MauiShirts Web Blog

Accountability versus Shipping Cost

Don’t be fooled by offers of free shipping from other Internet sellers. Do the math.

One in every few hundred customers has some gripe about the cost of shipping. Let’s get real. These complainers are ignorant of the facts. MauiShirts.com ships from an island, Maui, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Nothing, let me repeat, nothing leaves this island and goes direct to the Mainland. The Post Office, Federal Express, etc. first must move parcels and mail to Honolulu, (that’s the city on Oahu – the main island) and then it moves to the mainland. Any Post Office information about the time it takes to make its deliveries do not include the fact that shipping from Maui requires one or two additional days, depending on the time of day, and sometimes the weather, as to when the shipment is made.

MauiShirts.com prices are the lowest on the planet for Paradise Found and R. J. Clancey, Made in Hawaii Aloha wear. Compare apples to apples. You can find web sites that offer free shipping, or lower shipping costs, but their prices for shirts and dresses are higher and their services are different or don’t exist. Do the math. There are more than a dozen sellers offering cheaper, lower quality made in Indonesian or China aloha shirts and dresses. Even the Tommy Bahamas brand is made in China! They make fat profits on this cheap labor made apparel. Comparable Tommy Bahamas shirts are twice the cost of Paradise Found or R.J. Clancey shirts. Many sellers do offer free shipping. If shipping cost is the criteria for your purchase, then, please shop with these vendors. Or, read on.

MauiShirts.com brings much more to your transaction than shipping charges. These other sellers do not offer many or none of these services : (1) on-line access to your order, (2) an email confirmation within seconds after you place your order, (3) an email with the Delivery Confirmation Number or Federal Express Tracking Number when the order ships, (4) Full insurance for the cost of your order, (5) a way to track your order while it is in transit from any page of the web site or with the Post Office or Federal Express, (6) lower prices with apples to apples comparison, (7) a toll free number to call if you have a question, the telephone number is not hidden as most other web sites. It is on the bottom area of ALL pages of the web site, (8) a six month period to make an exchange, yes, that is correct, six months – ( no other vender offers this ! ), refunds within ten work days, (some vendors take 30 to 60 days to obtain a refund). And, most of all, no other vendor comes close to the selection offered within the 3,000 plus pages of choices with easy search and navigation. And, last, but not least, every shipment box receives a $ 5.00 coupon for your next purchase. Also, once you place an order with MauiShirts.com you automatically receive the monthly sale usually giving you an additional 10% or more discounts off the already discounted prices.

I will add this. If you would like your order shipped without insurance at your own risk, with no recourse if your package does not show up, you can deduct $ 1.70 from your Priority Mail shipment cost. If you want your order shipped without a Delivery Confirmation tracking number and no Internet access, you can deduct another 75 cents. If you want your order shipped without tissue paper and simply folded into a bag or envelope instead of a sturdy Priority Mail box you can deduct another $ 2.00. Your order will ship via parcel post. Estimated wait time can be 15 days and up to 30 days or more. So, there, $ 9.90 is now $ 5.45. This might make the shipping conscious shopper happy. Go for it. Just say what you want to deduct. So, type in your preferences in the “Special Instructions” box of your order form if you want a discounted, no frills, no insurance, no box, slow boat shipment. Your wish is my command.

Here are the Post Office facts: You Do the Math – please!

Priority Mail Cost for one pound or less is $ 4.80.

Add additional cost for over one pound.

Example: 1 pound 4 ounces ($ 8.25).

Priority Mail for two pounds is $ 9.80

Add for Insurance of $ 50 or less: $ 1.70

Add more insurance cost if value is over $ 50

Add for Delivery Confirmation: 65 cents

As far as $ 19.80 for 2^nd Day Federal Express, let me say this. Why don’t you call or go to your local Federal Express office and inquiry as to what the cost is. Believe me. It will be almost twice what we charge.

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Before you read this you should realize I see about one of these types of email complaints in every few thousand transactions. They are always between $ 20 and under $ 50.00 as the total sale. I figure it is someone who wants something for nothing or in this case, I suspect it is a total misinterpretation of the email sent out to everyone who wants an exchange or refund. This type of customer always, 100% of the time, ends their email communication with a threat. This one is no different. Not only will she not buy from MauiShirts.com again, (good – hehe), but she will make sure anyone she knows will also not buy. As far as I’m concerned, if she has any friends, I don’t want them or her as customers unless they promise to read or dial a phone to ask for explanation or help rather than go off the deep end. At first when I read the email I knew this person was a sandwich short of a picnic. There is no business on the Internet that would want someone to just arbitrarily send their purchase back without first requesting (permission), authorization to send something back. With that in mind, the customer’s math is all screwed up. So, enjoy. I got a good chuckle. My reply was kind and with out my usual sarcasm.

