Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

AntsCanada Ants Store

antscanada formicarium antfarm

  • Please log in to reply
222 replies to this topic

#41 Offline AntsCanada - Posted May 31 2015 - 7:34 PM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

I just watched your "Adobo"video and I think it's awesome.  Which is pretty much what I've always thought about AntsCanada and I've never even bought any of your products.

 

I work for a big company.  I get asked technology questions pretty much, well, my work day is basically one long chat session.  I don't answer every question.  Sometimes I can't because I don't know or I am not sure how best to answer for all parties involved.  And sometimes I miss the question.  Not because it went to junk, not because I am ignoring some people I don't like.  Because I am a human being.  And so is Mikey. If someone takes the time, passion, energy and resources from other things in their life to bring something into the world, they have every right to ignore any question about it they choose, with perhaps the exception being a thing that causes some harm to other people. 

 

I think as a community our first thought should always be to hold each other up.  This is not exactly a typical hobby.  I get ridiculed in my own family from time to time.  My point is there's a fairly contrite mea culpe above in this thread from an active member in our community that has made many contributions many if not all of us have benefited from at some point.  I hope it's accepted and all of us can continue enjoying this great hobby...together.

 

Great to hear from someone who can relate! I agree with all points, except for one: I feel the obligation to answer all customer service emails, especially those who have already paid money or are thinking of investing in an AntsCanada formicarium. There is a degree of trust there, and I could never intentionally ignore an email, because if I spent or am about to spend my hard-earned money on a product, I too would demand and make sure that the company addresses my concerns. The same goes for any GAN Project email. Our GAN Farmers work hard at collecting and raising their ants and there is a level of trust there that we will help disperse their stock. That being said, though there are indeed varying degrees of urgency, I feel every email is important and cannot go unanswered.

 

I think I would go crazy chatting all day about technology questions HAHAHA! Thanks for watching my Adobo video! :)
 

I am surprised you even have time for the ant keeping hobby! Being a famous comedian, singer, business man, and radio host! Totally grateful that you still produce content, and take the time to talk to us. That's just my 2 cents...

 

I appreciate that a lot. Thank you, Ants4Fun.


Edited by AntsCanada, May 31 2015 - 7:40 PM.

Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#42 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 13 2015 - 6:33 PM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

For those of you who have purchased a a hybrid nest, how long did it take you to receive it?  

 

I thought these were made in mass production (not hand made like THA) and though I would receive mine much faster than what has become pretty common from ordering elsewhere.  

 

What do you guys think?  Is a month is pretty average wait?  longer?  shorter?

 

Thanks,


“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#43 Offline AntsCanada - Posted June 13 2015 - 7:28 PM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

For those of you who have purchased a a hybrid nest, how long did it take you to receive it?  

 

I thought these were made in mass production (not hand made like THA) and though I would receive mine much faster than what has become pretty common from ordering elsewhere.  

 

What do you guys think?  Is a month is pretty average wait?  longer?  shorter?

 

Thanks,

 

Hi Bugfinder,
 
I hope someone who has experienced buying a Hybrid Nest from us comes by and adds to this, but we usually ship the next day after an order, however due to an overwhelming volume of orders over the past 3 weeks, we were running a week and a half behind at shipping out orders for awhile (each customer was emailed and situation explained). We have almost caught up now though, as we had to order several more 3D printers to work around the clock to keep up with the overwhelming Hybrid Nest orders coming in. Assuming you order a Hybrid Nest today, you should receive it in 7-14 days max and if not I will email you personally to let you know and keep you updated. Again, ordinarily you would receive your Hybrid Nest in under a week if you live in US/Canada.
 
It's crazy because prior to the release of the Hybrid Nests we thought we were prepared for the volume of orders that would come in, and even had manufactured stock ahead of time before the Hybrid Nest launch. Turns out we received way more orders than we anticipated, and though it is a great thing for AntsCanada, we weren't prepared for the demand resulting in the back logged orders by a week and a half. To be honest, in all the years that AntsCanada has been around, we have never received an order demand like this, even during our annual Black Friday Promo sales. We are happy to be able to get back on regular shipping schedule in just a few more days.
 
