[xReladinx]

Its sickening that this guy is STILL trying to rip people off and nothing has been done legally regardless of everything the people in this thread have done against him.

[Odie37]

Originally Posted by Nite_Reaper

Not to revive a dead thread, but this has saved my A#$! We were looking into Alpha Sports and talking with Lee about getting some netting...thank for all the valued input...giving K pro a call now.

Wish I would have read it earlier. We just got ripped off by them on some carabiners that lasted all of a week

[haynboy8223]

Originally Posted by Odie37

Wish I would have read it earlier. We just got ripped off by them on some carabiners that lasted all of a week

That sucks! Sorry to hear that bro.

[xXTLXx Kryptonite]

Hopefully, I won't have to have to add my name to this thread =/
Ordered 300ft of cable and netting. He messaged me on the 14th saying the cable was shipping out then and the netting was shipping out later that week, but he never sent me a shipping or confirmation number for it. I messaged him Friday with no answer and sent one today. If I don't have an answer or can't reach them by tomorrow afternoon, I am going to have a bad taste in my mouth.

Wish I would have seen this before ordering. Really kicking myself in the *** and worrying.

[NoelyDeezNutz]

No one decided to take go pay them a visit and ask for their stuff?

I can tell you that if I spent more than $3,000 on product, and the person failed to deliver, a plane ticket would be my next purchase.

It looks like everyone is waiting for someone else to do something instead of acting on their own... Take some ****ing initiative and put this ******* in his place.

[M4GOO]

You can go to small claims and get a judgement against there corporation which hopefully didn't change and anything under it can be seized / garnished to get your money back. Most likely if they are not answering you now they wont show hp at court and u will win. And now would have been a good time seeing they are probably getting taxes back. It took me 3 years to start getting money from a case and I just got my fist check last week. Small claims is the way to go since you don't need a lawyer as Long as it is under $5000. All court fees can be added to your claim

[GetBunkerD]

Someone needs to PM railz and get him on this....

I ran a WHOIS search on this site... this is what has come back...

Registrant:
Alpha Sports Inc.
214 Cambria Court
Mauldin, South Carolina 29662
United States

Registered through: Go Daddy
Domain Name: PAINTBALLNETTING.COM
Created on: 18-Aug-02
Expires on: 18-Aug-12
Last Updated on: 10-Aug-11

Administrative Contact:
, sales@paintballnetting.com
Alpha Sports Inc.
214 Cambria Court
Mauldin, South Carolina 29662
United States
864-414-2458 Fax -- 123 123 1234

Technical Contact:
, customerservice@networksolutions.com
Network Solutions, LLC.
13200 Woodland Park Drive
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3025
United States
1-888-642-9675 Fax -- 571-434-4620

Domain servers in listed order:
MB1.MICROBYTE.NET
NS1.INFINITIES.COM

[xXTLXx Kryptonite]

He messaged me back today and said I would have the stuff by Wednesday. He said he didn't have a tracking number because it was shipping from a different place than where he was... I was under the impression that his company manufactured the netting also.
If Wednesday comes and it still isn't here, I will just contact my card company to get my money back and order from Kpro.

[Odie37]

From what I have figured out he is basically a wholesaler or middle man. The netting comes from a place in GA called Pak unlimited. Have no clue where the crappy plastic carabiners he orders comes from but whatever you do don't buy them.

[nobrokenballs]

When are people going to start reading the threads or reviews. When in doubt ask...

[AlphaSportsPB]

My name if Lee Rummage and I am one of the partners here with Alpha Sports. This thread has been brought to my attention, especially because it mentions me personally. I wanted to take some time to follow up on a lot of the comments that have been posted here. The majority of things being said here I could not help but laugh a little at. Not so much because it’s funny, but I have the privilege of knowing the other half of these stories and some of the irony is very rich. This account was created today specifically for the purpose of responding to comments on this post. Due to the length of the response this post will be broken into 2-3 posts.

