ATTENTION!

Pro-Tape will be having its first EMTEC SELL-A-THON this Thursday and Friday, November 29-30, 2001.

All EMTEC products will be discounted during this big sale!

EMTEC Pro Media is the manufacturer of products formerly found under the BASF name.

EVERTHING IN THE STORE WILL BE MARKED DOWN A MINIMUM OF 10%!


Plus:

Betacam SP and Digital Betacam 20% off
ADAT 20% off
DAT and audio cassettes 12% off
SM900 Analog Open Reel Tape 12% off
DTRS Digital Audio Tape 10% off PLUS Free Head Cleaner with every case.
Mini DV Tape 25% off (while supplies last)

...plus random prizes to be given away!

SOME items limited to stock on hand but most pricing good for all orders.

These specials will NOT be online so please call your local store in San Antonio, Houston or Austin OR 800-950-8653 nationwide to place your order.
--
Craig Berlin
"Mr. Tapeguy"

Professional Tape
Image + Sound + Data

http://www.pro-tape.com

512-443-3911 Sales, Customer Service
512-443-4479 Facsimile
512-443-4477 Administration

========

For those of you who missed our inventory clearance sale, we have a number of items left and some new inventory at great prices, including Canon XL1's, JVC SRVS10's, HRVS1U's and HRVS2U's, Panasonic AG-DVC10's, AG-DV1000's and AG-DV2000's. Many of these items are refurbished, demo or "B-Stock" items and are deeply discounted. Unlike some notorious newsgroup spammers, we always offer products "other than new" as exactly that.

Pricing on a Mini and Full Size DV is also reduced. Check out our online store for the absolute best pricing on all brands - Sony, Panasonic (consumer and pro), JVC, Fuji and Maxell.

We are also stocking Mini DV storage racks and the new Sima Mini DV rewinder - both also available in our online store along with Sony and Lenmar batteries and a variety of accessories.

Anyone still shooting S-VHS should also contact us for a great deal on an AG-456 or a super blowout on the 3-chip JVC GY-X3U, now on sale well below original dealer cost.

I wanted to let everyone know about all of our overstock and other specials, plus our travel schedule for those of you who like to do the show thang.

We will be at Videomaker East from July 25-27 at the Sheraton Meadowlands. We always look forward to this show and seeing all our friends from the NYC-NJ area.

Immediately following we will fly cross-country to exhibit at the first LA DV Show at the Burbank Hilton. Mindshare Ventures had their first show at the Manhattan Center earlier this year and this show promises to be equally successful. We will be in Burbank at the show on July 30-31.

For those of you not attending the shows we have a number of overstock and otherwise sale priced items in our webstore and a couple of closeouts on eBay. Currently we have drastic price reductions on:

All Macrosystems Avio New and B-stock units (Full warranty)
All JVC Mini DV / S-VHS decks
All Applied Magic Editors, closeout priced
Panasonic Internal and External DVD-R Recorders, including the DMR-T2020
Terapin Video CD Recorders
Pioneer A03 and A04 internal DVD-R Recorders
CD-R and DVD-R Media
Mini DV tapes starting at $2.69!
and much more....

Also, we have some of the last remaining inventory of the Canon GL-1. The $250 rebate has been extended through 7/31 so this is your LAST CHANCE to save on this unit. The GL2 will be quite a bit more expensive with NO REBATE, so call now before they're all gone!

Chris will be helping us out with our Varizoom setup in New Jersey before heading off to the Canon booth and slumming in OUR booth in LA so we hope to see you there!

Haven't been able to get to the Pro-tape site for 2 days.
Have they shut down?

It's coming up for me: http://www.pro-tape.com/

Craig Berlin is exhibiting here at DV Expo and they are very much alive and well. Hope this helps,

Something's up, though, Chris. I can't get it either.

My wintel machine gets in just fine. Maybe it's intermittantly down?

Dunno

Works for me. Could be server problems somewhere.

hmm, still can't get in. I can't get into triggerstreet.com either. My provider, Adelphia has been flakey lately. Even have trouble getting my email in a timely manner.

I'll keep trying.

I get zgc and zotc though.

geez, now I get in. Just now. really weird.