Also human hands make the Hybrid Nests:
 
Just for clarification, these Hybrid Nests are not massed produced in the sense that some huge machine is pumping out 20 fully-made formicariums a minute. The Hybrid Nests are 3D printed which means for each Hybrid Nest, it takes about 36 hours for the body and parts to be created, plus the time it takes for its various parts like glass and mesh parts cut and glued all by hand. Though the designs are set in each Hybrid Nest, there is still a human that touches each unit and assembles the formicarium.
 
There was a human touch in the design, too. The genus-targeted designs of each kind of Hybrid Nest were literally drawn by hand in pencil first. My partner and I spent a long time perfecting those designs by studying wild nest photos, and once we thought they were perfect we began manufacturing the Hybrids. It means every unit is an exact replica of our finalized perfected design with no room for errors or variation. The problem with having someone making you a formicarium by carving out Ytong by hand, for instance, is that it leaves too much room for variation in design, variation in tunnel size/shape/orientation, human errors, etc. In other words, if you order a Hybrid Nest you know exactly what your nest design looks like, you know that it is tailored to house your kind of ants, and you don't have to leave the tunneling design of your formicarium, which we've found to be super crucial to the success of an ant colony, to the hands of the formicarium maker.
 
On another note, are you serious? 1 month for a formicarium to arrive after purchase?! Wow that means people would have to order the moment they catch their queen. We manufacture, usually ship the next day, and it arrives in 2 days if postal service doesn't mess up (which sometimes happens) and 3-5 days if you're outside the North America (add a few more days if the  country's customs inspects the package at the border). There have been some cases where postal services lose packages or customs holds packages at a country's border which extends the shipment time, but these circumstances are few and are beyond our control.
 
Mikey

Edited by AntsCanada, June 14 2015 - 12:25 AM.

  • Ants4fun likes this
Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#44 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 13 2015 - 9:24 PM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

 

For those of you who have purchased a a hybrid nest, how long did it take you to receive it?  

 

I thought these were made in mass production (not hand made like THA) and though I would receive mine much faster than what has become pretty common from ordering elsewhere.  

 

What do you guys think?  Is a month is pretty average wait?  longer?  shorter?

 

Thanks,

 

Hi Bugfinder,
 
I hope someone who has experienced buying a Hybrid Nest from us comes by and adds to this, but we usually ship the next day after an order, however due to an overwhelming volume of orders over the past 3 weeks, we were running a week and a half behind at shipping out orders for awhile (each customer was emailed and situation explained). We have almost caught up now though, as we had to order several more 3D printers to work around the clock to keep up with the overwhelming Hybrid Nest orders coming in. Assuming you order a Hybrid Nest today, you should receive it in 7-14 days max and if not I will email you personally to let you know and keep you updated. Again, ordinarily you would receive your Hybrid Nest in under a week if you live in US/Canada.
 
It's crazy because prior to the release of the Hybrid Nests we thought we were prepared for the volume of orders that would come in, and even had manufactured stock ahead of time before the Hybrid Nest launch. Turns out we received way more orders than we anticipated, and though it is a great thing for AntsCanada, we weren't prepared for the demand resulting in the back logged orders by a week and a half. To be honest, in all the years that AntsCanada has been around, we have never received an order demand like this, even during our annual Black Friday Promo sales. We are happy to be able to get back on regular shipping schedule in just a few more days.
 
Also human hands make the Hybrid Nests:
 
Just for clarification, these Hybrid Nests are not massed produced in the sense that some huge machine is pumping out 20 fully-made formicariums a minute. The Hybrid Nests are 3D printed which means for each Hybrid Nest, it takes about an entire day for the body and parts to be created, plus its various parts like glass and mesh parts cut and glued all by hand. Though the designs are set in each Hybrid Nest, there is still a human that touches each unit and assembles the formicarium.
 
There was a human touch in the design, too. The genus-targeted designs of each kind of Hybrid Nest were literally drawn by hand in pencil first. My partner and I spent a long time perfecting those designs by studying wild nest photos, and once we thought they were perfect we began manufacturing the Hybrids. It means every unit is an exact replica of our finalized perfected design with no room for errors or variation. The problem with having someone making you a formicarium by carving out Ytong by hand, for instance, is that it leaves too much room for variation in design, variation in tunnel size/shape/orientation, human errors, etc. In other words, if you order a Hybrid Nest you know exactly what your nest design looks like, you know that it is tailored to house your kind of ants, and you don't have to leave the tunneling design of your formicarium, which we've found to be super crucial to the success of an ant colony, to the hands of the formicarium maker.
 
