Hi Guys

Anybody else deal directly with Segen Solar and Mustek?

What has been your experiences with them?

Me personally, I think they have grown too big and customer service is non-existent.

Just totally non-customer centric.

I personally will never recommend them.

13 minutes ago, Fazil said:

Segen Solar and Mustek
Just totally non-customer centric.

My experiences are that both are dealer orientated with more and more "end-customers" getting past the "doors" as "dealers".

In that case, yea, they do not have the resources to deal with the small ROI's - from their perspective - and would focus their efforts on the big buyers like ordering a couple of R100k per month every month will be a VERY noticeable different service.

Have personally seen what the bigger "dealers" expect from the likes of say i.e. Pinnacle / Mustek etc.

SegenSolar is also primarily dealer orientated. Cost money to have support staff that want to help.

14 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

My experiences are that both are dealer orientated with more and more "end-customers" getting past the "doors" as "dealers".

In that case, yea, they do not have the resources to deal with the small ROI's - from their perspective - and would focus their efforts on the big buyers like ordering a couple of R100k per month every month will be a VERY noticeable different service.

Have personally seen what the bigger "dealers" expect from the likes of say i.e. Pinnacle / Mustek etc.

SegenSolar is also primarily dealer orientated. Cost money to have support staff that want to help.

I order from Segen more than that as an installer.

Why have such a large organisation that is not end user centric.

I was a senior manager at 1 of the worlds largest electronics companies and customer focus was core even at end user level.

And this is a multi billion dollar organisation I refer.

Some1 like Segen who apparently is close to meeting R1 billion sales this year doesn't have this? Ridiculous.

Just now, Fazil said:

I order from Segen more than that as an installer.

AHA. Then I have to offer that because they are getting to R1 bil sales figure this year, that whatever they are doing, is working. 🙂

Will it last? They need a competitor that takes their sales away on price and customer care.

1 hour ago, Fazil said:

Me personally, I think they have grown too big and customer service is non-existent.

Just totally non-customer centric.

They have dropped me in hot water with some customers lately. Confirmed everything is in stock and the shipment will leave the warehouse on X date. I gave the info through to the customer and then on the day of planned shipment, they let me know that one of the items is not in stock anymore. Happened more than once in the last few orders. 

56 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

and would focus their efforts on the big buyers like ordering a couple of R100k per month every month will be a VERY noticeable different service.

Not at all, a friend of mine bought Panels for more than 1 mil last month, needed a RS485 to USB cable urgently on an installation, contacted Segen and asked if they can send someone to pick it up as they were installing a few blocks from Segen, they were turned away and told to follow the rules. They can make the payment and collect the following day. 

 

35 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Will it last? They need a competitor that takes their sales away on price and customer care.

Some of their previous employees are currently busy attempting this.  

History often shows those who forget about their customer close their doors or are bought by those who saw such opportunities.

Segen and Mustek really don't acceptable responsibility to a point where I am willing to pay more for an other for better service.

We have seen in the market price isn't the best customer retention driver!

Dealing with sengen can be a real pain in the posterior.  They have quoted me one price and invoiced a different price , then wouldn't release the good without payment in full, and that order was more than two weeks over due. Oh that was fun. I cant say I like dealing with them.

51 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

They have dropped me in hot water with some customers lately.
They can make the payment and collect the following day. 

O my word ... so it is much worse than I thought.

53 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

Some of their previous employees are currently busy attempting this.  

29 minutes ago, Fazil said:

Segen and Mustek really don't acceptable responsibility to a point where I am willing to pay more for an other for better service.

We have seen in the market price isn't the best customer retention driver!

That is true. Price gets to to point X, then it disappears and Customer Care has to take over or else.

I hope the employees can start something new. Or Segen must drop their prices AND up on Customer Care.

Being the opposing view at times, truth be told, personally I have never been a fan of Segen nor Mustek.

I did over the years grab a good price from them at times yes. Yet when dealing with IT customers I skipped buying from them because they got "too big" and "arrogant" for my taste.

 

Sometimes companies go through growth-spurts where they grow faster than they can keep up. Then this sort of thing happens. It's an opportunity for others to step in, but also extremely stressful for those on the inside who can't keep up. Also, staff movement have a huge impact. If one important guy in a company resigns you can handle it, but when two resign you can end up in big trouble. Not saying this is the case for these companies... but in the SA context I would not be surprised. EVERYONE is looking for skilled people right now and in some ways it's the winter of our discontent too, and we don't know when summer is coming.

Man.. I am on fire today with all these cultural references... 🙂

50 minutes ago, plonkster said:

Sometimes companies go through growth-spurts where they grow faster than they can keep up.

As right as you are, BUT when this below happens, there are serious problems in that business ...

2 hours ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

... bought Panels for more than 1 mil last month, needed a RS485 to USB cable urgently on an installation, ...
They can make the payment and collect the following day. 

For a cheap cable ... ok ...

Reminds me of a battery importer in SA who had a deal in that they are the only importers of T105RE's.
ONE (1) client of theirs buys something like 1bar+ every month or two of the T104RE's.
He ran headlong into Customer Care issues with Trojan SA.
Result: You cannot get T150RE's in SA easily anymore. The dealer walked away from Trojan SA and is now importing new batteries that are a close comparison to the T105RE's, AND they are cheaper.

All because of, allegedly, 2 senior local managers who thought they where the "big manne (bosses)".  

So ja, in the solar industry, we cannot afford this nonsense in SA.

Edited September 3, 20197 yr by Guest

its against my character to name anybody or even adversely comment on anothers installation or business.

But when I love a multi-million rand deal as a result of this poor service, I believe its well warranted.

54 minutes ago, Fazil said:

its against my character to name anybody or even adversely comment on anothers installation or business.

***Edited

But when I lose a multi-million rand deal as a result of this poor service, I believe its well warranted.