Rural King — Local services in Mattoon

Horrible customer service!!!

This was my first experience as a new customer of Rural King and the treatment I received was horrible. I ordered a product online and the next day they canceled that order. I called their customer care department to find out why and they stated that even though they advertised this item for sale, displayed online that they had it in stock and I was able to fully complete my order online and take my payment, they no longer had the item in stock and therefore canceled my order. They admitted they were not able to count their inventory correctly and were mistaken. They admitted they couldn't count correctly. WOW! However, THEY LIED!!! I called their customer care back immediately when I found online that they had several locations that did in fact have this product in stock. The customer care rep tried to back peddle their words and cover for the fact that he had lied and stated that those locations are incapable of shipping my order to me. So the company DID have my item in stock but admit incompetence or refusal to fulfill a product order for a customer. I asked when they would be getting more in stock and they said they would call me the next morning to let me know.

I received a voicemail the following morning from Justin, and in that voicemail he explained that the company no longer has the product I ordered in stock. MORE LIES!!! I called Justin back and inquired about the several locations that still have several of the product I had ordered to be in stock, basically calling out his lie. He also tried to cover for that lie and admit that those Rural King stores did have them in stock but they were under some policy of "in store purchase only". Like my product somehow knows how it's being sold and wouldn't work correctly if sold online. So, Justin admits that rather than fix their admitted errors, and ship the product and fulfill an online order to a brand new first time customer, that the company would rather stick to some misguided principle of "for in store sale only". Unbelievable.

I admit, he did attempt to get me the product that was being displayed at their corporate location. Amazing that somehow they can grab a display model from a corporate location but lack the competence to send a brand new product from one of their store locations. I asked if the display model would be discounted, since everyone knows what display model means....USED. He said "no", due to the display model had never been opened. Sure it hasn't. With their multiple lies I've received so far, I'm not about to believe that a display model has never been used.

Rural King basically didn't want me as a customer, so they got it.

Do NOT do business with this company!!! Horrible...

Don't order from them online and don't trust the reviews on their website! I don't live anywhere near a Rural King store, so when I found the right kind of fencing material on their website, I took the chance and placed my order. The shipping charges added about 50% to the price, but I urgently needed to extend an existing fence and wanted it to match. So, I paid the price. The shipment arrived several days early, but was clearly not what I ordered. Clearly, because I could tell from the outside of the box that it was incorrect as the roll was too slim for 100' of fencing and 6' instead of only 5' tall. When I opened the top, it became also evident that it wasn't the 2x2" mesh but a 1x1" hexagon wire. I immediately informed Rural King's customer service department of the mistake and send images as proof. We went back and forth for a couple of days until they informed me that the item had shipped directly from the manufacturer (Red Brand) They had emailed them and I would have to wait until they heard back from them. I begged Rural King to call them, perhaps involve a supervisor, they refused. Nothing more they could do for me. So, I contacted the manufacturer myself and received a response within 12 hours. They apologized and informed me, I didn't need to return the incorrect item, which allowed me to temporarily close the gap in the fence and protect my animals. They also kept me up to date on the re-shipment. Two weeks later, I still have not heard back from Rural King's customer service department. They did, however, invite me to write a review, which I did (much more to the point than this one). A couple of days later, they informed me, they wouldn't publish it, even though I have emails to support every claim I made. So, their reviews are absolutely unreliable. I don't know if Rural King placed my order incorrectly with the manufacturer or if the manufacturer's shipping department made the mistake. Doesn't really matter. I placed the order with Rural King and paid them directly, so for them to wash their hands of any responsibility, is lousy customer service. Will never order...

On may 6th I came into rural king to get a new deck belt for my mower. I talked to Greg and after a little bit of time he tells me that the part number is no longer available and that I would have to order it by the size. So I had my wife take the old belt in that evening with the correct size and he argued with her and ended up ordering the wrong size. So on Wednesday I received the wrong belt and had to take it back which then Greg argued with me tell me my wife didn’t tell him anything which is a lie. So I gave him the size and on Friday the 10th went and picked up the belt and once again it was the wrong size belt. This time I got a manager involved and he said he didn’t realize it was the wrong one after he even left me a voicemail telling me he had the right size. As me and the manager stood there he said he would order it again so I called today Saturday may 11th to see if my belt had came in and he said not yet. So I called back and talked to Greg again and he stated he never even ordered the belt and was very rude telling me to just go somewhere else and order it. Now it’s been a week and I’m out time and money from not mowing my customers yards. This gentleman does not need to be in retail he’s very unprofessional and very rude to his customers. I told him he needs to be fired for the way he talks and treats his customers. My belief was the customer was always right but in this case Greg thinks he’s the only one that’s right. Something needs done...