On another note, are you serious? 1 month for a formicarium to arrive after purchase?! Wow that means people would have to order the moment they catch their queen. We manufacture, usually ship the next day, and it arrives in 2 days if postal service doesn't mess up (which sometimes happens) and 3-5 days if you're outside the North America (add a few more days if the  country's customs inspects the package at the border). There have been some cases where postal services lose packages or customs holds packages at a country's border which extends the shipment time, but these circumstances are few and are beyond our control.
 
Mikey

 

thanks for the response Mikey. My order must have fallen through the cracks.  I placed my order on May 20, so it hasn't been a month yet, but we're getting there.  I was just trying to figure out if that was normal or not before I reached out to you to inquire about it.  Maybe you could have a look to make sure you received my order and that it's still on track.

 

Thanks,


Edited by BugFinder, June 13 2015 - 9:24 PM.

“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#45 Offline AntsCanada - Posted June 14 2015 - 12:13 AM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

 

 

For those of you who have purchased a a hybrid nest, how long did it take you to receive it?  

 

I thought these were made in mass production (not hand made like THA) and though I would receive mine much faster than what has become pretty common from ordering elsewhere.  

 

What do you guys think?  Is a month is pretty average wait?  longer?  shorter?

 

Thanks,

 

Hi Bugfinder,
 
I hope someone who has experienced buying a Hybrid Nest from us comes by and adds to this, but we usually ship the next day after an order, however due to an overwhelming volume of orders over the past 3 weeks, we were running a week and a half behind at shipping out orders for awhile (each customer was emailed and situation explained). We have almost caught up now though, as we had to order several more 3D printers to work around the clock to keep up with the overwhelming Hybrid Nest orders coming in. Assuming you order a Hybrid Nest today, you should receive it in 7-14 days max and if not I will email you personally to let you know and keep you updated. Again, ordinarily you would receive your Hybrid Nest in under a week if you live in US/Canada.
 
It's crazy because prior to the release of the Hybrid Nests we thought we were prepared for the volume of orders that would come in, and even had manufactured stock ahead of time before the Hybrid Nest launch. Turns out we received way more orders than we anticipated, and though it is a great thing for AntsCanada, we weren't prepared for the demand resulting in the back logged orders by a week and a half. To be honest, in all the years that AntsCanada has been around, we have never received an order demand like this, even during our annual Black Friday Promo sales. We are happy to be able to get back on regular shipping schedule in just a few more days.
 
Also human hands make the Hybrid Nests:
 
Just for clarification, these Hybrid Nests are not massed produced in the sense that some huge machine is pumping out 20 fully-made formicariums a minute. The Hybrid Nests are 3D printed which means for each Hybrid Nest, it takes about an entire day for the body and parts to be created, plus its various parts like glass and mesh parts cut and glued all by hand. Though the designs are set in each Hybrid Nest, there is still a human that touches each unit and assembles the formicarium.
 
There was a human touch in the design, too. The genus-targeted designs of each kind of Hybrid Nest were literally drawn by hand in pencil first. My partner and I spent a long time perfecting those designs by studying wild nest photos, and once we thought they were perfect we began manufacturing the Hybrids. It means every unit is an exact replica of our finalized perfected design with no room for errors or variation. The problem with having someone making you a formicarium by carving out Ytong by hand, for instance, is that it leaves too much room for variation in design, variation in tunnel size/shape/orientation, human errors, etc. In other words, if you order a Hybrid Nest you know exactly what your nest design looks like, you know that it is tailored to house your kind of ants, and you don't have to leave the tunneling design of your formicarium, which we've found to be super crucial to the success of an ant colony, to the hands of the formicarium maker.
 
