B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Just so you guys know, and for KOI to take note of it's againts VISA and Mastercard rules to charge a credit card before an item has been shipped. KOI can loose their merchant account for this and potentialy be sued. KOI if you have not read your merchant handbook you should do so right away. So those of you that have been charged for products and have not recived a confirmation then you should notify your credit card company. Just so you guys know..I work in the industry so if you want any further clarification..PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Not to bash KOI, but the other thing that I find suspect is that 90% of the stuff posted on the site had no prices anyways, the rationale being that the currency fluctuations made it impossible to post prices that were good longer than that day (which makes sense). Now, most of the site has been taken down for the same reason - why if there was price protection built in before by not posting prices? Did anybody notice the only product that is available for the LGT is the WR shift knob? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinkingofimports.com Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 These were special order items only. Due to the circumstances of obtaining rare, hard to find parts from Japan, the credit card was charged now because payment was transmitted to Japan. If anybody wants a refund, please email me at [email]kevin@kingofimports.com[/email] and I will gladly have a check mailed in twenty four hours as long as I can confirm with Japan that your order has not been shipped to you or shipped to us for shipment to you. Why check and not credit card? Because the credit card company will take another 3% to refund the transaction. So at the end of the day, we would have lost 5-6%. Anything listed on our site is in stock. If you do not see it on our site, its not in stock and we no longer plan on offering it for sale. I am still waiting for some communication from Japan about what is being shipped directly to me, what is being shipped directly to customers, and what has not been received at the warehouse. Again, I sincerely apologize for the delay. This was never to happen this way. At most, shipping from Japan was to take no longer than 6 weeks on items not of a special order variety. Just as you feel this is unacceptable from a retail business, we feel its unacceptable of a distributor. Thus, why we have no intention of picking up the JDM parts line anytime unless this problem is fixed. Subie.tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac']Just so you guys know, and for KOI to take note of it's againts VISA and Mastercard rules to charge a credit card before an item has been shipped. KOI can loose their merchant account for this and potentialy be sued. KOI if you have not read your merchant handbook you should do so right away. So those of you that have been charged for products and have not recived a confirmation then you should notify your credit card company. Just so you guys know..I work in the industry so if you want any further clarification..PM me.[/QUOTE] That's interesting to know! I just may be able to cause some trouble for an online vendor, armed with that info, that has me pissed off- thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinkingofimports.com Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 The policy is true. We understand that and have been in communication with Visa and MC and our merchant services provider about supplying special order parts and with the exception of some recent incidents have not had any problems. Generally, customers are aware these items are coming from Japan and that they are special order items only. Normally, it took 2 weeks to get items shipped out. Now its taking a lot longer (an unacceptable amount of time). This is something we are currently addressing with our distributor should we ever reconsider making JDM parts available. Subie.tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 My oversized package of special order items from AVO shipped on Wednesday from Tokyo (the same day my credit card was billed). It arrived today, from what the tracking log on TNT says. Good luck Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Not to be a thorn in KOI's side, but one of the reasons the cards are being charged b4 shipping is because they are using that money to purchase the inventory. Wich is another no no. AVO does not do that, nor does any other established online merchant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05USdmGTgUy Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Kevin, I am another person her who has been billed for 4 weeks now. Your response to my email was very vauge, as are your responses now. Please let me know when my grille is gonna be here . It's white , and my email is [email]s14guy@yahoo.com[/email] I would like an answer soon, as you have had as interest free loan of 400 dollars from me and that is no good. Mike........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='05USdmGTgUy']Kevin, I am another person her who has been billed for 4 weeks now. Your response to my email was very vauge, as are your responses now. Please let me know when my grille is gonna be here . It's white , and my email is [email="s14guy@yahoo.com"]s14guy@yahoo.com[/email] I would like an answer soon, as you have had as interest free loan of 400 dollars from me and that is no good. Mike........[/QUOTE] See above post! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Uh oh- that's not good. Best thing you can do is not do business with someone like that again and if you want your money back, and they will not contact you then call your credit card company and let them know about it- they'll dispute it for you and then you make sure others know not to do business with them. I had a credit card company dispute a charge and it was taken care of within 15 minutes. Along with a nice, long apologetic e-mail from the "vendor". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JessterCPA Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac']Not to be a thorn in KOI's side, but one of the reasons the cards are being charged b4 shipping is because they are using that money to purchase the inventory. Wich is another no no. AVO does not do that, nor does any other established online merchant.[/QUOTE] You can do this, if you disclose it. I have customers here who due to past payment issues, I require to "prepay" their orders, and I turn that money around to but their product. If my customer refuses those terms, I politely tell them I cannot place their order. Reduces my exposure. If you are not letting your customer know what you are doing, that's where the problems lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Be carefull with that. If you have a merchant account they are required to give you a handbook. Please look up your merchant services's providers guidlines. That was a Visa and Mastercard rule also. You could not purchase inventory with customer's purchase funds. Chargeback risk is too high. B4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JessterCPA Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac']Be carefull with that. If you have a merchant account they are required to give you a handbook. Please look up your merchant services's providers guidlines. That was a Visa and Mastercard rule also. You could not purchase inventory with customer's purchase funds. Chargeback risk is too high. B4[/QUOTE] Yes I understand. Please forgive me, I went a little OT on this. The majority of my sales are not on a Visa/MC/Amex. Sorry for the interuption. I still believe though that as long as the terms of the sale are clearly disclosed BEFORE the sale occurs, it cannot be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Yeah...it's okay. This is my feild soo...I am realy enjoying this! