SF behind on KL1 orders.

[Flashlightboy]

I called this AM inquiring about a backordered KL1 that I ordered through Strategos in mid October. BTW, Strategos is first rate and I'm shamlessly plugging them, especially the service I received from Vaughn Baker. Good internet deals through 11-15.

Anyway, SF Customer Service reported that they have approximately 1000 units on backorder and have only filled about 260 of them. They expect to catch up around the end of the month. So if you're still waiting, it'll be just a bit longer.

The wait will be worth it!

 

[V8TOYTRUCK]

I have been on this waiting list for over a month. IT SUCKS!

 

[Josh]

Worth the wait!

 

[MR Bulk]

My only concern is that they hold the line on quality control as they rush to catch up...

 

[dark star]

I ordered in mid october from Strategos and it looks like I need to wait longer, darn it. But Strategos charged my credit card as soon as I made the order ( which I believe is poor behavior for a product which is so back ordered-I guess I'm just frustrated ).EDIT- Now I feel better after all the posts from Strategos-they seem as frustrated as me- I guess we all will just sit and wait.

 

[JackBlades]

Any info on the KL2?
I ordered one from Strategos and have emailed several times asking what the hold-up is. The reply is "We haven't heard from SureFire...."
Kinda frustrating when you know your CC has been charged but they won't/can't even tell you the status of your order.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I wanted to let anyone know who has a backordered KLx series bezel. I just sent out about 75 emails letting that gives the following update in regards to the KLx series bezels backordering drama.

Hi,

I wanted to give you the latest update from Surefire in regards to your order for a KLx bezel. Surefire started delivering the KL1’s in the middle of last week. At that time they were over 1000 backordered on the KL1’s. Since last week and as of yesterday they had only shipped approximately 275 KL1’s. They anticipate that they will be able to ship approximately 300 per week of the backordered KL1’s and they are predicting that all backorders of KL1’s will ship out by the end of November.

The KL2’s and KL3’s are now scheduled to start shipping sometime next week and some of the KL3-BK’s have been shipping in limited quantity since last week.

We apologize for the delay but we wanted to keep you informed of what the latest news was on the KLx bezels.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The nature of our current e-commerce system is that is automatically charges your credit card when the order is placed. Anyone that has a backordered KLx series bezel that wants their credit card transaction credited please send me an email to [email protected] we will be happy to credit your card until your order ships.

We understand the frustration in these and other backordered products so we have placed a very large order of SF products so that we can stock the most popular items and get those orders that include those items stocked shipped out within 24 hours.

Additionally we have contracted a programmer to add a couple of features that should prove to be very useful for our customers. Specifically, when the programming is completed you will be able to view in "real-time" the current inventory of any given SF product and a approximate time frame of when you order will ship out. After the programming is completed you will also be automatically emailed with a tracking number when your order goes out.

I hope this addresses some of the concerns that you may have and we again apologize for any inconvenience that these KLx backorders have caused.

We are trying to be responsive to your feedback and take steps to rectify issues as they come up. Thank you in advance for your patience while we go through these "growing pains".

If you have additional questions or inquiries please let us know.

Cordially,

 

[Vikas Sontakke]

I remember there is a discount code for ordering throught Strategos. I have missplaced it. Can somebody help me track it down?

Thanks,
- Vikas

 

[Ken J. Good]

We hear you loud and clear. The only complaints that we have been receiving is on SureFire products that have been on perpetual backorder.

We are in the process of doing several things.

1. Pre-ordering a much larger inventory of products to avoid as much backorder delay as possible. We were not in a position to do so when we first launched our enterprise. We are now. It is well known that SureFire has said products will be released at such and such date and in fact it does not occur. Or the second scenario, we (Strategos) are told that your inventory has been shipped by SureFire, when in fact it has not.

2. Setting up our e-commerce site so that inventory status is viewed in real-time. We expect the programming to be complete in a couple of weeks


3. Setting up our e-commerce site so that transactions processed on-line will not be charged until the order ships. Currently this is a custom programming change that we have extensively explored with the e-commerce service provider and Authorize.net. (the service that we use to accept or reject online orders). We can setup the program to not accept alls transaction until we manually re-enter all the data, but we cannot do it selectively. This is prone to error and more labor intensive as we are currently processing many, many orders daily.

