Be wary of Kebco!

[Gramps]

A friendly warning about Kebco toys to my fellow collectors. I recently won 6th place in a contest at another site and won a prize that was supposed to come from Kebco Toys. A month (since I first contacted them) and many e-mails later I am still waiting on them to send the prize and reply to my e-mails. I was informed today that the site thet held the contest dropped them as a sponsor and got another site (Brian's Toys) to supply the prize.

In light of how I was treated by Kebco I am informing all my fellow collectors to be wary of dealing with them if not boycott them altogether.

"I sense a great disturbance in the force. As if the voices of thousands of collectors crying out about Kebco!"

[kebcoinc]

Hello,

This is Scott Barnette. I am the office manager at KEBco Toys. I need to respond to this post and set the record very clear. KEBco Toys has sent out over $5000 in FREE prizes in the past 3 years alone. KEBco Toys has extremely good relationships with the top Star Wars sites on the net. No site has ever dropped KEBco Toys as their sponsor and had another site supply the price. The statement made by Gramps is untrue. I am always curious why some people think that they have the right to post untrue facts. Do they even realize that such posts can bring about legal action? Do they even think?

KEBco Toys gives away many FREE prizes every week to a lot of collectors. I can assure you that if a winner emails us about not receiving their prize that it will be taken care of.

[Tyler_Pugmire]

I'm just a little curious about how a post can bring about legal action? Gramps is just telling everyone about an experience he had with your company. I'm sure that others have had great experiences, otherwise you would not have been in business for as long as you had. It's called free speech dude, go read the Bill of Rights... I'm pretty sure it's in there somewhere. (I have no problem with Kebco, just wanted to be clear on that.)
-Ty-

[kebcoinc]

A Post can bring about legal action just as any written words can. When a person makes statements that are not true and especially statements that can easily be proven to not be true they can be held liable. It's very simple.

The previous poster states that KEBco was dropped by a site as their sponsor. This is an untrue statement. The sponsor that he refers to is a sponsor that we have been with for about 3 years now and we are their weekly prize sponsor each and every week. We have been and will continue to be their sponsor.

When such a statement is made by a person other people read it and it puts a bad impression in their minds of our company. That post was allowed to remain in the forums for over a year now. An untrue post from a person who had the intent to damage our reputation as a business because he did not get his FREE, FREE, FREE prize quick enough. How absurd is that?

OH.. Here we go... Legal action... Libel... Blah, blah, blah...

OK, tell me how he can be held accountable? From the way Gramps worded it it seems this site in question told him what he stated. So therefore maybe you need to have a talk w/ them...

I read it as a warning, in which Gramps stated his "opinion" on KEBco. Last I knew (I could be wrong) is that you couldn't sue someone based on their opinion of you. Just like Tyler mentioned it's called "Freedom Speech".

As for the length of time to get his "FREE, FREE, FREE" prize, well a month could be a tad bit too long for him to wait. If someone placed an order would you be as willing to give them a month's time frame to get you payment?

Also you mentioned this post was able to "remain in the forums for over a year", so why wasn't it responded to a year ago? Almost sounds like sour grapes to me...

[ 12-20-2002, 06:44 PM: Message edited by: Jimmy_ ]

[Scott_Matthews]

Originally posted by kebcoinc:
When such a statement is made by a person other people read it and it puts a bad impression in their minds of our company. That post was allowed to remain in the forums for over a year now. An untrue post from a person who had the intent to damage our reputation as a business because he did not get his FREE, FREE, FREE prize quick enough. How absurd is that?

<font size="2" face="arial">At this point, the only one really harming the reputation of your company is you. Your attitude is hardly fitting of a representative of Kebco Inc. or any other business for that matter. Furthermore, you have done little to demonstrate your position here.

If Kebco Inc. can't manage to get their free prizes out in a reasonable amount of time, assuming that was the problem in this particular case, perhaps they should look elsewhere for good publicity.

Threats of legal action?...yawn.

Scott

[Tyler_Pugmire]

Like I said before, I have no problem with Kebco. I have never dealt with them, and I probably never will. (I don't buy online) I have known Gramps for a few years now from the customs listserv, and I seriously doubt that he would post untrue comments for the purpose of harming your reputation. From what he has said, the mysterious "site" that held the contest contacted him about Kebco being dropped as a sponsor. Seems to me that the problem lies not with Gramps, but with the "site". So he won a contest, and never got his prize? That isn't his fault, it may not be Kebco's fault. Some things can't be blamed on any one thing or person. One thing is for sure, Gramps never got what he was promised. He asked about it and apparantly was ignored. Is that his fault? The "legal action" comment still mystifies me. I can't see how someone posting on a message board about a negative experience is grounds for legal action, whether it is true or not. This is why most newspapers have the Editorials section, and the Opinion section. Like I said before, I'm sure many people have had great dealings with Kebco, but Gramps didn't, and it his right, as well as his duty to inform others. Just to give you a little scenario that has happened to me before at work; I work for a truck dealership, and customers have been dissatisfied before with the service we provide. Most have been great, but there are a few from time to time that aren't. If they post a message about our dealership saying how bad the service they recieved was, that's their opinion, and we, as a company, cannot pursue legal action against someone for having a bad opinion of out company, even if their opinion is totally wrong. I for one would like to see this get dealt with in a professional manner, and I also would like to know what site is involved in this mess. Maybe a site rep can clear this up...
-Ty-

My sentiments exactly...
I also have known Gramps for some time thru him being a member of the Trade Federation, and I honestly doubt it was his intention to "destroy" KEBco. He was just out to open some eyes on his experience w/ you. Therefore he gave his "opinion" on you.

I still think you acted out in a totally unprofessional manner plain and simple. You say you're the manager correct? Well, I know from 9 previous years of retail management that if someone made comments such as Gramps did, instead of threatening a lawsuit I'd want to make the situation right. You mention giving away "over $5000" worth of prizes... I think giving another $100, or less would have made you the better man.
You should've addressed his problem instead of threatening him w/ legal action... but no you chose the "I'll sue you" route. [IMG]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/IMG] [IMG]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/IMG]

Sorry but I think your "management" skills are something to be desired. That's just my opinion though... Are you going to sue me?

[kebcoinc]

I'm not sure why some of you think this guy never got his prize. Of course he got his prize, just like all of the winners we have donated prizes to over the past 3 to 4 years. He prize was already being arranged to be shipped to him when he felt he needed to post untrue statements. I have no problem with someone stating their opinion about anything. I understand it's impossible to satisfy every customer. But I surely do have a problem with someone that says things that are not even close to being true.

The reason his prize was shipped late is we were in the process of moving last year and that was explained to him. I'm very sorry if someone can't understand that getting our business moved is just a little bit more important than shipping a FREE prize in a speedy manner. He felt that was not a good enough reason. But he got his prize and still felt he needed to post untrue statements. And you guys think that is right?

[Scott_Matthews]

Originally posted by kebcoinc:
And you guys think that is right?

<font size="2" face="arial">Once again, I think you're missing the point entirely. He was not satisfied with your service, and the fact that it was a "FREE" prize makes absolutely no difference. Honestly, I wouldn't care if you were moving or not: bad businesses and/or sellers always seem to have an excuse for their slow shipping.

If I were a manager for Kebco Inc., rather than misdirecting the blame, I would make every effort to correct the situation (as mentioned by the previous poster). Yes, even if it was for a damn "FREE" prize. It probably wouldn't hurt to actually sign your messages with a name and contact information as well.

Just my opinion,

Scott