How is Mendel-parts still in business?

I have heard rumors of bad customer support but holy crap.... who buys from them and why? they NEVER answer their phone or email... I have NO idea if and when they shipped the order... weird////.
Being busy is one thing,,, but I am beginning to thing these guys are just jerks...

they have been overwhelmed since forever, if it's anything like my experience and that of others it probably hasnt shipped yet. it tooke me about 2 months to get mys tuff and people said i shouldnt even complain because they all waited longer.

Because by and large, RepRap suppliers are not business men they are hobbyists. The RepRap community seems to have a pretty high tolerance level, as long as the product is good and the supplier seems to be doing their best and is an active member of the community. If there are quality control issues on top of everything else, then the tolerance level is significantly lower. No one would gripe though if someone came along with good products shipped lightning fast with excellent service and support. It just hasn't seemed to happen that way yet.

The other vendors should follow ultimachine.com's example. If they don't have it in stock, then you can't order it. Simple and it works.

Oh, yeah, and with enough stock to meet demand.

I was just going to mention ultimachine... my god top notch all the way...because of that I go to them first and am even willing to pay more if needed (although their prices are always good). then look elsewhere... BTW I STRONGLY disagree about mendel-parts being a hobby site...the ONLY reason period they still have customers I bet is that they have no competition. that's how they get away with crapping directly on their income source...

BTW I do have tolerance. I don't need the parts instantly... I just needed to change an order..

Placed an order... needed to change something...
sent email after email and called three time a day for a week straight... morning, midday, end day. (their time of course)
Nothing....
yea.. they care not!

hmm, ordered on monday morning, stuff arrived 3 days later. I've never had but good experiences with mendel-parts. And I can assure you that Camiel, who owns the shop, is not a jerk.

---

regards,
Tom

Do you live next door to him?

if they care so much why not answer emails? <<< hell a week or two late would be better than not at all/..
Also no-one to answer phone?
HMMMMMMM

Ok I give up... All complaints and jokes aside.. is it possible to get ahold of these guys???

This is the Number I am trying...

011 31 40 202 67 49

DanielG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have heard rumors of bad customer support but
> holy crap.... who buys from them and why? they
> NEVER answer their phone or email... I have NO
> idea if and when they shipped the order...
> weird////.
> Being busy is one thing,,, but I am beginning to
> thing these guys are just jerks...


everything i ordered from him was on back order, he makes the Gen6 boards and he knows about the response time for emails he is trying to fix everything, just be patient i got all my parts and it took 4-5 weeks to get them after order
everything is back ordered

I have always had good service from them, I think the problems comes from some of the lead times on printing parts etc.

I have always got a response from Camiel when he is on IRC. last time I spoke to him, he had been in the office 4 days x 24 hours and had 4 hours sleep.

I know it might be frustrating, but given he probably gets 100's of emails a day, and he is a very very small operation (1 - 2 people) his priority is not answering emails, but getting parts printed, and orders shipped.

My pennies worth.

I understand he is busy but this is the 7th day of trying to reach him regarding an order... Its not the timing of the shipment I am worried about.. I am trying to change the order and spend MORE money! I reached him once (9 days ago) at the number above and he assured me he would change it and send a paypal request. This has not happened and now he cannot be reached... I just don't understand why no-one ever answers the phone!

Again timing is not an issue... Just trying to make sure the order is right so I do not have to spend another 43.00 to ship something separate!

Is this unreasonable?
BTW when I reached him he looked up the order and said it had not shipped and this was not a problem at all.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2011 08:04PM by DanielG.

Another week of no communication of any kind! I guess ill wait one more before contacting paypal.... what a bummer....

If they're that busy then they should be making enough profit to employ a helper or 2. They're defo doing something wrong & will loose customers if they don't cop on quickly.

I see he has plenty of time to add new things to the website but still no time for customers.......this is the oddest thing i have ever seen

@DanielG: Take a look at this blog post, it might explain some of the lack of communication;

Mendel Parts Blog 17/9/2011


17-09-2011: Well in short, its total chaos @ mendel-parts, massive delays, hardly communication etc.
There are multiple reasons for that:
- last 3-4 weeks Ive been struggling with my health, there were even days I couldnt even get out of my bed. (massive pains in my lower back, feels like electrocution..)
- Beside that we also lost some helpers, some went back to school etc, but also we noticed just way too many mistakes still (upto 25% of the orders!)
- So Im gonna do all orders myself from now on, Im gonna try to handle all email (because in the end my head contains all (technical) info, not my helpers etc.. )
However this does require alot of restructuring (something we have been busy with also last weeks) and last but not least we needed a new Orca that can be mass produced without too much trouble and can be build much easier then current Orca v0.2, so less issues can arise and customers dont need much support etc.


Plus there is more, so please read the original post as well as there is some advice for people who want refunds etc.

I think that I have seldom seen so many contradictions in a single blog post.

He has no more helpers - and so will do everything himself, this will speed things up!

