First Order on Mathmos.us/LampLust Not Going So Well

[Erin]

I placed my first order on mathmos.us February 24th for two Fireflows - one O1 and one R1. According to their shipping chart, I should have had them in about three days.

I have written customer support. No answer. I have written on their Facebook page. No answer.

Anyone ordered from them yet? 

Not a good first impression! 

[WeeboTech]

So you're getting almost the same customer service quality as the other vendor.

Ok I put that in there as a slight dig, but the reality is... it takes time to get a business running smoothly. 

I've been there.

The real issue is lack of, or false, communication and that is disrespectful. 

Folks use a credit card and if you are not satisfied, contact your credit card company if it's beyond a reasonable period.

If you use paypal, mark your calendar for 40 days so you have time to put in a claim. 

The vendor must show a delivered status or you get your money back. 

I'll say this much, keep in mind how hard it is to start a business and get it running smoothly.

Frankly, I would have expected a smoother more professional handling of this. However, don't let it deter you too much. If you haven't received a product, they have to give you your money back.

Post your experience and if this continues to happen 6 months into their business, then you know we have a long term issue. 

[Erin]

It really stinks. Why would you send out a UPS tracking # if the item didn't really ship? Why would you tell me the item will ship today if it wasn't going to? Why doesn't Mathmos write back... EVER?

They are starting off horribly. What a nasty first impression. 

[Jim]

I hear ya Weebs, but this shouldn't be similar to starting a company for either party. Mathmos has a long history and lamplust has been in business for 10 years.  I don't know who is dropping the ball between these two companies, but they are essentially giving each other a black eye.

I don't know a thing about lamplust, but did they have a good reputation coming into this?  I need to ask as "lamplust" is not the best of names in my opinion.  Lust and lighting?  Maybe LampsPlus would have been a better partner - just order a new kitchen fixture from them and I would definitely do business with them again.

Under promise and over deliver - its the only way to go.

WeeboTech said:

So you're getting almost the same customer service quality as the other vendor.

Ok I put that in there as a slight dig, but the reality is... it takes time to get a business running smoothly. 

I've been there.

The real issue is lack of, or false, communication and that is disrespectful. 

Folks use a credit card and if you are not satisfied, contact your credit card company if it's beyond a reasonable period.

If you use paypal, mark your calendar for 40 days so you have time to put in a claim. 

The vendor must show a delivered status or you get your money back. 

I'll say this much, keep in mind how hard it is to start a business and get it running smoothly.

Frankly, I would have expected a smoother more professional handling of this. However, don't let it deter you too much. If you haven't received a product, they have to give you your money back.

Post your experience and if this continues to happen 6 months into their business, then you know we have a long term issue. 

[Erin]

I was reading Lamp Lust's reviews on reselleratings:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/LampLust_Lighting

Even though their overall score is good, if you poke around, there's a lot of one-star ratings and they've had the same problem as me - lack of communication. 

Jim, they are BOTH dropping the ball here. Neither is being proactive. Mathmos' US presence (albeit it's small at this point) has been lackluster. They said September 2011 for the US store and we blew right by that. Now it's supposed to be April. Yet no news, no updates on their FB page, no responses, meh. Pffffft to them. 

[Mattmos]

It seems to me as though Mathmos doesn't have the stones, just to be honest, and say that they made a mistake. Instead Mathmos would rather try to get away with the 'ole, "The check is in the mail" business.

Erin said:

It really stinks. Why would you send out a UPS tracking # if the item didn't really ship? Why would you tell me the item will ship today if it wasn't going to? Why doesn't Mathmos write back... EVER?

They are starting off horribly. What a nasty first impression. 

[Jim]

My take is that Mathmos need to tighten up its relationship with its third party vendors.  Bottom line, at the end of the day none of us will associate our new lamp with Lamplust, we will associate it with Mathmos.  Mathmos needs to keep this in mind and still maintain the reputation of their lamps and service.

I faced similar when I bought Fireflows from Think Geek.  Had issues and Think Geek was pointing at Mathmos, and vice versa.  Meanwhile I was left holding the bag.  Considering the issue I faced was with product quality, I put that all on Mathmos.  What could Think Geek do as the product was faulty? 