On another note, are you serious? 1 month for a formicarium to arrive after purchase?! Wow that means people would have to order the moment they catch their queen. We manufacture, usually ship the next day, and it arrives in 2 days if postal service doesn't mess up (which sometimes happens) and 3-5 days if you're outside the North America (add a few more days if the  country's customs inspects the package at the border). There have been some cases where postal services lose packages or customs holds packages at a country's border which extends the shipment time, but these circumstances are few and are beyond our control.
 
Mikey

 

thanks for the response Mikey. My order must have fallen through the cracks.  I placed my order on May 20, so it hasn't been a month yet, but we're getting there.  I was just trying to figure out if that was normal or not before I reached out to you to inquire about it.  Maybe you could have a look to make sure you received my order and that it's still on track.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Sending you a PM. I can find out where your order is and if it has been shipped out.


Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#46 Offline AntsCanada - Posted June 15 2015 - 6:47 AM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

 

 

For those of you who have purchased a a hybrid nest, how long did it take you to receive it?  

 

I thought these were made in mass production (not hand made like THA) and though I would receive mine much faster than what has become pretty common from ordering elsewhere.  

 

What do you guys think?  Is a month is pretty average wait?  longer?  shorter?

 

Thanks,

 

Hi Bugfinder,
 
I hope someone who has experienced buying a Hybrid Nest from us comes by and adds to this, but we usually ship the next day after an order, however due to an overwhelming volume of orders over the past 3 weeks, we were running a week and a half behind at shipping out orders for awhile (each customer was emailed and situation explained). We have almost caught up now though, as we had to order several more 3D printers to work around the clock to keep up with the overwhelming Hybrid Nest orders coming in. Assuming you order a Hybrid Nest today, you should receive it in 7-14 days max and if not I will email you personally to let you know and keep you updated. Again, ordinarily you would receive your Hybrid Nest in under a week if you live in US/Canada.
 
It's crazy because prior to the release of the Hybrid Nests we thought we were prepared for the volume of orders that would come in, and even had manufactured stock ahead of time before the Hybrid Nest launch. Turns out we received way more orders than we anticipated, and though it is a great thing for AntsCanada, we weren't prepared for the demand resulting in the back logged orders by a week and a half. To be honest, in all the years that AntsCanada has been around, we have never received an order demand like this, even during our annual Black Friday Promo sales. We are happy to be able to get back on regular shipping schedule in just a few more days.
 
Also human hands make the Hybrid Nests:
 
Just for clarification, these Hybrid Nests are not massed produced in the sense that some huge machine is pumping out 20 fully-made formicariums a minute. The Hybrid Nests are 3D printed which means for each Hybrid Nest, it takes about an entire day for the body and parts to be created, plus its various parts like glass and mesh parts cut and glued all by hand. Though the designs are set in each Hybrid Nest, there is still a human that touches each unit and assembles the formicarium.
 
There was a human touch in the design, too. The genus-targeted designs of each kind of Hybrid Nest were literally drawn by hand in pencil first. My partner and I spent a long time perfecting those designs by studying wild nest photos, and once we thought they were perfect we began manufacturing the Hybrids. It means every unit is an exact replica of our finalized perfected design with no room for errors or variation. The problem with having someone making you a formicarium by carving out Ytong by hand, for instance, is that it leaves too much room for variation in design, variation in tunnel size/shape/orientation, human errors, etc. In other words, if you order a Hybrid Nest you know exactly what your nest design looks like, you know that it is tailored to house your kind of ants, and you don't have to leave the tunneling design of your formicarium, which we've found to be super crucial to the success of an ant colony, to the hands of the formicarium maker.
 
On another note, are you serious? 1 month for a formicarium to arrive after purchase?! Wow that means people would have to order the moment they catch their queen. We manufacture, usually ship the next day, and it arrives in 2 days if postal service doesn't mess up (which sometimes happens) and 3-5 days if you're outside the North America (add a few more days if the  country's customs inspects the package at the border). There have been some cases where postal services lose packages or customs holds packages at a country's border which extends the shipment time, but these circumstances are few and are beyond our control.
 
