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New K-owner and shocked at CS - disputed my visa
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burned up
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:12 pm    

New K-owner and shocked at CS - disputed my visa
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If only I had heard about this forum earlier!

Back in May a very close friend of mine convinced me to buy a Kamado. It truly is an amazing cooker and he got me a sweet deal on an assembled K. I was told it would be ready in a month - so it began. Up until then I received calls from Laura and felt 'appreciated'. She really is a nice person - when you can speak with her!

As the months went by with no response (yet they did take my 50% deposit), I grew anxious. This was a PRE-MADE Kamado! My friend got involved (apparently they like him) and within a week my K was ready! This was four weeks ago.

I live in San Diego, therefore I drove to the warehouse to pick it up. This turned out to be VERY GOOD! When I saw my K, it was missing several things. I did not have the upper rack, thermometer or gas option. We pillaged the rack and thermometer from other K's but could not get the gas burner. This is big, as hand lighting charcoal stinks, takes too long and the only reason I bought the K. Without the gas, it was too much of a hassle.

I called my friend who got in touch with Richard. Richard said he messed up and took it home with him by accident. It would be immediately shipped to me. Weeks go by and nothing, Yeaster my friend told me Richard was ordering the gas feature from Indonesia and I'd need to wait. That patience is important working with Kamado.

This did it and I left a very strong voicemail and sent an email. More importantly, I am disputing the last 50% charged to my credit card. I did this today.

I am very interested to see if this gets their attention. Honestly, I don't use the K due to the lack of gas. If I need to wait for the gas burner, they'll need to wait to get paid!

As a business owner and having run several companies, I am blown away how they are still in business. There is clearly a huge market demand for the product. Anyone with half a brain, some start up cash and decent Customer Service Skills could make a killing.

Has anyone held off payment and gotten a response?
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DoubleIPA
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:24 pm    

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A large majority of folks here dumped the Mexi-K (aka POSK) due to tiles falling off and major cracking along with the zero customer support. I myself sold mine off for close to what I paid for it (mine was fairly new). Then we bought from komodokamado.com instead. Sorry you found this forum too late. Though it does show up in google, just not the first page.
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tcoliver



Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:02 pm    

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Unfortunately you probably will never receive the gas option. If RJ is making excuses it means he has a problem with you or the part. He will most likely give you the run around for several months and then tell you he will refund you the cost of the part but never do so. If I were you I would bring the unit back and dispute the entire order. You have a better chance this way. After you do so you could have a KK which is a much better product (I have had both) and get everything you order as Dennis at KK prides himself on CS. Sorry you got into this mess and good luck.
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burned up
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:42 pm    

The good news is he is only being for HALF of the K!
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I paid for the first half of the K in a deposit. They just charged my credit card the other half. I am disputing that half and have gotten a refund from Visa.

I honestly don't think Richard had a problem with me - until yesterday. He would reply to my friend.

Therefore I have a very nice #7 K that I paid $700 with lots of charcoal! If he does not send me the gas burner, I get a K for half price. That is not a bad deal for me, though I will rarely use it without the burner. Hmmm, I could always have my friend buy a burner separately!

I really cannot believe I'm having this conversation. How ridiculous this is.
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Schadenfreude



Joined: 19 Sep 2007
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 6:47 pm    

Re: New K-owner and shocked at CS - disputed my visa
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burned up wrote:
.... a very close friend of mine convinced me to buy a Kamado...


Your "friend" is a moron. Screw ceramic cooking. Invest in new friends. No one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, UNLESS THEY'VE BEEN LIVING IN A CAVE, or are off their medication for some self delusional psychosis, can ever recommend doing business with that lying, thieving, slanderous sack of shit. Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil

burned up wrote:
If he does not send me the gas burner, I get a K for half price.


Value is in the eye of the beholder. But you might need glasses. I routinely quote $100 for one of the sunbaked white turds my dog leaves in the backyard. No one in their right mind ever buys one. But if you put down a deposit of $50, I'll ship you one. If it arrives broken or incomplete, you'll probably withhold the final $50. Just the same, I wouldn't brag that you stole a white dog turd for just $50. Sad

How many do you plan to order? My dog needs to know. Razz

For $1000, I'll glue some tiles on one for you. Wink

Sorry, that was unnecessarily harsh...so to try and answer some of your questions: the K company or whatever it's calling itself this week is purportedly no stranger to chargebacks. Be grateful you managed to get yours before he switched credit card companies yet again to avoid such chargebacks.

Regarding getting anything from Indonesia: There are behind the scenes rumors that Richard has some errr... ummm... snags... yeah, that's the word... SNAGS, there. Nothing adequately confirmed to post yet. Just don't hold your breath on receiving anything from there any time soon.

And, in retrospect, $700 for a K, assuming it's one of the good ones (big assumption there) ain't bad. $1400 is a rip off no matter if it's one of the good uns or not.
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curly



Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 665

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 5:57 am    

Re: The good news is he is only being for HALF of the K!
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burned up wrote:
I paid for the first half of the K in a deposit. They just charged my credit card the other half. I am disputing that half and have gotten a refund from Visa.

I honestly don't think Richard had a problem with me - until yesterday. He would reply to my friend.