He has no time to fulfill orders or talk to customers - but has time for a redesign.

Has been confined to bed for days with a bad back - but was so busy he could not read his mails or post the fact that he is ill on his blog.

He answers neither phone nor mails but is busy supporting customers with problems (what method of communication is he using for support? Many would like to know.)

and so on.

The bit that really made me chuckle, was the line about redesign only taking days and not weeks or months, it is indeed a shame that deliveries don't take days instead of weeks or months. On the MP forum, some poor devils have been waiting 15 Weeks for their Orca, order to be fulfilled.

And then comes the real thigh slapper - we can all get something for nothing - a free upgrade to Orca 0.3 - if we only wait 1-3 Weeks (Reading the Blog posts from the last couple of months, you have to wait longer than that for them to deliver filament.)

Oh my! Such humour! If hadn't been waiting for nearly ten weeks for my order to be fulfilled I might possibly have laughed.

This is what we sent him the last chance

Within 2 days if you do not picup your phone, you wil not see it coming. I know where your home and your business is and wat you look like!

This is a warning, point 1 that you will ensure that the product I have purchased from you (will start working as promist !!!),or i wil make sure you never do this work again, I wil destroy everything you started.or you pay me my money back! My name is MJ van der Veer. but go to the police and report abaute me i do not worry, I am not alone, you have more people in the Netherlands F** CKT asshole, and those are the wrong people . We have tried it nice, but you've just made ​​too big estimation errors.

understandable, but stupid.


PS. think wat you what to think, but if you do not give me my service?.

You're not always together with other people.

im Waiting 48 hours or we do what we say.


yours sincerely

mj van de veer ]

dit is wat we hem nu hebben gestuurd de latste kans

Als jij binnen 2 dagen je telefoon niet op neemt, zie je het nooid aankomen ik weet waar je huis en je bedrijf staat en hoe je er uit ziet!

dit is een waarschuwing, punt 1 of je zorgt er voor dat het product dat ik heb gekocht bij jou (goed gaat werken!!!), of ik zorg er voor dat jij nooid meer dit werk doet, ik maak alles kapot waar jij aan begonnen bent. of je betaalt mij mijn geld terug! mijn naam is MJ van de Veer. ga maar naar de politie doe maar aangifte geen probleem, ik ben niet alleen, jij hebt meer mensen in nederland genaaid klootzak, en daar zitten de verkeerde mensen tussen. we hebben het netjes geprobeerd, maar je hebt gewoon te grote inschattingsfouten gemaakt.

wel te begrijpen maar dom.


PS. denk wat je denkt, maar als jij mij nu niet mijn service geeft?.

jij bent niet altijd samen met andere mensen jongen.

48 uur word er gewacht wij doen wel wat we zeggen.


met vriendelijke groet

mj van de veer

If we get the help we need we will help the rest of jou guys and girs (With Orca v2).

MJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Within 2 days if you do not picup your phone, you
> wil not see it coming. I know where your home and
> your business is and wat you look like!

Threatening is not a good way to resolve a situation, especially in a case like this. Report it and try to get your money back, but threatening someone harm will only get yourself in trouble. I can understand the frustration, and mendel-parts is most certainly in the wrong here, but don't do anything stupid.

I agree - don't even think about it!

I apologize if my expressing my own disgust and frustration pushed someone over the edge.

Since the above was probably posted from a home computer the owner of that computer will be lucky to avoid a visit by the police.

Yes to PayPal disputes, Small Claims Court, Trading Standards actions, even a frank discussion face to face, but a very definite NO to violence and to threats of violence!

well if you know that the day i got my orca it took a fuw days to asemble but i beleve somthing is rong with my electronics constantley printing ofset on the x axis i have bin working on it for over a month now and it stil dosent work so that is somthing that kan be solvd in one phone call
but wen you call or e-mail and i even found his mobille nr no anser wel i am loozing my home now bicorse the community suport of the state ware i got my funding from think i scamd them so thay want to throw me out of my home (that is the funding part to) and im not just leting any one persons negligence wen it kan be resolfd stend in my way so if he steps up to the plate and ansers his phone all kan be revertid to a positive ending if they punish me for his negligence i lose my home kids and credibility because thay say i got to pay back all funds

thay call that fraud
that wood meen that my live as i know it is over.

so i wil pay back in kind if needed

don't get me wrong i understand what happened ​​to big estimation errors and no comunication about why
even thow Orca is a grate machine
screwing people over the fact that youre to lazy to pick up a cam and filming the solutions to known problems you encountered
while he is bragging about all these new developments filming laughing but straightforward honesty I do not see it
and let the police com to my home thay know me well enough
that would start a investigation by the state and wen thay get involvd no more excussis than a

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2011 03:26AM by MJ.

