Although this forum tends to be filled with reviews for certain products, I decided I'd write up a review of my experience with a certain company, instead. I don't typically write reviews (I think my only other review on this forum is for Pressure), but this is one situation where I felt it was worth it.
Brief history: Before ordering from Precision Magic Man, I decided to do some research, to see how good their Silkworm I.E.T. s, and to see how their services are (how quickly they send stuff out, prices, how their customer service is, etc.). From the E boards, I read nothing but good things about the Silkworm elastic thread. So that was good. But, I couldn't find anything about their customer service. So, I headed over to the Cafe (oh gawd, I know). That place tends to be filled with extremely biased opinion, from my experience, but I thought I'd give it a shot, anyway. I discovered a thread that talked about a new product in development by Precision Magic Man...not exactly what I was looking for, but it DID contain lots of commentary about the actual site (and owner) itself (himself). To sum up my findings, it contained mixed reviews. Also, the site was potentially going out of business (or went out of business temporarily).
Wow, that was quite the trip. Sadly, not all that informative. I decided I'd give them a shot, despite the mixed reviews about their service.
Initial experience: I'm sorry to say, but it was awful. I submitted my order (3 clear and 3 black silkworm thread reels), getting an automated message in my inbox telling my that my order was pending (apparently the owner has to okay every order before it goes through--makes sense, and I was happy to hear that there's actually some human interaction with the system). ....... A week and a half went by with no word about my order. I emailed the owner of the site (David Mann), but got no response. So, I checked the website again, because I decided I should probably call them, and I remember seeing a phone number on the site. BUT...
The website was gone. WHAT?!?! From what I can gather from the place that was hosting the site (which put up a "If you're the owner of this site, contact us!" message), they needed to pay some website fees (either they reached the end of their contract and had to renew, or they exceeded their bandwidth, or something...I'm not sure). I was getting a bit worried at this point...I didn't exactly want to re-order these from another site (they're more than double the price anywhere else aside from Precision Magic Man), especially if the order went through after I re-ordered them elsewhere.
Finally, another email message. Sadly, it was automated, but it gave me hope. USPS received a notice from David Mann to expect a package to be sent on June 1st (which is when I received the message, heh). I checked my account, and sure enough, I was billed for the order. And the site was back online; up and running. Was it coming?! Finally?!
YES! Today, I checked my mail, and the package was there!
Inside of the package: The 6 reels of thread I ordered were in there...and some other thing. A packing notice of some sort? No, it was wrapped in plastic. Besides, the packing slip was one page, separate from that. Hmm...what could it be?
An Omega Reel Kit! What?! That's worth more than half of what I paid for my order of thread, haha. I suppose that was a "sorry" for taking so long to get my order processed and whatnot. Well, apology accepted.
Looking back: While the initial contact I had with them was not the greatest, it seems like it was probably related to the site going down, as that happened within days of my placing an order. Although it seems to have been out of his control, David Mann went ahead and reconciled the issue with a free gift anyway, which was beyond kind. I would have been happy enough with the thread--the Omega Reel Kit was really icing on the cake.
Overall: I'm very happy with how things turned out. While I can't comment on what a "normal" experience with the company is like, I can say that when things go wrong, David Mann definitely steps up and makes things right. I was very pleased with the customer service at Precision Magic Man.
As well, be expecting a review of the Omega Reel Kit and the thread itself (both clear and black) within the next month or so (so I can actually have some time to test it out on real people, not just the mirror).
Brief history: Before ordering from Precision Magic Man, I decided to do some research, to see how good their Silkworm I.E.T. s, and to see how their services are (how quickly they send stuff out, prices, how their customer service is, etc.). From the E boards, I read nothing but good things about the Silkworm elastic thread. So that was good. But, I couldn't find anything about their customer service. So, I headed over to the Cafe (oh gawd, I know). That place tends to be filled with extremely biased opinion, from my experience, but I thought I'd give it a shot, anyway. I discovered a thread that talked about a new product in development by Precision Magic Man...not exactly what I was looking for, but it DID contain lots of commentary about the actual site (and owner) itself (himself). To sum up my findings, it contained mixed reviews. Also, the site was potentially going out of business (or went out of business temporarily).
Wow, that was quite the trip. Sadly, not all that informative. I decided I'd give them a shot, despite the mixed reviews about their service.
Initial experience: I'm sorry to say, but it was awful. I submitted my order (3 clear and 3 black silkworm thread reels), getting an automated message in my inbox telling my that my order was pending (apparently the owner has to okay every order before it goes through--makes sense, and I was happy to hear that there's actually some human interaction with the system). ....... A week and a half went by with no word about my order. I emailed the owner of the site (David Mann), but got no response. So, I checked the website again, because I decided I should probably call them, and I remember seeing a phone number on the site. BUT...
The website was gone. WHAT?!?! From what I can gather from the place that was hosting the site (which put up a "If you're the owner of this site, contact us!" message), they needed to pay some website fees (either they reached the end of their contract and had to renew, or they exceeded their bandwidth, or something...I'm not sure). I was getting a bit worried at this point...I didn't exactly want to re-order these from another site (they're more than double the price anywhere else aside from Precision Magic Man), especially if the order went through after I re-ordered them elsewhere.
Finally, another email message. Sadly, it was automated, but it gave me hope. USPS received a notice from David Mann to expect a package to be sent on June 1st (which is when I received the message, heh). I checked my account, and sure enough, I was billed for the order. And the site was back online; up and running. Was it coming?! Finally?!
YES! Today, I checked my mail, and the package was there!
Inside of the package: The 6 reels of thread I ordered were in there...and some other thing. A packing notice of some sort? No, it was wrapped in plastic. Besides, the packing slip was one page, separate from that. Hmm...what could it be?
An Omega Reel Kit! What?! That's worth more than half of what I paid for my order of thread, haha. I suppose that was a "sorry" for taking so long to get my order processed and whatnot. Well, apology accepted.
Looking back: While the initial contact I had with them was not the greatest, it seems like it was probably related to the site going down, as that happened within days of my placing an order. Although it seems to have been out of his control, David Mann went ahead and reconciled the issue with a free gift anyway, which was beyond kind. I would have been happy enough with the thread--the Omega Reel Kit was really icing on the cake.
Overall: I'm very happy with how things turned out. While I can't comment on what a "normal" experience with the company is like, I can say that when things go wrong, David Mann definitely steps up and makes things right. I was very pleased with the customer service at Precision Magic Man.
As well, be expecting a review of the Omega Reel Kit and the thread itself (both clear and black) within the next month or so (so I can actually have some time to test it out on real people, not just the mirror).