Annoyed with Autopia's store

L

langod

New member
Ok, I have to vent.



I'm annoyed. I just went and spent roughly $100 on Autopia's store for my various detailing products. I had received emails through the winter from David with all sorts of specials. One of which was "free shipping" on orders over $75. When I looked at my shopping cart, it wasn't applying the discount, so I went back to the newsletters I'd gotten, and noticed that mention of the free shipping went away in May. So I assumed I missed out.



Then, after I submitted my order, I noticed that buried in the "Contact Us" page, the free shipping is still valid -- but you have to enter a code. It's certainly not listed on the main page, or as a "hot offer". It only seems to be mentioned on the contact page.



Granted, it's not a lot of money (about $10), but if a company is going to offer free shipping on orders over $75, how difficult would it be to build that into the shopping cart itself? Every other online vendor I've ever bought from applies free shipping (if available) automatically.



Anyway -- Autopia's products are great, and I will continue to buy here. But I just wanted to mention this and encourage Autopia to rethink how they apply shipping discounts.
 
I'm sure they'll take care of you if you ask nicely. For what it's worth Autogeek doesn't automatically give you free shipping on 75 or more. You have to 'know' the code.
 
I had a similar problem in December. They sent me my birthday $10 off coupon code, or w/e the discount is, can't remember. Well you have 30 days to use it, I went like 2 weeks after my birthday, I didn't really NEED anything but there are 1 or 2 products I like to use from their store, so I figured with $10 off I'd pick up an extra bottle, and oh hey that's cool, my coupon code in the email sent to me isn't working. I was going to email about it, but just said f it.
 
It's always nice when web stores automatically apply discounts or special offers, but I think there is something you are overlooking in this case. ACC limits the number of discounts to one per order. In addition to free shipping, there might be specific percentage discounts applied to specific products. Let's say that they are running a 15% Ultima coupon code, that discount might be more than your free shipping, so you would want to use that instead; therefore, the force you to enter a code to tell them which one you want to use.



Yes, you could argue that they could just automatically apply the discount code that would be most beneficial to you, but perhaps that is complicated software-wise, or perhaps they have marketing/business reasons for not doing that (like you'll still be a happy customer since you got to use your discount, even if you don't realize you could have gotten a larger discount by doing it another way).
 
I'm not that familiar with the Yahoo shopping cart, but it could very well be that it's simply not an option to automatically modify shipping rates based on the order total.
 
langod said:
Ok, I have to vent.



I'm annoyed. I just went and spent roughly $100 on Autopia's store for my various detailing products. I had received emails through the winter from David with all sorts of specials. One of which was "free shipping" on orders over $75. When I looked at my shopping cart, it wasn't applying the discount, so I went back to the newsletters I'd gotten, and noticed that mention of the free shipping went away in May. So I assumed I missed out.



Then, after I submitted my order, I noticed that buried in the "Contact Us" page, the free shipping is still valid -- but you have to enter a code. It's certainly not listed on the main page, or as a "hot offer". It only seems to be mentioned on the contact page.



Granted, it's not a lot of money (about $10), but if a company is going to offer free shipping on orders over $75, how difficult would it be to build that into the shopping cart itself? Every other online vendor I've ever bought from applies free shipping (if available) automatically.



Anyway -- Autopia's products are great, and I will continue to buy here. But I just wanted to mention this and encourage Autopia to rethink how they apply shipping discounts.
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Instead of posting a rant, did you think about calling them first and seeing if they'll take care of you?
 
At least you alerted others to the discount code available for Autopia. I might have missed the coupon code if I hadn't seen this thread. Much appreciated :).
 
I can understand why you're frustrated, but the way they do business isn't any different than any other retailer. Sometimes you just have to do a little more research if you want to save a few bucks.



Think of it this way: When you placed your order you did it under the presumption that free shipping was over. If you had a problem with shipping being too expensive or the products being too expensive, you wouldn't have went through with your order. So had you not found out about free shipping still being available and you received your items in a timely manner, you probably would have been happy with your order, right?



In any case, Autopia-carcare's customer service is pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if they are reading this and do what it takes to please their customer.
 
David is good people, Im sure he will take care of you.
biggrin.gif
:hifive:
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I presume you're talking about David O., because David B. isn't affiliated with ACC anymore.
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Sorry, Ive been out of the autopia circuit for a long time, :thx for correcting me
 
Robb said:
Sorry, Ive been out of the autopia circuit for a long time, :thx for correcting me
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It's just that we don't know anything about David O., as far as I know he's never been on the forum! But I'm sure Lynn will catch up with this thread.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
It's just that we don't know anything about David O., as far as I know he's never been on the forum! But I'm sure Lynn will catch up with this thread.
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Lynn is awesome, I am sure she will take care of this matter. Regarding mystery man David O, it would be nice if he made himself public. I have been shopping at Autopia for a while now, and I spend big bucks there and since David left autopia-carcare, I had been trying to find out more about this other David, but nothing. I do like to know who I am doing business with, it is part of the detailing experience. When I purchase from Pakshak, I know my business is going to Ranney and he is a great guy. When I purchase from DD, I know I am supporting Phil's business, so who are we doing business with at Autopia?
 