At 07:20 AM 7/1/2008 – Amazon.com Customer writes:

Aloha
Firstly, let me explain that I have been to Maui before (on my honeymoon in 2004) and was quite happy with my visit.  I thought the island was very nice and the people were as well. 
I am however, very dissatisfied with my experience purchasing from your company.  I bought this item for 31.90.  Since it was for a wedding and I needed it shipped right away, I paid 19.70 for shipping charges.  When I purchased the item from Amazon, it stated nowhere that there was a 15% return fee for items returned.  So, 15% for the "restocking fee" (which I assure you is not that much of a hassle as I have worked in retail for most of my life) would be 4.79 for this item.  Take the 19.70 that I paid for in shipping the item to me in the first place plus the restocking fee of 4.79 and you have 24.49.  BUT, I also have to pay to have it shipped back, which probably will be around 5.00.  So, that takes it up to 29.49, more or little less, for an item that I would no longer have.  That’s only about 2.41 I will get back.  That is hardly worth sending back to you so you can turn around and sell it to someone else.
The process of returning an item is uncalled for as well.  A person should not have to write in for "permission" to send something back that does not fit them and they do not like and we certainly shouldn’t have to do anything else after that.  Your reply email is very confusing and since it was so long, I didn’t bother to read the whole thing through. 
This is the greatest inconvenience I have ever had with purchasing something through the Internet and I will never purchase from you again.  I have also instructed the people I know to never purchase from you unless they are certain they will not need to return the item.
Utter nonsense.
Mahalo!

MauiShirts.com Replies:

Aloha,
Thank you for your comments and your email.
I suspect your comments will make the daily blog
on the main web site www.MauiShirts.com.
Your comments are unique
and, as you stated it, utter nonsense.

I’m always saddened when customers are unhappy.
Your email is full of untruths, flawed math
and ends with a threat.

Unfortunately, it is my responsibility to respond.
It is sad to have to respond to such comments that you have made,
and, all over a few dollars.
What a pity.

There are no fees for returns that are for exchanges.
Possibly you did not read this.

There is a 15% handling, re-listing and re-stocking fee for returns that are not for
exchanges. This is only reasonable.
The information about the handling, re-listing, re-stocking is on all Amazon.com listings.
It is called "SELLERS POLICY" or "View Shipping rates and policies".
I’m sorry you did not see it and read it.

You are purchasing hand made items, made in limited quantities. 
The demand has been greater than the supply for over ten years now.
In many instances, your purchase disables someone else from
buying the same item.

This apparel is not made in China or other foreign nations in great quantities.

When your return arrives on Maui, more than likely it will have to be steamed,
pressed, re-stocked, re-hung, re-inventoried and probably re-listed.

There are size charts and images for all listings.
No other apparel web site offers more variety with a size chart for every style.
A great deal of time is put into creating size charts.

Every Amazon.com listing of our apparel has this statement.
I’m sorry you did not read it:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION Please Read: Please click on the "See Merchant’s Sizing Charts"
Link above to see the appropriate Size Chart for your apparel and use these measurements to help determine your size.
Also please be aware that all MauiShirts items ship from the island of Maui which is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Please click on the "View Shipping Rates and Policies" link below to read about Shipping, Returns, Exchange, and Refund policies.

MauiShirts.com allows six months to make an exchange. No other web site offers this.
You can exchange for anything.

The main web site is over 3,000 pages deep
and full of thousands of dresses and shirts.

Nothing can be made any simpler as far as returns and exchanges.
There is nothing confusing in our email to most people.
No company allows returns without permission. To say that
this is not true is absurd.
All we ask for is an order number and an email.
There is no need to make it complicated.
One simply has to read the information.

All you have to do is send back what you do not want.
Make a new purchase for that which you want for an exchange.
When the exchange item reaches Maui, a full refund is issued.

There is a toll free number to call if the information is not understood.

