The kindness of strangers at progpower & keeping the scene alive...

[TwizstedJesus]

This is a totally unexpected story about somebody we all know, and some love & some do not (judging from some of the harsh criticism I've seen on here.)
I was checking out cds at Zane's tables on Saturday and saw the Fates Warning re-issue of No Exit. Since Zane was standing right there I decided to ask him..".Hey Zane, have you ever had somebody ask if you received a faulty shipment of these re-issues from Metal Blade or have somebody tell you they never received the bonus dvd with the re-issue? I purchased the re-issue the day it came out, from (cduniverse) but there was no dvd in the package. I contacted Metal Blade(or tried to)three times by email, but they never responded."
Zane acted surprised and said, "I'll tell you what, I hate to see people get ripped off, go ahead and take it, free of charge."
My first reaction was to shit my pants, since we all know the horror stories about Zane's poor customer service, but I've seen the good side of the man, and all I can say is..."Thanks Zane! Its acts of kindness like this that keeps the metal scene thriving and keeps things like ProgPower alive! This was one of the coolest gestures ever! I appreciate that a ton!
I guess it shows, theres two sides to every story, and I'll be sure to not judge too quickly or harshly!

 

[adaher]

Zane's a good guy, the issue with him isn't that he's not a great guy, it's that he's not always professional. I don't think he's yet made the transition from "dude with a business" to a businessman.

But from my dealings with Zane, your story certainly sounds in character for him. The work is personal for him, and that's a double-edged sword. it can mean over-the-top awesome customer service, which is why so many people are loyal to him, or it can mean incredibly awful customer service, which is why many people have sworn off buying from him(or he's even refused to deal with them because they complained publicly about it).

Disclosure: Zane banned me from ordering in 2005 because I brought a complaint to this forum.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

Zane and Heather have always been great to me. Very nice people.

 

[Dragon KLaw]

Complaining on a public forum about "poor" customer service is something that people really need to think about before doing. Most often it is done out of anger and can do more damage than good to all parties involved. When ordering something online, you seriously need to take the time to check out the businesses customer service policies. If you can not find them or they are vague and unclear, then you need to contact them before placing an order for them to provide the information for you or to clarify anything that seems unclear. Any reputable business does not mind doing that at all. This is where most complaints seem to originate to begin with. People not wanting to take literally 2 minutes to read a company's policy.

As far as delivery of a product, many years ago, I had the experience of of working with a company that delivers packages. That experience taught me one valuable lesson. I will NEVER buy something and have it shipped to me without some level of insurance. They way packages are handled and are often "misplaced or misdirected" is frightening. And it happens a lot more than you might think. Always keep that in mind.

I give major kudos to the post above. So often we do not take the time to reward great customer service. Yet we do not hesitate to jump on someone if we do not get it "our" way. If you ever receive exemplary customer service, take the time to let others now with a little bit of detail what happened.

If you have issues, always try to resolve those in private. If they can not be done so and you feel that you need to let others be "aware", let the other party know that you intend to do so. If you do, state the facts, not opinions or any kind of here say and do not resort to any type of name calling. You might be surprised how this can resolve an issue.

I have been coming to ProgPower for the last 3 years. I have bought items from Zane both there and online. I have never had an issue with anything. I have heard the "stories" but I do not let that stop me. Does it make me a little nervous? Sadly, I have to admit yes. That is really unfair to him though on my part. Until he gives me reasons otherwise, I will continue to order through him, as well as the other ProgPower vendors. If I should ever have an issue with one, I will never bring it here. I will just take my business elsewhere.

OK, that is all for today's lesson. My apologies for the lengthy post.

 

[adaher]

Complaining on a public forum about "poor" customer service is something that people really need to think about before doing.

If you don't get satisfaction, then going online to make it known is standard. Now maybe THIS forum isn't the right place for it, but in my case I only did it because I knew Zane would see it. I'd been unable to contact him by email. People pointed me to the phone number, which is a good point, but I wasn't aware that customers had to try every contact method before complaining publicly. If a business has multiple contact methods, they should all work. My mistake was that I didn't know that CD Inzane was essentially a one-man show, and that show was on the road(at PP). I figured I'd be routed to a customer service department or something. If I'd known it was just Zane and some friends I would have been more understanding.

My apologies for the lengthy post.

I like lengthy posts. Especially when they are well written.

I don't agree with it, though. I suspect we're supposed to be kinder to businesses in the metal community, and I understand the sentiment, but not every customer is going to know that the business they are dealing with isn't like Amazon. Customers have an expectation about how a transaction is supposed to go.

