I had a personalized apparel retail storefront last year and wanted to buy a commercial embroidery machine to add to what I offered my customers.
I shopped several larger, name brand vendors who all had great reputations, but found that my credit was not good enough to be approved for a lease of the machines which ran approximately $15,000-$20,000.
I contacted this company for information and found the sales person based in St. Louis, just about three hours from me, to seem very nice. The leasing company they were affiliated with also declined to lease a machine to me. I realized I was going to have to purchase a smaller machine and pay cash for it.
The sales person contacted me about once a week to make sure I was still going to buy the machine that was going to cost over $8000. I appreciated him keeping in contact, and felt a trust with them because he shared information such as proposing to his girlfriend, and other similar stories. He was personable and let me feel comfortable that I was safe in spending my money with their company.
It took several weeks, but I saved up the $8400 (approximately) and wired it directly from my bank to theirs. I was ordering an embroidery machine, a collection of designs on CD, and a cap kit to do baseball caps as well.
I had explained all through the weeks of our discussions that I was concerned with the fact that the smaller machines did not automatically come with a tech to set up and train the customer on the machine. I had no real experience (other than a tiny home machine that was definitely not the same), and let them know that I was interested in paying additional money for the set up and training that the larger machine customers received.
The sales person told me that it would not be necessary. He told me that he and his fiance would come down to my town on a vacation weekend and would spend a day with me training me. I asked him to include that in the contract, but he stated that he could not put it in the contract. He assured me repeatedly though, that once it was shipped that they would get to my store and get me trained.
I had invested all of my savings as well as money meant for future bills (stupidly, I know) to purchase this machine. I trusted that the rapport this sales person build with me was more than sales trickery to build trust and abandon me once the money changed hands, so I agreed. I was so excited to finally be getting the machine, I sadly have to say that it really didn't register more than a fleeting second that he might be lying to me.
The embroidery machine shipped out quickly (next day I believe) and arrived safely. They however, did not mention to me that the designs would not be shipped right away also. Nor did they explain that the cap kit (which ball caps was a primary product I anticipated on selling due to multiple customer requests to that point) was totally out of stock and would end up taking approximately a month to arrive!
A cap kit added $1000 to the price, so to not tell me that it was out of stock was ensuring them a sale that day rather than a month later when they would be back in stock since I would have definitely put off the investment until all items were in stock. The sales person had clearly told me that they would ship either the same day or next day depending on how many orders they had.
Suddenly, with a machine that I didn't know how to work, no designs, and no cap kit, I had an $8000 piece of equipment sitting in my store, gathering dust. I began calling and emailing the sales person, who all of the sudden became unavailable.
Trying to call the corporate offices (the sales person was St. Louis, MO, the corporate offices were North Carolina) got me no where also. Every time I would try to call, I got a machine. I started to wonder just how big of an operation this was if no one ever answered the telephone. I left a couple of messages, which were not returned.
I finally caught the sales person at the office number in St. Louis after several days to a week after the machine arrived, but no notification that the other items wouldn't be arriving any time soon.
He told me something to the effect that they had just sold the last cap kit right before my order came in and he didn't realize it (but also did not bother to contact me, or refund the cap kit until 24 hours before shipping as law requires to my understanding).
I asked about the designs, he said that they were shipped. I waited a few more days, and still no designs. The cap kits were supposedly on a boat on the way in, and would also only be a few days. So a few days later, I'm on the phone and emailing the sales rep again.
After approximately two to three weeks of no resonse and nothing but voice mail messages, I was at my wits end. I emailed several email addresses on the corporate site to try to find someone who could help me.
Nearly thirty days had passed since I paid, no training, no cap kit and no designs, and worst of all, no communication from the company or sales person.
The day after I sent the group email to the several addresses listed on their site for help, I got a call from the sales person. Amazing! He stated that his car had been robbed. That his computer (according to him, the only computer he could find access to in that period of time for email access) and his telephone were both stolen and he was totally without any method of contacting me.
I knew in my heart when he told me that story, whether there be any fact based to it or not, I do not know, but I was confident that at that point, I was not going to receive my training or products. I mean, how could he not have any access to any telephones or email anywhere at all for however long that timeframe was (I think it was about two weeks)?
I told him I was sorry to hear about the unfortunate experience, and could he let me know where my products were and when he would be here for the training.
It was then that he expressed to me that I made him look bad to the company. I apologized, and said that I didn't know what else to do to make some sort of human contact with someone who could help me. He told me that he was my only contact and that I was not to contact the corporate office again. That he was available to me after hours on the phone or weekends even. But not to contact anyone at the main office again.
As for the training, he now started back peddling. He said that he had told me that *if* he could, he would come train me. But that I should practice and set it up myself and get a feel for it, so when he got there, we could go over a few things, and be done. He also said that he had told me within 30 days of getting the machine; which he hadn't. He didn't give an exact date, but implied it'd be the weekend after the machine arrived.
But since the cap kit hadn't arrived yet, he felt he shouldn't come until it did.
He told me that he found out that the cap kits were held up in customs and they expected them any day (almost exactly what I'd heard weeks previously) and that I should have had the designs long ago. I said I hadn't. Apparently he did get that taken care of to an extent, because the next day I had designs delivered to the store. Unfortunately, instead of the 1000 designs it was something like 250 designs (I can't remember the actual quantities, I'm going only from memory, but can look it up and verify).
When I called him, he immediately picked up this time. I explained the situation, and the next day the proper package arrived.
Finally, the cap kit arrived... Broken in shipping. I called the sales person, not yet realizing it was broken, asking when he would be here for training. He said that everything could be done over the phone and avoid a trip all together. He then told me that he didn't know the machine very well, and I should contact someone at corporate.