Mikey

 

thanks for the response Mikey. My order must have fallen through the cracks.  I placed my order on May 20, so it hasn't been a month yet, but we're getting there.  I was just trying to figure out if that was normal or not before I reached out to you to inquire about it.  Maybe you could have a look to make sure you received my order and that it's still on track.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Bugfinder, PM sent. Did you know your Hybird Nest order was delivered to your address 3 days after you placed the order, i.e. May 23rd? If you check the USPS Tracking number I sent you it says they left a notice for you to pick it up at post office. When you didn't, they sent it back to us after a few weeks and it is now on its way back to us. We can send it out to you again but you will have to pay shipping again, and this time please look out for the package delivery or notice from USPS. Please pick the package up immediately when you do receive it.

 

Thanks,

 

Mikey


Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#47 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 15 2015 - 7:27 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Sometimes the postman is too lazy to deliver your package if it's going to require anything more than simply driving up and dropping it on the porch, so instead he will just take it back to the post office and say he left a notice.



#48 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 15 2015 - 8:43 AM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

Yeah thanks for the instructions on how to deal with the Post Office Mikey, I'm totally new to dealing with the USPS and your instructions really helped.  Since you provided me with some advice, I'll return the favor:  The Dale Carnegie Training Center provides wonderful training on subjects that include topics like customer communication, and customer experience.  You may consider enrolling, as a good customer experience can build trust and lead to a customer relationship that results in repeat sales.  Repeat sales are so much better than one time sales when you consider the cost of customer acquisition, and is critical in a market with so few consumers as the ant hobby.  I know you're a very busy guy, so you may not want to invest the kind of time needed to improve your customer service skills by taking a class.  You may consider reading Dale Carnegies book, "How to win friend and influence people."  It's a great book written by one of the titans of the American business world about how to provide a better customer experience and how that translates into more sales.  It costs less than $8 but is worth so much more than that in increased sales.

 

For your information, where I live the USPS is notoriously bad at delivering the mail.  Although I have had no problems receiving deliveries from THA or ByFormica, it doesn't come as a shock to me that the carrier delivering your package either left no notice, or left it in the wrong mailbox (the mail here is commonly mis-delivered).  If you would be so kind as to communicate with me when you send it out, I'll put a note out for the carrier to contact me so I can let him know it's coming and can try to coordinate with him for it's accurate delivery, that would be a huge help.

 

Thanks again, and thanks for your advice!!


“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#49 Offline AntsCanada - Posted June 15 2015 - 9:21 AM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

Yeah thanks for the instructions on how to deal with the Post Office Mikey, I'm totally new to dealing with the USPS and your instructions really helped.  Since you provided me with some advice, I'll return the favor:  The Dale Carnegie Training Center provides wonderful training on subjects that include topics like customer communication, and customer experience.  You may consider enrolling, as a good customer experience can build trust and lead to a customer relationship that results in repeat sales.  Repeat sales are so much better than one time sales when you consider the cost of customer acquisition, and is critical in a market with so few consumers as the ant hobby.  I know you're a very busy guy, so you may not want to invest the kind of time needed to improve your customer service skills by taking a class.  You may consider reading Dale Carnegies book, "How to win friend and influence people."  It's a great book written by one of the titans of the American business world about how to provide a better customer experience and how that translates into more sales.  It costs less than $8 but is worth so much more than that in increased sales.

 

For your information, where I live the USPS is notoriously bad at delivering the mail.  Although I have had no problems receiving deliveries from THA or ByFormica, it doesn't come as a shock to me that the carrier delivering your package either left no notice, or left it in the wrong mailbox (the mail here is commonly mis-delivered).  If you would be so kind as to communicate with me when you send it out, I'll put a note out for the carrier to contact me so I can let him know it's coming and can try to coordinate with him for it's accurate delivery, that would be a huge help.

 

Thanks again, and thanks for your advice!!

 

 

Sorry to hear about postal service in your area. We ship all US orders using regular USPS and haven't had problems before. Again, these postal issues are beyond our control. I am a big fan of Dale Carnegie and have read his work, but am an even bigger fan of Napoleon Hill and have read all of his books from 'Think N Grow Rich' to 'Outwitting the Devil' and have indeed applied these principles (which Napoleon acquired through Carnegie, also) in nearly all areas of my life, including AntsCanada. :) Love them books! I will definitely look into the links you sent. Thank you.

