Reaching SmartPak Customer Service - who is in the know?

[myhorsefaith]

Hey ya’ll - still love shopping at Smartpak but I’m noticing a bit of a customer service change of late - wondering if anyone here knows/can confirm what is going on?

#1 Is the chat function ever online? :lol: It is so handy to be able to use that, as I work in an open concept type space so conversations are very hard.

#2 Phone hours - I am on the west coast and calling their 800 number and am getting a recording that I’m calling after hours, but the website says:

You can reach us by phone 24 hours a day, every day, or email and we’ll respond within one business day. For advice from our experts, please call 1-800-461-8898
Monday-Friday 7:00am-10:00pm EST or Saturday-Sunday 9:00am-6:00pm EST.
Live chat support is also available Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:30pm.
We look forward to hearing from you!

It is 7:42 am here, which makes it 10:42 Eastern… what am I missing?

I know based on a conversation with a previous rep that they have a new west coast distribution center (Reno, maybe?) so I’m wondering if customer service to west coast people is also changing and maybe the website is not updated?

The reason I ask is that i ordered some much needed bell boots for my gelding because he lost 1 from his last set. I was able to get 2 day shipping for those (yay!) but they came in 2 separate sizes in the bag Frustrating, but stuff happens. Now I have to get a spare set locally today, which is going to be a challenge to get to a tack shop before closing with our Friday traffic woes after work…because he really shouldn’t be turned out for long without them. :o

Sigh. I know there are bigger problems in the world than this, but wondering if anyone can shed some light on the SP situation.

[L00kAtMeN0w]

Honestly, I have had a lot of the same issues. I even emailed them with a question about an item in my basket, and I got the auto-generated reminder that something was in my basket before I got a response to my question. Emailing works… eventually, but I haven’t been able to get anyone on the phone or the online chat anymore (and I am on the east coast).

[trubandloki]

Oh that is strange (phone call issue). I have called at some strange hours and I have always gotten a customer service rep. I admit I have not called in the last six months.

[myhorsefaith]

Update: I tried a couple more times then had to go to a meeting. When I got back I tried again and the after hours message was off, and I got a person right away, who helped sort out my bell boot issue in true SmartPak form

Still wondering about the customer service hours/ modalities though because it does seem like things are a bit rocky on that front.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=myhorsefaith;8671419]
Update: I tried a couple more times then had to go to a meeting. When I got back I tried again and the after hours message was off, and I got a person right away, who helped sort out my bell boot issue in true SmartPak form

Still wondering about the customer service hours/ modalities though because it does seem like things are a bit rocky on that front.[/QUOTE]

Did you ask about the hours and why you received the after hours message and why chat is not working?

[myhorsefaith]

No, unfortunately not. I didn’t have an opportunity to carry the conversation - by then everyone had arrived at the office and I had to jump to something else.

[cloudyandcallie]

I have called the # and gotten a customer service person to go downstairs and look thru a fly mask to see if the fabric had changed for better sight! The customer service is there and great!

[GallopHer]

I agree, on the phone, customer service is tops. However, I wish they’d remove the icon for online chat. It is NEVER available.

[Twigster]

I’m a bit peeved with them lately as well. I ordered a close out item, only to have my order canceled after they realized they didn’t really have the item. Then two days later I get a phone call telling me they are having issues charging my card and did I want to provide a new number so my order would go through?

Ummmm get your act together smart pak.

[Laurierace]

I am done with Smartpak, they are dead to me. Two strikes and you are out. It’s too bad because they were always my go to, I never ordered from anywhere else.

[myhorsefaith]

Wow really? I’m not ready to write them off yet - IMO their options have gotten better for us west coasters, like the 2 day shipping thing (for some, but not all product). The one rep I spoke to awhile ago who told me about the new distribution center said that as they get more product, more will be offered as 2 day shipping. So I think that is cool, because it takes a week for stuff to get out here from the east coast. For awhile I did move over to shopping at Riding Warehouse because they do $5 2 day shipping. VTO and Adams will send things via USPS priority so they are good options for us too. Dressage Extensions in Cali as well. But I still like Smartpak and just hope they can get these things ironed out.

Funny about the inventory thing - I forgot that that happened to me earlier in the year with an off the shelf Wolfang Solo dressage saddle. Said they had a couple in stock so i placed my order…crickets…then finally I had to call and woopsie, they didn’t have any.

[horsepoor]

I have to say that I hate that they started 2-day shipping, because (for me anyway) they are using my most despised shipping service ever, OnTrac. The drivers are the absolute worst. It actually will influence my shopping as I refuse to use that shipping service after all the damage they have done to our place (seriously, I have a video from one of my game cameras of the guy looking at his phone, driving in, and ending up in our ditch – tore it all up and just kept going) and misdelivered packages (left one outside of our neighbor’s detached garage in the dark and rain, which they found 2 days later and brought us the soggy box of ruined items). I’d rather wait a week for UPS than let the OnTrac imbeciles on our property.

[beowulf]

As much as I hate to defend Smartpak, I think their chat functions fine but there is a limit to how many chats a person can have as a chat-agent (speaking from experience here, PT job is chat/web support)… I am imagining that person must be ‘maxed’ out when they are there during hours but ‘unavailable’. Maybe they need to schedule more chatters.

I’ve gotten their chat function to work for me the few times that I needed it, but I have never had great experience w/ Smartpak.

Dover’s chat function works all the time, I should point out. :winkgrin:

[BuddyRoo]

I have never had trouble reaching a human or having a chat session. Not once in many years. I’ve never even been on hold longer than it takes to route to a human.

So…I guess I can’t really help.

My understanding is that they man the phones during the Eastern time business hours and you can leave a message if after hours and expect a follow up within 24 hours. Same with chat.

I’ve never had anything BUT good experiences with SP so…no help! Glad you got your issue resolved.

[ZIL]

I emailed last week about a return…still have not heard back.