So, to make a long story short, Amazon agrees with me still. Amazon had asked Estes to provide the PSII Nike Smoke kit 009704 because I have documented proof of my order for the PSII Nike Smoke kit 009704 at the $23.99 price. Estes responded and said that I ordered the wrong thing, instead of them providing the PSII Nike Smoke kit 009704 as originally depicted, and they offered for me to do a return and to refund me the $23.99 that I paid.

Now, Amazon is giving Estes Rockets a red flag for deceptive advertising because Estes did not honor the original listing and modified the listing after I filed a claim. Amazon has told me to keep the 007247 Nike Smoke kit that Estes sent me, and Amazon is refunding me the current full list price of the PSII Nike Smoke 009704. I feel bad for Estes, but the listing was their mistake, not mine. I was simply attempting to purchase what I thought was a great deal at the time, like other incredible model rocketry deals many of us have purchased on Amazon in the past.

My apologies to everyone else on here who thought they were getting a great deal, too, and placed a similar order, but received the 007247 Nike Smoke kit instead.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

I held my order due to something seeming fishy.
Showing one product and listing another is a mistake at BEST and they should honor what is shown, no matter their loss. I honestly don't think they would be LOSING anything for honoring that price on the PSII kit.

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Someone at Estes really messed this listing up.

Pix shows PSII
Listing details twice reference the 7247 which is the regular Nike Smoke that they shipped
Listing also references a 6" clear payload section that neither version of the Nike Smoke includes. Also states self stick decals where the 7247 has waterslide.

So appears someone mish-mashed the ad with info/pix from 3 different kits.

Meanwhile, I'm getting a refund and Estes has to eat the cost of initially shipping the kit plus pay for the return shipping

Amazon made it incredibly easy to return the kit. I printed the label they emailed me, sealed up the original box, taped on label, and dropped at our strip mall shop that is a USPS store. Not really a hassle.
Later that day I got an email confirmation of the return, and next day got my refund, all handled by Amazon. No delays in refund for Amazon to hear from Estes that package was successfully returned.
Well done Amazon. Estes? Not sure what is going on but it is definitely not the same company it used to be.

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B
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Same experience for me with the return. Refunded to my CC the day after I dropped it off at USPS.

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Makes me wonder just how many orders there were that Estes would have had to fill to make THEIR mistake go away smoothly. My guess is less than 100.
Seems like it would have gone a lot towards goodwill to customers instead of making them feel at best deceived and at worst RIPPED OFF.
They handled this very BADLY.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, AGITATION, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, AGGRAVATION, INSTIGATION, NUISANCE-ACTION, and HAVOC !

I looked at that listing, and like others who have posted here, thought it highly likely it was a mistake. So I opted not to place the order.

So please enlighten me. There is a listing that everyone agrees is fishy, if not a mistake, and yet Estes is being held to account for a boo-boo, which happens to every company and person? So the attitude is ?Hey, we knew this was messed up, but you need to fork over the product anyway.? Is this not taking advantage? How is this right?

It would be one thing if the listing seemed accurate, but it wasn?t - and we knew it. I am no great fan of the current Estes, but they are a corporation run by humans, which means there will be an occasional mistake. I see no reason to punish them for this, which is exactly what is happening here.

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Bill Cooke
NAR #31312
TRA #19705
SAM #0001
Huntsville, AL

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Hi Bill,

You make some good points. I am responsible for leading the charge because I posted the link to the listing and, ultimately, I filed a claim with Amazon, however, please notice in my original post #59, the following that I also did as due diligence (please note the last statement in my quote in particular):

Estes did not confirm the PSII Nike Smoke 009704, but Amazon continued to confirm that is what I was supposed to be getting because that is what Estes had plainly and clearly shown in all the photos of the original listing when I made my purchase.

It was not my intent to cheat Estes out of something or even to give them a bad mark or rating. I will admit that I was looking to purchase the PSII Nike Smoke 009704 at a significant discount. This is not the first time that a great deal like this has occurred on Amazon; therefore, even though it looked like it may be, "too good to be true," there was also the chance that it was true, because of the several previous significant discount purchases on Amazon and Walmart in the past for the DBRM, Mini Honest John, Mini Red Max, Big Daddy, and possibly others that I don't know about, but many of us did purchase and did receive those kits mentioned. So it was not completely out of the question to think that this could potentially have been one of those great deals also. Instead, it turned out to be, "too good to be true."

Everyone has to make their own decision, to make the purchase or not. It was a long shot, but now we know. I was not wanting Estes to get beat up over it, but I am surprised and somewhat disappointed at how they handled it, especially after Amazon urged them to supply the PSII Nike Smoke kit that was depicted in the photos. Maybe I am the one who went too far by being too covetous of the PSII Nike Smoke and taking advantage of the mistake made by Estes in not proofing their listing before they put it out publicly to the world on Amazon. Amazon has an, "A to Z Guarantee," so I expected them to make it good, which they did, but I was not expecting Estes to take a hit for it.

At any rate, it is a lesson learned to carefully read the entire description and to fully vet it first before placing the order.

Again, my apologies to everyone for leading them down this path. I ask your forgiveness. And, I certainly hope that Estes can continue to fulfill their legacy as, "the Model Rocket Capital of the World." We are very fortunate to have the Langford family running this business and it is my intent to support them all I can. Estes Rockets/Estes Industries does a lot more good things right than things that are not right.

Edit: Now Amazon has notified me this evening that they have shipped me an Estes PSII Nike Smoke kit 009704 from RareWaves-USA with UPS Mail Innovations tracking showing it has shipped from Bensenville, IL, and is scheduled to be delivered this Friday, Sept. 20th. The amount Amazon was refunding me is being applied to cover this item at no extra charge. Wow! This is definitely, "A to Z" service!

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

Well, I am here to report that, in my case, this incredible deal did actually come true! To my amazement, Amazon came through today with flying colors and delivered an Estes PSII Nike Smoke kit 009704 to my door as promised, and even a day earlier than promised! The kit box was a little crinkled due to it only having a plastic sleeve over the kit for shipping, but all the contents are perfectly intact.

In addition, Amazon had me keep the 1/10 scale Estes Nike Smoke kit 007247 that was sent by Estes Rockets.

All total, my bill was only $23.99, with free shipping, according to the original listing. Amazon definitely went above and beyond on this order! Thanks, Amazon, for outstanding service!!

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

Attached Thumbnails

 

Dang! That went well.

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