BLT shipped some ~85 warthog pre-orders today at $407+free shipping. If you ordered with BLT before they raised the price to $515, you will get the original price. BLT shipped my warthog today and I am glad I stuck with them.

Look, they say you only know who your real friends are is when something went wrong or when you were down and out. Same holds true for retailers.

What I see the most important attribute of a retailer is not that they have the lowest prices or they can ship the s**t fastest, otherwise Amazon would have gone out of business long time ago. It is when something goes wrong and how they resolve problems in a reasonable and expedient manner. That is, how you treat your customers when they needed your help.

Any mom and pop and open an online store and start selling s**t. I have bought my share from these stores on PriceWatch through the years. BLT honoring that $407 price is a plus for them, but not that much of it, because they could get sued if they don't.

Now, I told them exactly what I told you guys that east coasters are getting it but the west coaster are not getting any (including the dates and inventory records from Nov. 1, and today) and I know somebody getting it who ordered after me on Oct. 3, shipping to Texas, and I ordered on Sept. 29, and I am not getting it and whether they care to explain that.

They sent me back that email and said



If you read between the lines, it basically says, if you don't like it, go away. Cancel your order, see if we care.

I am getting a good deal and they are honoring it does not give them the right to treat me like a cheap bast**d. I don't like to be treated unfairly and then they take a cheap shot at me. Would you like that?

Clearly, somebody in Texas ordered after me got his, and I don't is wrong, completely against the principle of first-come-first-serve we assume we are operating on. Somebody made a mistake at BLT. All they would have to do is to apologize and I would be fine with it. The worst they would have to do is to "promise" to put me on top of the list of which I am entitled to anyway to ensure that I get it as soon as they get any stock. Cost them nothing, and everybody is happy. Everybody makes mistake. I would have given them a chance to make amend. That response from BLT is not my idea of good customer service, nor does it solve any problem.

Dford8, you and many other got lucky this time and got yours WITHOUT problem, but if you look at how they treat me, you know one day you will be in my place. You see how they behave when things go wrong and you still want to do business with them, go ahead and knock yourself out.

That's how I evaluate a retailer -- when things go wrong. I would keep buying things from you until you slip up. Obviously, BLT does not do well.

I just ordered another one through Amazon's affiliate retailers at $510. If BLT is reading this. This is how you lose business. I would have purchased this other one from you, if you had just apologized for your snafu or at least attempt to resolve the problem. And, I am usually THE GUY to turn to for tech stuff for my friends and families, you would've gotten their business as well if you had come through with this.

The best customer service I have ever had? Grainger! This one time, they kept sending me the wrong stuff I need for the DiXYHS project and they kept apologizing, and kept sending me the wrong stuff and told me to keep the wrong stuff. This dragged out for over a month. It got to the point that I don't want any more of that wrong stuff, and I laughed 'til I was silly and I gave up HAPPILY! I am still a happy customer of theirs. The first thought I have when I need a part, GRAINGER!

That's how you do customer service! All you have to do is attempting to solve the problem, nicely. You solve the problem, great. If not, nobody is pi$$ed. BLT didn't even bother to try!

Hopefully you'll get your WH quicktime. But why is a company that couldn't get your order right after a month of trying still your go-to shop?

Well I am waiting to read some costumer's reviews before buying. I have some questions related to my experience with my Cougar.

I will like to know about the paint, my Cougar's has some peeling by now, some people likes the look, I don't. There is a way to know the paint's quality?.

The Cougar had a cheap alloy, I know a guy that broke their throttle on a fall, rare, but this hardware must last a lifetime.

Another issue I am a little worried are the replacement parts, I am not sure if those military grade hats and buttons would be easy to get.

By the way, I think Thrustmaster fall short with the replaceable stick, we need a replaceable throttle also.

Hi:

Any update with regards to the offset?

Thanks

Very simple, everybody makes mistakes, and not all problems can be resolved. A lot of times you forgive people or overlook their faults simply because they tried hard to help you. Even though they actually didn't resolve that particular problem, they showed that I can count on them for help -- they won't leave me hanging there. If I ever run into trouble with them, they will be there to resolve problems, not I just work here mentality. And that next time might be a few thousands dollars worth of equipment instead of a bag of $10 stainless steel screws. THEY CARE even for a $10 worth of stainless steel screws!!! They were so determined to get it right that I must have over 10 bags of that screws! M3x0.5! Can be used for Cougar's rubber boot retention ring! (looks much better than the stock one)

They wasted 9 bags of stainless screws in attempts to resolve the problem? No, they EARNED a loyal customer with their great customer service. I can't speak for all of them, but this screw episode involved several of them.

Moreover, I must have ordered hundreds of items from them throughout the years, and this is the one and only one time they got it wrong. They even tried ordering from their supplier directly, it got shipped from a Chinese manufacturer's California office directly to me and it was still wrong. It turned out that the Chinese got it wrong in their system that way too. And they tried another way of going around the inventory system, wrong. Tried doing it another way, wrong. They really tried to help and showed competence in their non-bureaucratic creative way of solving problem.

Why wouldn't I do business with a company like this?

I would agree with Caddy's main point - I also found it extremely frustrating to wait deaf dumb and blind for any solid information whatsoever from either TM or BLT regarding the delays. Even to have said "We don't know, but we're working to find out," would have been better than nothing at all.

That said, BLT's policies are pretty straightforward - they could have changed the price without mcuh risk of losing a court battle. They listed it for pre-order, but if you actually read what you agreed to, it plainly said that that price could change, and if so that you'd be notified before your order was processed. Of course the discussion of what "ETA" means, has already been beaten to death with a hammer. They don't charge people until the order is ready to go out the door, and they had the best price around. Other than not being very responsive to customer inquiries, it doesn't seem to me that they did anything wrong.