I am going to take the time to respond to each complaint individually. This is the best way I can figure to respond to and handful of bulk inquiries. Please note that some of my responses will be very blunt. I see some people here like to wear “the big boy pants” when they are safely behind a computer screen with some anonymity to protect them. As for myself I have nothing to hide. I have been a leading partner in Alpha Sports since day one, which has been just over 10 years now. I have served in the industry for close to 15 years and have pretty much done it all. I have worked with local fields, worked for National Paintball Supply, Paintball Inc, and Warrior Sports Gear. I was one of the 3-4 that helped to define what the physical paintball netting product was supposed to accomplish and even worked with the first fabrication facilities to help ensure the original paintball netting product was up to spec. In short, I know netting.

For the past 10 years I have worked with Alpha Sports and worked to develop products specifically for the field owner. During this time Alpha Sports has been a provider to the NPPL, PSP, RPL, Kee Action Sports, ProCaps, Archon Paintball and other major suppliers. We lead the industry with more netting being sold to the US Military, Colleges, and Churches. We are not a scam or fly-by-night business. We are a corporation located in Greenville SC, and yes the address listed on our site in a box address. I am sure I don’t have to tell any other business owners here about bulk spam mail. We list our physical address on every invoice issued. Our company does offer 3 styles of netting (Economy, Premium, and Professional). Most all complaints issued on this thread deal with our Economy material. Never do we advise any public field to purchase Economy Netting but it is offered because there are certain people that will forever look at dollar amount alone, never taking into account quality over cost.

Before getting into the itemized complaints I will let everyone know I can be reached at 888-729-1115 ex 701 from 9am to 5pm east coast time Monday-Friday. If for any reason you reach my voicemail PLEASE leave a message. I am most likely assisting another customer and will always return calls. If for any reason you have placed an order with myself or anyone working with Alpha Sports and are not satisfied I want to know about it.

Also as advice to anyone being ripped off by any company, TargetIndy is correct. The BBB is the biggest scam going right now. They have no power, no authority, and can do absolutely nothing to assist anyone. They scam businesses into paying for a grade that means nothing. Example: Bank of America has an A+ BBB score and thousands of complaints, many unresolved. How do you think they maintain that grade? They slide the BBB a nice check every so often and it all handles it’s self. If you have been scammed by any company, your first call should be to your credit card company. They can assist you with getting your money back. If for any reason they cannot, consult a lawyer.

RayRay9381 – Since you started this thread I will start with you. #1) you never placed an order with us. #2) you’re a kid with no real idea how business works. You may know the gentleman that placed an order with us, you may have even helped setup his field, but you played no role in the order or refund process. Since the gentleman I worked with was pleasant and very easy to work with I will leave his name off my response. To sum up this order in short, an order was placed for 1 roll of netting. There was a lead time on the roll of 4-5 business days before shipping. The customer paid us via check not understanding that it is our policy (and the policy of most businesses) to receive the check and allow for the check to clear prior to shipping (average 4-5 business days). When the customer was notified of the lead time he informed me he needed his order much faster and wanted a refund. We processed the refund and issued a check to the customer. RayRay, you even acknowledged getting this refund in your posts with an apology letter. Now I ask, what fraud was committed here? How were you scammed? Order placed, refund requested, refund issued … absolutely no problem. RayRay, your money was never stolen because you never paid a dime for anything. The product never shipped because the order was canceled before the roll could be fabricated. The gentleman I worked with understood the process with no issues. No one disappeared and we continued to take calls from the actual customer. You and I did speak once over the phone and I suppose you thought it was a good idea to vomit at the month with foul language and think I would work with you. RayRay, I would highly advise you to leave business matters in the hands of grown-ups from now on. We know what we’re doing.

[AlphaSportsPB]

Drumnbassej1 – Joe Williams I would expect a little more out of you. Yea I understand you’re a competitor now, but out of everyone on this site you know me better than to just believe all of this at face value. I busted my *** to help you personally over the years and you know full well that to date if you called me needing help I would be there. Never once in business or personal have I degraded you or spoke ill of you. This is because I thought I knew the quality of person you are, or were. However when you hide yourself behind a computer screen on a forum I guess you become someone else huh.

SRFox – You made the comment “Sounds like this is an advertisement for K-Pro more than anything else”. I could not agree more. Ever wonder why no other netting supplier in the industry is mentioned in this thread but K-pro? I certainly do.