FWIW it did take awhile to pull up, on long distance dial-up from L.A.

This is my third dealing with Pro-Tape, and for the third time they have not failed to disappoint me.

I put in an order for 100 Fuji BT-15 (bulk tape) 33 days ago. You would think this would be a fairly standard order.

I called for an update 2 weeks after I placed the order - "the order was back-ordered - but was due the next day." I called 3 weeks after I placed the order - "we should be getting that order any day now."
33 days later, I have yet to receive the order.

This is the third time Pro-Tape has delayed a shipment for over a month for a product that was supposedly in stock.

Their customer service works in one direction. You have to call to find why your order hasn't arrived as promised.
Frankly, they suck, and I will never do business with them again.

Fuji tapes are easy to get in Canada, maybe even cheaper too. There's a good tape place here in Vancouver, I can't recall the link. Perhaps Bryan can post the link, or I'll find it later.

Pro Tape sent my order via UPS even after I requested and paid for Fed Ex (which they assured me they would use). Ended up paying a heck of a lot at the border as a result... They forgot an item, so I asked for it to be shipped promptly via Fed Ex, but again..UPS...

So I'm buying my tape stock elsewhere. I would also like that Vancouver link.

I didn't realize that pro-tape was one of our sponsors, so I cannot post that link (I suggested) here. I suggest to contact Chis Hurd about this problem. But if you do want the Vancouver link, I'll gladly give it to you via e-mail.

I started using Pro-Tape because They sponsored the XL-1 Watchdog. If they were good enough for Chris H, they were going to be good enough for me.

The first mishap I brushed off as a fluke. The second unsatisfactory order, I gave them the benefit of a doubt. Third time in a row is inexcusable.

I've left two messages with their sales department this week. Included all my pertinent information: name, order number, telephone number, brief description of my problem.

Apparently, they are much too busy to return my calls.

Sorry to sound bitter. I'm usually such a happy, easy-going fellow. But customer service is a passion of mine.

I appreciate and recognize good service, because I go to great lengths to keep my customers informed at every step of the process. Believe it or not, a 30 second phone call or a quick e-mail goes a long way in building relationships.

I also recognize indifference. That just about descibes Pro-Tape.

Pro-Tape is here at the Entertainment Tech World show in L.A. and I will point them to this thread in person later this morning.

Eric,

First of all, let me say that I am very sorry for your experience. I will check into this matter personally and investigate why you received such poor service. That is job #1.

Chris has known our company and me for over 10 years and I think he can vouch for the fact that we are committed to customer service. You can also see that we have a 5-Star "Top Service" rating on Yahoo! Shopping so in general, our customer service is excellent. That is not to say that we don't make mistakes -- and I am particularly concerned that you received bad service not only once but 3 times in a row according to your information. That is unprecedented and I will have to find out what happened.

Lastly, I have to say that I wish you had contacted me directly before flaming us here. I can guarantee that I will be chewing on somebody about this incident and I would very much have appreciated the opportunity to rectify the situation prior to being publicly humiliated. Nevertheless, this will be addressed and should you be willing to give us another opportunity, I will personally guarantee that your experience will be drastically different in the future.

Andrew, I am also sorry for your mistake. Perhaps we can give you both a discount on your next order to help with the inconvenience.

We do make mistakes sometimes but we also do our best to rectify them. If anyone has had an unhappy experience with our company please contact me directly and I will do my best to take care of it.


Sincerely,

Craig Berlin
President

512-443-3911 x 108

I am pleased to announce that Pro-Tape is now an authorized Apple Pro Video Reseller. As a Mac-based company since our inception, we are committed to the platform and particularly excited to become involved as Final Cut Pro 4.0 and DVD Studio 2.0 become available. We are running specials on all products.

I am also excited to announce the addition to our staff of David Branham, Final Cut Product Champion for Apple from product inception through 3.0. We are expecially pleased to have David on staff as we design product bundles and training that are ideal for the pro video end user.

Give us a call if you're looking!

Craig

Hello. Craig.

Thank you for the reply. I certainly didn't expect a reply from the president. A simple e-mail from your sales department would have been satisfactory.