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac']Yeah...it's okay. This is my feild soo...I am realy enjoying this! :)[/QUOTE] R U the dreaded guy in the CapOne commercial? Hmm....CC business + Richmond = ? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I just wish we could get some more vendors like Paul / AVO... All this BS of waiting for parts, call for prices, maybe next shipment, only have 3 of them is really starting to bug people i believe. I understand the frustration of the vendors and all they have to go through sometimes to get these products, especially when they aren't easily available. However, you should have some sort of plan of attack for your company / website. In terms of these businesses, customer service / support is the biggest issue you have going. Since there is no physical store for people to go and check out, you are going simply on the vendor's credibility, which is just about 50/50 these days. All these parts which KoI offered, now all of a sudden aren't going to be available?? That doesn't make any sense. The biggest draw-back to me is that prices aren't posted. I do NOT want to have to call or send another email to simply get a price. Not to mention that KoI seems like they are priced fairly high. Simply look at the grills, maybe not exactly the same, but both genuine subaru parts, and KoI is over $100 higher than AVO. Come on! I realize it depends on the exchange rate, but give us a ball-park. Give us some statement that the prices could change, sometimes substantially, but give us something! How can other companies advertise prices for us and this one not, they are all eventually dealing with the same issues. Bottom line, don't offer something you can't deliver on. I would rather have a vendor tell me that there is a problem with the order, etc, etc....than just ignore or keep giving me BS answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JessterCPA Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Probably what KOI should do is give us the price in Yen. That way we can calculate the USD price based upon the current exchange rate. That way, currency fluctuations do not effect his website pricing. Yes it's one more step, but with a Dollar this volatile, I can understand his cautiousness on pricing. I am getting slammed myself with the euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axis008 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 D-2.5-GT, I understand your frustration, but you have to realize that Paul/Ross/AVO Turbo [i]is[/i] in Japan, so you are dealing with them directly where the parts are located. Also, you are buying parts that [i]his[/i] company makes. Kevin is just an intermediary where you tell him what you want and he goes out and finds distributors from Japan or where ever. That's why it takes longer for him and might cost a little more. If the demand for products was extremely high, realize that we probably wouldn't have this problem. The parts would be on hand because the retailer knows he/she can sell it. You do make some valid arguments, though, so I'll leave it at that. JessterCPA, I like your idea. -ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='axis008']D-2.5-GT, I understand your frustration, but you have to realize that Paul/Ross/AVO Turbo [i]is[/i] in Japan, so you are dealing with them directly where the parts are located. Also, you are buying parts that [i]his[/i] company makes. Kevin is just an intermediary where you tell him what you want and he goes out and finds distributors from Japan or where ever. That's why it takes longer for him and might cost a little more. If the demand for products was extremely high, realize that we probably wouldn't have this problem. The parts would be on hand because the retailer knows he/she can sell it. You do make some valid arguments, though, so I'll leave it at that. JessterCPA, I like your idea.[/QUOTE] I disagree: Most of the parts I got through AVO were the same ones KoI had listed (Subaru stuff, not AVO). Being local to a dealer in JP surely helped, but wouldn't matter in regards to the CC issue and communication. From start to finish (order being placed to delivery), I got my stuff in one month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 oh i understand, i don't mean to be overly harsh on anyone though, just venting my personal frustrations. I do like the Yen idea, that has potential. It just frustrating when 2 out of 3 companies who have advertised pretty strong on this board for LGT products have basically disappeared or are no longer offering the products, and its only been a few months. There is obviously more going on with these two than just shipping and inventory issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JessterCPA Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I think what you are seeing here is a very loyal & enthusiastic group of people on the board here that these companies have as a customer base. Chances are though, that most other people who own a car liek this will do nothing to it other than maintenance. That is a very focused group of consumers to but your product. Most companies with a marketing plan like that will go away, with the real strong companies staying for the long haul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='Patagonian GT']R U the dreaded guy in the CapOne commercial? Hmm....CC business + Richmond = ? :lol:[/QUOTE]Nah, I am not with Cap One. I am with a much larger organization. Lets leave it at that. I have alot of experience with V/M and small businesses. I have great respect for people who try to go out and do it on their own. I am in no way shape or form bashing KOI. The reality is that they are a small business and they don't have the resources that established busieneses like AVO have. Hence the common issues that everyone are haveing. These are all issues that have happend before, and are well documented. Like most merchants, KOI didn't do much research on merchant accounts or the rules of the game. I am still suprised that their provider is letting them do international transactions. They must have them in a vicious contract with rediculas rates. If not, I would be suprised if they keep KOI long. But, that's my opinion...(BASED ON EXPERIENCE THOUGH). But, in my heart of hearts, I belive they are doing their best. They just need to manage their business better with respect to the rules. B4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05USdmGTgUy Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac'] But, in my heart of hearts, I belive they are doing their best. They just need to manage their business better with respect the the rules. B4[/QUOTE] I agree, but more than following the rules(which is obvious), keeping in touch with your "clients" is equally if not MORE important. Mike...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 yes, that is great. but they should have done the managing bit [I]before[/I] i gave them my $500. now i have to worry about where it is ending up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinkingofimports.com Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 I think everybody was aware about the special order status of their items. Please tell me if this was unclear. You do not have to worry about pricing because we will no longer be offering JDM items for sale unless we have them in stock. I will state this again, IF ANYBODY WANTS A REFUND, WE WILL PROVIDE IT ON THE CONDITION THAT WE HAVE 24 hours if its not the weekend in Japan to verify that your item has not shipped. I was told the lip spoiler and grille had arrived in Japan and were coming over in our last shipment and I have been told that it shipped, but am still waiting for tracking on it since it must go through US customs in japan and in the US. If anybody else is in need of anything, please email me. My instant notification feature seems to have stopped working. Subie.tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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