Gone with the Wind Sucks! (gwtw-kites.com)

[Mike]

I ordered some kite line from Gone With the Wind (gwtw-kites.com) a few
months ago and didn't have any problems. Fast, courteous service.

But then! I pushed my luck and ordered an actual 'kite' from them. A
measly $80 Prism. I placed the order, and was hoping for delivery within
a few weeks as the website stated.

I checked my GWTW account, and my credit card and address were verified a
few days later - super!

Three weeks later I sent an email asking if there were any problems with
my order, or a stock issues perhaps?

No response.

I send another email a week later from a different email account - Maybe
I got caught in their spam filter? (even though I've sent and received
emails from them before on this account? hmmm)

No response..

I call and leave a message a week after that -

No response!

Another week later I send another email, and call again -

No response!!

More phone calls, more emails -

No response!, Nothing, NADA!!!

I have a friend send them an email …

INSTANT RESPONSE!

So I canceled my credit card .. What kind of sh*tty business is this!?

Anyone have suggestions for a reliable kite store?

[Andrew Beattie]

Post by Mike
I send another email a week later from a different email account - Maybe
I got caught in their spam filter? (even though I've sent and received
emails from them before on this account? hmmm)
No response..

I am neither a customer, employee or a supplier of Gone With The Wind,
so I have no axe to grind, but they are one of the largest, most well
known kite retailers on the planet.

They didn't get there through poor customer service.

I would strongly suspect that you have an email problem. Maybe
outgoing (your email doesn't reach them). Maybe incoming (their email
doesn't reach you. These days, spam is making email increasingly
unreliable. I believe that anti-spam policies at both AOL and Hotmail
drop email without generating an error. Your ISP or theirs might be
similar.

It would be appropriate to find the actual circumstances before
slagging them off in such a public manner.

I wonder if you have set "Reply-to:" incorrectly...

Andrew

[kitekrazy]

Post by Andrew Beattie

Post by Mike
I send another email a week later from a different email account - Maybe
I got caught in their spam filter? (even though I've sent and received
emails from them before on this account? hmmm)
No response..

I am neither a customer, employee or a supplier of Gone With The Wind,
so I have no axe to grind, but they are one of the largest, most well
known kite retailers on the planet.
They didn't get there through poor customer service.
I would strongly suspect that you have an email problem. Maybe
outgoing (your email doesn't reach them). Maybe incoming (their email
doesn't reach you. These days, spam is making email increasingly
unreliable. I believe that anti-spam policies at both AOL and Hotmail
drop email without generating an error. Your ISP or theirs might be
similar.
It would be appropriate to find the actual circumstances before
slagging them off in such a public manner.
I wonder if you have set "Reply-to:" incorrectly...
Andrew

So was their an $80 charge for the kite?

Don't they have a toll free #.

This happens with online retailers once in a while.

Sometimes things get worse when UPS and Fedex get in the picture. I've
got too many horror stories with shipping companies as well. Years ago I
had to stop buying BFK because Airborn was their shipper.

[Mike]

Hi Andrew,

Post by Andrew Beattie
I would strongly suspect that you have an email problem.

I doubt it was an email/spam problem because I had sent email from three
different accounts (all separate smtp's) to the two email accounts I had
for GWTW.

I had also left a handful of voice messages that were never returned -- and
I can't imagine they missed all of those. (?)

Post by Andrew Beattie
It would be appropriate to find the actual circumstances before
slagging them off in such a public manner.

I generally agree with that .. but they wont call/email me. -- and it's
been over three months. I'm not a vengeful person .. I'm just really
annoyed about the whole thing is all.

[fungus]

Post by Andrew Beattie

Post by Mike
I send another email a week later from a different email account - Maybe
I got caught in their spam filter? (even though I've sent and received
emails from them before on this account? hmmm)
No response..

I am neither a customer, employee or a supplier of Gone With The Wind,
so I have no axe to grind, but they are one of the largest, most well
known kite retailers on the planet.
They didn't get there through poor customer service.

I can't imagine what the problem is...

I've bought two or three actual kites from them
and always had good email communication. Usually
it was with the guy who owns the store.

