[Dx-qsl] Fwd: Fw: 5 months to get paid....

Tue Aug 19 20:51:53 EDT 2014

Everyone,

First, I will say that I've been a customer of Wayne's since I started in Ham Radio and printed my first KU9C card.   Why?   He was one of the best printers, and as I started QSL managing, I realized that, at the time, well over 50% of the US cards I received came from him.  I've done essentially all of my DXpedition QSLs from him, and after watching how other cards I have 'weather' over the years, I found his color printing to be a bit better than those I've seen from other printers.  Yes, they're a bit more expensive...but I can show you how they 'stand up' to display over time, and in my opinion better than most of the others I have in my collection.

While I do not know the complete details of Wayne's health, I went to his website today, and noticed that his daughter has taken over the operation due to his situation.   You can read it here:

W4MPY - About Me

QSL printing has definitely changed over the years, lots of printers have come and gone.   Wayne's been a mainstay.   And sadly, it seems his battle with some recent health issues have put him in a position where he is has turned the day-to-day operation to his daughter.  I give her credit for working to keep the family business going.

I hope that the ham community will take his situation into consideration before taking to a public forum with the flame-thrower on full blast.  Wayne is a true gentleman, and has been a very avid DXer.   Remember, we're all getting older (amazing how that works), and any one of us could find ourselves in Wayne's shoes.   Think how you might feel if you read the email below if you were in that situation.    And I suspect taking over the operation on short notice hasn't been easy for his daughter.

If you have an issue with The QSL Man, take it up on a personal basis.  If his printing is delayed, I'd start with trying to ascertain what the hold-up is before airing your frustration publically.   

I am sad that I saw this post, and even more disappointed when I went to Wayne's web page and read the news.   He and I go back a long way, and he's been one of the great hams I've had the privilege to have spent time with.  I wish him the best on his recovery, and hope to hear him on the air soon.

Bill, please take me off the list as well.

73
Steve KU9C

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:     Fw: 5 months to get paid....
Date:     Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:39:02 -0400
From:     WILLIAM PLUM <plumdx at msn.com>

----- Original Message -----
*From:* WILLIAM PLUM <mailto:plumdx at msn.com>
*Sent:* Monday, August 18, 2014 1:30 PM
*Subject:* 5 months to get paid....

Dear Customer,
Here's something of interest.
Even my competitors like my envelopes! HI!
I've been supplying W4MPY with my nested airmail envelopes for several 
years now. He's been a slow payer most times, but this final time was a 
killer.
About three weeks after I shipped out his order in late March, I emailed 
Wayne and asked how much longer? No reply. Waited a bit longer, emailed 
again,  no reply...Repeated the above....and got a reply from his 
daughter Debbie. Wayne's in poor health,...but "give me two weeks and 
I'll have a check to you."
I waited 4 weeks. Still no payment. Emailed Debbie...no reply...Emailed 
again, no reply. Gotta love that attention to customer service... I even 
emailed her saying return the envelopes and we'll call it even...No reply.
Called Monday August 4th and was truly surprised when I got Debbie on 
the phone. She apologized:
things getting difficult caring for two sick parents and trying to ruin 
the biz for him. She was just about to call me tho!! Amazing. Well, I 
did get a VISA debit card number out of her...but I can't use it until 
the 15th!! "Oh, and Bill, could you send another batch of envelopes, 
we're running low on our supply....." Well Debbie, I'm jumping right on 
it..........VISA transaction went thru on August 13th, FINALLY!...almost 
5 months to get paid...bet their electric and phone bills didn't go 
unpaid for 5 months. I would have taken $50 a month as payment. Having 
my payment requests ignored was worse than not being paid...so much for 
courtesy.
I've been doing this for 30+ years now.  One rotten apple isn't such a 
bad record.
Decided to register on eham and write a review on W4MPY. After posting 
my review, it was pulled as were two others. Those being from hams who 
had a bad experience ordering qsls. Those reviews are listed below.
eham said posts to product reviews have to conform to certain criteria. 
I guess customer service has no bearing when purchasing products 
anymore. Eham pulled the following poor reviews as well as mine. I was 
able to post to Company reviews under their "Forums" section. At least 
1000 views of my post, so far. That's nice to know!
Here is one review from eham that they decided to delete...Glad I 
thought quick enuf to grab it!!:

bill

     eHam.net member PLUMDX has sent you a review for you to review.