Micoyote1 – You made a comment that we dropped the ball on your netting but you ordered through a middle man. Who? We distribute or have in the past shipped for most everyone in the industry. I have seen Pro Caps off loading a mistake order from China and calling it other peoples stuff, from us to a variety of others. If you have an issue I invite you to call me directly.

HogansCT – You made a comment that you had issues with our pole system. Very seldom do we see any issues with the system but it does have a warranty. Please call me with the issue(s) and I will be glad to resolve.

EL Jefe GIP – You state you placed an order, did not get anything at all, and were hung up on. I don’t believe you are serious at all but I will offer the same thing to you. Call me. Let me know what the order was. I am sure we still have it on file if it was actually placed. You’re your complaint is legit and you placed and order and show where you had to file into your bank I will give you a free roll of netting on me.

Buckshots Paintball – What product did you order? If I remember correctly you were completely cost driven and ignored my warnings not to buy our economy netting for an event you were holding. Again, if you would have contacted me I would have helped.

Paintballnewbie4now – Your complaint was my favorite. All items you order were received by you and were received on time. When you scheduled me to come out and assist with employee training you were instructed to have your field up and running. Not only did you have 100% nada ready for ANY form of training, you did not even have the same employees both days because you kept hiring and firing teenagers both days. YOUR FIELD MANAGER CHANGED 4 TIMES in the 2 days I was there. Your own “field manager” or at least the last one with the job on the second day, told me your were the ones responsible for the damages to your order … but despite that I replaced the items free of charge. Yes, your second day of training was cut 2 hours short, but this was the fault of your employees and you admitted this to me on site. What would you have me to do? No one ignored your calls and I still have your emails on file. Call me if you want to discuss the events of that weekend.

Cyote Z – You were my second favorite. Mainly because you placed an order, got the order, then realized you made the wrong measurements for your field and tried to file a charge back AND keep the product on top of it all. What made it even better was having your “friend” email me only to tell me in his words “I has a very small IQ and do not know how to measure off a field”. Your bank found that one especially funny. By the way, what happened to all that big lawsuit talk? Send me your current address and I will send you a tape measure so you can learn the actual size of your field. Better yet, next time just own up to your mistake and I would have sent you the two poles you needed for the 50 feet you somehow missed.

Hawker74 – We completed your order to 100% fulfillment. Your issue was this … you ordered netting specifically to cut visibility to an adjoining property. You begged me on the phone to find you netting that had nothing to do with paintball, and told me it did not need to be able to stop paint. Your were only concerned on visibility and wanted the cheapest item possible. I found and shipped your product to you. On installation you found that it would not stop paint and called to complain. Even though the material was damaged I offered to take the product back and send you legitimate paintball netting since this must have been what you needed all along or give you a refund. All you had to do was ship the net back to me and pay the cost difference for better net. You refused informing me that I needed to pay freight both ways and give you the actual paintball netting for free. Two words … dream on. I did everything possible to get you exactly what you needed. In return you tried to abuse our policy. Next time be 100% honest with people when you tell a false story.

Odie37 – How were you ripped off? Your partner placed an order for a roll of 16X300 netting and 200 clips. Not only did you get your order, you got a 2nd roll of netting for FREE. Granted it was our economy material but you partner sure did seem excited to get it. You called me a couple weeks after telling me a wind storm had hit and broken your clips (I got hit with the same storm). You explained to me you wanted a refund and I offered you one at least 5 times over by now. All I ask is for the clips to be returned. I even offered to pay for the return shipping. You refuse to do this. What more would you like? You want a refund, no problem … just send us back the clips. By the way you’re welcome for the second roll of netting. I hope you find it useful.

NoelyDeexNutz – I could not agree with you more. If someone took me for 3k, or 10k, or like Hawker74 states 25k, I would be on the phone with a lawyer while I was in the air going to that place of business. This is why it should be easy to see where most of these comments are at best half truths if there is any truth at all.

If I missed anyone on here let me know. I am glad to respond to you as well.

[AlphaSportsPB]

I hope some of these responses serve as a lesson, while I hope others resolve any real issues.

