AccuStar water test kit lost in mail

[Darren]

Here’s a company you should never conduct business with.

For $47.00, I purchased a radon in water test kit. The kit consisted of a small water vial and a box to mail it back.

The box got lost in the mail; AccuStar now says I need to buy another kit; they won’t replace the one that got lost.

They never analyzed the kit, but too bad, they want me to purchase another kit.

Never, ever, conduct business with:

AccuStar

11 Awl St

Medway MA 02053

[Richard Moore]

Darren, I changed the title of the thread as the original seemed a little libelous. I'm not necessarily defending the company. You are certainly entitled to your opinion about their customer service/relations.

I do have some questions...

When I looked at the AccuStar web-site, the only radon in water kit I could find sells for $35. I also found the same AccuStar kit available elsewhere for $24.95.

Where does the $47 come from?

Did you buy the kit directly from them or from a third party vendor?

Do you have any prior history with the comapny? I.E. Is this your first use of AccuStar lab?

[Darren]

Radon in water is a test I do maybe once a year.

The kit was purchased thru my Radon 'specialist' company (that's a company required in NJ that is certified to 'read' my monitor print-outs).

After I asked AccuStar for a replacement kit, I was told I have to talk to the company that sold me the kit. They called AccuStar and were told I have to purchase another kit.

I called AccuStar back and tried to reason (I gave them the vial number and address etc) with them but no, I had to purchase another kit.

I have a problem when I purchase something and I don't receive what I paid for; I didn't get the water analyzed.

I understand it's not their fault, the kit was lost in the mail, but still, they didn't perform any testing so why couldn't they send me a replacement kit (even if I had to pay cost for the kit, which I'm figuring is about 2 dollars).

Anyway, I found another lab in NY, will get a kit tomorrow via UPS and will redo the test. The worst part is the client has been waiting since last Monday for the results.

[hausdok]

Jeez,

After reading all of the hassles folks have with radon testing and all of the documentation available, I'm kind of glad that it's only the folks in Spokane and Vancouver that have to worry about radon in the state of Washington.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Richard Moore]

Originally posted by Darren

...

The kit was purchased thru my Radon 'specialist' company (that's a company required in NJ that is certified to 'read' my monitor print-outs).

After I asked AccuStar for a replacement kit, I was told I have to talk to the company that sold me the kit. They called AccuStar and were told I have to purchase another kit.

...

OK, Darren, just gonna toss in a few thoughts here. Keep in mind that I have no dog in this hunt.

The kit has a MSRP of $35. Other third party vendors sell this kit to the public (including the Accustar processing) for $25. I suspect the wholesale price to these vendors, including your "Radon 'specialist' company", is around $17.50. Let's assume $2.50 for parts and we have Accustar making $15 for processing.

I doubt that Accustar has anyone standing by between receiving and the lab to intecept late shipments, so when the post office finds and delivers the package they will still go ahead and run the tests. Late, but not their fault.

Now let's look at your "Radon 'specialist' company". Even allowing them the same mark-up as the other vendors, they are making $22 just to read the monitor print-outs ($47-$25). It seems that they are the company profiting the most and they, not Accustar, could have offered you, at the least, a discount or wholesale price on a new kit.

Judging from what you have posted here and over at IN, it sounds like you had some frustrating phone calls. But, ultimately, I think you might be venting at the wrong company.

[Darren]

Richard;

First off, the water has to be there within several days to be analyzed; otherwise it's no good. That period is over.

My radon company has nothing to do with this analyzing; they don't do this type of testing. Since they don't do it, they just sell the kit. When talking to the radon company, they have to 'pre-purchase' the kit. He tells me they sell about 5 a year, so it's not a big seller.

He got the same round-around as I did.

[Darren]

OK, here's the lastest. AccuStar has stepped up to the plate!

After reading my thread, it seems someone did some investigating.

I was told the kit that I had purchased was outdated and had an older mailing address. AccuStar has shipped new kits to the company I purchased my kit from and has included an extra kit so I can obtain a refund.

So, not only did I get some satisfaction, I think I saved someone else some major aggravation from this happening to them.

[Darren]

Here's AccuStars reply from another forum:

Dear Mr. Miller,

I am sorry you were dissatisfied with our service. Since you chose to air your complaint in the court of public opinion, I am compelled to reply in the same venue. I believe your opinion of our business is unduly harsh.

When you called AccuStar earlier this week to inquire about the status of your water sample, we searched our database, and our premises, for the test kit. We did not have it. The following morning, Radiation Data called to check on the status of the test kit. It was still early in the day and the mail and courier services had not yet arrived. Within an hour of our conversation with Radiation Data, you called AccuStar to request a free replacement kit. It is AccuStar’s policy to refer people who purchase our products from a reseller back to the reseller for any customer service concerns.

AccuStar routinely provides free water kits to replace those that get lost, delayed or damaged in transit. Radiation Data did not know that we would replace the kit for them, and that is why they refused to give you one. AccuStar failed to make our policy clear to Radiation Data. I can understand why you were frustrated and I am truly sorry you had this problem. I personally spoke with Radiation Data this afternoon to inform them. They planned to contact you to offer a free kit; I hope you have heard from them by now.

When your test kit finally arrives it will be analyzed and a report will be issued. Every test kit we receive, even a delayed or damaged kit, gets analyzed and reported. This is because there may be evidence of high radon that we can report. We never assume that a delayed device will have no detectable radon left in it.

Whenever a radon test kit is delayed in the mail, everyone loses except the US Postal Service. You lose because your results may be invalid, or an estimate, at best. AccuStar loses because we replace the kit, analysis included, even though we did nothing wrong. Nevertheless, the Postal Service always gets its postage! I don't think they give out free replacement postage stamps, either.

By the way, AccuStar sells a FEDEX billable stamp to customers who prefer to use a courier service to return our test kits. The price of the stamp is $15 to $20, depending on the distance from AccuStar. The price of the water test kit (including 1st class postage, analysis and report) is $35.00.

For the past 2 years, on average, about 1% of the devices sent back to AccuStar have been delayed in the mail. The US Postal Service is quite pleased with this. To them it’s a 99% success rate - an A+! If a “lostâ€