 


Sometimes the postman is too lazy to deliver your package if it's going to require anything more than simply driving up and dropping it on the porch, so instead he will just take it back to the post office and say he left a notice.

 

The woes of postal service!


Edited by AntsCanada, June 15 2015 - 9:28 AM.

Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#50 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 15 2015 - 11:17 AM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

I'm glad you're posting all this in public Mikey!  I have nothing to be ashamed about what I've said to you in private, and the fact you would post private emails in public just shows the lengths you will go to prove you are right, instead of trying to figure out what your customers needs are, and taking care of those.  That's definitely not a technique taught in Dale Carnegies book.

 

This shouldn't be a contest between you and I about who is right.  I'm just a consumer with a problem who wants to buy your product, and you have been unwilling until recently to sell it to me, and unwilling throughout to provide me reasonably good customer service.

 

I sent you those emails trying to purchase a hybrid nest from you because I needed to buy a new nest, you were supposed to be launching the hybird, hell you did a product roll out in this forum to get us all informed and all excited about the release of your product, and then it never went to market.  And we, or at least I, couldn't get any information about when it would go to market, and I needed to buy a nest.  

 

It's incredible how hard I've had to work to buy your product.  You didn't give us an accurate idea when it would be available for sale, I had to literally hound you to find out when you were going to release your product to the market, I even let you know that I needed it right away and if you could sell me one it would really help me out, of course you refused, (why would you do anything to try to meet the needs of your customer?)  You not only refused, but you also refused to let me know when I could expect it to be released.  I had been waiting to make a purchase from THA because I wanted to order more than 1 hybrid nest from you, and I was going to split what I was buying between THA and AntsCanada.  Unfortunately for you, I wasn't able to do that because you couldn't get your product to market, and I was sick of waiting for it.  I needed to make that purchase.  I had ants that I needed to get into nests.  I sent you that email because I wanted you to know that your inability to get your product to market, and your unwillingness to do whatever you could to try to meet the needs that I had, sent limited purchasing dollars to one of your competitors, instead of at least some of it going to you.  Then, completely unexpectedly, I hear, not from you but from someone else, fa competing vendor, no less, that your product is not only available for sale, but that it's been available for a while and other people already have them, and I had no idea they were even available.  

 

I started out (before purchasing anything from you) a raving fan of yours.  I love your youtube videos, I think your GAN project is great, and I love the PI and the Philippine people in general.  

 

I was a raving fan of yours when I reached out to you earlier this year about some products that you had sold, but weren't available in for sale currently.  When I inquired about them, you were not forthcoming at all with information about why the products couldn't be purchased, only that they can't.  I couldn't figure out why you wouldn't want to provide me the products I wanted to buy, or if you couldn't, explain why you couldn't and try to find out what I really wanted and why I wanted it, instead of wanting to purchase what you had available.  It seemed to me your attitude was, you'll buy what I decide to sell you, not what you want to buy.  I was confused and a little irritated by that, but I did have a very positive experience making a GAN purchase from you, and I was still a raving fan of yours, so I let it go.

 

Then, the incident in the chat room happened.  I was shocked at how you ignored my questions in there.  You simply were refusing to answer them.  Everyone in there saw it.  People who are loyal to you saw it and commented to me about it, about how odd it was.  The way you treated me in that chat converted me from a raving fan, to a dis-satisfied customer.  I decided I was not going to let that go.  I reached out to you on this message board, and by email, and still received no response from you.  You made it clear that how I felt about the way I was treated, and the feedback about how I felt about it didn't seem to matter to you.  Instead of responding positively to my problem, you made excuses for why you did what you did, and even worse, re-visioned the incident to try to make it look like what I was saying was not factually correct.  you were completely quiet about it for months, and then when you did finally say something about it, you re-visioned it.  Instead of taking responsibility for the way you treated me, and vowing to do better, you blamed me for it.  Like any good businessman would.  <sarcasm>  

 

It was very difficult for me to purchase any of your products after that, but I decided to try to put the past behind us and make this purchase, in part because I really like that product and think it may solve a problem I'm having, and I really want to try it, so I decide to buy even after I was treated poorly by you, and when I made a very polite inquiry about why I hadn't received it yet, you make a public, snarky comment, blaming me again.  