When talking to the corporate tech person, and looking at the diagram in the manual, I realized that a piece of the kit was missing (actually broken). He told me to ship it back and they'd get another one out to me.
Another week passed, and when it arrived, I couldn't get anyone at corporate to answer. I had found from past experiences with calling and leaving messages that I didn't get calls returned anyway, so I usually would hang up and just keep calling back in hopes of getting a person to answer.
Sadly, I let the machine sit again, collecting dust, having wasted too much time and not being able to focus on my store marketing, I realized that the $8400 purchase sunk me. I had to close the store. I didn't have enough inventory to last through Christmas.
I closed the store after the first of the year, and kept trying off and on (about once a week or so) to call corporate and get some answers about why the sales person had not followed through. I found I couldn't get a response from them either, and didn't know what else to do.
As a single mother of two, trying to just survive, I started writing the sales person again... Now though, refusing to speak to him on the phone, wanting everything in writing.
Through a procession of (saved) emails, I was told that everyone has problems, and how is it his/their fault that I closed the store, etc. He also told me that I was lucky that he even worked with me in the first place because of my miserable credit. I paid him *cash*. He earned his commission. I gave him money, and I got very little that he promised in return (excellent service and support, training, products shipped the same or next day). But I was *lucky* that he even worked with me in the first place. Like I was a lower class person because of my credit score.
I finally resorted the situation to a forum at Yahoo! Groups. It was dedicated to owners of this particular brand of embroidery machines. I was told that I should call the corporate office and be more assertive. A member of that board also contacted a acquaintance / friend / representative that they had access to, to let them know what had happened in my situation. Suddenly, I get a phone call. Only at the point that I posted to the embroidery forum did I get a call though. When I talked first to someone like a department or service head (can't remember their title), they told me that they didn't think I would be able to get a refund, but would pass me on to the general manager.
I spoke to the general manager who was very nice. Suddenly I felt like I had reached someone who was listening to me. He assured me that he *knew* the sales person very well, and that they would never say the things to me that I was claiming. I told him I had them saved in emails from the point that I realized I was going to have to fight to get through this situation. He asked me to send him a copy and *if* it were true, that the sales person would be apologizing, because customers don't get ignored or mistreated.
He further told me that he was interviewing a person that he hoped to hire for tech support and would send him or someone else if they didn't hire him within the next few weeks to train me and show me the workings of the machine.
I sent the email to him, and within a day's time, I received an email from the sales person apologizing for whatever miscommunications we had and that he would be willing to help with answers in the future. Of course it was totally forced, or at least it appeared that way to me.
I never heard from him again, nor have I attempted to contact him. I chose instead to deal directly with the company as the general manager was now involved, and I felt he would make sure I was treated right.
By now our store was closed, they were refusing to refund me, but told me that the machine was under recall. I asked to just refund me and let me send it back. They refused and said that they would send a new machine though.
I shipped this machine back to them, and par for the course, I found myself calling the company several times a week to find out where the machine was. At that point, I was out the money and the machine.
I was repeatedly told by the admin person and the general manager that it was surely shipped by then, but I would have to talk to someone else, or they would have to find out, and I would not get a call back. What was told to me was that I would send the machine back, and before the week was over, I'd have the replacment as well as a free CD that gave instructions on set up.
I began to get rude at the end, and asked for tracking numbers after being told it had shipped. They couldn't give me a tracking number. It was a 2 or 3 day shipping time to get from them to me. After about two or three weeks, maybe even longer, I called again, and actually caught the same person who had previously told me it'd shipped, and this time due to an office reorganization, they couldn't find the tracking numbers, but would get it for me that day.
The next day I call back and they have a tracking number. I began to think they were telling me the truth and that the shipping company had lost it. I go to track the number and the machine had been shipped that same day.
I have since this time emailed the general manager several times, asking for updates about when he felt I could expect the employee or someone else to come and train me, or the free set up cd that never arrived.
Every effort has been futile. I have had people on the forum ask me for an update to see if the company did the right thing, and I tell them no, they haven't and they ignore my emails. They keep telling me not to let this go, that I need to make them accountable for their broken promises.
This forum is monitored by at least one, and I think several of their employees, but every time I respond on the forum, not a single representative of the company has ever bothered to suggest a source of help or do anything to help me. Yet they will post and respond immediately to people who come into the forum saying that they are considering purchasing one of this brand's machines.
I want my money back. That's what I have wanted since the time I realized I had been lied to. Whether it was a deliberate lie or one that just became easier to ignore than follow through on, I have found from both the sales person to the corporate employees, that deceptive practices are not uncommon (in my own case... I can't speak for them with everyone as I don't know that first hand).
If I can't get my money back, I want everyone who ever considers buying a Happy embroidery machine to know what this experience has been for me.
If they would just make good and admit they messed up, and give me back my money, I would be so appreciative. I think that if a company makes promises of support, they should follow through. If they don't, I believe they are morally, and should be legally obligated to return the money spent on a product.
This machine is out of the box, but never assembled since I have been waiting months and months for some resolution.
If Happy or Texmac, Inc. Read this... Please know that this is the last thing I ever wanted to resort to. I wanted you to fulfill the promises of products, timliness, and support.in lieu of that, and at this point, all I want is my money back. I don't want to ever see this machine again or will I ever trust the word of a Texmac, Inc. Or Happy Embroidery employee or salesperson.
My heart is heavy that it has come to this point. Please take care of this situation by refunding me in full and sending a call tag for the machine, designs, and cap kit. I would gladly tell everyone who ever asks me that you did the right thing and refunded me if you do. If not, I will continue to tell my story so that others hopefully will be able to avoid a saga like the one I have had to go through.
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