I purchased a deal from Deal Chicken for this class, which required me to contact James, the owner of this company, in order to register. I got a response from him saying that he had no record of my purchase. After I provided him with my confirmation, he told me to contact Deal Chicken, and that he'd do the same. After that, I emailed James four more times trying to get in touch with him (I also called him) regarding the upcoming class, but never got a single response from him that he was looking into it or anything. I even emailed him about classes taking place the following month and never heard a peep.
After the class has passed, I attempted to contact him one final time. The response I got was unbelievable. He called me a liar and berated me for contacting him "outside business hours." (Note the time he sent me the email). Regardless of the time I sent any email, I would've expected a response given that the class was that upcoming weekend (held outside of normal business hours). He also threatened me with civil litigation if I attempted to leave a bad review. My husband and I were extremely disappointed at how this was all handled on A.D.A.T.'s part.
Thankfully, Deal Chicken was wonderful and extremely apologetic, and issued me a full refund.
Here's the email I received from James:
From: James Monchery
Date: October 23, 2012, 10:37:00 PM MDT
Subject: Re: voucher registration
Julia,
I have responded...but the 2 most recent emails prior to this one (of which I am responding) where sent during NON OPERATING HOURS.
All businesses have them and all of them do not respond outside of them.
As for reviews...up to you, we are professional, offer what 99% of other companies cannot in way of very exclusive and specific information based on me being one of just 20 active and certified instructors of a very specialized defensive handgun system.
So your not learning what "the rest" are ONLY qualified to teach...we teach what will work and don't fluff the realistic side of things such as the "flight/fight response and/or Body Alarm Response" that is crucial to understanding how you will react in an active shooter response situation.
99.3% of our ADAT Student Family/Purchasers are more than satisfied with our courses and way we operate and as much as I would like to be a full 100% there is simply NO company that can meet that market and I am satisfied with that.
*Especially since your complaints are unwarranted based on expecting a response OUTSIDE OF BUSINESS HOURS.*
If you are unhappy and feel the need to write a review I can only say "be accurate and remember do not defame the company or me personally" as you will then be subject to civil litigation.
Please don't be the first to call my bluff...I take "threats" as you made in your previous email seriously like I would any other threat.
We answer phones and emails during our operating hours as listed on the website and whatever may have been missed on a given day is pushed to the next however I do often work over time to catch up and offer assistance above and beyond requirements of the company.
Out of the 4 emails I did obviously respond to the first one and the most recent one (which means your lying when you say I have not responded as you even emailed a response to it) and when you provide the info requested again so that we can recheck to see if your voucher has finally been PROCESSED we can verify it for the next available class.
Deal Chicken has at times taken 24-48hrs (based on past customer experience) to have the voucher be processed so that we as the MERCHANT can view it to therefore verify and redeem...until that time it does not show up on our end and its impossible then to verify your purchase.
The choice is clear, be upset with the right company and that is not us as we would have no issue verifying and redeeming your voucher to get you into a class but when its not updated on our account there is nothing more to do.
Also, you want a response please be sure to contact us during regular operating hours and regardless of what you feel about ours there are many businesses that do not operate on weekends in terms of phone calls/emails...just like us.
Now that we are clear on where we are at your welcome to either provide the info needed once again when you see the next available date for a class in your area (which we will have posted by next week) OR, you can get a refund from Deal Chicken directly as that is who you purchased with.
I'm more than OK with either option that you may choose but again please be mindful that outside of getting a refund be very cautious as we do not tolerate threats of defamation of character lightly.
We have not had reason to in the past as again we have a 99.3% extremely satisfied customer rate but there would be zero hesitation to send a cease and desist letter to you if necessary and further legal action if that did not work.
Have an excellent week.
James read more