Matias the company, not the keyboard.

[dotancohen]

Most posters here will remember when Truly Ergonomic finally marketed a modern split mechanical keyboard, which had been a dream for some of us. However, the company turned out to be notoriously difficult to deal with, which was more problematic than their constantly-slipping ship dates (which most of us forgave).

Enter Matias. They market a modern split mechanical keyboard for the same price as TE:


I ordered mine on 2016-6-8 for $205 USD, that is $200 for the keyboard and $5 for shipping to "Asia / Australia / NZ  by  EMS".

Code: [Select]

1 Quantity to be paid for (FK403RPC)_Matias_Ergo_Pro_Keyboard_for_PC_with_Quiet_LINEAR_switches_+_FREE_SHIPPING__(1KP), US 200.00
1 Quantity to be paid for Matias_Faster_Shipping_(1KP), US 5.00
On the following page, I then did not even have to select from the list of countries to ship to, as my country, Israel (which is in Asia) was already selected, apparently by some geolocation script.

The next day, I got an email from a Matias representative:

Dear Doten,

Sorry I had to refuse your first purchase attempt.

These keyboards are very heavy and expensive to ship.

On the second order page you need to select the "rest of the world" $30.00
extra shipping if you want us to ship to Israel.

After replying to the email expressing my disappointment that the order was _canceled_ when the issue could have been resolved by explaining the error on the webpage (which seems to have been corrected already, at least the checkout process looks different), I went ahead and ordered another keyboard the next day (2016-06-09):

Code: [Select]

1 Quantity Payment for (FK403RPC)_Matias_Ergo_Pro_Keyboard_for_PC_with_Quiet_LINEAR_switches_+_FREE_SHIPPING__(1KP), US 200.00
6 Quantity Payment for Matias_Faster_Shipping_(1KP), US 30.00

It is not stated there, but that shipping option was labeled "5-7 Business Days" on the webpage.

Today, 2016-06-21, 12 days (eight or nine business days) later, I receive this email:

Thank you for your order of our Matias products.
Your parcel has been shipped from our Taiwan warehouse via EMS
Worldwide Xpress Mail Service under tracking #----------------

You can track your package later this week at:
http://matias.ca/ems

Your package should arrive in 5-7 business days at your local post office.
Please check with them then for details.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly.

How can we rely on a company that treats customers this way? Not potential customers, but customers that have already given them hundreds of dollars in business? I am so happy to see another distributor enter this market which is so important to us, but how can we continue to do business with them when they are so eager to cancel our orders and are not willing or able to ship on time, even after we've paid $30 USD for additional shipping?

[Belfong]

I have good experience with Matias (and actually, they do have a vendor forum here in Geekhack where Matias himself do check once a while, so it might be better to have this thread there) but I think in your case, it would be an example of ensuring that they have the stock availability in their Taiwan business to ship one. I think the Ergo Pro may come in limited quantity. But I do understand the frustration of waiting for 12 days before even being notified that your keyboard is finally ship.

[dotancohen]

Thank you Belfong. I have no objections to moving this thread to the vendor forum, perhaps that is a better place for it.

I'm not frustrated about waiting 12 days. I'm frustrated because:

1. Due to an error on their webpage, my order was canceled. I might not have been able to reorder, I have limited international use on my credit card and a reorder may have triggered an action. They could have either eaten their error, or emailed me "We need another $25USD for shipping". Either solution would have been fine. But canceling the order was a real "we don't need or want your business" move.

2. Even though I paid _explicitly_ for "5-7 Business Days" delivery, my keyboard wasn't even _shipped_ during that time period or close to it. What did they do with that $30 that I paid for shipping, $25 of which was enough to cancel my order on?

Now what happens if I need warranty support? Should I expect my keyboard - a work tool - to be gone for a reasonable amount of time or for however long they feel like taking? Would I need to buy _another_ keyboard in the meantime? If I'm going to be waiting a week, then no. If I'm going to be waiting a month, then yes. I cannot trust the Matias company to have my work tools to me on time. They should _not_ be part of my workflow..

[Belfong]

Very valid concerns . How about sending it as a support/ feedback from their website? Otherwise, I can only think talking about it in the vendor forum would be the best next step.

[kurplop]

When many sellers say 5-7 day shipping they actually mean 5-7 days after product leaves distribution center.

I can appreciate your frustrations but fortunately, unlike TE, Matias seems to have a very good record for customer satisfaction. I hope that this is just an anomaly and that in your case things get resolved quickly.

Keep us posted as things develops.

[dotancohen]

Thanks, I'll flag this thread for the mods to move it.

I'm not interested in reparations so I don't know what Matias can do other than try better next time. But even if they do that for somebody else, it would be an improvement.

Thanks.

[kurplop]

.I'm not interested in reparations so I don't know what Matias can do other than try better next time. But even if they do that for somebody else, it would be an improvement.

Good perspective. As a conscientious business owner, I would want to hear all comments about my services, good and bad, so that I could better serve my clients. I suspect that Matias feels the same.  At the same time, we need to protect and support companies that do show integrity. If they don't make a profit  they may not be around the next time we need them.