bad internet shopping experience

ComplaintsOnline StoresZBsports.com

Complaint

0
Dr. Kathy
Country: United States
I am an avid internet shopper. I ordered running shoes from ZBsports.com (AKA Zanzabarbazaar.com) in August. The shoes came but did not fit. I returned them, but the package was "rejected" and ended up back at my door.

I checked their website and it instructed me to call for approval of my return. Shame on me for not checking first, so I called the number a few times with no answer. I finally left a voicemail which was returned that night. I was given my RA number and resent the shoes back to the Philadelphia address. Both times they were sent first class with Delivery Confirmation.

The return was not accepted and the box was returned yet again to me. This is my first bad internet shopping experience.

I caution anyone using this website.

Comments

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  • 0
    James
    | 3 replies
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
    • 0
      Andrea replies to James
      Hello there!  I appreciate you taking the time to clarify your position.  I will make an order with you; I hope I am not sorry.
      Appreciatively,
      Andrea
    • 0
      Jim replies to James
      James, I am so impressed with your statement and your company that I'll be ordering from you today.  How refreshing is it to have a business actually care about there service and customers?!
    • 0
      Patrick- Hopewell, NJ replies to James
      I found zbsports.com when they first opened in philadelphia.  U made multiple purchases of outdoor gear for me and my family. (Large Arcteryx orders).  I've never had a problem and was always treated well.  They are definitely not a large company and do care about their customers and don't just give them free products to shut them up like other retailers do.  I've used them multiple times since they moved to north Carolina and they by far have the best pricing and customer service.  They may not be there 24/7 to take care of issues but they will not ignore you and will rectify any situation that needs attention.  I choose them for my outdoor gear needs over other online retailers, but if they don't have the product or can't get it the will recommend competitors if it's something you really want because they want to try and help you anyway they can.  Everyone that I refer to there site have all had great experiences.  Knowing your size for certain products really helps when buying online anywhere.  You can then rest assure when buying online that you got exactly what you were wanting.  I highly recommend giving zbsports.com a chance to fulfill your product needs.  You won't be disappointed.  Shipping may take a bit longer than the big online outfits, but the big retailers can't hold a candle to the pricing and commitment zb and it's owner provide. I have always been satisfied without a doubt.
  • 0
    James
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
  • 0
    James
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
  • 0
    James
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
  • 0
    James
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
  • 0
    James
    Hello my name is James and I am the owner of Zbsports.  I was very concerned when I saw these postings on complaintwire.org and feel it necessary to post a response.  There are quite a few complaints here.  Thus far we have catered to over 130,000 online customers in the past 5 years of doing business. Based on the level of complaints here, we currently maintain a 99.99969% non-complaint satisfaction rate, however, to me this is not 100%, and not good enough.  The problem that I personally find with such a site is that it is only based on negativity, which by itself can produce nothing positive.  When you shop with Zbsports, you shop with a small company of human beings who can and will admittedly make mistakes.  Because we are not an enormous corporation, shipping and processing times can vary and may take longer.  We do however make great efforts to delineate shipping times within each product line item, where it states that it will take anywhere from 1-6 business days for the product to be available to ship from our warehouse.  Still, inventory and processing errors will unfortunately occur.  When you call our company, and if you get the voicemail, please do not forget to leave a message and include your return contact information, this is often forgotten in haste.  Customer service will get back to you within 24 non-weekend business hours, and sometimes but rarely within 48 hours if call traffic is extremely heavy.  If you have contacted customer service, allowed ample time for a return call or email and you are still upset with your shopping experience; rather than posting negative blogs on this site, I invite you to contact me direct at james@zbsports.com.  I will do everything possible within reasonable measures to try and better your experience.  I will not be able to comp your order as we have employees and bills to pay, however, I will consider any reasonable request, being that we were truly at fault, in hopes of making you a satisfied customer. Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I wish you a better and more positive shopping experience with ZBsports.
  • 0
    tseiler
    I ordered a MH Ghost sleeping bag yesterday from ZBSports for $330.  Today, I get a call from Eric saying the bag is "out of stock" but he will sell it to me for $200 more ($530), which is $80 more than today's on line price ($450).  When I tell him the bag is on line today for $450, he says he'll do me a "one time deal" and sell it to me for $450.  What's going on here?

    ZBSports obviously does not know what their own on line prices are and when they are too low, they will not honor their commitments.  Pretty unprofessional!!!

