Monday, January 22, 2007

CountyComm Review

A friend of mine referred me to Botach Tactical to find a hard-to-find item. Once there, I looked around, and found a wide selection of cool stuff at great prices. After work I hit their site, and decided the time was right for a little bit of a late night/early morning spending! I began (as I usually do) by filling my e-cart with everything that piqued my interest, then realizing my total is $600, I get real and start whitling down the items. I was stricken with a sudden case of frugality, and most of the stuff I wanted wasn't an immediate necessity as it was for disaster preparedness (I know, I know...) and could stand a little triage. I knew I'd likely have plenty of time and paychecks to spread out my purchases out, so I took it easy and didn't spend too much.

After I completed my order with them, I was in the survival/tacticool kinda mood so I headed over to CountyComm, my favorite place for odd and seriously cool stuff. Their selection is not awe-inspiring, and their website leaves much to be desired; but these guys always have great products you can't find elsewhere, great prices, and great service. After a quick perusal I filled my cart (again), then after remembering that I'm supposed to feel frugal, and that I just spent a bit over at botach, I slim my cart down (again), and finish my order.

The next day I made my rounds catching up on e-mail, and realized that I hadn't gotten my confirmation e-mail from Botach. I sent them an e-mail letting them know I failed to save my order number to track my order, and that I hadn't gotten a confirmation e-mail. Then I opened up my e-reciept to countycomm, and realized that I must have accidentally chosen the wrong address for delivery (why do I even still have that address in there?). I drafted an e-mail to Nick giving him the proper address, and fired it off. A little concerned about the missing confirmation e-mail (which are usually automatic), I typed "botach review" into Google, and found an epinions page for them. Oh my. The only place they got high marks was in the process managed by their yahoo store. The reviews covered the gamut; losing orders, shipping wrong items, taking weeks for delivery, lying to customers, faulty products, the works. Just as I finished the last review and was in a state of minor shock at the bullet I dodged with my frugality, a message popped into one of my inboxes. I didn't recognize the name, so I thought to myself; "See? Nothing to worry about. That's probably Botach with my order number now." But it wasn't; it was CountyComm returning my e-mail. Now, this wasn't a; "YOUR REQUEST FOR HELP AND OR INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED AND PROCESSED BY ORDERBOT 3000. YOUR REQUEST FOR HELP AND OR INFORMATION WILL BE HANDLED IN THE ORDER RECEIVED. WE VALUE YOUR BUSINESS. DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL OR WE WILL BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN." This was a friendly e-mail from a real person which briefly stated that my package almost went out to the wrong address, and it was sent 12 minutes after I sent my e-mail!

I thought about my previous dealings with CountyComm and remembered that they were always receptive to any inqueries I sent them, and that they always shipped very quickly. The only problem I almost had with them, was from them shipping my product TOO quickly! Ha! If only they all had that problem!

I knew CountyComm was really a military/commercial supplier, and that their website was likely only a small portion of their income, which usually spells poor service and speed of order. However any orders that I've sent to them have been processed and sent out quickly and efficiently. I just got so used to being treated well, that I just kind of forgot all those things the Botach customers experienced actually happened. Talk about good treatment.

I put CountyComm into the review website and found that it wasn't in there. It's a small shop, but it deserves at least one review! I signed up for epinions, and discovered that I couldn't "make" a new store to write a review. I sent an e-mail to them asking how I could get a store added (they haven't responded yet (HA!) ).

So, here I am, relating my experiences with CountyComm in the form of a review.

Ease of Ordering: 4/5 Space Pineapples
The ordering system works perfectly, and paying is a cinch, but the site can sometimes be convoluted, and has some broken links.

Customer Service: 5/5 Space Pineapples
You get small shop customer service, and attention to detail!

On-Time Delivery: 5/5 Space Pineapples
Never been a problem!

Selection: 4/5 Space Pineapples
They get a 3 for not having a huge selection of stuff, but they get a +1 because they carry a lot of unique items!

Overall: 6/5 Space Pineapples
That's right; six.

Give them a click, you won't be disappointed.

3 comments:

Fletch said...

I feel as though I'm required to note that I love my super spork, and would recommend it to anyone.

Fletch said...

I got my two packages today, both were packed correctly, bore the correct items, and were delivered promptly.

I'll be leaving a message on epinion's botach review page...

Anonymous said...

County Comm is unbelievably SLOW to ship product. In this day of free two day shipping from Amazon, County Comm is one big gigantic FAIL.

Two days? Try TWO WEEKS PLUS!

Carrier pigeon would have been faster. Entrusting my purchase to hobos riding the rails would have been faster.

If you need something before you die of old age waiting for it, buy it elsewhere!!