Ratex Electrical Supplies Inc

Disappointing customer service and appears to have little to no interest in customer satisfaction.

This morning I called into this office looking for a Cat5 data cable tester and a Probe to identify Cat5 data cables. I called ahead before going to the location to confirm they in fact had what i needed to avoid a pointless trip.

When I arrived at the location I waited for someone to be available for about 10 minutes. I was literally the next person in line and they had 5 people at the front desk. Not even eye contact or a friendly greeting. The counter guys were taking their time and appeared to be joking around and not trying to be efficient. This may be great for the customer they were speaking with at the time as clearly they were willing to give them all the time and attention in the world, but for someone waiting, it was pretty annoying to wait.

Once I finally was able to speak to someone I explained that i was looking for a Cat5 data cable tester and a probe to identify cables.

The counter rep explained they did not have have the items I was looking for. I was frustrated by this and explained I literally called in 20 minutes before I came in and asked to confirm they had it. The counter rep called out to anyone to ask if they had receive such a calla and someone clearly reluctantly acknowledged it.

I have no problem with people making mistakes, but the rep did not even apologize. Which is just common courtesy. Not that I am crying without one, just figure it would have been at-least good customer service to apologize.

The counter rep ended up selling me an item which he claimed was a Probe for Cat5 cable but he did not have the tester I needed.

I purchased the probe for $108.48 and went somewhere else to buy the Cat5 tester. I was not happy about it, but since they didn't have the tester, I had no choice.

Finally got back to my office, I open the probe and tried to plug in my Cat5 data cable to probe and identify the location on the far side, and realize the jack for the probe is only RJ11, not RJ45 Cat5. So in fact this probe is completely useless to me.

I called back the store and explained I was hoping to return the item since it was not as described to me at the time of purchase and does not work for my needs for this reason.

The person i spoke to on the phone told me that they would not accept it as a return because I had opened the packaging.

They did not offer ANY option for returning the device, even with restocking fee. thy flat our refused.

So the facts are...

I called ahead to confirm availability.
Went to site learned it was not available.
Paid $108.48 for an item they said would work.
The product was the wrong tool for my needs.
Thy refused to return the item.

All this transpired over 2 hours.

There was zero interested in working with me for some sort of restitution.

For this reason I felt it was important to share. Maybe their products are good and they offer good pricing on some products. But the customer service is totally lacking.

Would I recommend these guys? I'm not sure. Maybe if there was a need for an item. But I wouldn't feel confident if there was ever a problem that they would be helpful at all.

So to make up for my $100 wasted... I figured I would share my honest review. I hope the $100 was worth it.

Have had to replace 2 exterior timer lights in 2 years due to power outages. Through special order, Ratex was able to assist with a LED step light and timer......! courteous and timely. I'm very pleased.