4. You will see a much stronger order tracking system in the next fewer weeks.

5. We are also planning on investing in a better user interface on the Gift Code discount feature. Currently the customer must wait until the end of the process to enter a gift code. We want the customer to have the ability to enter the gift code on the front end and see all pricing structure change as a result, giving real time info all the way through the process.

Bottom-line, we just got started. We are feverously working to get our proverbial act together and improve the administrative infrastructure in order to get product out the door faster, more accurately all at reasonable costs to the end-user. We are not planning on taking anybody’s money and running! Anybody who has desired us to re-credit their card, we have done so at their request. We are in this for the long haul and will address what we need to address to meet our customers expectations.

Respectfully,

Ken J. Good
President of Strategos International, L.L.C.

 

[Ken J. Good]

Gift Code for http://strategosstore.com

186thousand

 

[Brocken]

What was the gift code for again?

 

[Deleted member 684]

It's just "186thousand"

 

[CM]

I don't know where my topic should reside but I wanted to share my experience in dealing with Strategos (moderators, feel free to move this post to the appropriate place) I received my credit card bill and there was an erroneous charge of about $370+ on it from Strategos. I e-mailed Vaughn Baker about this and got a phone call within minutes. I asked if he could reverse the charge pronto and said he would try. Upon failing, he offered to give me the option of cutting me a check for the amount or waiting for the reply from the third party who handles CC transactions for them. I chose to get the check as I wanted to pay my card in full as I always do. He promised to get the check out by the end of the day. Problem solved within a half hour of my initial contact with them. To Vaughn and Strategos, you guys are number one, and I want to shamelessly plug Strategos as a very reputable merchant. I will bring you my future business and $$$ and highly recommend Strategos to everyone here at CPF. I realize your primary business is in training and e-commerce is secondary in your mission, but I wished all online retailers were of the same caliber as Strategos.

 

[MicroE]

I spoke with Donny from Sableco.net tonight.
He still has KL1's in stock.
Only $40!
I ordered my second one.
---Marc

 

[this_is_nascar]

Originally posted by CM:
I don't know where my topic should reside but I wanted to share my experience in dealing with Strategos (moderators, feel free to move this post to the appropriate place) I received my credit card bill and there was an erroneous charge of about $370+ on it from Strategos. I e-mailed Vaughn Baker about this and got a phone call within minutes. I asked if he could reverse the charge pronto and said he would try. Upon failing, he offered to give me the option of cutting me a check for the amount or waiting for the reply from the third party who handles CC transactions for them. I chose to get the check as I wanted to pay my card in full as I always do. He promised to get the check out by the end of the day. Problem solved within a half hour of my initial contact with them. To Vaughn and Strategos, you guys are number one, and I want to shamelessly plug Strategos as a very reputable merchant. I will bring you my future business and $$$ and highly recommend Strategos to everyone here at CPF. I realize your primary business is in training and e-commerce is secondary in your mission, but I wished all online retailers were of the same caliber as Strategos.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Not to be sarcastic, but this problem should have never happened in the 1st place. It doesn't show much organization within the companies ordering/billing department. They fixed a mistake that should have never happened to begin with. Why are you (or should we) be so impressed with that? Want to impress me? How about only getting billed for what you order?

 

[CM]

Nascar,

What do you sound so pissed off? I'm merely expressing my satisfaction. You on the other hand seem so difficult to satisfy. My point is that mistakes will happen. It's how one goes about rectifying the situation that matters to me. Do YOU ever make mistakes? Probably not from the sounds of your posts. Sorry for the negative tone but I don't particularly like being pounced on for saying something nice. Grrrr.

 

[dano]

Mistakes happen, the error was fixed without delay, and the problem was solved. There shouldn't be a debate on the issue...

--dan

 

[CM]

Thanks dano. Let's get back on to positive things..

CM

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Weird, I got all 3 KL1's from SF ordered about 3 weeks ago and 2 weeks ago. I got them in 2 days. I wonder if they do a first come first served method or just ship randomly?

 

[CM]

I was told by Surefire they ship them in the order received, so first come first serve. Are all your KL1's similar in terms of light output/color? I'm curious as I'm waiting for my second KL1 and my first KL3. I'm hoping the KL3 is noticeably brighter but I got a feeling I'm gonna be disappointed. If the KL3 is a disappointment, I'm gonna mod it by replacing the 1W luxeon with a 5 watter. Can't let a good host with good heatsinking go to waste. Poor ol' KL3 has not even arrived yet and I'm already planning on disemboweling it