One last comment: For the real paintball field owners on here. I appreciate those of you that have set some people straight on a lot of this BS. It means a lot when we get a call and someone from here has spoken to one of you first hand letting them know that we do indeed provide a great product and timely service. I can’t image the dedication to come to this forum day after day and field some of the questions you guys do. Just a big overall thanks.

[xXTLXx Kryptonite]

I first had my doubts of Alpha Sports mostly due to finding this post after I ordered, but he delivered in a timely fashion. I received all of my items. My 300ft of cable and my 12x300 roll of netting and my clips.

I do not own a paintball business, I am just setting up my field for personal use.
But I do own a business and I know how one sided claims are from my customers.

Lee Rummage delivered on what he said he would. He provided me with the tracking numbers to my shipments when he received them. If I decide to upgrade my field with whatever it may be, I most likely will go back to Alpha Sports.

Once again thanks for the product me and my team are so happy that we will finally have our own field.

[Odie37]

I contacted you the day our net was received and complained about the plastic carabiners. You informed me that they were every bit as durable as the metal ones. One week later I had to close my field because they had broken off and I had no net. As far as the second roll of net. It is useless to us. It was sent to you as a sample and somehow ended up at our shop. It looks like the top part of hybrid net and there is no way I would put my customer behind it. So it is in the exact same place it was when it was delivered to us by mistake. Rolled up in a corner taking up space. Now as far as sending back your plastic carabiners that would be all well and good. If they were not scattered and in pieces all over my field. My complaint is over them. I really don't give a crap about this net that was sent here on accident. Not to mention how foolish it makes your company look that I received 300 ft of net by mistake.

Here is what I came back to one week after installing my net with his plastic carabiners. The older side of our field was unharmed by the winds.

[AlphaSportsPB]

Odie37 – I know very few people that will complain about a mistake in their favor. The mistake was at no cost to us so we offered you the benefit. You are correct that the top portion is hybrid and we discussed this yesterday. Your partner said you guys did have a use for the netting so I offered to let you keep the roll. Yet has anyone said thank you.

As for the clips, it is what you partner specifically ordered. We did not try to offer him a product or push something on him he did not want. He specifically ordered those clips. Just yesterday you said your partner would not know what he was doing placing an order in the first place but for some reason you let him make the order. I really don’t know what to say to that. I have offered you a refund on the clips and that offer still stands.

Also I have requested this image each time we have spoken. You have yet to send it to me directly but somehow found the time to post it here. You also informed me yesterday your netting is only secured at the top and bottom and not installed per the ASTM specs you insist on. I took the liberty of running the wind speeds the Friday the damage happened. NOAA/weather.gov shows wind speeds exceeding 35mph. It is always recommend you have a way to raise a lower your netting for major storms. Only attaching the netting top and bottom without the “cross” cable X makes you’re netting more like a giant wind sail. This puts a lot of stress directly on the clips alone. Just offering this information for your future installs.

Again, you are welcome to call me directly at any time. I made it clear yesterday I am most willing to work with and help you.

[squares]

There's a lot of this going on on PbNation right now... where people are calling out manufacturers/vendors, and the manufacturers/vendors are jumping in and slinging mud.

No one likes to have their image tarnished... but it does absolutely nothing for your image to have this sort of public battle with your customers... even if you're right.

The best response that any of you could be posting is "I'm really sorry that you've had a bad experience. Please contact me at your earliest convenience and we can sort this out over the phone", with a message about how you're working hard to ensure that your customers are happy.

Then make a couple of customers happy...

The problem will sort itself out.

As it is... you're just opening up the lines of communication with negativity, and are just guaranteeing yourself more of it... not a great strategy. In any case... best of luck with this to you and the rest. Social media is a *****.

[Odie37]

Originally Posted by squares

There's a lot of this going on on PbNation right now... where people are calling out manufacturers/vendors, and the manufacturers/vendors are jumping in and slinging mud.

No one likes to have their image tarnished... but it does absolutely nothing for your image to have this sort of public battle with your customers... even if you're right.

The best response that any of you could be posting is "I'm really sorry that you've had a bad experience. Please contact me at your earliest convenience and we can sort this out over the phone", with a message about how you're working hard to ensure that your customers are happy.

Then make a couple of customers happy...



The problem will sort itself out.

