Proviation customer care problems

[PaulKerry]

From Felicity slaymaker:

The worst customer service I have ever experienced, think twice before you use this company

I ordered goods totalling over £200 on 30 November for my husbands Christmas present, my items have still not arrived! Initially I was happy with the customer service proviation offered keeping me somewhat informed of my order status, however this has now changed.

I was told that the items ordered were unfortunately out of stock but that they were hoping they would be in stock in time for Christmas, fair enough, I understand that proviation can't control issues with their suppliers. Eventually I was told that my order would not be in stock in time for Christmas but that I would be told as soon as the items were ready for delivery. Christmas came and went, New Year came and went and still no contact from proviation. After several emails I eventually got a response from someone on 6th January saying that items were now in stock but that as I placed my initial order over 30 days ago, and they had not taken payment, I would have to re-order, I agreed to this asking that they sent my order as quickly as possible seeing as it is now a very late Christmas present, apart from the automated response saying my order has been placed I had no further correspondence. Since placing this order the customer service I have received has been appalling, my husband has emailed the company, he's been ignored, I've left voice mails, they've been ignored, I've tried the live chat option and on most occasions I've been ignored! On a rare occasion that I spoke with someone on live chat yesterday morning I was informed that my goods were being sent out to me that day by Saitek directly, I have today tried to get hold of proviation to obtain a contact number for Saitek so I can track my delivery but guess what.....I've been ignored!

I am actually now beginning to wonder if I will ever receive my goods? I don't normally leave bad reviews on companies but on this occasion I am so unimpressed I feel it is important that others are aware of the issues I have had before they place an order, I only wish I'd checked other reviews before ordering as it appears that I am not the only one to have had this kind of experience.

[PaulKerry]

Resurfaced after abuse by the flag-fairy:
From:Fredrik Lekstrom

Cancel my order in oct -13, STILL waiting for my refund!!!!!

I can not recumbent this web shop for others!

I order a headset (marked in stock) in the beginning of oct -13. After 1 week a get a email that they don't have this headset ion stock and ask if i want to wait or cancel the order. My choice was to cancel my order and get refund of my money. BUT today i still waiting for my money!!!!!! I tried to call this company under 3 month and even leave a message at the answer machine but the don't call back. When i get an answer by email they tell me that the money is on its way.

Service and support, exists????? I don't think so.

As i wrote before, don't use this webshop or order something!!!!!!!!!

[JDA2012]

Whilst I had no problems at all (and in fact was very pleased with my experience) last year, my other half has been waiting for three Christmas presents which she ordered for me well before the Christmas cut-off date and which have still (three weeks AFTER Christmas) not arrived.

It is telling that when she became upset and described the problem (in very general terms - "some things have not arrived"), I immediately (and unfortunately) suspected Proviation, and sure enough I was correct.

I can wait, but she was very upset and somehow thought it was her fault . If she is upset, I am upset - as such, if the items don't arrive post-haste I will be taking action accordingly.

Update: Spoke to Nick, was advised that the items should have been shipped on 9th Dec, but nothing received here and the tracking number given is invalid. Just as well I got involved as the ear seals ordered were the wrong ones. The torch ordered is also no longer available, but an upgraded alternative is being provided and all items (including correct ear seals) should be sent via courier on Monday. Waiting...

[PaulKerry]

Look back through the past few pages of this thread for Cockney_Steve's explanation of using the Small Claims Courts. I strongly recommend that as the best course of action against people like Nick Ross.

That doesn't preclude you from taking other forms of action too - the more, the merrier.

Paul..

[Bushe Pilot]

Lurked for a while, and was directed at this due to my recent experience with Proviation. I have posted this on another site too.

I have just experienced exceptionally poor service from them and will not be using them again. I pre-ordered Pooley's Flight Guide 2014 in October, and after several unreturned phone calls, many unanswered emails (the only one that was answered said "Has someone from sales handled this for you? " This was from Nick Ross and I assume is the "Nick" mentioned here and on the other site), I finally got someone on their Live Chat via the website to handle it. Their story was that it had been delivered by Royal Mail and was "completed and shipped". However, this contradicted my order status of "Your order has been despatched and will be with you shortly." You can draw your own conclusions as to whether it was or wasn't. Sometimes you just get a feeling that you are being lied to and this just felt like it. They have now couriered it to me.

