When A Customer Is NOT Being Honest...

Anyone faced with the challenge of providing warrantees and support for complex products learns people will occasionally try to take advantage of an honest merchant. Sometimes they are simply not qualified to operate the equipment in which case an good merchant will honor a request for a refund. But sometimes there are obvious alternative motives and it is usually quite easy to tell if the customer is operating in "good faith".

This customer bought a chronograph 12/1/05. The product literature clearly states the manufacturer honors a 30 day money back guarantee and 2 year warrantee on the product. We did not receive any indication the customer had a problem prior to this email early in July, 7 months later. (He still had the original emailed order confirmation on his computer.)

"tHIS THING IS A PIECE OF JUNK, i WANT TO RETURN IT.

jASON X

(Order confirmation from 12/1/05 included here.) "

Obviously we would have a problem issuing a full refund for used product without at least an explanation. We have issued refunds after 30 days to customers with serious personal problems who can return the product in like new condition. We have even refunded money when convinced the problem was the customers fault but we could not get the product to work and the customer was operating in "good faith". To this end I was first trying to determine what the problem might be, if the customer was simply frustrated because they had not contacted us for help or if he had had other motives. I was hoping it was a typical simple thing that could be handled with a phone call and tried to assure him any problems could easily affect ANY brand of chronograph not equipped with artificial lighting (the optional IR he did not buy).

"Jason;

I hope you were not trying to use it during the past few weeks when the weather has been bad. ANY brand of chronograph requires sufficient light to work when not equipped with artificial lighting.

If working and used correctly, it is not a piece of junk, in fact it has emerged as the best selling chronograph. Especially when equipped with the IR option (which you did not buy) it beets all of them hands down and works in lighting that no others will.

I will check it for you to make sure it has not developed a problem but after 7 months will not refund your money.

If you were trying to use the chronograph in good light without success, give me a call. There may be something simple you are missing. Wobbly tripods, shaded firing lines, failure to tip the tripod head to the side early/late in the day when shooting north or south are all things people do not think about.

928-634-8028

Sincerely;

Jim Ristow."

There was no response for several days. I was still concerned and did want to resolve the issue if I could make him a satisfied customer so I sent another email. I even provided the toll free support number this time.

"Jason;

I do not recall every receiving any support phone calls or email from you. I hope you noticed the support page for chronographs. Much of what is there applies to ALL brands.

http://www.shootingsoftware.com/CEDMQA.htm

There could be something wrong with the chronograph but in most cases problems are due to how or where they are being used. In most cases the fix is simple if you know what to look for.

Some of the government agencies who reviewed all the various brands and bought a CED from me include."

(list of government customers here)

"This is just a few I can think of. And, it is the only chronograph to gain the status as the official IPSC/IDPA chronograph for major tournaments.

You happened to buy the chronograph from someone who knows more about the technology then most of the manufacturers and you only need to call for support.

Because you are obviously frustrated trying to get it to work I will provide my toll free phone number for you to call. 888-XXX-XXXX. There should now be no reason for you to not call and resolve the issue.

Jim Ristow"

I finally got some indication of why he was not happy. He thinks it is reading "erratic".

"I've tried all of those. It was working fine, for about 1 month, velocities
seemed where they should be. However, over the last few months they have
steadily become erratic, or it will need read at all. I purchased a Crony a
few weeks ago to compare against. The crony works fine, velocities are
normal, however yours still reads erratic in the same lighting conditions.

Thanks,
Jason X"

It could still be something he is doing and not a problem with the chronograph. The product does not normally develop a problem after it has been working for "several months". Many people shooting muzzle loaders are not aware how hard it is to hold consistent shot to shot velocities with Pyrodex. If he is shooting shotguns or sabot muzzle loader rounds he could be reading the wad or sabot and simply needs to back up. Or, he could have the sensor rail on his tripod backwards so the first sensor lifts from muzzle blast, the sensor tension plate needs to be tightened, wobbly tripod, etc. If he were to provide more information, about what he is doing the problem might still be easily resolved.

I am beginning to think he is not honest, may not shoot off a bench (or he would already realize the chrony he bought is less then ideal) does not understand the limitations of low-end chronographs (velocity drift with sun angle, etc.) and simply regrets having paid more for a better product when a $90 brand seems to do what he needs.

I emailed him with some suggestions and asked for further clarification. If there was truly something wrong with the chronograph you would think he would want it fixed, even if he was going to sell it! Just so he knew he was communicating with someone who has authority, I included my title.

"Jason;

Do you understand how it looks from this end when the first thing we here from you is a request for your money back (after the 30 day refund period), then no serious response to our effort to resolve your problem?

People who immediately request a refund without attempting resolution of the problem usually have another agenda. You still have not clarified what you mean by "erratic" velocities and have not indicated you want us to check the chronograph for you.

What should we think when you do not telephone or respond with email?

If you are shooting shotguns or sabots, both must go through ANY chronograph at the same time to get good readings. If the sabot/wad separates between the screens you will get erratic readings with ANY chronograph. There is only so much guessing we can do without input.

Sincerely;

Jim Ristow
President/CEO
Recreational Software, Inc."

Then it all came out. Note the last line.

"Whats the point of wasting my time with email. I'm stuck with this
thing...lesson learned. And erratic means just that; velocities with the
same loads registering up to 300 FPS up or down, or not at all. Some I
believe to be as much as 500 FPS off. If I were to believe them, I could
potentially BLOW the gun up trying to reach the published loads true FPS.

And the reason I stated my email that way I did is because I was PISSED OFF!
I just wasted $180.00 or so, with no hope of getting it back. My kids need
to eat too!

Sincerly,
Jason X"

There is more then just a few problems here. First, he has no intention of trying to determine if there is a problem with the chronograph or if it is something he is doing wrong. Second, he does not know what he is doing if he thinks a published load in any reputable load manual will "blow his gun up" or that he can necessarily achieve published velocities with his rifle. One can only conclude from the last line that his budget is stretched.

I emailed one more time indicating that if he chose to work with us, we would help; but his attitude was not encouraging assistance. I even let him know we have helped people sell equipment they no longer needed. He then emailed he would Ebay the chronograph and we should not respond further.

Jason obviously has problems we cannot address. One can only speculate from the limited information he provided what is really going on. I will bet if the chronograph shows up on Ebay, there will be no indication it has a problem. If only he had been fully honest. We would fix anything wrong with it so he could sell it "honestly" as having been thoroughly checked by one of CED's leading dealers. We might even "re warrantee" the product to the new owner so he can get top dollar. No reputable merchant can help a customer like this.