Muto is dead on. If you’re going to run a business, you have a responsibility to do all of the things that come along with that. You know, like basic customer service.
I don’t know why everyone gives Neal a pass, it’s ridiculous. I’m new to the “flashlight scene” and gave Neal one of my first orders because of the recommendations from the community. It seemed like he was just a dude running a small shop to serve a niche community. This was a mistake.
I placed an order for a flashlight and two batteries then waited for a shipping confirmation…and waited some more. After 7 days with nothing, I e-mailed Neal to ask if it had been shipped. Silence. Two days later I e-mailed again with less patience. He got back to me and supposedly he’s having difficulties shipping the batteries I ordered. I’m not sure how long he was going to wait to tell me that, or if I was just supposed to wait in confidence that he would eventually send my shit, but okay.
He apologized and asked if he could just send me one of my batteries, but upgrade the shipping to fast DHL express. Now my first reaction to his solution of me getting less of the stuff I paid for and paying more for shipping was negative, however at this point I was kinda over it and just wanted the flashlight I ordered, so I accepted the offer.
Another two days later I got a DHL tracking number “information received.” Another day goes by and this morning it’s accepted, now with an estimated arrival date of December 5th. Two full weeks into the future.
So to recap, Neal is not sending my full order, is charging me more for “fast” shipping, and the best case scenario is that I’ll get what’s left of my order just a hair under a month after placing it.
Needless to say, this will be my last order with Nealsgadgets, and I’ll be steering as many folks clear of him as possible.