As it is... you're just opening up the lines of communication with negativity, and are just guaranteeing yourself more of it... not a great strategy. In any case... best of luck with this to you and the rest. Social media is a *****.

Exactly.

[AlphaSportsPB]

Squares – I could not agree more. What prompted me to respond the way I did was when this thread started to become more about finding me on a personal level. I consulted several people in the industry and they all came to the same consensus. Had things been strictly business, I would have responded that way. I even made the comment on my first post that if you can back up these BS stories I will give you free product. I am trying to keep the mentality of “Pick up the phone, act like an adult, and lets resolve any and all issues”. I and through Alpha Sports I am willing to do what is necessary to keep our customers happy.

Like you I think social media has gotten a little out of control. It’s sad when 15 and 16 year olds make it their mission to ruin the good name of a company over a lie. I guess unfortunately that is the world we live in now. On the up side this thread has done little to nothing to slow business. Most business owners do not consult forums on making real world business decisions. Not saying there is not a wealth of knowledge on this site, I just think it misses its mark. We are seeing a great bounce back this year in new field start ups and customers are making changes, additions, and improvements to their fields. I sincerely hope that 2012 is going to be a great turn around for the industry as a whole.

Odie37 – You say “exactly” but need I remind you last week when I was in the middle of offering you a refund you hung up on me. I am continually offering you your money back but you not doing anything about it aside from just making more posts. Call me like an adult and settle this in a business professional manner. I will be in tomorrow at 9am.

[TMarquie]

Interesting priorities here...defend yourself and bash your customers. Almost 2 years and over 13000 views on this post, and its contents, and not one positive customer experience has been posted on your behalf. Now that's something to be proud of!

[squares]

Originally Posted by AlphaSportsPB

Squares – I could not agree more. What prompted me to respond the way I did was when this thread started to become more about finding me on a personal level. I consulted several people in the industry and they all came to the same consensus. Had things been strictly business, I would have responded that way. I even made the comment on my first post that if you can back up these BS stories I will give you free product. I am trying to keep the mentality of “Pick up the phone, act like an adult, and lets resolve any and all issues”. I and through Alpha Sports I am willing to do what is necessary to keep our customers happy.

Like you I think social media has gotten a little out of control. It’s sad when 15 and 16 year olds make it their mission to ruin the good name of a company over a lie. I guess unfortunately that is the world we live in now. On the up side this thread has done little to nothing to slow business. Most business owners do not consult forums on making real world business decisions. Not saying there is not a wealth of knowledge on this site, I just think it misses its mark. We are seeing a great bounce back this year in new field start ups and customers are making changes, additions, and improvements to their fields. I sincerely hope that 2012 is going to be a great turn around for the industry as a whole.

Odie37 – You say “exactly” but need I remind you last week when I was in the middle of offering you a refund you hung up on me. I am continually offering you your money back but you not doing anything about it aside from just making more posts. Call me like an adult and settle this in a business professional manner. I will be in tomorrow at 9am.

Like I said, social media is a ***** man... I work for a communications/PR firm in DC, and deal with the ins and outs of this all day. I've seen firsthand the damage just a few negative customer relationships can have on even gigantic businesses. Look at what happened with United and Dave Carroll (the guy with the broken guitar). Some argue that a single unhappy customer cost them $180 million.

It does seem like the industry is feeling optimistic, thankfully, and as a sport that is once again growing in popularity during a time when every teenager in our country has direct and immediate access to these forums via their smartphones, there are all sorts of new issues cropping up for companies that have never had to deal with this sort of thing before.

One suggestion around reputation management if I might... the 15 and 16 year old kids you mention probably aren't buying your products, but corporations can't "un-communicate" anymore. That is, everything you post publicly on the internet is being archived forever... and in 10 years, the teenagers that are giving you **** now are going to be your customers.

I can't/won't speak to the issue at hand with YOUR customers, because I don't have first hand experience with your company, but I believe the best approach for all corporate communication is to remain entirely neutral and accommodating in the public space, and focus on the details in private conversations.

The only exception to this, is where you screwed up. When a company screws up, the fastest recoveries come from companies that own up to it and address it.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Feel free to do with that what you will... happy to discuss further in private messages.