We were supposed to get these things late October ... and the mark was missed only by a couple weeks? Not to lighten the frustration of those of us chomping at the bit to get our new toy, but let's do keep things in perspective.

You could get raped by the West Coast Virtual Gamers shop on Amazon.com for $575!



http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00419ZUXS/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Where did you come up with the ~85 shipped number? If so I'm not very pleased as I was told I was #50 in line.

Pre-ordered mine from Provantage for $400 including shipping and tracking shows the Fed-ex truck coming this morning.
Provantage is now showing $500.

Will get you guys a follow-up this weekend.

The beef I have with BLT is that they clearly messed up on the first-come-first-serve principle in which they claimed to be operating on, b/c somebody ordered after me got it, but I don't. I confronted them and they basically told me to go away instead of trying to resolve the problem or disputing my claim. Hey, I will be happy to know that the information I got is wrong so I am still in line at the position I "should" be.

The fact that they told me to "go away" raises a lot of doubts -- what in the hell are they doing with the queue? Am I getting screwed? Am I going to get screwed? WIll they give it to those who pay $500+ first instead of us $407 (by the fact that they are honoring the $407 price, this doesn't seem likely)? Or perhaps it's just simply that the computer inventory system automatically fired off and distributed by shipping address and since only Penn warehouse get stock so only east coasters get them. Will the next batch still go to their Penn warehouse and leave me west coasters high and dry?

Dude, I play games/sims to relax or have adrenaline rush, not to have additional aggravations! If I want aggravation, I have my full time job to get it from! And they pay me for it, not I pay them for it. Thanks, but no thanks!

My tracking information:

On Schedule
InitiatedPicked upIn transitDelivered

Departed FedEx location
LEWISBERRY, PA Shipment DatesShip date Nov 4, 2010
Estimated delivery Nov 6, 2010
DestinationKENOSHA, WI

It seems BLT has paid for Sat. delivery.
Unfortunately, I'm not at home tomorrow!

I guess the neighbors will get to play with it first.

And even better, Dell had it listed at over $600, but someone complained and they now have it listed at MSRP.

BLT is not entirely the culprit here. They have no control over delivery dates and are at the mercy of TM & the shippers. They are to be commended for sticking to their original $407 price for those that had placed a preorder at that price.

That being said they should not have treated Caddy like they did. Clearly someone who placed an order after Caddy did get his Warthog first and I agree, that is just wrong IMHO. As Caddy pointed out, a good gesture on their part would have been to make sure he got the next available Warthog and carry though on that promise, NOT simply say we will gladly cancel your order if you wish.

If the ~85 Warthogs shipping yesterday is correct, and who knows where that number comes from or if it's valid, then I am not very happy as I was told I was #50 in line. When you click for stock it says at the bottom "The fastest way to obtain this item is to place an order online now to secure your position in line, and we won't charge you until your order ships!". I don't know what others think, but when it says "secure your position in line" to me that means orders are fulfilled based on your position in the list as long as the financial part goes through OK and there are no other problems with your info.

It could be worse, I have been to other websites who say they have X units in stock until you begin to place your order, then it isn't in stock. Big waste of my time.

Well, I'm giving BLT (& TM) a bit more time to see if next week mine will be shipped as they expect it to be. If not I may do something different.

My prompt response from BLT when I asked about the order of shipping:

"Hi,

Pre orders are reserved in the closest warehouse, before inventory is available. Once inventory arrives, orders are filled in a particular warehouse. Usually, inventory arrives shortly thereafter for the other warehouses. Should a surplus exist in one warehouse, orders are then moved to that warehouse for immediate shipping.

We are expecting more inventory between 11/9 and 11/23, however, that is just an estimate. Thank you for your business and patience.

Best Regards,
David D."


So, it does sound like they will process an order in their second warehouse if the warehouse where your order initially was assigned exhausts its supply. I'm sticking with BLT for now but hope I don't wound up at the warehouse with the smaller shipment inbound.

What I got from BLT on 11/2 confirms this, at least in theory:

Q) "I'm 50th in line. Will I get the 50th HOTAS Warthog from whichever warehouse
you have that has it in stock first? I see that you expect your California
warehouse to get this item 13 days before the Pennsylvania warehouse. I live
in NY.

A) "Backorders are filled in the order they were received. Please feel free to
contact me with any additional questions or concerns."


El Roto..... send yours to me, I can be home Saturday!

That same David guy could've just told me exactly the same thing and I would not have gotten pissed! I mean, how can I have a problem with my bad luck that Penn warehouse gets stock but not the California warehouse, as long as that's the rule of the game!

My pre-order was number 33 (out of total incoming) on 10/7/2010 through BLT and even though I still have not received an email today, I just went to their order status page and it said that mine ships today and is at the original $405.76 + $2 service fee price tag.

BTW, the 500+ price is gone and is down to $416.01, so I must believe that these are for new orders only and until I hear otherwise from any of you, they are honoring there pre-order price.

Can't wait! I want to use it this weekend!! When will they get a transporter device so it just materializes at my home the moment they "ship" it. Someone needs to work out that Heizenberg compensator module so they can get working on a real Star Trek type transporter. Well I guess I'm a little excited to actual see that it shipped, so I'll shut up for now...

If that's the case apparently they did not get many in the first shipment.

Yes, BLT confirmed to me earlier that the changing price on their website applies to new orders, not to the price for orders already in their system.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, I thought the contest closed at midnight!

Crap, I didn't get back until now.