All in all their service was unimpressive, leaving phone/emails unanswered in this day and age of business is a massive no-no. I do not see them lasting long if this is their model. There are too many poor service stories here for my liking too: http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www. ... shop.co.uk

Not that it matters as I shall not be using them again and most certainly will not recommend them.

[PaulKerry]

Har, har, har!
I bet that Bloviation's chief flag-fairy is feeling pleased with itself thinking that it beat me to the latest review on TrustPilot.

WRONG !

From Mr Martin Wood

won't use them again

I made an order on 3rd January. Aero oil. It hadn't arrived several days later so I attempted to contact them by phone. Both numbers went to voice mail and despite leaving a message, no one phoned me back. The oil arrived on 15th January. Not impressed Proaviation.

Anyone in business who has to defend their facade of a reputation by silencing people who make negative public reviews is clearly a dishonest and untrustworthy crook.

Paul..

[PaulKerry]

From Skipper

Ordered and Paid on 13 May, 2013, no delivery, no refund

I have ordered a Sportys SP-400 Handheld radio with a push-to-talk-switch and headset adapter. I contacted them by e-mail every month (for 9 months now!), by phone and on the chat service on their website. The payment was done by PayPal on the day of order (13 May, 2013).

Just a selection from the e-mails they sent:
14 May, that there will be some delay (up to 10 working days)
3 June: there will be more delays (sign. by Kerrie Ross)
14, June: more delays, give a "must have date" (sign. by Proviation Ltd)
11 July: "expecting them any day now" (Kerrie Ross)
28 July: "I will get a resolution to this as soon as possible" (Nick Ross)
15 August: "So, I could order the SP-400 again- but just order one for you if necessary" (by Nick Ross) (What does it mean "necessary"? If it would be not necessary, I would have not ordered it!) Nick also offered another product.
20 September: "We are close to getting SP-400" and offered an other product again.(by Nick) My reply: "Feel free to decide which one to send"
12 Nov: "I am extremely sorry for the way this ordered has worked out, and it is certainly not the kind of business we want to run, or to offer you as a customer. Certainly not." (by Nick) In my response on 15th Nov, I wanted my money back, or immediate delivery of the ordered product or a replacement product.
21 December: "I have paid 62.50 + 15 USD for UPS delivery." (He means paid for the urgent delivery from the US.) It's interesting that he (Nick) offers an other product again. Why if it is being shipped from the US.
5 Jan, 2014: "Would request I follow-up with you tomorrow about this?" (Nick) I replied: "Please, decide what you want to do and do not change your mind: order and send the radio what is available for delivery." I asked again: if not able to send a radio since last May, GIVE THE MONEY BACK!
12 January: I suggested to open a resolution process as they are not willing to pay the money (344.95GBP) back. (no answer!)

I suggest to any buyer: don't let to put you sleep by them. Initiate a resolution process before the PayPal deadline.

I give the one star rating, because any merchant with good intentions would have paid the money back, long ago.

Would someone be so kind as to send Skipper a message via TrustPilot, warn him that his review is almost certain to disappear very soon and direct him to this thread, specifically the details about making a claim against Bloviation in court?
I'd do it myself but my messaging privileges at TrustPilot seem to have mysteriously been revoked without any warning or explanation - I wonder why that might be???
NOT !

NB: It appears that "Skipper" has changed his profile name to read "Ferenc Vagujhelyi" and as suspected, the cowardly little flag-fairy has decided that people should not read about how yet another patient and trusting customer was given the run-around.

Paul..

[India Four Two]

Paul,

I commend you for your perseverence in continuing to shine a spotlight on Proaviation. This thread makes very interesting if sad reading.

Just out of interest, I went to trustpilot.co.uk and I was surprised to see that there are only six reviews, one five-star and five one-star (a nice piece of symmetry there). I particularly liked this one:

27 June 2013 Would rather burn my money or urinate down my own leg before spending another penny with this lot

The most recent review is dated 26 December. Does the flag fairy delete almost every review?

Given that Proaviation customers pay by Paypal or credit card, would the fraud departments be worth contacting?

I also some time ago looked at the German web-site company that hosts Nick's website ( I've forgotten the details) but clearly he is in breach of their rules.

I also looked up trustpilot on Wikipedia and that makes interesting reading:

Trustpilot admit that some people hate their company.[14]

[PaulKerry]

Not every review, no. Only the bad ones but TP's automatic systems picked up and flagged a whole bunch of suspicious reviews a few days ago (all of them positive glowing reviews).

26th December? I'm sure that a few positive reviews were posted within the past couple of days.