John65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree - don't even think about it!
>
> I apologize if my expressing my own disgust and
> frustration pushed someone over the edge.
>
> Since the above was probably posted from a home
> computer the owner of that computer will be lucky
> to avoid a visit by the police.
>
> Yes to PayPal disputes, Small Claims Court,
> Trading Standards actions, even a frank discussion
> face to face, but a very definite NO to violence
> and to threats of violence!

i am my one peson do not think anyone influenced me it is nobody's fault except for camiels honesty
i am normally quite patient but now someone touches me personally in the privacy of my live/ home

MJ, Guy - you have to calm down a bit.

Yes - the situation is really shitty. At least you have a machine! Many are still waiting.

So instead of getting yourself locked up for menacing behaviour - why not try to get help for your technical problem here on the rep rap forum. Try and describe the problem as best you can in the appropriate thread, and what you have already tried to solve the problem.

Another way might be to take a look at whether there is a Hackerspace, FabLab or Electronics club nearby and take the machine to one of their meetings. Maybe you'll find someone there with reprap experience who can help you get things running. In my experience there is nothing the guys in these places like more than an interesting problem - and they often have diagnostic tools (Logic Analyser , Oscilloscope) that you might not have at home.

I guess what I am saying is take all that pent up frustration and use it as positive energy to try to get help from the community.

I do not know if it is possible to cancel or edit a post on this forum - but if I were you I'd delete the above threats.

describe the problem ? my electronics is constantly printing offset on the x axis

how difficult can replying to a call or email be ?
for crying out loud, i am talking abaute a land line and mobi and the www

and i am calm i am not even yelling ?
and from my point of view i am not threatening any one person
just the work which is incomplete and creating nasty consequences for me
It took me 10 years to get my life back.
i will not lose all that investment

so my point is
that he mast ensure that the product I have purchased from him / Mendel-parts (will start working as promist !!!).
or pay me my money back!

to Quote me
MJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wil destroy everything you started

understanding and anger do not work together.

MJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> don't get me wrong i understand what happened ​​to big estimation errors and no comunication about why
> even thow Orca is a grate machine
> screwing people over the fact that youre to lazy to pick up a cam and filming the solutions to known problems you encountered
> while he is bragging about all these new developments filming laughing but straightforward honesty I do not see it


there is nothing more important than the funktion of communication and if that is made imposible and normal chanals take to long or dont work at all then you mite think abaute rumling the earth to

straightforward honesty and effort = complete and active communication = solve the problem(s)
if not at least you know somthing is done

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2011 06:24AM by MJ.

MJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> describe the problem ? my electronics is
> constantly printing offset on the x axis
>

Sounds like you might be either missing steps because your stepper controller trimpot needs to be adjusted for more torque or your gear is slipping or there's too much friction in your x-axis. This is actually a very common problems with all of these printers. Anyway, another option for getting help from the reprap community in realtime is to go the the IRC channel.. If you're not familiar with IRC, there's a browser based interface.

brnrd thanks for the effort

I looked at the missing steps already and also the sliping, but i did not think of friction.
I also did not find enything abaute this on the net before.
And did not look for it.
I will let you know if this worked or not

To get back to the main topic, I only used mendel-parts.com services once (like, one month ago) for some hot end parts, tools and materials, and was perfectly happy with them. No extra delay, everything here, etc.

MJ....

What ever made you think that you were buying an Orca V 0.2 printer for 570 euros, along with the level of hand-holding that you seem to wish to have.... Reprap is an adventure in learning, and expecting Mendelparts to spend the day on the phone with you, when you clearly don't go looking for answers in the wider reprap community is, I think, one of the reasons they are so far behind.. I suspect you are not the only person expecting help without effort.

Read the forums, join the IRC channel, and spend time figuring out what this game is all about.. The differences between the various flavours of printer is really very slight. Don't expect people to magically know what your problem is, when you don't even know enough to describe what your problem is effectively... The only reason you don't know enough is because you haven't spent the time reading to understand the basics...Take some time and effort, then you will realise that it's not all that complicated.

Ranting about loosing a home because someone hasn't spent the time on the phone answering your basic questions, even threatening that someone with violence, is just going to get you doing reprap in the local prison...

This post is not meant to excuse Mendelpart's lack of timely delivery, or the way he conducts his business, but the person that it is in reply to does shed a little more light on what 'other' kinds of things Mendelparts needs to do every day, and why it's hard to get through on the phone.... (and why there are not more people doing what they do)

Al...

---

[araspitfire.blogspot.com]

[www.mendel-parts.com]

We can also be contacted by phone (preferable), check bottom of the page for our phonenumber and the preferable time to call us.

Gubbels Engineering | The Netherlands, Eindhoven | Phone: 0031 (0) 40 202 6749 (11-14h UTC+01)

© 2011 Mendel-Parts.com / Gubbels Engineering. All Rights Reserved.

what part of these statements does anyone not understand
this is a company.

as said before i understand what happened.
still, if communication by phone is not preferable you are obligatid to change that or refer to other newer statements.
if you start using copyrights than you also make statements.

straightforward honesty and effort = complete and active communication = solve the problem(s)
if not at least you know somthing is done

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2011 04:33PM by MJ.