Captain's Reserve Coffee Update August 1, 2010

Hey everybody, this is Russ Herriott, one of the owners of Captain’s Reserve Coffee along with Josh and Jake Harris. Josh and I are in Temecula, California right now and we are wrapping up after Josh’s Pajama Party last night. Which by the way was a smashing success. Over 700 crazy fans and friends dressed in their favorite PJ’s, loungewear and lingerie were in attendance at Baily’s Restaurant and Nightclub in Old Town Temecula. But more on that later.Let me address the coffee issue for a moment. Drama Drama Drama…Captain’s Reserve Coffee has NOT shipped a single bag of coffee to date. And we have also NOT collected a single dime from anyone. We have all the orders on file and I have personally spoken with many of our customers and outlined what is going on. I have explained too many of you that the success of the new website which now has over 4,800 members, has literally overwhelmed us with orders. Coupled with a few other setbacks that were just out of our control really slowed us down. We are back at full strength and will be getting all our customers taken care of to the highest level of their satisfaction."

• RESPONSE: No drama. People started asking when they would get coffee. They had a right to know when it would be shipped and whether or not their credit cards would be charged beforehand. Stating that the site was overwhelmed with orders was a stall tactic. They had no coffee to sell.
• When the new Captainphilharris.com first offered coffee, the online coffee order forms listed high numbers of available bags. Why advertise something you don’t even have. Is that not deceptive advertising?

(See following dialogue from cph.com. Customers were concerned and discussed it in the forum)

Discussion started by endygirl , on 28 July 05:21 PM

Has this happened to anyone else?? I ordered coffee 2 weeks ago and it never came.....I have emailed and Called and cant seemed to get anyone but voicemail and no return calls or emails.....I am really close to calling the Seattle better business Bureau and my attorney!


doghouse,

I think you are right on brit, I a sure that they are very overwhelmed
lets just give them a chance to catch up.  Remember we are here to honor Phil, not to squabble over coffee .

Saturday, 31 July 2010 04:48

Darlenebrushwood,

 Hey all. From what I've read today I think it was, the coffee will be out by Jan 2011?? I hope it's actually sooner. Been wanting some good java!

Saturday, 31 July 2010 05:00

doghouse,

I think you are right on brit, I a sure that they are very overwhelmed
lets just give them a chance to catch up.


Remember we are here to honor Phil, not to squabble over coffee .

Saturday, 31 July 2010 04:48

brit,

I do realize that it may take a while. In fact the site says a week to ship. The brand I ordered says 400+ in stock. But over 20 days and no reply to email ... Like I said I have ordered many times with no probs and do know they might be overwhelmed with orders. But I think this a very long time to wait.

Saturday, 31 July 2010 03:32

  

Ronda,

I think every one should relize that maybe they are just getting so many orders that its taking longer then normal give them some time. yes, when I first placed my order it got lost but when I let them know I did not get they sent another one to me and I got it right away. Capt. Phil has alot of fans wanting things now.

Saturday, 31 July 2010 00:17

endygirl,

Thank you! Same to you!

Friday, 30 July 2010 16:19

JoanMarie,

Thanks endygirl I appreciate the quick response back!!! Hope you have a great day!!!

Friday, 30 July 2010 15:56

endygirl,

according to what Russ and Josh told me, they are expecting the new shipment to be in today and should be fully stocked in the next couple of days.

Friday, 30 July 2010 15:53

JoanMarie,

I am wanting to order some coffee maybe even some merchandise but some of these messages I am reading are a bit alarming, can someone please tell me if it's ok to order stuff now!!! Thank you!!!

Friday, 30 July 2010 15:45

domesticgddss,

endygirl - thanks for letting us all know. Now that's some customer service! That's so cool that you got to talk to Russ & Josh and things are moving along! Let us know what you think of "the brew!"