Some pages back, I posted a link to a newpaper article (Guardian, I think) which highlighted the propensity for TP subscribers to use "review-writing services" to populate their TP pages with positive reviews. I did a quick Google search and found quite a few of them.

Paul..

[Desert Dawg]

Google cache is a veritable treasure trove of deleted web pages....

[PaulKerry]

Remember Nick's claim that more robust systems have been put in place to ensure that customers are no longer ignored and that they are going to be more pro-active and communicative?

Well, I think that Nick must be a balloon pilot. I figure that so much hot-air comes out of his mouth, he doesn't even need a propane burner !

I told him he was a liar a year ago. I've not changed my opinion of him in the slightest because he just keeps on giving me more and more confirmation of my initial assessment.

From Dave, Manchester, GB

POOR CUSTOMER RESPONSE

After ordering the PMDG 737 NGX. They had not dispatched it after 10 days when the item arrived they sent me the iFly product instead. I tried to contact them by telephone but they were busy so I emailed them. It has now been a week and I have still not received a response from them. I hope to get through by phone soon. Not happy at all with this company.

Paul..

[PaulKerry]

Wow, this guy actually gave Bloviation an additional star for lip-service, it seems !

From Matthew Steward

Abysmal customer service.

I ordered a jacket from Proviation on 25th Feb 2013 with a supposed waiting time of 3-4 weeks. The jacket never arrived and getting in touch with Proviation proved to be somewhere between difficult and impossible. On the odd occasion I did get in touch with them they did seem genuinely concerned and keen to try and help hence the 2* and not 1* review, however, still nothing arrived.

I eventually asked for a refund after 4 months of waiting/ trying to contact them. It then took another month for a refund cheque to arrive. When it finally did turn up it was unsigned! It took a further week to get the cheque signed and sent back.

In summary, 5 months, 27 emails, countless phone calls and still no jacket. This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced

Paul..

[Cusco]

Interesting that, as I write, PPRuNe is carrying ads for Proviation at the top of this page!

Cusco

[PaulKerry]

I've just been looking into the post made by India Four Two earlier about what he found on TrustPilot.

(On this URL: Proaviation reviews | Customer reviews of Proaviation | proaviation.co.uk )

I'm hoping to clear up some of the confusion.
The pages that India Four Two described are for Proaviation.co.uk, a synonym domain which points to Proviation's usual site.

This is not the official review section for Proviation and is not paid for by (nor under the control of) Nick.

The flag-fairy doesn't get sent an email when customers post on that page and hence, the negative reviews have gone unmolested.

For the sake of completeness, I will include them here now.
Unsurprisingly, they all report exactly the same conduct of which we are all, by now, so familiar.

From Nicholas Brown

Crap no communication , Slow response from emails No returns of Calls

On the 22/6/13 I purchased a icom ic-r20
I payed for next day delivery it arrived almost 3 weeks later
For my inconvieniance I was promised a case for the Long Wait Dear Nik,



I can offer you an ICOM case but the one I had in stock was not appropriate to the IC-R20…I can order this next week for you?

Best regards,

Nick Ross
It is now 25/12/13. And I have tried numerous times to contact the store by Email and phone and Not had any Response it's like I've got your money now Go away it's a shame because the reviews and there company moto is for great customer service I have Had Bad customer service no response and a Very Very Bad experience I won't be Using them again And I Will Not be Recomending them I will be telling everyone I know Not To use Pro Aviation Do Not Buy From These People

----------

From Richard Leigh

Charlatans.

Took the money from my credit card, didn't send anything for four months, then sent one item which was damaged (a bent aircraft towbar, must have been posted bent as it's a bit too strong to be bent by the Royal Mail). Remaining items still not received and no refund forthcoming, in short, deal with somebody else.

----------

From Christian Steen Larsen

Fraud

Never buy from this company. Paid 110 GBP for a pair of sunglasses displayed as being in stock. After 2 Months it became clear that they were not able to deliver (they probably dont pay thier suppliers). I cancelled my order and was promissed to receive my money back with in 10 Days, which is almost a Month ago, no sight of my money. I doubt that they want or can pay.

----------

From Michael Wilson, Cardenden, GB

Would rather burn my money or urinate down my own leg before spending another penny with this lot

Go-Pro camera purchased in March, its nearly 4 months - guess what

1)Wont give me a camera yet advertise as in stock - Theft
2)Wont return my money when I asked for order to be cancelled - Theft
3)Customer service junk - Theft
4)Theft

----------


From Michele

NEVER buy from that website!

