1.28.2010

heys bad customer service follow-up: don't buy from heys

Follow up on this post.

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To Whom It May Concern:

Regarding the issue below, I brought my backpack to Heys and was shocked to learn that your company does not stand by its warranties. In addition, customer service was rude and dismissive.

You may wish to read the details here on my blog. [link]

I hope someone from Heys will be able to rectify this situation.

Laura Kaminker
Mississauga, ON

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Hi Laura,

Thank you for your email.

Here at Heys International, we pride ourselves in our customer service and we feel that your interpretation of the conversation you had with our customer service representatives is not accurate. We value our customers and treat all customers - whether warranty repair or not - with respect and do our best to help them out and often go above and beyond what other luggage companies would do.

For the record, we have sold tens of thousands of ePac backpacks and have not had such a problem with the mesh pockets, - therefore the issue is not with the material of side mesh pockets, as all our backpacks use the same material for their side mesh pockets. It seems more likely your issue was caused by either some object that was placed inside the pockets that tore a hole through it, or by some exterior outside object that it came into contact with..

We encourage you to research our product reviews online, below is a sample of ePac reviews. [links]

We are confident in our products and in our level of customer service, nevertheless, as stated above, we always try to do our best for our customers and so we are willing to offer you a 50% discount towards another backpack from our website at http://shop.heys.ca and also giving you your first backpack back to you and repair as best possible your existing backpack. Please note, this discount is a onetime offer and is being offered to you as a gesture of our goodwill and in best trying to get you another backpack in a cost effective manner.

Please inform us of your decision so we can further assist you and provide you with the proper information to move forward.

If you have any questions or further concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Regards,

CSR Team
Heys International Ltd.
[address, website, phone number]

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Heys:

This is a very unfortunate response.

Whether or not you have had problems with the mesh on thousands of backpacks, or hundreds, or only one, is irrelevant. There is a problem with the mesh on my backpack, and I didn't cause it, and you are not standing by your warranty.

Your offer of 50% off another purchase does not address the problem; it merely offers an incentive to spend yet more money on Heys products. I purchased a defective backpack, and the company won't honour its warranty. Why would I want to buy yet more products from the same company?

You might pride yourself in customer service, but in reality your customer service is very poor. I have made four purchases from Heys - one backpack and three travel jewelry cases. Now I will never buy another Heys product. Yet apparently, you believe it is more important to insist that the holes in the mesh are my fault than to retain my business. That is not "above and beyond what other luggage companies would do". It is short-sighted and foolish.

In my earlier email, I sent you a blog post in which I complained about Heys' customer service. Several readers have already commented on that post, saying that now they, too, will not buy Heys' products. I asked them to reserve judgment until I received a reply to my email. Of course I will be sharing this reply.

You may be interested to know that if you Google "heys customer service," "heys warranty" and several other combinations, my blog post comes up right after your company's website.

Replacing the mesh on the backpack, or if that's not possible, replacing the backpack, would be more profitable for Heys in the long run. The company is foolish to not realize that.

Sincerely,

Laura Kaminker

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(Final update here.)

2 comments:

Anand H said...

3 months after I bought my Heys Suitcase, the threading came off. I contacted Heys and submitted all information including pictures etc. They want me to drop the suitcase in Mississauga. I wanted to know what would I use in the meantime as I travel frequently. I told them that they need to come and pick up the suitcase and provide a replacement (new). Or simply give me a new one. I have been waiting for the last week, no response. Heys - it seems as if your customer service sucks. If you respond here, I will happily provide further responses. Please stand by your warranty!

Anand H said...

I bought a Heys Suitcase 3 months ago. The threading became loose. I provided pictures etc, to Heys and they asked that I drop off the suitcase in Mississauga. I live 50KM away. They should pick up the suitcase or replace it, I don't want it repaired. They need to stand by their warranty. Heys customer service and their products sucks! I look forward to their response.