Mattmos said:

It seems to me as though Mathmos doesn't have the stones, just to be honest, and say that they made a mistake. Instead Mathmos would rather try to get away with the 'ole, "The check is in the mail" business.

Erin said:

It really stinks. Why would you send out a UPS tracking # if the item didn't really ship? Why would you tell me the item will ship today if it wasn't going to? Why doesn't Mathmos write back... EVER?

They are starting off horribly. What a nasty first impression. 

[Erin]

Order shipped on Monday. Should have the lamps tomorrow. So, nearly three weeks to get the product I ordered on February 24th. 

[Dr. WHAT?!]

If you recall my conversation with Mathmos about my broken O1 glass. This was almost about a month ago I mentioned it here, but all in all this has been going on for over 6 months already. So I decided to email Mathmos once again. And here is what they had to say. I'm not exactly happy with the response and when in the f@#$ will I ever go to the UK?! lol the chances are very slim. I just want a piece of f'ing glass!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

 

>Hi Shawn,>

Thank you for your mail although I am disappointed that we have let you down and I understand your frustration.

We at Mathmos appreciate all our customers and in particular the aficionados who participate in and on websites like oozinggoo we know what our lamps mean to you and we sincerely hope that with increased availability to our US customers you will be able to come back to us in the future.

Do let us know if you are ever planning to visit the UK and perhaps we could arrange for you a factory visit and show you our full range of Lamps and lights.

Our sincere regards,

 

Benjamin Fidler

Head of Sales

From: Shawn Wohlt
Sent: 28 March 2012 15:49

To: Benjamin Fidler
Subject: Re: O1 replacement glass.

 

Hey Benjamin,

I still haven't heard from Ben Rutter yet, since we last spoke, and we are pushing almost another month here with no help at all. Other than correspondence from you (which is the only thing that I can't complain about) 6 months is WAY TOO LONG to wait for a simple glass replacement piece for my O1. So unfortunately I'm just going to give up now because, quite honestly, I dont have the time anymore to keep emailing you guys. I'm just going to throw out my O1 and never purchase another Mathmos lamp again. It's a shame too because, I'm a huge collector of lava lamps and I'm a moderator on Oozinggoo.com (which I'm sure you've heard of) and the wait for Mathmos to sell in the US has been a long coming. All 3000 members of oozinggoo.com were so excited to know this was finally happening until it did happened and people had to deal with the customer service at lamplust. I want to thank you for your time in this Benjamin, they need to learn something from you.

-Shawn

[Erin]

That is not acceptable. It would be so simple to make this right and they 100% failed. 

How frustrating. :( These kinds of experiences are HORRIBLE and it would have been so easy for them to keep you as a happy customer. It is plainly obvious they just don't care. 

I'm sorry Shawn. 

[WeeboTech]

So this is Customer Service in the 21st century.  Makes me wonder how these companies will survive.

[Dr. WHAT?!]

I know right?! not what I expected from Mathmos, one thing is that usually when I email Benjamin, their head of sales, he responds quickly. I replied one last time after i posted this here just because the response I got started to get to me. I mean really? I dont think i asked for much.

I emailed him back saying:

Thanks for the offer Benjamin, but the chances of me coming to the UK are very slim. All I want is the glass cylinder that comes with the O1.You have mentioned before, in a prior in a email, that you would be able to help me get this glass piece if lamplust could not come thru. Is this not the case anymore? Can't you just send me the glass piece alone? I don't want a whole lamp, just the glass cylinder, and I'll be more then happy to pay for the costs (the piece and shipping).  I'm a little disappointed that Mathmos is just writing me off like this, just for a simple replacement part.

[WeeboTech]

to be frank, your letter to Mathmos was sort of "so long see ya"

to quote "I'm just going to give up now because, quite honestly, I dont have the time anymore to keep emailing you guys. I'm just going to throw out my O1 and never purchase another Mathmos lamp again."

If you want the replacement part, then that's what you should have said.

The squeaky wheel gets oiled when it comes to customer service and lack of service.

I guess all the touting I heard about mathmos customer service isn't true.

It's unfortunate in that they have access to a niche market where others are failing miserably, and have now failed themselves.
All while visible to the community that would purchase their product.