    What I would like them to do is sell me the bag I ordered at the price we agreed to!!
    Tom Seiler  tomkseiler@gmail.com
  • 0
    Melissa
    My order has taken a little while to leave the warehouse, so I sent an email inquiring about my order (not very politely I admit). I got an immediate call from the owner explaining that their supplier has broken multiple promises on sending shipments and that this particular supplier has put zbsports in a terrible position. Further, he said that they would have initiated contact and let me know what was going on but that he was waiting for word from the supplier, in the next hour actually.

    He was extremely polite, understanding, and offered my money back, a sale, an exchange, whatever I'd like. He was overly accommodating, even after I was a bit rude.

    I would happily order from zbsports again, and I would order from them before ordering from anyone else.
  • 0
    Tom Seiler
    I want to thank Jim Hoisington and the folks at ZBSports for quickly straightening out the aforementioned situation.  Obviously there was some miscommunication- probably just as much my fault as theirs.  Jim gave me personal attention, ensuring the sleeping bag I ordered was quickly sent to me at the original price.  He was quite the gentleman, explaining the problem, expediently solving it, all the time showing patience, professionalism and a sense of humor.
    Thanks again to ZBSports for all their help and I look forward to ordering from them again.
    Tom Seiler
  • 0
    Albert
    Placed an order on Monday and noticed that the status of my order is still "processing"  Tried to call today (1/22/10).  No answer!

    Do they even exist anymore?
  • 0
    james
    Albert are you sure that you left a message on the CS voiceline, CS has been very on top of things, please contact me directly, I can be reached at james@zbsports.com.
  • 0
    D. King
    Just want to chime in, EMAIL JAMES !!!! I ordered a pair of Five Fingers yesturday afternoon, with in 24 hours I received my shipping confirm number, not it is a Thursday so I assume they will pick up by Friday and we'll see where we go from here. So far they have been quite responsive.
  • 0
    Saucony lover
    I have ordered from ZB Sport 2 or 3 times. The second time I swore never to do it again. Somehow I ended up at their website again, and not realizing it was the same company, placed an order for shoes. I was not happy when I discovered my mistake.
    I too called during business hours, and got voicemail. I did leave a message, but did not anticipate a call back based upon my prior experience.
    I reached a live person once, using the number that someone posted on this site. The person I spoke with agreed to cancel my order and confirm it with an email, but the email did not arrive.
    To cut this short, I ended up getting a call from the owner, James, who tracked ME down, and listened to my lengthy complaint. He apologized for the experience I'd had (apparently at least some of the ridiculous situation from the order made 2 years ago was still in their system)and  sent me my order w/o a charge. I think he really means well, and I truly appreciate his effort. I also think the problems may be a case of employees doing something other than what they tell their boss. Not all of them, I imagine, but my experiences trying to reach them via phone or email points to a disconnect somewhere in the chain.
    Great prices, nice owner. I hope that the communication issue get straightened out. It would certainly make all the difference in the world.
    If you order from them, I definitely recommend emailing the owner (he's posted his email address on here) with any problems that you may encounter.
  • 0
    Ian
    My personal experience with ZB Sports has been good - perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones? I ordered a (quite expensive, by my standards) jacket from them before doing any research, and was then very nervous once I'd read the negative reviews. However my jacket was despatched on the same day, arrived next working day, and is the right model, size and colour. At first I didn't get an answer when I 'phoned to confirm the order, but my e-mails were answered fairly promptly. Note:- I did order through Amazon, I don't know if that makes any difference or whether you have better safe-guards by ordering through them?
  • 0
    Jeff
    Glad I stumbled on to this post.....I was just about to place a large order for shoes.  NO WAY, I am staying clear of this outfit.  It stinks of SCAM big time!!
    The headaches described here are just not worth the advertised (minimal) cost savings.  
    Thanks for sharing your horrible experiences......sorry you had to endure.
  • 0
    Christina
    I regret ordering from the site.  My boyfriend & I were under the impression that Vibram Five Fingers were in stock and ready to mail out within the designated time frame posted on their website.  It's now been nearly 3 months...no shoes, no courtesy e-mail regarding any delays, nothing.  I should have spent an extra $10 and went elsewhere.  The lack of communication is really scary and I am gutted I don't have my shoes.  This was supposed to be a Christmas gift after a local store did not have my proper size in stock...maybe this will arrive in time for my April birthday?  I'll keep dreaming.
  • 0
    james taggart
    I have ordered from zbsports several times and always with great results. I arrived at this website trying to track down the contact information for the owner Jim, to personally thank him for his great customer service on my last order.  While my comment is not a complaint like the rest here, I thought it only fair that someone should represent this 'other' side of the customer experience.  I hope everyone can do their research and get an accurate picture of this organization based on both positive and negative feedback.
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