ComplaintsforUDI Corporation

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This Company is willing and knowingly selling Dangerous knives. They DO Not lock into place like they are meant to and my son almost lost his finger because of it. The company that sells these knives did not care about the fact that they are selling unsafe and dangerous knives.

  Business response

  01/12/2023

  To whom it may concern:
  
  The complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau by ***,the manager of **************************, *******, **, is unfounded,manipulative, and patently deceptive. It should be rejected by the BBB as "sour grapes". *** did all that it could reasonably do to resolve each and every one of ***'s "problems", real or imagined. And, *** refused to be satisfied. Moreover he continued to bring forward new and different issues instead of accepting and using the remedies that *** offered ***. And,at all times, *** was treated in both a prompt and a polite manner regardless of his unreasonable issues, responses, and lack of responses.
  It's notable to recognize that in ***'s 39 years of operation, the Corporation has never received any complaints via the Better Business Bureau. And, that in the rare instance of a retailer having an issue,that the Corporation has been able to negotiate a reasonable remedy that satisfies the retailer's issue fully without elevating that issue to any higher level.
  
  In the case of ***'s Hometown Hardware, *** did business on numerous occasions throughout 2020 and 2021 without any issues or conflicts.However, when the manager, ***, took over running the store, suddenly everything *** did, including providing free display racking and a generous defect replacement policy along with free freight and free in store service,was no longer satisfactory. And, that regardless of numerous attempts to provide reasonable solutions to each and every complaint by ***, that no remedy could be found that *** could find acceptable.
  
  In fact, *** emailed *** to state emphatically that he would no longer do business with the *** sales **** nor would he be likely to ever do business with *** again in the future. And, yet, he continued to complain and to make unreasonable demands of *** that *** chose not to meet as a matter of Corporate policy. Moreover, ***'s pattern of practice became painfully obvious when he expected cooperation from *** in terms of refunding his investment in *** programs without reciprocating by continuing to do business. And, when the mutual benefit became one sided, in ***'s favor, *** chose not to attempt to satisfy *** any longer.
  
  FIRST TRANSACTION: On October 27, 2022, *** was shipped, and subsequently received, a vertical floor spinner display rack at no charge. It was to be used to display his order for winter beanies and gloves. He was also given a 5% discount, 6 months to pay, free freight, and an excel file to set up his POS system.
  
  SECOND TRANSACTION: On October 27, 2022, *** was shipped,and subsequently received, a counter spinner at no charge along with a wooden under counter storage system. They were to be used to display spring assisted folding knives. An Excel file was also provided to set up his POS system.
  
  PROBLEM #1: *** reported that he couldn't assemble the floor rack. *** explained to him how to assemble the rack in line with the assembly instruction sheet that was included with his shipment. *** also explained exactly how to hang the goods on the rack for the best sell through effect.
  
  PROBLEM #2: *** complained that he couldn't stabilize the floor spinner properly. *** gave him instructions on 2 solutions to better stabilize the rack. 1) Use the thumb s**** collars that supported the spinner arms at the telescoping joints of the center pole, and 2) To add masking tape to the male portion of the telescoping center pole sections to snug up the intersecting joints.
  
  PROBLEM #3: *** complained that both of the stabilizing solutions failed to improve the situation. *** suggested that using a bolt or a machine s**** at the offending joints might resolve the issue, but the idea was untested as it had never happened before with other placements.  
  
  NOTE: The floor spinner at issue was 1 of 258 like floor spinners placed during 2022. *** was the only retailer that couldn't stabilize the rack.
  
  PROBLEM #4: *** complained that he hadn't received the winter product assortment that he was expecting, which he thought had more ******************* ball caps. *** investigated his concern with the sales **** who lived 4.5 hours drive away from the store. The rep faxed a copy of the order to *** to see where the orders differed. *** failed to receive the fax. It took another week to realize that the fax had failed to deliver before *** could act.
  
  PROBLEM #5: *** complained that *** hadn't taken any action to resolve the winter product assortment issue. *** again contacted the rep only to learn of the fax failure. At which time, the rep read the order to *** over the phone.
  
  PROBLEM #6: After conferring with the **** *** learned that the rep had made an error by ordering the wrong winter assortment. However, the rep also indicated that he had been very clear with *** in the store to confirm which assortment *** wanted. He felt that *** had made the error. *** offered,and *** accepted, a second shipment of the items that should have been in the assortment under separate billing with the same discount and terms as the previous order. That correcting order was shipped to *** November 11, 2022,exactly 2 weeks after the original order. *** then offered to collect the unsold portion of the opening order that had been ordered in error, since those items would be a surplus, at the end of the winter season, and issue the store a credit.
  
