Frontosa Response to "Frontosa resellers beware!"
Hi,
I would like to take this opportunity to post the reply which we intend to post on the hello peter as soon as our registration as a supplier at our own expense comes into effect. We have been attempting to respond to the hello peter comment since Friday of last week.
This client has not made a real attempt to resolve this situation, and he also neglects the second half of the msn conversation where he continues on to make threats, this post being the result, or action thereof.
Ultimately the client received statements to the effect that money was outstanding, and he has a signed contract with us indicating that we will hold orders back if payment is not received in a timely manner:
“RE: TOTALLY Shocking customer service – NGR
In response to this posting on Hello Peter we would like to make the following clear.
The client has owed us money since February of this year. He is has been made aware of this fact telephonically and in e-mail on numerous occasions.
This amount was due to our Johannesburg branch. In spite of our attempts to collect the outstanding amount, whilst still allowing the client to process orders with us, the client did not settle this account.
In view of the fact that the account had aged beyond an acceptable time frame, the instruction was given not to release stock to the client until such time that the outstanding amount had been received. The client was aware that the amount was outstanding, as well as the fact that when funds are outstanding we reserve the right not to release stock.
The outstanding amount was a direct result of an email in which he said his courier would be sent by him after he had made the payment for the order. The courier was sent, so as per the email we expected that he had done the transfer for the order and released the stock to the courier. Payment was never made.
In his conversation in which he refers to our Cape Town branch manager informing him that his account will be closed, it was a direct response to the client swearing, this took place on msn and we have the supporting logs to validate this.
It is unacceptable to us that the client would expect us to continue to trade with him when he did not pay his account, and then to swear at our staff after we stop trade in light of his debt.
Had the client paid for the stock that he had collected in February of this year, this would never have occurred. We apologise that he feels that he was not informed correctly, and that he feels that this has resulted in him spending money on a courier, however he was aware of the fact that he owed us money and he did not pay us, if he discussed payment with us the stock would have been released.
It is intolerable that the client has attempted to tarnish our company’s reputation, when in fact it is his company that failed to pay its debt that caused the situation discussed.
I note that in his complaint he makes a vague mention of the fact that his order was held up “apparently because there is always an account problem”, when in fact he has received statements repeatedly indicating that he had owed funds to us for almost two months. This fact deeply distorts the image that he painted and as such we intend to pursue this matter legally and expect that a retraction be published.”
We are in the process of following this matter legally; our lawyer has been in contact with this client.
Following the mail that the client mentions “I then get an e-mail from Frontosa CPT which ends in the following:” The client had an msn conversation with the rep in charge of his account.
02:32 PM) Fronto: but you reckon its within your means and reason to remove your comment?
(02:32 PM) Fronto: :0
(02:32 PM) Fronto:
(02:35 PM) sales: yeah
(02:35 PM) sales: know the people
(02:35 PM) sales: till take a day tho
Here he accepts that he should remove the comment from Hello Peter, and in fact claims that he will.
With regards to stock being held back, I believe that the above clearly addresses this fact.
As a sales team we removed the client from our msn. He did have access to our email addresses’ as well as the ability to phone us directly and communicate through these means. As the clients’ account was closed we felt that there was no need for a direct sales link to be open.
In the email to our Managing Director regarding the power supply the client did not have any supporting document regarding the power supply and furthermore originally asked about a vantec unit, later correcting himself to and antec unit. On this we were clear – we requested that the client provided us with the delivery note so that we could then trace what had happened to the unit
I am deeply distressed that this matter has been dragged out to this extent.
The client was aware of the outstanding amounts, and as a business your creditors should be paid in a timely manner.
His stock would never have been held back, had his account been settled correctly, on receipt of their statement it is the clients’ responsibility to follow up with the relevant accounts people to avoid orders being held up, or their accounts being placed on hold.
When the account went on hold, I regret that the sales rep in charge of the account neglected to co-ordinate with the client in this instance until it was too late, however I will stress again the amount outstanding was nearing 60days.
With regards to the power supply, I trust now that this has now been resolved.
We resent that the client has sort this manner of abuse, rather than addressing us in a reasonable manner. Due to this we have issued an interdict and again await his apology.
This is not indicative of the service that we believe in offering.
I would like to take this time to stress that we truly believe in assisting our clients as far as possible, this is why we continued to supply this client in spite of the account discrepancies.
The power supply as a separate issue is deeply distressing.
Generally when stock is sent to us under warranty we have a book in process and the client is provided with a tracking number. If any of our clients’ book in stock without receiving this number please contact the head of that department urgently – this will prevent these situations from occurring.
I trust that this has answered these complaints as transparently as possible. We urge the client to please address any further issues with the relevant departments within Frontosa.
