Issues with World Educational Services e-shop

[steliosm]

Hello.

Has anyone ever order something from this e-shop or had a problem with them?
I seem to have a small problem receiving the PicAxe chips I order (and paid for) about a month ago and they also stopped responding to my emails.

I ordered the chips online and paid them through PayPal. Everything was fine until 2 weeks after placing the order I noticed that I haven't got anything back from them, like a verification that my order was actually sent. I sent them an email to check out the status of my order and they said they were trying to contact me since the PayPal didn't entered the order to their system. I sent them the screen shoot of my PayPal's payment and gave them the list of items I had ordered in the first place, since they told me they lost that info too.

Now, for the past 10 days I haven't got anything back from them although I keep sending emails and asking about my order's status every 2 days.

Tough luck.

 

[hippy]

Welcome to the wonderful world of eNightmare.

You don't have to look far for scathing attacks on PayPal and searing criticism from people trying to get problems resolved. It's great when it works but something else entirely when it goes tits-up and everyone wants to pass the buck to someone else, washes their hands of it or simply shrugs their shoulders. A major problem is that as soon as you sign up to use electronic transactions you generally agree to be bound by whatever unfair, unbelievable or downright offensive conditions they apply. Plenty of horror stories out there with people treated like dog doo and ripped off through no fault of their own.

The first thing to do is try and determine exactly what has happened.

Did your order get placed with WES ?
Did PayPal send money to WES ?
Did PayPal take money from you ?
Are PayPal going to take money from you ?

If the transaction has been completely lost and you're not / not going to be out of pocket, you can write it up as a lucky escape, just place another order.

Otherwise you need to know exactly the state of the transaction, know who the problem lies with. It doesn't help that World Educational Services appear to have stopped responding to emails but I'd also suggest getting in touch with PayPal regarding the transaction, it's no good just looking to WES to slve this, it may not be their fault. If you've paid by credit card you may be protected if goods do not arrive and your card is debited, if the PayPal account becomes overdue you could perhaps simply not pay, but take legal advice and defintely contact PayPal before then. If money is automatically taken by PayPal from your bank you may be able to cancel any Direct Debits or Standing Orders.

 

[jodicalhon]

Paypal, or PayBloodyPal as my wife fondly calls them, are the greatest bunch of no-hopers in the known universe.

 

[Charliem]

I bought some picaxes from them and got great service.I ordered direct from their website.I don't mess with paypal.

 

[Mycroft2152]

When PAYAPL works, it is great, but if there is a problem, consider the money lost. PAYPAL is a world unto itself, PAYPAL makes all the rules and the applies them randomly. The normal banking regulations DO NOT apply.

Here's a link to a PAYPAL horror story site : http://www.aboutpaypal.org/

My own bout with PAYPAL was about a group of items that was only partially recieved. after six weeks, I filed a complaint with PAYPAL. PAYAPAL investigated and another six weeks later PAYPAL issued a refund. Then 2 months later the rest of the order suddenly appeared. By then I had replaced the missing parts. The seller the filed a complaint with PAYPAL for lack of payment.

After many emails, PAYPAL's response was you got the items, you must pay for them. It did not matter that PAYPAL investigated and issued the refund. Of course, the return shipping would be at my expense. Needless to say, I do not use PAYPAL

BTW, I've ordered from World Ed and have had no problems.

 

[steliosm]

Thank you all for your feedback.

I ordered directly through their web site but I paid though PayPal. I never had a problem with Paypal even when I was paying for more expensive stuff. I'm actually using PayPal for the past 3 years without problems. Of course, you can never be sure about what is going to happen.

What I was told from WES was that a) The PayPal didn't entered the order to their system and b) that they couldn't find out what was in my shopping cart when I placed the order.

The good news is that my order is on it's way. I got an email this morning telling me that they shipped my order. It's good to hear from you that they have an excellent service since I'm going to place orders again. Xmas are getting close and I want Santa to bring me some more PicAxes

 

[Shack]

I agree with Mycroft2152 and Pay Pal should be avoided by all means. They make their own rules and your bank probably will not credit the card if there is a dispute. If a supplier does not take the Visa directly I will not do business with them.

Andrew at WES is first class. If he has now shipped your order that means that he did so out of his own pocket! I have never received bad service from him using his site and generally orders are shipped the following day. He also has a phone ... call him.

Rev-ed saw fit to sort of shaft WES by introducing another distributor in the USA (Spark Fun Electronics). The very limited market for the Picaxe did not justify a second distribution and effectively cut the profitability of the product in half. Prices have increased and supply have declined as a result. Spark Fun actually overcharges by about 15% for everything.

 

[hippy]

The good news is that my order is on it's way. I got an email this morning telling me that they shipped my order.

And I'm sure you'll be sending a very nice 'thank you' email in return.

Remember, it's not just buyers who get shafted by electronic transaction companies when it goes wrong but sellers too, and companies aren't immune from the consequences. All the while they are having a frustrating time sorting problems out from their end they cannot be focusing on customers which is what they would prefer to be doing; that's what puts food on their table.

 

[womai]

It's often difficult to say who is at fault if one of those transactions goes awry. I have been using Paypal for over 6 years for close to a thousand transactions (mostly as a seller, but also as a buyer). Not a single transaction got lost, but I have to say that sometimes (maybe 1% of the time) I did not get any notification when I received a payment - I usually found out when the buyer emailed me asking where the product was (I am selling shareware so it's just an email, not a physical shipment).

As for WES I had a few complaints in the past (lack of communication, especially no acknowledgement of orders received), but always got the products I ordered, and they improved their process quite a bit over the last two years. Also their prices and shipping are very good (you can find generic components like resonators or sockets much cheaper on e.g. Digikey or Jameco, but comparable hobby stores will charge as much or more). From what I have seen the owner of WES does have a tendency to get emotional if he does not like something, and usually blame others for whatever trouble occurs, which is of course not the most professional behavior, but nobody's perfect I guess.

Wolfgang

 

[steliosm]

Yes, Hippy I did thanked him. I do plan on ordering more stuff.

Shack, Wolfgang, you are right about the prices over at WES e-shop. That is the reason I placed my order in the first place. I used to get my chips from robot-italy.com but I was paying 4.2euros for the 08M chip while at WES costs $3.3. That is about the double price.

So, is anyone thinking about any Xmas projects yet?

 

[w7ky]

PayPal Tip

We've used PayPal for a long time commercially without loss. PayPal has a problem-solving phone number for their commercial customers (888-221-1161). Although we sold the business, we still use this number. Anyone can use this number; they don't seem to mind if you're not a commercial client. A telephone call will usually solve problems faster than back and forth email.

More important than problem resolution is problem avoidance. When buying, NEVER let Paypal charge your bank account. Problems here force you to use PayPal arbitration and can easily take more than four months. ALWAYS charge to your credit card. Your credit card company will begin solving the problem as soon as you contact them. They recover the funds from the seller immediately. This really motivates the seller and leads much more quickly to resolution or refund. We still make fairly large ($3k+) online purchases, so far without loss. Over six years, we've recovered the funds from problem transactions about half a dozen times. Online, you have to read between between the lines , and then have your wife read it too(-:

My experience with WES is limited but, good. They have responded quickly to 'where's my stuff' and 'could you pack it a bit better?' . I like doing business with them.