Everything arrived perfectly (and I live in Spain).
--
<\___/>
/ O O \
\_____/ FTB. For email, remove my socks.

In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know
that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,'
and then they actually change their minds and you never
hear that old view from them again. They really do it.
It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists
are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens
every day. I cannot recall the last time something like
that happened in politics or religion.

- Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP keynote address

[Geezer]

Post by Mike
I ordered some kite line from Gone With the Wind (gwtw-kites.com) a few
months ago and didn't have any problems. Fast, courteous service.
But then! I pushed my luck and ordered an actual 'kite' from them. A
measly $80 Prism. I placed the order, and was hoping for delivery within
a few weeks as the website stated.
I checked my GWTW account, and my credit card and address were verified a
few days later - super!
Three weeks later I sent an email asking if there were any problems with
my order, or a stock issues perhaps?
No response.
I send another email a week later from a different email account - Maybe
I got caught in their spam filter? (even though I've sent and received
emails from them before on this account? hmmm)
No response..
I call and leave a message a week after that -
No response!
Another week later I send another email, and call again -
No response!!
More phone calls, more emails -
No response!, Nothing, NADA!!!
I have a friend send them an email …
INSTANT RESPONSE!
So I canceled my credit card .. What kind of sh*tty business is this!?
Anyone have suggestions for a reliable kite store?

Mike,

I've been dealing with GWTW since 1996 and have NEVER had even the slightest
issue. I can't hazard a guess as to why you've had problems. All I can do is
to relate my good experiences.
Maybe you had a virus attached to your email addy? No explanation as to the
nonresponsive phone call but I do know that they regularly check in here.
Hang in there, they're good folks!

Dan

[Mike]

Post by Geezer
Mike,
I've been dealing with GWTW since 1996 and have NEVER had even the
slightest issue. I can't hazard a guess as to why you've had problems.
All I can do is to relate my good experiences.
Maybe you had a virus attached to your email addy? No explanation as
to the nonresponsive phone call but I do know that they regularly
check in here. Hang in there, they're good folks!
Dan

Thanks Dan ... =)

I guess I've just been unlucky ...

[thief]

why not bring it up on the GWTW forum????it is their forum and website
maybe you can find some insight as to the cause of the issue there.....

[Nic]

Post by Mike

Post by Geezer
Mike,
I've been dealing with GWTW since 1996 and have NEVER had even the
slightest issue. I can't hazard a guess as to why you've had problems.
All I can do is to relate my good experiences.
Maybe you had a virus attached to your email addy? No explanation as
to the nonresponsive phone call but I do know that they regularly
check in here. Hang in there, they're good folks!
Dan

Thanks Dan ... =)
I guess I've just been unlucky ...

Do you have anti-spam software - might their replies have ended up in
your 'bulk' bin? Just a thought

[Troy Gunn]

Mike,
You're definitely not alone with your frustrations with ordering from
GWTW recently. I personally know of 2-3 others that have also had
experienced the same exact problems that you are going thru, with Steve
at GWTW not returning e-mails or voice messages, even after their orders
had been paid for in advance. Just ask GWTW forum member Ericska from
Malaysia. Eric waited many weeks before receiving a notice that his
order was sent. And just like you, he e-mailed several times from 2-3
different e-mail accounts, and also phoned long distance, and never
received replies.

If you had only tried e-mailing GWTW using one e-mail address and they
didn't reply, I could understand that maybe it's a spam blocker problem,
but when you said that you've tried sending e-mails from 3 different
e-mail accounts and still no reply from GWTW, then there's something
else wrong. And how could they not be hearing all of your voice mail
messages, unless #1 they are avoiding you, or someone else isn't
relaying the messages properly. How many employees does GWTW even have?

The addition of the GWTW forum a few years ago and it's success has
added a good deal of new customers for GWTW, and I think that many
kiters mistake a successful/popular discussion forum with thinking that
GWTW kites is "THE" place to tell people to order kites. In fact there
are many reputable and older kite stores that do/offer excellent service
to their customers.