Friday, 30 July 2010 14:36

 

brit,

I am getting really sick of this. I ordered on the 8th and still no coffee and have written 3 emails and NO reply! I have ordered the coffee many times and never had issues. At least I hope I have the right email robert@captainphilharris.com. Not sure why they cant even reply to the email. If anyone has suggestions I would be grateful

Friday, 30 July 2010 07:54

Ronda,

I really can't tell you I just can to it to order my stuff.

Thursday, 29 July 2010 17:50

doghouse,

So what was this site like in the early days ?

Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:36  

Ronda,

doghouse, I got my stuff right after Phil passed in Feb. before when this site was differenet.

Thursday, 29 July 2010 11:57

endygirl,

I had also ordered a coffee cup and already received that.....it is really nice!! feels sturdy and durable!

Thursday, 29 July 2010 02:15

• Above notice the last three entries of the chat between doghouse, Rhonda, and endygirl. They were referring to the Original Captainphilharris.com. It's true. Orders were shipped promptly and efficiently. Customers were satisfied.

• The fact that the website had 4800 members at the last update (August 1) isn't a reason to be overwhelmed with orders. The number of people who belong to the forum doesn't mean that they return regularly. If a site isn't user friendly, updated with interesting information, or furnishing products a member seeks, they don't return. Why would they not begin filling orders IF they had the product to sell?

The last sentence of the above quote, "We are back at full strength and will be getting all our customers taken care of to the highest level of their satisfaction" would lead a person to believe that all was well. To date NOT ONE CUSTOMER has been taken care of with anything but the lowest level of satisfaction.

"As many of you know, Captain’s Reserve was owned by Capt. Phil Harris, his two sons and I. When Phil passed away we have had to deal with his estate on all matters pertaining to the coffee business. We have had many delays in moving forward which has led to a slow and tedious process. Josh and Jake are now the majority owners of the company and as of last week we finalized this transfer through the courts thanks to the tremendous legal styling’s of our amazing attorney Mr. Edward Ritter."

• Even after Captain Phil passed away the coffee business was functioning well. Product was still in Ray's Markets and the QFC stores. Marsha Cruz WAS the company. She took and mailed orders, dealt with the vendors, kept excellent records, and communicated often with the bookkeeper. Marsha had new stores lined up to come on board with Captain's Reserve and more coffee was headed to the shelves for consumer enjoyment.
• Marsha quit working on May 29th 2010. She was refused payment on the invoice she  submitted for her salary. You will also hear that she was fired. If that what they choose to call it, so be it. In any case, she was due to be paid for work completed. When she left, the company was intact with money in the account, happy vendors, and plenty of repeat customers. She contacted vendors and gave them Russ Herriott's contact information.
• A reliable manager would have taken measures necessary to keep the company afloat themselves or hired someone capable of doing so. In this case absolutely nothing happened. Vendors either could not contact Russ Herriott to re-order and have questions answered, or they were irritated after having spoken with him and they chose not to continue the business relationship. Slowly but surely stores stopped carrying Captain's Reserve Coffee. After Marsha left not one order was ever filled under the leadership of Russ Herriott.

"Now I have been getting calls from our loyal fans out there in the Capt. Phil Nation that there seems to be some negative comments floating around. On behalf of Josh and Jake, I am very sorry for the delays some of you have had to encounter in receiving your coffee. But rest assured product will be shipping to our fans and friends. I do hope you except our apologies and Josh, Jake and I hope that we keep you as a customer for many years to come.
To all those customers we have lost, we completely understand how you feel and we hope you give us another shot to win your business sometime in the near future.
Sincerely,
Russ Herriott
President & CEO
Captain’s Reserve Coffee"

• We are also very sorry for the delays. Perhaps some time in the near future you may try once again to rectify the situation. It looks, however that not many members are frequenting the home of "The Captain Phil Nation". It would be a blessing to be able to save the company that Captain Phil started. Perhaps in the next update plans will be shared to do just that.