I'm a pilot and more than 3 months ago I ordered a raincoat from this website. They said it was available but I had to wait for a couple or three weeks in order to recive it directly from the tailor. after a month nothing, after two months nothing...I wrote 10 e-mail to the management, to the helpdesk, to the customer service but no answer. Suddently they answered: "we are experiencing a delay so you need to wait 3 weeks more". I said ok but it's the last time. a month is passed and stil no news, I want my money back but they play dumb and don't answer. I paied three months ago 120 pounds and now I want to see when they will send my money back!

Paul..

[PaulKerry]

The latest from the usual TrustPilot pages. Of course, it will be gone really, really soon, no doubt.

From Bonita

Do not buy from them. Go elsewhere.

Never done a review before but felt so completed after such appalling service.

Having been billed for goods on the 19th December for dads Christmas present, nothing came in time despite buying express delivery. Nothing arrived in Jan, which is when I started emailing, calling and contacting on live chat. absolutely no .response at all. 3 weeks of phone calls and emails. Not a single response.

today, i finally emailed Nick Ross the company owner and told him I was going to the small claims court. He responded immediately, and refund is sorted. Thank god for that. I have spent 2 hours calling citizens advice, the BBGA (which they have been struck off from) and starting the process of making a claim. All this just to get a refund for goods never even delivered. Waste of time and a bad experience worrying about whether I would get my money back, and not getting dads Christmas present.

Do not buy from this company if you like customer service- unless you basically threaten them with legal action they do not respond

[India Four Two]

Paul,

Thanks for the detective work. So does that mean that the flag fairy can't get at those reviews or are they now doomed to oblivion, having seen the light of day as it were?

[PaulKerry]

Your guess is as good as mine, India Four Two.

Ah well... At least he has no control over whatever is posted here.

I've also checked up on the claim made by Bonita, that Nick has been struck off from the BBGA - I didn't spot that when I looked into the logos on his site a while ago but he certainly isn't listed as a member. Just like Nick likes to say - his reputation is growing.

However, I'm glad you found those. I was unaware of them until you pointed them out and the one about "urinating down my leg" made me laugh.


Paul..

[PaulKerry]

I think that the advice a number of us here would give is:
Don't threaten him with it - Do it. There are details a few pages back about instigating proceedings. The more people who take him to court for his behaviour, the quicker one of two things will happen. He'll either sort out his act or run out of money paying court costs and expenses resulting in the loss of his business.

One way or another this needs to stop.

Paul..

[PaulKerry]

Here's another one which resurfaced after abuse by the flag-fairy.

From Kevin Keeling

Absolutely dreadful

I placed an order as the website was showing the item as being available from stock.The following day I received an email saying it wasn't and I subsequently phoned, used live chat, left emails asking for the order to be cancelled and for a confirmation to be sent, but nobody got back in touch.I tried and tried but was completely ignored until I finally got an email response asking what I wanted to do. I asked for the order to be cancelled but again received no response.Today they have sent me an email saying the item has been dispatched . They are utterly useless and I wouldn't dream of ever using them again.

[JDA2012]

My other half's order from 7th Dec (chased last week, was advised it had been posted 9th Dec but nothing received) has now arrived - items sent both by standard post and courier all arrived "on time" at least - with a £5 voucher by way of apology.

Kneeboard - happy! - as ordered.

Torch - happy! - FL-2A unavailable (still shows "product available from stock") but upgraded to (more expensive) Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12 (SW1222) which has arrived and works well.

Ear seals - not happy! - standard ear seals (Sennheiser product code 077960 - a downgrade from the HME110 stock seals) sent instead of gel ones (092807). The wrong gel seals (for HMEC26 rather than HME110) were ordered in the first place, and I did mention this last week, but the ones that have turned up aren't gel at all (both these and the correct gel ones are again more expensive than the ones ordered). May be a general point of confusion as Transair also have gel seals listed with a picture which is quite definitely of the standard seals. FlightStore have the correct picture, but so do Proviation, so this tells me nothing!

No answer on the CS number and webchat shows variously away or offline (maybe lunch?) - left a voicemail and Nick called me back 45m later. See my further post below - I will now see what happens. If the correct seals had turned up today I would now be happy, despite the delay - perhaps I have too much goodwill but my experience is clearly not half as bad as the others here, even with the issues I've seen. N.B. I am applying Hanlon's Razor at present...