 

It's interesting that THA has never treated me poorly like that.  It's even more interesting that T, who can be prone to having mis-communications with and inter-personal issues with people from time to time, has never treated me poorly, as you have done.

 

It is through dealing with you as a consumer that has lead me to become so dissatisfied with you, and when I have reached out to you, with questions or to provide feedback, I've either been ignored, or received snarky responses from you, and have been blamed by you for the problems, like the one I'm replying to.

 

So instead of taking all of this feedback I've given you since January or so, (customer feedback is pretty hard to come by, many companies spend money to get it) as I've been reaching out to you trying to communicate with you about other products, and felt mostly ignored and taken for granted before your roll out of your new product in the chat you attended, and asking yourself how can you use this feedback to improve your products, improve your service, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately close more sales, you've decided I'm just trying to hurt your feelings.  You know what that's fine.  I couldn't possibly do any more to try to communicate with you than I have, and I don't think a consumer should have to work this hard to purchase your products.  

 

So I don't know where you want to go from here.  If you want to send this product back to me, I would really like to try it to solve a problem I'm having.  If you want to have no further business dealings with me going forward that'll suit me just fine.  I just ask that you let me know when you send it out again so I can talk to the mail carrier to try to ensure delivery happens.

 

If you'd rather cancel the order and refund my money, I'm sure I can get THA to build me something that'll solve the problem I'm having, I'm sure he'll be happy to do it, and he'll solve my problems instead of treating me poorly and then blaming me or it.

 

If you'd like to try to reset our relationship, I'm even willing to do that, but that will only happen if you're willing to accept the feedback I've provided you, look critically at it for ways you can improve the customer service you've been providing me, and improve it going forward.  This isn't personal Mikey, it's business.  You either want to earn mine, or you don't.  It's as simple as that.


Edited by BugFinder, June 15 2015 - 4:02 PM.

  • Ants4fun, dermy, Gregory2455 and 1 other like this
“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#51 Offline AntsCanada - Posted June 15 2015 - 4:57 PM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

I will email you the payal money request for shipping the package back to you.


Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#52 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 15 2015 - 5:01 PM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

Thanks Mikey.  I appreciate that.


Edited by BugFinder, June 15 2015 - 5:02 PM.

  • Ants4fun likes this
“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#53 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 24 2015 - 5:17 PM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

Well, it's been a long road to get here, but I am now an owner of an AntsCanada Hybrid nest.  Looking forward to opening it up and digging into it ;)


  • Jonathan21700 likes this
“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#54 Offline Lamarr - Posted June 25 2015 - 1:13 AM

Lamarr

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 141 posts
  • LocationBirmingham, Alabama

Well, it's been a long road to get here, but I am now an owner of an AntsCanada Hybrid nest.  Looking forward to opening it up and digging into it ;)

Congrats man! Show us the nest once you have it on your hands!



#55 Offline BugFinder - Posted June 25 2015 - 12:35 PM

BugFinder

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 872 posts
  • LocationSunnyvale, CA

I have received it, I just need to find time to put it together and publish a review of it ;)


  • Lamarr likes this
“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!


#56 Offline Jonathan21700 - Posted June 26 2015 - 12:21 PM

Jonathan21700

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 807 posts

What species do you plan on keeping in it?


Edited by Jonathan21700, June 26 2015 - 12:21 PM.


#57 Offline AntsCanada - Posted July 1 2015 - 3:58 PM

AntsCanada

    Vendor

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 94 posts

New video on catching queen ants. I was able to go queen ant hunting 2 weeks ago and documented how I do it. Hope you guys like the video:

 


Ant love forever!
http://antscanada.com

#58 Offline Alza - Posted July 1 2015 - 4:21 PM

Alza

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 864 posts
  • LocationThe Village

Update your solenopsis geminate 


  • LC3 likes this

#59 Offline dspdrew - Posted July 1 2015 - 6:59 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Laying on the ground. :lol:



#60 Offline Ants4fun - Posted July 1 2015 - 7:15 PM

Ants4fun

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,142 posts
  • LocationSouth Dakota
I believe he doesn't have them anymore.





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: antscanada, formicarium, antfarm

2 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 2 guests, 0 anonymous users