We make little or nothing, and, most of the time, we lose money on shipping.
The same $ 19.70 you paid for shipping would be almost double that if you were
to ship it on your own. We pass on our Federal Express discount to the customer.
The cost to send your dress back via First Class Mail is well under $ 5.00.
My estimate is about $3.00.

All apparel is offered at the lowest of prices.
Always on sale at 20% to 40% less than Mainland stores if you can find the brand
names Paradise Found and R. J. Clancey.  MauiShirts.com offers the greatest selection
on the planet of these two brand name. Both,  R. J. Clancey and Paradise found has been making
quality aloha wear for over 55 years .

MauiShirts.com ships over 30,000 shirts and dresses a year to happy people around the globe.
Every shipment box includes a $ 5.00 adult coupon and a $ 2.00 children’s coupon.

No matter how hard we try, we know that we can never satisfy all of the people all of the time.

…Researching your order:
Received after hours on the 17th. Shipped RUSH the next day on the 18th.
You will not find better service for anything anywhere faster!

The Orchid Island dress you purchased is one of the most popular prints we have offered in many years.
It sells out in Men’s and Women’s dresses week after week.
The fabric is almost gone and it will be sold out soon.

Sincerely,
Mickey Steinborn
Customer Relations
MauiShirts.com, Inc.
www.MauiShirts.com

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Now comes the customer who becomes irate and says my customer service is “awful”. She “demands” a refund. Like, I can’t wait to give this person’s money back and block her IP address so I never have to deal with her again. Yes, I can do that. I can block your IP address so you can never get to my web site again from your PC. Not that she would ever want to shop with me again. But, just as a precaution, I take this tact. I could not refund this transaction fast enough. It was truly my pleasure. She did not receive an email or a phone call within three days of the time she placed her order on-line. I did not inform her that the $ 16.98 kiddie cabana set for her niece will not arrive in time for the birthday party. It was not in stock in the size and color she selected. She made no alternate choice of color or print.

And, this is funny. She picked U.S. Priority Mail as her shipping option. My goodness, you want it in a rush. You need it in your hands by a specific date. Why in the world would you select the Post Office as your shipping option? The chances of the cabana set getting there on time, even if I shipped it the same day was slim to none. She should have gone to Sears or J. C. Penny for her kiddie outfit. She placed her order on a Friday afternoon, after 7 PM, local time. It’s the Friday before a three day Holiday weekend. No work on Monday, it�s King Kamehamea day. (How could she know that?) King Kamehamea day is an important Holiday here on the Island of Maui. There is a big parade, Front Street is closed. Many businesses are closed. Saturday and Sunday really can not be included in packing, shipping or delivery time. Nor, can the Holiday be included..

It is common to experience a power outage here in Lahaina. This is not uncommon here on the island for this to happen many times a year. Entire areas are down without electricity for hours at a time. Power outages affect the Internet service, the phone lines and of course, there is no air conditioning. You may not know it, but it’s very hot and dry in Old Lahaina town in the summer months. You simply can not work while sweat drops from your forehead on to the apparel. Communication and Internet usage are disrupted for many hours. And, it is also common to be stuck on the other side of the island, in a long line of traffic on a two lane highway because the road is closed due brush fires. There is only one main road from the airport, Wailuku and Kahului to the Westside, Lahaina. Some days the Federal Express daily shipment from our Honolulu factories does not deliver our boxes in the morning. They may come late in the afternoon or not until the next day. Rain can cause delays here on the Island.

The point here is that there are mitigating circumstances beyond my control and your control. And the world does not revolve around you, the customer. The word Rush and Aloha Wear do not belong in the same sentence. So, before you get mad at me and slam me with stupid, thoughtless, negative feedback, take five minutes out of your hurried life and read the page that tells you what to expect when it comes to shipping and delivery time before you place your order. The link is easy to find. It’s on the top of all 2,500 pages. It is called “Important Information & Shipping” and it’s in red letters. Try to plan more than five days ahead. I ship from an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Please consider the possibility that five days might not be enough time to leave for an order to get to you when there is a week end and a holiday in those five days! Sheesh.