 

[sh0kr0k]

I've never had a bad experience with Zane's customer service and I have a hard time believing anything overly negative. In fact, Zane looked out for me this weekend when he could have ripped me off. I was browsing the Japanese imports bin (of course!) and found Luna Sea's "Slow" with a $21 price tag. That's already a phenomenal deal and I was prepared to purchase it immediately. He said, "Japanese, right? Ok $11." I just looked at him confused until he told me that the imports bin was at a $10 discount so the disc was only $11. He could have easily just charged me $21 when he saw that I had no idea about the sale and was prepared to pay the full amount, but he didn't. Not that I expect the dealers to rip me off, but he also took the time to make sure I was getting the right deal. I appreciate that greatly. Thanks Zane!

 

[jem777az]

I've never had anything but great experiences from Zane. In fact he always remembers me and asks me how I'm doing and what I've been up to. And I'm quite certain he doesn't even know my name because I've never told him. That to me is cool that he remembers my face. There are always a bunch of CDs in the bargain bin that I have no idea who the band is or what they sound like and he is always very helpful in trying to describe to me what type of music it is. Plus he always has stuff that no one else has and the $10 CDs on Saturday you can't beat.

 

[sh0kr0k]

he is always very helpful in trying to describe to me what type of music it is.

Yes, he is very knowledgeable about his products! He barely looked at the disc I had in my hand yet he knew exactly what it was and what bin I pulled it from (which was opposite from where I was standing, so no cheating there).

All the vendors are very great in that respect. They're all super informative and know exactly what to say to describe a band. Sometimes I'm amazed that they can go right to the one lone disc in a sea of titles without hardly a second look.

 

[Rezz]

I've never had a bad experience with Zane's customer service and I have a hard time believing anything overly negative.

I have. A couple times. Maybe Zane has taken the negative comments as constructive criticism and is actively working on altering that perception people have of him? If so, more power to him. People can change if they want to. Regardless, people are usually too quick to complain about the bad things and don't think to post when something good happens. It's nice to see someone go out of their way to relay a story about good customer service for once.

 

[adaher]

Hopefully that's the case. I'd like to think so. But then I remember only a few months back his public tiff with Andrew at melodicrock.com which showed the other side of his character.

 

[KingsGene]

I've never had a bad experience with Zane's customer service and I have a hard time believing anything overly negative. In fact, Zane looked out for me this weekend when he could have ripped me off. I was browsing the Japanese imports bin (of course!) and found Luna Sea's "Slow" with a $21 price tag. That's already a phenomenal deal and I was prepared to purchase it immediately. He said, "Japanese, right? Ok $11." I just looked at him confused until he told me that the imports bin was at a $10 discount so the disc was only $11. He could have easily just charged me $21 when he saw that I had no idea about the sale and was prepared to pay the full amount, but he didn't. Not that I expect the dealers to rip me off, but he also took the time to make sure I was getting the right deal. I appreciate that greatly. Thanks Zane!

Argh....I guess I should've asked about a DVD I've been dying to purchase that was laying around outside a bin with a $37 tag on it, but I can get it delivered to my house for $21.

 

[Dragon KLaw]

I don't agree with it, though. I suspect we're supposed to be kinder to businesses in the metal community, and I understand the sentiment, but not every customer is going to know that the business they are dealing with isn't like Amazon. Customers have an expectation about how a transaction is supposed to go.

I do not expect everyone to agree with me. My point is not necessarily that we have to be kinder. Amazon, Ebay and the larger companies most have feedback sections for this very reason. People can view those and realize that it may be an isolated incident or if it is a repeated pattern. They have something to actually look at to base their decision to do business or not with a particular person or business. It also allows the merchant to defend its self. There are always going to be errors and complaints made. That is human nature. When it comes to the smaller businesses, word of mouth is very valuable to them and it doesn't take much to hurt them with negative comments. Granted, some may be well deserved. But I have seen many comments across the web that were cruel and damaging because people didn't take the time to try and resolve an issue reasonably. People are pissed and get carried away a lot of times in voicing their complaints and the way the word them. That is why I put an emphasis on posting positive comments if you get service that goes beyond the call. Word of mouth is very powerful.

I have a friend with a small furniture business that is tied up in a legal matter over a pack of missing screws. That was the basis for part of my post earlier. I won't get into specifics here for this is not the place. Just keep a cool head when complaining and just stick to the facts when posting a complaint was the advice I was trying to give. It is very beneficial to both parties.