Therefore I have a very nice #7 K that I paid $700 with lots of charcoal! If he does not send me the gas burner, I get a K for half price. That is not a bad deal for me, though I will rarely use it without the burner. Hmmm, I could always have my friend buy a burner separately!

I really cannot believe I'm having this conversation. How ridiculous this is.


You're prolly stuck with the K now...but don't pay the other half even if you get the burner. Just keep the money for when the tiles fall off and use it to pay for the repairs.

Don't except a $700 gas burner...get one of these.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91037

With this you can light the coals in 10 seconds or so...better than a gas burner in my opinion...and I've had both.
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Knotter



Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 64

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:07 am    

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Yo Shadenfreud; easy.

Come on now, I've recommended a few too. That is, until mine started breaking apart, and I've yet to receive parts either, after promisses.

Believe me, we already feel bad enough, one of our own calling us morons is a bit unfair to us.

Would you rather we leave and not share our experiences?

Don't be so hard on burned up.

I appreciate him/her posting their story.
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Admin
Site Admin


Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1018

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:38 am    

Burned Up--
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We really appreciate you coming forward with your story. Every little bit helps, and if we can save someone from any amount of frustration and loss, it's worth it. Thanks. And please do keep us posted... we're very interested to hear how this pans out.

Schadenfreude-- Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the dogpile this morning?

Shocked
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foxhound
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:36 am    

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burned up wrote:
Quote:
I paid for the first half of the K in a deposit. They just charged my credit card the other half. I am disputing that half and have gotten a refund from Visa.



I recently experienced the dispute charge process for the first time in an unrelated matter. When you dispute, they take the charge out pending the process that allows the merchant to respond. In my case the merchant had 30 days to respond, didn't respond, but received an automatic additional 30 days to respond. I believe Richard is very skilled at this and may be playing the time game to stall. I suggest you don't count that refund just yet. And don't be surprised if you receive a burner that either does not work or does not fit.


Admin wrote:
Quote:
Schadenfreude-- Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the dogpile this morning?


Laughing Laughing Laughing
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fishtail-99



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 1437

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:39 am    

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Sam, even if RJ takes an extra 30 days, if he doesn't respond the OP will get his money back. If RJ does take care of all the problems with this order, the OP won't win the dispute but at least they will have what they paid for.
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Porkchop



Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 237
Location: Champaign, IL (Univ of IL U/C)

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:55 am    

Thanks "Burned Up"...
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here's hoping things go your way! hopefully you can still take small consolation here in doing your part to advise other would-be RJ dupes to look elsewhere. the more credible instances of poor treatment at their hands recorded here for others to see, the more folks that will be thankful they didn't make the same error you did.
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burned up
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:06 am    

That is what I want
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I'm not looking to get something for half off, I'm only looking to get what was promised to me. I'd actually be shocked if Richard did not get me the gas burner. A $30-60 part versus $700? That makes no sense.

I disputed the charge for two reasons. One - why pay for something that is not fully delivered? Gas is a very important feature. Two - put pressure on K to get me the gas feature ASAP. Holding back a company's payment has a way of getting a favorable response - regardless of bad CS.

I've read a lot of threads on this forum and would NOT have purchased the K had I known. However, I have it now and the cooker does work outstanding. Yes, I could sell it and buy a KK, but probably will not. The hassel of doing this all over again is a bit overwhelming. Reading the K forum, the vast majority of the people love their K's. Virtually all are very frustrated with the K CS. Time will tell about the my tiles. I live in San Diego making the environment easier. Hopefully my tiles will remain attached. Still, I just paid a LOT of money for this and I'd like to be excited about it. I hope this makes sense.

BTW, thank you for the blow torch idea. If I don't get the gas feature, that would work. Ideally, I'd like the option to cook with gas if desired, but the blowtorch is a good workaround.

Lastly, I have to be blackballed at Kamado. I really left them a nasty voicemail and email. With that in mind, where does everyone get their charcol?

Thanks for the replies guys - oh and yes, I'm a dude in SD. Smile
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Knotter



Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 64

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:42 am    

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Burned up, some K's appear to be good, while others are definitely bad.

You get a good one you're fine, you get a bad one you're in for a lot of trouble. That's the best consultation I can offer. Personal experience.

I say "appear to be good" because falling apart may potentially be a reflection of how much they're used. It's quite possible, not using one very often may not fall apart.

I use mine every week, it's falling apart.

Again, the ones I'm familiar with, without problems, aren't used much.
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foxhound
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:52 am    

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burned up...I applaud your action to dispute. It was a wise action to put the pressure on RJ to perform. If you have read very much of this forum you may have discovered RJ is a thief with a long history. There are occasional stories of how a customer was treated well, some of us here had positive experiences between storms at Kamado land. However, eventually they turn on just about everyone, especially should you have a product issue. They seem to think they are heroes if they get the product to you, and you are unreasonable if you expect it to be what it was hyped or what you were promised. And warranty is just a euphenism for luck in this situation.

If it functions as it should, you will enjoy ceramic cooking, and I would encourage you to share those experiences on the komodokamado forum. I think you might enjoy it more than the kamado forum.
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jchan
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:54 am    

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If nothing else, it's another ding against the current credit card clearing house with his current company name...

sam wrote:
If it functions as it should, you will enjoy ceramic cooking, and I would encourage you to share those experiences on the komodokamado forum. I think you might enjoy it more than the kamado forum.


Even if you don't have a KK!
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