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Re-stocking fee? What in the world is that? I�ll tell you. It’s not just a re-stocking fee. It’s a handling, re-listing and re-stocking fee. It helps defray the cost of re-listing that item you purchased. It probably made no difference to you that the item you purchased�was the last size or last color. Why should you care?�The small 15% fee�helps defray the cost of un-listing the item you purchased and it helps defray the cost of re-listing it when you return it because you didn�t bother to use the published size charts. The paperwork you create is in itself a little nightmare. More times than not, you fail to mention your order numbers. You use two different email addresses. You don�t follow the simple instructions in the email you receive. You write cryptic notes and enclose them in your return box. You need an email sent to you for clarification. You enclose your phone number. What a joke. Maui is 3 to 6 hours earlier than you from the Mainland. There is no time for phone tag. You think that you are the only customer I have? You think I can remember every transaction? Think again. Please, pretty please. Every week, over 200 transactions or more�occur. It is impossible to remember every nuance of every transaction. There are literally over one thousand new transactions per month.

There is no automatic magic button that updates and deletes and adds these things to the web site pages. It�s done with time and care by hand. It�s labor. Tedious exacting labor. Oh, it didn�t fit. But, what about the other person that wanted that item. It might have�have fit them.

You are buying high quality apparel that is hand made in very limited quantities. The size charts are accurate, much to your dismay and chagrin. If you are one of those people who will not admit that you can not fit into a 2X size, please shop somewhere else. Try a Mu’uMu’u or consider Hilo Hattie for your next purchase. If you are a woman who is 150 lbs. and 5′ 1″, I doubt if any item offered here will fit you. Get real. If you are difficult to fit, then you know you are wasting your time and mine.

Re-stocking fee. It helps pay for the steaming and ironing of the items that you stuff into a box, unbuttoned or unzipped and put into an envelope and send back as if I were your valet. Well, I�m not your personal valet and I�m not happy for the dozens of items returned each month for exchange that are sent back without any care what-so-ever. I�m not your mother. If I have to fold your clothes and hang them up as if you were a little child, I must charge you for the time it takes to do this. If you begrudge the 15% fee, then, please, I beg of�you,�shop somewhere else.

And, most important, for those folks that fold and ship with care, I salute you. You are NOT the majority. You are the exception. I love you. I move your exchange, return to the top of the stack. You get your refund very quickly.

I take great care in folding and packing your items. Please do your best and return your items in good condition so I can re-stock and re-sell it. Please. Pretty please.

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Aloha world,

Let it be public knowledge that there are no two manufacturers of apparel on this planet that can agree on size measurements. The measurements in the size charts on MauiShirts.com pertain ONLY to the apparel Made in Hawaii and, quite frankly, I doubt if they measure up to any other manufacturer who make their garments in Pakistan, Honduras, Mexico, China or any third world nation. PLEASE use the measurements in the size charts published on just about every single page here, to help determine your size. We all know that there are no two people built the same way, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, these size charts will help you make an educated decision. Don�t think that the size you purchased from some department store is going to be the same. Most size measurements are meant, with all good intentions, for the average person. But, then again, what is average. Remember there is no re-stocking fee for exchanges.

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(M.S.O.I.)Maui Shirts Order Investigation.

It never fails to amaze me how rude, inconsiderate and stupid some people can be. Today I opened this weeks boxes from customer�s returns and exchanges. There were 13 boxes. One person could not of possibly found a smaller box. A deck of playing cards might not have fit into this box. She rolled a long tank dress up like a strand of flat spaghetti, then re-folded it until it snugly fit into this tiny box. The dress, of course, was totally wrinkled and crumpled. Not only did she do this silly thing, but she sent it first class mail and paid much more than Priority Mail. Too much! She wasted her money and now she must pay the $ 7.50 to steam and press the dress.Three boxes contained no order number, email address or anything at all to identify the sender. Now what�s that all about?

MauiShirts.com ships 200 to 300 boxes per week! Am I supposed to remember each customer�s items that I send to them? I don�t think so.There is not enough time in the day to research these sender�s orders to find out who they are, yet alone what they want. These three will go into the unknown file. I photo-copy the address and return label from the box. Some day someone will call or email and complain about not receiving their refund. Hopefully I will be able to match them up after obtaining some further information form them.

Five boxes were packed so shabbily that if I sent them their items as they returned them to me, I would be out of business in short time. How is it possible that full grown adults do not know how to fold a shirt or a dress?

Then what about the scotch tape and duct tape people. I better unwrap those boxes fast before the adhesive residue stains the garments. I hate packages sealed with duct tape. At best, it�s tacky. The worst offenders are those that simply crumple up the shirt or dress, totally unbuttoned or unzipped and stuff, shove it into a used box. How rude. What�s that about?