It was certainly not my intent to "flame" or "humiliate" anyone in my posting. I'm sorry you took it that way. I was simply relating my personal and consistent experience with your company I am sure you can appreciate my frustration with the lack of pro-active communication from your sales force. Pro-tape's canned email order reply says in part "If there is any reason why we cannot ship your product within two business days, we will let you know." This is simply is not happening.

I don't want a discount on a future service. I want service that tells me up front if an item is out of stock, keeps me regularly updated on the status of the back-ordered product, and allows me to exercise the option of making other plans if my needs can not be met in a timely manner.

I can not physically walk in to your store and receive the personal service that Chris receives. I place my orders online and by phone, but I expect the same consideration of any of your walk-in customers.

Eric,

Your frustration is understood and appreciated. My reference to any Pro Tape bashing is in regard to the statement that we "suck" and the like. Regardless, Chris can tell you that I address matters such as this personally, particularly if you have failed to get satisfaction through other channels. My actions as a buyer also tend to be to move up the chain of command when I'm not satisfied.

Believe me when I tell you that as a rule, both our online customer service and sales manager are very good about getting back to people about problems, so I'm still not sure how any of this occurred. I do not refer to Chris's experience as relating to the fact that he can walk in; rather as a matter that he knows me and can tell you that poor service and unhappy customers are simply not acceptable in my book.

I have investigated your situation somewhat.

On your first order, for a Lenmar battery which was out of stock and apparently on backorder from Lenmar, our sales manager Mike Belile acknowledges that there was a delay and getting it in but also says he informed you up front (he didn't say by phone or e-mail) that there would be an unavoidable delay.

On your second order, a standard stock item, some Fuji bulk VHS, it appears there was an unusual delay and I have not determined why. From looking at your invoice it appears you were given free shipping on the item, I'm assuming as compensation for the delay or lack of communication.

Your third order appears to be for a combination of mini DV tape, VHS and storage racks. Again, I have not yet determined why there was a delay - I know the items were out of stock but shouldn't have been for very long and I don't know why either they WERE for so long or why the backorder wasn't shipped sooner.

We did send a partial shipment for what was in stock as requested.

At any rate, I do agree that we did not measure up on at least the second and third orders in terms of having in stock common items. If you didn't receive any notice of delays, that is an even bigger problem and one that I will follow up on again. I will also be looking into the stock situation to find out how long the delay was, why it was so long and/or if our backorder notification system is not functioning properly.

Again, sorry for your experience and I trust if you give us another opportunity we will do a better job.

Regards,

Craig

Craig,

Here is a suggestion that may help you. In regards to your comment about “I wish you had contacted me directly” (in reference to Eric).

By the time I am asking someone to “let me speak to your supervisor” it is usually too late – I am already an upset customer. It is the job of your guys on the front line to communicate with the customer. On-line purchasing is so impersonal it makes it even more difficult than usual for a vender to gain the loyalty of a customer. Communication is the solution. Even if it is e-mail.

Regardless of “who did what”, it sounds like there was clearly several communication issues – Between your staff and a customer and you and your staff.

For a possible solution you might consider placing a prominent link on your web page labeled Special Customer Service Comments. Openly request good and bad comments. Have your web master link it directly to your personal e-mail. What comes in may help you keep in touch with issues you were unaware of. Just a thought.

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for your input.

Other than shooting for 100% accuracy (very difficult with humans), I know of no other method when someone DOES make a mistake than to go to the next level up. Obviously we try to avoid that but it does happen. I agree wholeheartedly that communication is paramount. I think our staff knows what our standards are - in this case they just didn't deliver and ultimately I have to take responsibility.

ALL online customers are invited to send feedback if they so desire. Their reply is sent directly to me so I can see how we're doing.

Again, thanks for your comments.

Craig

Just wanted to say "thanks" to one of the board sponsors........

I needed a few items that I was in no hurry for, checked their website, then called them about the shipping costs (since I live in Alaska).

I received outstanding support from Jeremy in sales and George in shipping. Both of them went out of their way to help me, and shipped in a fashion that was not in their usual manner (USPS) to keep it cost effective for me.

I placed the order at almost 3pm their time on the 1st, and I came home tonight to my order sitting on my front porch (5th).

Thanks again Pro Tape, you made it work for me.....(the customer) !!!!