I think if they are going to give you something free then you should need to work for it some.



If a boss at work is going to give you a bonus he isnt going to lay it nicely on your desk while you have your feet kicked up. Youve got to work for it. :)
 
I've spoken with David O. on the phone and he seems fine to me. Also, I've never run across any red flags indicating that money spent at AutopiaCC might end up going to causes I won't support.



I know you can't really *know* somebody based on some phone calls, but hey...David O. always came across OK and I'm not exactly the easiest guy to make a positive impression on ;)



When it comes to the user-friendliness of discounts, the old "looking a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind ;)
 
Well, that generated a lot more feedback than I expected.



As I said, I was just mildly annoyed that the "free shipping" option buried on the Contact Us page -- which seems like a silly place for it -- like they are purposely trying to hide it. Maybe they are -- after all it saved them $10. But, I'm not upset enough to take my business elsewhere or to go around the web disparaging Autopia.

All I was doing was pointing out the fact that as a customer it seems that they could make the free shipping option a little more apparent.

As far as calling and demanding my free shipping -- we'll I kind of agree with what some of you have said: "I should have looked more" -- besides, on the same page that mentions the free shipping code, it also states: "We're sorry, but this special cannot be combined with other discount offers and we cannot apply the discount if you forget to use the coupon. Free shipping applies to our "Ground" shipping service only."



Next time I place an order, I'll know better.
 
langod said:
Ok, I have to vent.



I'm annoyed. I just went and spent roughly $100 on Autopia's store for my various detailing products. I had received emails through the winter from David with all sorts of specials. One of which was "free shipping" on orders over $75. When I looked at my shopping cart, it wasn't applying the discount, so I went back to the newsletters I'd gotten, and noticed that mention of the free shipping went away in May. So I assumed I missed out.



Then, after I submitted my order, I noticed that buried in the "Contact Us" page, the free shipping is still valid -- but you have to enter a code. It's certainly not listed on the main page, or as a "hot offer". It only seems to be mentioned on the contact page.



Granted, it's not a lot of money (about $10), but if a company is going to offer free shipping on orders over $75, how difficult would it be to build that into the shopping cart itself? Every other online vendor I've ever bought from applies free shipping (if available) automatically.



Anyway -- Autopia's products are great, and I will continue to buy here. But I just wanted to mention this and encourage Autopia to rethink how they apply shipping discounts.
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The attitude of some never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps they were only trying to offer the discount to active members who know how to search for codes as opposed to any first timer who loads things in a cart. You knew how to look, you were admittedly less than thorough.
 
Hi James,

All you had to do is ask. ;) Sorry, I can’t be everywhere at one time, had you contacted us directly or posted this in the Autopia Car Care sponsor forum I would have taken care of this right away! I answer all email, phone calls, live support, process orders and also keep up on the sponsor forum so keeping up on other forum areas is somewhat difficult. The $9.56 has now been credited to your credit card.



Unfortunately the free shipping is not automatic for two reasons, one is that Yahoo does not offer that option and the other is that we have other discount offers and they cannot be combined so we let the customer choose the best discount for their needs.



As far as the other David, he has been the 2nd partner for years and is a good guy so there is no secrecy, he is just not active like our beloved Mayor.



If you are not sure about discount codes, you can always contact me and I will make sure you get your best discount.



Lynn
 
Lynn Phillips said:
Hi James,

All you had to do is ask. ;) Sorry, I can’t be everywhere at one time, had you contacted us directly or posted this in the Autopia Car Care sponsor forum I would have taken care of this right away! I answer all email, phone calls, live support, process orders and also keep up on the sponsor forum so keeping up on other forum areas is somewhat difficult. The $9.56 has now been credited to your credit card.



Unfortunately the free shipping is not automatic for two reasons, one is that Yahoo does not offer that option and the other is that we have other discount offers and they cannot be combined so we let the customer choose the best discount for their needs.



As far as the other David, he has been the 2nd partner for years and is a good guy so there is no secrecy, he is just not active like our beloved Mayor.



If you are not sure about discount codes, you can always contact me and I will make sure you get your best discount.



Lynn
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Great job Lynn! That is what customer service is all about! Very informative reply. Kudos to you for taking care of your customer! :goodjob
 
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