God Awful service from Oregon Trails

[not_ally]

I have to say, I am utterly disgusted with Oregon Trail’s service. I ordered on the second day of their sale, over a month ago. I have emailed and called them several times over the last few weeks and no one has ever responded. Last night I asked them to either let me know that they would be shipping my order out, or issue an immediate refund, no response to that either. At this point, I am just going to contact Paypal and my bank and let them deal with it.

Went and checked the Soap Scent Review board (the SSRB has a really useful vendor experiences forum). Of the dozens of reviews on OT there, at least half were really frustrated at OT’s slow shipping, failure to communicate when people followed up, actual verbal abuse from the owners when customers managed to get through. It was actually kind of amazing.

By far the worst customer service reviews of any established FO company that I have yet seen, and consistent with my experience. Of the couple of dozen companies I have ordered from, OT has been far and away the worst experience in terms of customer service.

I will not be ordering from them anymore, they have a couple of FO’s that I really like, but I have sourced good alternatives for them. If you do, I would highly recommend not ordering anything that you might need to use in the following couple of months, and being able to accept dead silence from the other end if you try to follow up.

One of the moderators at Craftserver posted over there about her experience, almost exactly the same, down to contacting her bank to request that they follow up on extracting her payment.

If anyone is having the same problems with their order w/OT and wants copies of my one-sided correspondence with them, PM me.

 

[jenneelk]

I haven't ordered from them but hurry and get that Paypal dispute in!
I had the exact thing with bulk apothecary a long while back.. not fun.

 

[IrishLass]

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience, not_ally! For many years they have been one of my favorite vendors to order from (I have never had a negative experience with them to date). Do you suppose it could be due to their recent move to another state?


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

I'm sure that was a contributing factor, IL. But they did not respond at all, just a blank wall, so I have no idea. And the reviews over at SSRB are really bad, I have never seen anything like it for a company which is still in business. Those reviews run the gamut from 2003 (I think) to now, and they are pretty consistent in the complaints about service, they are worth a read just because they tell such a strange story.

I am glad your experience has been good, maybe it is because she knows you personally by now and makes sure to expedite your orders. I'm done with them, though.

 

[Jstar]

I agree with Jenn..get that Paypal dispute going..no way would I wait a month for an order without going wild on someone.

I also had an issue with BA just like that...and its the reason I wont order from them again. Thanks for the heads up on OT

 

[Aline]

I recently ordered from OT for the first time and was disappointed to be overcharged by $4 on postage (already so expensive to Hawaii). And I was turned off by online complaints too.

These owners just don't seem to get it that their behavior gets reported online and loses them business! The worst of the worst though is the owner of MMS. The complaints about how the owner treats people when there is a problem made my jaw drop....I don't want any dealings with that company!

 

[not_ally]

I don't understand how companies like this stay in business. There are so many soap supply sellers, it is generally not that difficult to re-source even a favorite FO from another good company. And those orders add up. Eg, I only ordered one (16 oz) FO from OT on this round, but added on some wax, preservative, other stuff. Tried to add to the order later w/another 16 oz'er, but couldn't of course.

I am going to replace my supplier of that FO - Bonsai - with Soapalooza, who also makes an excellent Bonsai. So now when I make those additional orders and make "check it out" purchases on FO's (to save on postage, of course!) it will be with them instead. That will probably add up to several hundred dollars a year. Multiply by by all the people that have had bad experiences, that adds up. That doesn't even take into account (a) the people who sell and make large orders and (b) the negative posts/reviews, which stop people from buying in the first place. IMO, they are probably losing a lot of business that they are not even really aware of.

Thanks for letting me bend your ears, you guys. Good to have people to vent to when you need them!

ETA: Jstar, I have never ordered from BA b/c I read bad reviews about them before I started buying. Good case in point.

 

[kchaystack]

Good choice on the Bonsai replacement. I love Soapaloooza's version

 

[abc]

I had terrible service from them 6 years ago & never ordered from them again. Poor communication & very slow shipping, I only lived about 60 miles from her when she was in Oregon.

 

[IrishLass]

I am glad your experience has been good, maybe it is because she knows you personally by now and makes sure to expedite your orders. I'm done with them, though.

Although it would be kinda cool to be known like that by vendors and to have that level of influence, I unfortunately can only fantasize about having such status. I'm just a hobbyist that orders only a handful of 8 oz. FOs from them maybe once every 12 to 15 months, and am probably just a blip on their radar. If there's an explanation to be had, I can only put such favorable treatment down to nothing more than answered prayer.

Once again, I'm very sorry for your bad experience. I feel very badly because I was one of the people who recommended them to you (based on my own good experiences). I hope everything works out for you.


IrishLass

 

[jenneelk]

Ok I have been out of the SMF lingo loop for a year now and I've got my FO ordering down to 5 suppliers so I don't know these others from what I can tell... who is FB and BA? I figured out OT. lol

As for MMS that's too bad to hear.. I buy a handful of my items from them but never had to deal with about 'issues or problems'. Last 4 years or so they have always been fine with quick email communication and such.

 

[not_ally]

Jen, I think/assume, Fragrance Buddy and Bulk Apothecary. That bums me out about FB, I thinking of ordering from the sale that Doriette posted about.

 

[IrishLass]

I'm not sure what FB stands for (other than Facebook, but I'm not sure if that what she was referencing or not?), but BA stands for Bulk Apocethary.

As for MMS that's too bad to hear.. I buy a handful of my items from them but never had to deal with about 'issues or problems'. Last 4 years or so they have always been fine with quick email communication and such.

I've never experienced anything bad with MMS either.

IrishLass

 

[jenneelk]

Duh.. Thanks Not_ally.. not sure how I didn't figure that out after I posted about BA. lol
And Jana - my bad was quite a while ago and believe they were still kinda new then but not positive.. I do know they had a LOT more when I looked back at them a few months ago and decided to try again. So far so good with just one recent snafu with an out of stock (with no restock estimation) on a fragrance I ordered and only they sell. :/ Kinda puts me in a pickle!

 

[not_ally]

IL, I would have ordered from them anyway, I have in the past, you definitely did not lead me to do it. I love your recommendations, please do not stop.

The last time I ordered I think it took longer than most suppliers, but not like this. That also is consistent w/the SSRB reviews, several of them start by saying that they had great experiences with quick shipment on some orders, and then an order that just disappeared into limbo (sometimes for months) no communication, and then finally some kind of response making weird excuses. Or saying that it had gone out and then when they finally received it noticing that the actual shipment date from the tracking number was well after the alleged one. So there is just no telling with them, but that is still not a track record that I am comfortable with.

Also that the owner was extremely rude about complaints, I am kind of expecting a vituperative email if I ever get a response.

 

[Aline]

Ok I have been out of the SMF lingo loop for a year now and I've got my FO ordering down to 5 suppliers so I don't know these others from what I can tell... who is FB and BA? I figured out OT. lol

As for MMS that's too bad to hear.. I buy a handful of my items from them but never had to deal with about 'issues or problems'. Last 4 years or so they have always been fine with quick email communication and such.

It seems that everything can be fine for years with MMS but then if there is a problem the owner takes it personally and the sh*%*t hits the fan in the most unpleasant way.

 

[Aline]

It's especially nuts since we are all potentially repeat customers...and we talk to each other on forums!

 

[not_ally]

Update: Filed a dispute w/Paypal and OT refunded the next day. So at least they were good about that. You guys who recommended immediate action w/Paypal, good advice.