I ordered an M2 with some accessories, but there were items missing in my package. I can’t seem to reach customer service. No response in over 2 weeks. Other items are still back ordered since a year. Bad communication. Bad customer service. Bad production management. I can’t recommend this business to anyone.
Hello, Mr. MountainManJoe! My name is Don, and I was very recently hired by Macchina to provide some part-time help. While I get up to speed with how the company works I have been tasked with doing some technical writing to go along with Macchina’s total site redesign, and in particular assist in creating documentation for products that are somewhat lacking as well as all of the new products being developed such as A0 (OBD2 dongle with WiFi and Bluetooth) or P1 (interface to allow the use of PocketBeagles with M2).
We are painfully aware we have gaps in our systems, especially in how we have handled finding gaps in our systems. I am pretty sure I speak for the whole company when I say we are more than a little embarrassed by the poor customer order fulfillment, and similarly embarrassed by the lack of communication we have had for a company that prides itself on customer interaction and a sense of community. We have been suffering one of the best (and worst) things that can happen to a small company; we’ve become mildly popular, exceeding our modest goals by a large enough degree that the company’s planned resource allocation has been pushed to the edge. That is why I have been hired, and why we will continue to bring on additional resources as quickly as we can.
When I saw this message this morning I felt like I absolutely needed to answer it as soon as possible, and hopefully with enough detail that you can get an understanding for the fact that we have been “suffering” with popularity and expansion that far outpaced our projections. Yeah, boo hoo, cry us a river, and I totally get that! Common wisdom would be that a business that is so busy they can barely answer emails would be a good thing, but tactically speaking we are just not staying on top of things the way we should be, so at the very least you and a small percentage of our customers are owed an apology for the lack of information freely exchanged of late.
MMJ, please email me at don@macchina.cc and let me know your order number, the items you received, and the items you did not, plus any email thread you may have with us, and on Monday when the business office is open I will get with my co-workers and SOLVE THIS! It is my holy crusade to fix this for you, ideally in such a way that you feel so good about us that some of our ill-will can fade and be replaced by satisfaction over time as we continue to prove ourselves to all of you.
–Don
Email sent. Thank you for the response, and I’m glad you guys are taking steps. It would be a shame if this project got in over its head. 
I look forward to seeing your documentation efforts.
I got your email, so thanks for that as it will help us estimate where we went wrong in the fulfillment process!
Why is this so important to me? See, I could probably get YOUR goodwill back by swagging you a cable or something, but if our fulfillment and support processes have holes large enough to drive a truck through then this WILL happen to others if we don’t fix it, and believe me when I say we are all about the long haul around here. Being out of stock is one thing, but if we can’t accurately fill orders then we are thwarting ourselves from being able to sell much of anything! I genuinely appreciate your feedback because we can’t fix a problem until we understand it.
Hey Joe! Where you going with that gun in your hand? (you MUST have heard that your whole life!)
Well don’t come gunning for us, as we are getting close to solving this! We have had an unfortunate run of bad luck with the production run of M2-UTH ranging from communication problems with the contract manufacturer to inordinately long leads times on a couple of commodity items that are experiencing high industry demand. I honestly don’t know why the OBD2 extension cable has been delayed, but I gather from our production manager that we should have all incompletes and backorders filled in the next week or two… a far cry from the months that we have been inadvertently dragging you through!
If your order is not filled in a week or two please feel free to contact me directly via email again. This isn’t precisely what I was hired to do so I can well imagine that I might forget about it since it is not something I normally interact with, but I DO read all of my email and I AM behind the golden walls so I am in a position to facilitate communication between our overtaxed shipping and support people and you, our dear beleaguered customer. 
Yup I can thank Jimi for making my name famous LOL. Especially when I’m carrying a screw gun at work.
Max has reached out to me with a lovely solution via email. Gun is holstered. Thanks again, Don.
Conclusion: The folks from Macchina did follow up with me, quickly rectified my issues, and went above and beyond to make sure I was completely satisfied. Even though mistakes were made, I feel like they do listen and care. My trust is restored, and I’m a happy customer once again. Thanks.
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