Buyer Beware! (Updated 6/21/16)
My experience was terrible. My first order arrived damaged due to no packing material. They replaced that, and the 2nd order also was damaged due to zero packing material-- just an unpadded envelope offering no protection to the components. The sharp edges of the integrated circuits and sockets were bent and protruding through the envelope.
Customer service told me their cost is too high to properly ship these kits, and that they will not change this.
Stay away from The Science Hut. Their attitude and support is poor. Buyer beware!
In response to your reply:
It's amazing that you take the time to misrepresent this order instead of fixing the problem. Your website shows the item wrapped in bubble wrap for shipment. But the two shipments to me had no packing material at all, resulting in damage to the components. This was obvious in the photos I sent.
A company that cares about quality would find out what happened during fulfillment and make the simple fix. But instead you dig your heals in and blame the customer.
You say considering the low price, which includes a discount and free shipping, I should accept the damaged components. I did not request a discount or free shipping; it was offered as part of the order. If you gave me an option for no packing material at a discount, with me taking full risk of damages, or paying more for proper packing, I would have paid more. This option was not offered.
It's telling that you dismiss the bent pins on the integrated circuits as a non-issue since they are eventually trimmed and discarded. I worked in electronics manufacturing for 20+ years and never saw a discussion from a "professional" anything like this. The truth is the pins on the integrated circuits are designed to allow easy mounting and soldering (or insertion into a socket). After they are installed and soldered, the excess length is trimmed. But the original length is necessary to build the circuit. For you to indicate the trimmed portion is wasted and therefore not an issue when damaged is just unbelievable, especially from someone that works in this industry.
All you had to do is add a layer of packing material, just like you show on the product description page. Both of my packages were shipped from Texas in an unpadded envelope. It's time to take some responsibility for your words and actions. It's amazing that you refuse to make this simple fix, and will continue to ship this product with no protection.
Reply from Thesciencehut
Dear customer, we're sorry about the experience that you've had. We note that your review is not entirely truthful nor is it a fair account of the experience you had while shopping with us. You purchased an inexpensive item on our store ($14.95) and you used a 10% discount which further reduced the price, and you also got free shipping included for that. The way your kit is packaged in clearly stated on the product page and the packaging is a reflection of the very low price. All of our other kits ship in more protective packaging (where it's actually needed) but these kits cost more to cover the packaging cost. We acknowledged it did arrive with some very minor damage (bent pins), but these are supposed to be cut off and thrown away as part of the assembly, so they in no way impact the functionality of your kit. Nonetheless, we shipped a replacement free of charge and it arrived with the same observation. You again complained with emails becoming insulting, abusive, and aggressive and promised to leave negative reviews for our business all over the internet, which we can see you've followed through with. Before you even left this review, we had refunded your money in full and allowed you to keep both kits free-of-charge, but it would seem that nothing we could do would appease you. We would ask potential customers to check out the many reviews on our site in addition to many other platforms such as JudgeMe, where you'll see many genuinely happy customers. We also offer top class customer support, responses usually within the hour, and we go above and beyond to please our customers.
Reply to your update: we allowed you to keep both kits for free and we refunded your money in full, in addition to about 2 hours spent on customer care emails for your < $14 purchase... our business has lost about $170 in costs from your $14 order (literally hours of customer service, 2 kits, refunding your money, shipping), so I don't understand how you conclude that we haven't accepted responsibility. We have had thousands of customers for this kit and about 5 complaints in total in the last 2 years, so we do not see the need to waste customers money on unnecessary packing for this kit... furthermore, anyone that has a problem with anything they buy from us, they get their money back, without quibble, as you did. There are not many online stores that provide such assurance these days, many will fight you tooth and nail on policy wording to avoid giving refunds.
We can see you're fixated on your position, 2 months after your purchase and after receiving your refund and you're still online trying to damage our reputation with negative reviews... thankfully, TrustPilot is not the only review platform out there, anyone wishing to check our legibility when considering making a purchase will find we're 4.8/5.0 from over 500 reviews on JudgeMe review platform and similarly highly rated in many other places across the internet... only 1 review on TrustPilot from one person is very little to go on, we'd urge anyone that is interested in our products to research our business more broadly than TrustPilot for a balanced perspective.