All items are neatly folded and neatly wrapped into tissue paper when sent to you. Are you mad at me because your fat body will not fit into the X-Small shirt or dress you purcahsed? The least you can do is try hard to fold the thing neatly. Some wrinkles are expected, but how about showing a tiny bit of respect. If I sent it to you, like you returned it to me, I wouldn�t have very many repeat customers at all. I would be deluged with negative feedback.

Respectfully yours, Sargent Commander Manic Mickey of M.S.O.I.

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The Returns / Exchanges / Refund link is on the top right hand of all 2,500 plus web pages. It is written in clear and easy to understand language. It clearly states to send your return or exchange items back to Maui in a BOX. Why in the world do people still send things back in an envelope or bag via Priority Mail? The price is the same people. You are going to get tagged with a $ 7.50 steaming and ironing fee. If you are going to the Post Office to pick up a Priority envelope to ship back your returns or exchanges you asking for trouble. Pick up the box. It�s FREE. The box is free. But, please don�t use a CD or Cassette box. It�s too small. Don�t use a Flat Rate Box - it�s $ 8.10. Use the PRIORITY MAIL BOX. The cost to ship the envelope or the box is exactly the same; $ 4.05 for up to one pound ! BOX IT !

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All transactions from Yahoo, (the main web site), MauiShirts.com as well as Amazon.com and Shop.com and eBay have order numbers. ALL ORDERS are stored and sorted by their Order Number. PLEASE communicate with your Order Number. The Order Number is NOT the stock number, it is NOT the Federal Express tracking number, it is not the SKU number or any other number you may want to quote. And, it is NOT the Post Office Priority Mail Delivery Confirmation Number. If you placed your order via the toll-free number, or a Phone Order, your order number would be a four digit number preceded by PH, or PH-1234. If you mailed in your order, then there is no order number - good luck.

The order number is sent to you, via email, within seconds after you place your order.

From Yahoo, it is on the very top of your email page and reads simply, “Order MauiShirts-12345 for MauiShirts. From Amazon.com it is a 17 digit number that looks like this: 000-111111-2222222. From Shop.com the Order number has seven digits and is called the “Master Order Number. The eBay order number is the Item Number, usually 10 digits. So, if you want a speedy reply to your inquires, PLEASE include your order number. Without your order number, I would have to search with your email address within MauiShirts.com, Amazon.com, Shop.com and eBay. Of course it is not as simple as that. Some of you have more than one email address. Some of you shop from your work place, (shame on you), and have two or more different email addressees. Some of you use your husband�s or wife�s email address. If it can be made complicated, you will make it so. So, if you do not get a reply to your inquiry within a few hours, it is because I�m searching for your order number so I can communicate to you with some knowledge of your order.

MauiShirts.com easily receives more than 200 to 300 emails per day. Amongst this mass of email are 25 to 50 or more genuine orders or inquires.

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The words of one of our country�s great forefathers, Abraham Lincoln, comes to mind lately. I paraphrase..”You can satisfy all of the people some of the time. You can satisfy some of the people all of the time. But, you can never satisfy all of the people all of the time.”

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2^nd Day Air Federal Express DOES NOT necessarily mean you are going to get your order in two days. 2^nd day air is the way we ship things off of the island of Maui. We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of miles away from any Mainland city.
Federal Express is inexpensive and reliable. It is far better than Priority Mail and United Parcel Service. Think about it. Maui time is 3 to 6 hours earlier than you Mainlanders. Maui time never changes. You Mainlanders are all over the clock. It seems every other person placing an order is in a RUSH. Federal Express picks up early in the morning five days a week. If your order arrives after 10 a.m. Maui time on a� Friday, or on a Saturday or a Sunday, it might not ship out until later the next week if it is not in hanging stock in the Maui showroom. If it’s in stock it will ship the same day.
Remember it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep every print, in every style, in every color, in every size in stock all of the time.

�

MauiShirts.com, Inc. stocks 5,000 to 6,000 garments all of the time. Many items that are not in stock must come from the factory in Honolulu. This can take 3 to 5 days. Give me a break. Piss poor planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part. Some orders can take 5 days or more to ship. Wow. Five days, that�s a real long time. Sheesh. Give me a break. Get off my back.

�

MauiShirts ships fast. That�s a fact.

MauiShirts can not be all things to all people. So, lighten up. Please.

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