I know people enjoy the GWTW forum (I do), but get a clue people, GWTW
kites isn't the only kite retailer in the USA or the world! Start
supporting your local/regional stores!

It saddens me to see new kiters ask where to buy kites or parts, that
live hundreds or thousands of miles away from GWTW , and many GWTW forum
members always point them to GWTW kites, instead of finding out where
that person lives, and trying to point that person to a closer/local
kite store. Because of that, many kite shops are falling from existence
because of lack of business, because of potential customers be pointed
toward mail order businesses. I'm a firm believer that kiters should
always try and support and buy from their local/regional kite stores.
Why suggest buying a kite from a store that's hundreds or thousands of
miles away, if there is a store much closer to a buyer? In the long run,
it hurts kite retailers as a whole, and it ends up costing the buyer
more money in shipping fees if they order from a store a long ways away.

The more kite retailers there are, the better it is for the kiting
industry. More competition also equates to cheaper retail prices in the
long run.

I'm hoping there's a logical reason as to why GWTW/Steve has ignored
many customers recently, but hearing the stories from people like you
Mike, and Eric from Malaysia, and a few others, I think it's just a bit
more than just a coincidence that they all have had bad business dealing
with GWTW recently.

Troy Gunn - Texas, USA

- TKO Sportkite Team (USA):
http://tko.sportkite.team.tripod.com/home.htm

- Kitelife Internet magazine:
http://kitelife.com

[k***@gmail.com]

Mike, I'd first like to apologize for your experience with GWTW. I
can't disagree that your experience would indicate that I do indeed
suck.

Over the past few months I have not responded well to some of the
stresses and strains that life has thrown my way, and unfortunately in
a one man operation there was no one to pick up the slack. I'm not
making excuses (or at least I don't mean to) but think I probably owe
at lest an attempt at an explanation to my customers.

I am grateful to each and every person that stops by the website,
visits the forums and perhaps purchases something . I am lucky to be
able to do business in a community of people that share the same
passion and interest that I do. I am indeed very fortunate. I just have
to do a better job of reminding myself of that and stop feeling
overwhelmed by things that are beyond my control.

To those friends that have stood by and offered support and council I
am ever in your debt. To those that I have alienated, irritated and
perhaps ignored I offer, for what it is worth, a humble apology. I
understand that you may no longer wish to do business with GWTW, and
would certainly understand and accept that.

Looking towards the future ... Chris has returned to work this week and
hopefully having someone to again share the load will improve my
performance. I would be foolish to make promises, but know that I am
trying to do a better job of running my business.

Steve

[Mike]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for the response and apology. - It was both unexpected and
commendable.

Best of luck

~Mike

[s***@gmail.com]

Mike, Send an email to ***@gmail.com or ***@gmail.com
if there is something I can help you with. I'd be very "incentivized"
to work out a deal for you.
;)

Steve

Post by Mike
Hi Steve,
Thank you for the response and apology. - It was both unexpected and
commendable.
Best of luck
~Mike

[Mike]

Post by s***@gmail.com
if there is something I can help you with. I'd be very "incentivized"
to work out a deal for you.
;)
Steve

Hi Steve,

I think I've collected all the gear I'll need for now. -But, I will keep
you/GWTW in mind for next time. (*I seem to be really hard on my kites, so
I foresee a LOT of replacement parts in the future. =)

After some digging .. I read that Chris is a family member of yours.(?)
Friends/family ALWAYS come first, and I can't say I would have acted any
differently in your situation. Knowing this now definitely changes my
opinions on what happened.

Thanks again for taking the time to set me straight. Best wishes!

~Mike


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[Colonel Edmund J. Burke (When they took away my gun, that left me with only my enormous genitals)]

Don't order from a fly-by-night company. Order from Gomberg.com, one
of the largest, commercially professional, and well-established
companies this side of the galaxy.

[Troy Gunn]

Steve,
It took a lot of courage and honor to apologize in public, and admit
that you may have been wrong. Good stuff Steve and hats off to you! : )

Troy Gunn - Texas, USA

- TKO Sportkite Team (USA):
http://tko.sportkite.team.tripod.com/home.htm

- Kitelife Internet magazine:
http://kitelife.com