----- start of message -----
read this one.

The following is a review from eHam.net:

Worst service! AVOID!

I had always heard good things about Wayne.

Back on 1/25/14 I ordered a batch of cards.

Got a confirmation email on 1/27/14 that said he would ship in approx. 2 
weeks. OK No problem there.

Charged my credit card on 2/10/14 - Great! Thought that they were on the 
way.

AND....NOTHING.

I sent an email inquiry on 2/16/14. Never got a reply.

Sent another email on 2/22/14.  Also, never got a reply.

I thought. "Well, maybe he has a firewall, or spam filter that is 
flagging my e-mails."

I then placed a telephone call to Wayne on 2/26/14.

He answered and couldn't tell me anything about my order. He claimed he 
was not in his shop at the time. He wrote down my ham callsign and said 
he would check on it in the morning and call me.

As of today (3/17/14) I have heard nothing back from Wayne. No phone 
call. No email.. Nada.

As far as I am concerned he is a crook.

I will be contacting my bank tomorrow to have the credit card charges 
reversed.

I DO NOT recommend Wayne. I will be taking my business elsewhere.

----- end of message -----

You can see this review in full at:

http://eham.net/reviews/detail/324

This email was sent to you from  (PLUMDX) through a notification
system on eHam.net.
Here is the other review eham deleted:

bill

     eHam.net member PLUMDX has sent you a review for you to review.

----- start of message -----
read this.

The following is a review from eHam.net:

My order

Let me first say that I try to be a very loyal customer. I first used 
W4MPY back in the early 90's when I was 15. He was the only qsl maker 
back then that would send my cards COD because I was too young to have a 
bank account. I have used him ever since.  When I got back into the 
hobby back in 2010, I got my new call (W2KRD) I had no problems. When I 
upgraded to my new call (WB2P)in the fall of 2013, I naturally used him 
for my new cards. I placed my order and my CC was charged 12/20/13. I 
assumed that since this was right before Christmas, my order would 
probably take a full month. After three months, without any 
correspondence, I decided to try to find out what was going on. I sent 
several emails and called the phone number from the website to see what 
was going on. I tried calling everyday for one month. I finally got 
ahold of Wayne and he apologized and said that he had some serious 
medical issues and that he was getting back on track. He said that he 
would expedite my or
  der.  I understand that this is a small business and that a retired 
guy can have health issues, so I didn't loose it on him. After another 
month with nothing, I called back and left a message. I was pissed. 
After another email threating to dispute the charges, I get an email 
from his daughter. Debbie's email was very polite and said that her dad 
has been very ill, and that she has had to take over the business a 
little earlier from her dad than they both planned on. She also said 
that she was running about 2 weeks on turnaround and that she would 
email me when the cards were shipped. Well that email was May 2nd. On 
May 22, I sent an email asking where my cards were. No response. On June 
2nd, one month after I was told I would have my cards in two weeks, I 
sent another email. I finally got my response saying I would get my 
cards within 2-3 business days. I placed my order before Christmas and 
got my cards June 6th.
      I understand that medical issues can and will happen, which was 
why I believe I was MORE THAN PATIENT with W4MPY. After all the BS that 
I went through as a customer, you would have though that maybe I would 
have gotten a few extra cards or some air envelopes. Nope. So much for 
loyalty. I should have used a QSL maker from the Ukraine. Even with the 
turmoil in that country, I would have received my cards quicker.
       If you use this company which says "personal service is their 
goal" on their website. You have been warned.

----- end of message -----

You can see this review in full at:

http://eham.net/reviews/detail/324

This email was sent to you from  (PLUMDX) through a notification
system on eHam.net.
73 and good dx,
bill

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