to buy strings somewhere else and asked them to cancel the order. I'm on SSDI disability so I can't afford to buy more than I need in a month. Again, on 10/12 I asked for a refund, tracking still showed not received by USPS. I said, if they show up, I promise I'll send them back. That night, USPS apparently found the package (or they hadn't actually shipped it until then). He said to write 'Return to Sender' on the package, so I did, dropped it back in the box as soon as I took it out. It's been 16 days now since I put it in the mailbox. 29 days since I ordered it. 21 days since I first requested a refund. It was 10 days after ordering before it was even shipped, 13 days when it finally arrived. I never opened it, I wrote 'RETURN TO SENDER' in black marker like he instructed, put it straight into the locked outgoing mailbox at my apartment complex.
I should have been refunded when it had been 10 days and still not yet shipped. He (Skip) keeps telling me "not until I get the strings you claim to have sent back", as if I'm some junkie trying to scam him out of $26. I'm permanently disabled, on Social Security. After I pay my rent and bills I'm lucky to have $50 left for the month to spend on myself.
Any other retailer would have issued the refund when it had been a week and still not in transit, and likely offered me something free or a discount to insure that they retain my patronage. I paid for Priority Mail, they're in the next state, so it should have been here in 2-3 days. 10 before it actually shipped, 13 when it got here, and I have to wait until you get it back to get my refund?!
Well, now it's been 16 days since I sent it back and the tracking still just says it was delivered here. I don't think they even track something that's been "Returned to Sender". But I put it in a locked outgoing mailbox that only the mailman has a key to, so it's obviously been lost by USPS (AGAIN!).
Skip is a rude, obnoxious, snotty, self-important waste of space! I would have bought strings from them for the rest of my life, but he lost that over $26. This is The Worst customer service experience I've ever had in my life (aside from a fiasco with a car shop keeping my van for 4 months to replace a transmission). And this isn't the first time they gave a tracking number but lagged on actually shipping it. I've been stuck here all month waiting on him to give back the measly little wad of spending money I would have had for the month.
I hope he's proud of himself for getting over on a cripple for $26.
I will NEVER buy anything from them ever again, no matter how much the .051 & .037 were perfect for my guitar. And I have no idea where I'm gonna get the next .148T for the low A on my 5 string bass, but I'll deal with what I can get. They will not see another penny from me.
And I hope this matters enough to you that you will boycott them. Bad businesses don't deserve to be in business.
If you don't provide what I paid for within the promised delivery time, you issue a refund. It's not my fault it was either lost by USPS for over a week, or you just didn't actually ship it until then and blamed it on USPS. And it's not my fault they lost it again on the way back! If you wanted return tracking you should have given me a return label, instead of telling me to write "Return to Sender" on it. You're the one who bought the postage, if they lost it, it's up to you to file a missing package search or a lost package insurance claim. You don't leave the customer waiting for an entire month+ without their money. He said, "well, it's not my fault, either"... waaah, it certainly is the responsibility of the business to reimburse the customer if the package is lost, THEN you pursue compensation from the delivery service. Unless you don't care to keep your customers.
What a joke!
I use a PayPal debit card for everything and they're good about reimbursement for unauthorized charges. I've already gotten my money back from PayPal (submitted a dispute and included the email exchange w/Skip), but I'm not telling him that. I'm not letting him get away with this. I'm now sending him foul-mouthed messages and he's still replying, almost immediately (so, OP: he DID get your messages and WAS ignoring you), saying things like "I can't afford to lose $26 any more than you" and "I'm not passing any loss onto you". What do you call it, then? USPS lost YOUR package and you're taking MY money.
BOYCOTT KALIUM. Drive them out of business!