  PROBLEM #7: *** complained that some of the knit winter products were defective and unable to be resold. *** responded that *** could send *** a list of those items for replacement or credit and that *** could destroy those defective items without returning them to *** or to ***'s rep. *** never responded with a list.
  
  NOTE: It was at this point that *** sent *** an email stating in no uncertain terms that he would "never" do business with the rep again, and that he was unlikely to do business with *** again in the future.
  
  NOTE: It was also at this point that ***'s **** an 84 year old senior rep out of ********, **, decided that it wasn't worth the 4.5 hour drive to ***'s Hometown Hardware. He felt that *** was a problem customer and would be a waste of his time. *** agreed to manage the situation remotely instead.
  
  FYI: The *** rep had been in the territory working as a rep for decades. He had grown his *** trade year over year 2022 over 2021 by 334%without any other incidents. The rep had an excellent reputation with the factories he represented and with the retailers to whom he sold goods. However,at his age, and with health concerns that recently took him off the road permanently, he didn't have the energy to deal with an unreasonable person like *******
  
  PROBLEM #8: *** next complained that the spring assisted folding knives that were bought from *** in October 2022, had a high proportion of defects. *** said that the knives didn't lock properly. *** responded similarly as had been done with the defect issue on the knit winter products question previously. *** asked for a list of defective items. *** told *** that the knives would be replaced, no questions asked, with fully tested product and that *** could destroy the defective knives on site. *** also included a detailed explanation of how to both open and to lock a spring assisted knife.That was done just in case *** thought that the knives should lock automatically with just the spring action. *** failed to provide *** with a list as he had also failed to do with the defective knit winter products previously.
  
  NOTE: The original knife program was sold to the store in March 2021, well before *** became manager. It included a free acrylic locking display and back stock storage box at no charge. When *** took over, and was unable to find the original rack and storage system, *** agreed to provide him with a second complete set up at no charge with his opening order of knives.
  
  NOTE: At no time did *** ever receive a defect claim on any of the knives that were shipped with the original program set up from March 2021.
  
  PROBLEM #9: Instead of providing a list of defective knives,*** responded by stating that he no longer wanted to sell the *** knives. *** felt that the knives were unsafe. *** wanted to return all of the knives, including the working models and the defective models, for a credit refund. *** refused on the basis of Corporate policy that prohibited: sell through guaranty, and/or consignment, and/or stock balancing. Moreover, ***'s demand for a refund was also rejected on the basis of the generous defect policy previously described, that he chose to ignore. Furthermore, ***'s refund was rejected because of the complete lack of a mutual benefit to doing business with *** personally, and with ***'s Hometown Hardware indirectly under ***'s management.
  
  FINAL STATEMENT: As a matter of record, ***'s experience with *** is unprecedented. *** does business with over ***** retail stores in *****************. In the *** industry, a "Defect Policy A" is standard practice. That is defined as "Destroy on site for credit or replacement". In the case of apparel customers for head wear and gloves,*** has over ***** active retailers. *** is the only one of those accounts that has complained, been unreasonable, and has filed a BBB complaint. In the case of spring assisted knives, *** has over ***** active retailers. *** ships between ***** and ****** spring assisted folding knives every month. ***'s complaint of rampant defects is an isolated incident and never before has any account wanted to return the entire program, nor has any account made a BBB complaint.
  
  As the President and CEO of ***, I can't explain why *** is the way he is. What I am certain of is that ***'s issue has nothing to do with ***, its products, policies or programs. *** chose the programs that he wanted.When he had challenges implementing those programs, he was either unable or unwilling to take responsibility or to work with *** to resolve them. And when he changed his mind about carrying *** programs permanently, *** tried to make that choice financially practical by making *** pay for his change of mind.And, that's where *** chose to draw the line.
  
  *****'s remorse in this case is not ***'s fault. *** bears no responsibility for a customer changing their mind multiple months after the buying decision has been made. *** has always been perfectly willing to take responsibility for defective product and its convenient replacement for the retailer. By giving retailers like *** free display racks, discounts and extended dating terms, *** is making substantial investment in the retailer.However, that investment has to have a reasonable return to *** in order for it to make financial sense. When the mutual benefit for both *** and the retailer is removed, or in ***'s case neutralized, *** has no incentive to continue making additional investment.
  
  **************************
  President/CEO

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