Retailer: http://www.hotshotsgames.com/

Total Rating: 1/5 Beers

Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Website: two thumbs up. Attractive and easy to navigate

Storefront: Not sure. Have never visited

Summary: Hot Shots Games is a canadian store that is run by a husband and wife
team. They specialize in high end billards, pool, and shuffleboards but
also carry darts. Scott, the husband, also claims to be an amateur dart
player, and hosts a youtube channel on darts and dart topics.

Selection: One thumb up. Average selection of darts. They do have carry Datadart and
Target, which are both difficult to come by in the states, but they sport
very few models from those brands.

Delievery: Slow. Shipping from their province to the US was pretty pricey.
About the same rates as shipping direct from the UK with nearly the same wait.
Two weeks to ship from Ontario to the Pacific North West.

Service: Two thumbs down. They really do not seem to understand that return customers
can make or break their business. They saw no urgency in helping customers.
Would not go out of their way to resolve issues quickly.

Overall: Two thumbs down and can not recommend patronizing their business at all.
At the very least can not recommend patronizing them for darts.

Experience: Below is a history of my transaction with Hot Shots, and the email trail
that ensued after I had a problem with my purchase. This was the main factor
in my rating. Pay close attention to dates (Mm/dd/yy format). Hope my experience
helps you make an informed decision when choosing stores to shop at.


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08/02/12 Order placed


Thank you for your order. Your order number is 443, placed [color=red]08/02/2012 at 05:37AM.

Bill To:

Jonathan ****
*************

Shipping Method:

Canada Post Expedited US Business

Order Details:

Code Item Qty Price Grand Total
MULTI-POINTER-TARGET Multi-Pointer Dart Repointing Tool by Target Darts
1 $245.00 $245.00
DSC-31 10% off - Newsletter Sign Up
1 -$24.50 -$24.50

Subtotal: $220.50
Tax: $0.00
Shipping Cost: $25.58
Grand Total: $246.[color=red]08

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08/02/12-Thursday Confirmation from Hot Shots
Hi Jonathan!


Thank you for your order! We will ship it out next week and you will receive a tracking number once it has been shipped. Thanks again!

Sincerely,
Kelly Breard
Hot Shots Games
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08/15/12-Wednesday Package Arrives almost two weeks later exactly. Have problems immediately. So I wrote target through their website. No response.
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08/16/12 Still having and no reply from target so I contacted the retailer--> hotshots. 3:30 PM


Dear Hotshot Games,

I recieved my Target Dart Multipointer Tool yesterday morning that I ordered through you guys. I selected the Target Darts Repointing tool because of the video I saw on the Target website as well as the fact that I was excited about installing Target Storm points into my darts.

Unfortunately, upon use I notice a design flaw in the repointer. The block that holds the press arm is only attatched at two of the four corners. I managed to repoint one set of Unicorn phase 6's but on the last dart the arm started pulling up and two the right causing major misalignment. This pull was the result of the block only being attatched to the base on two of the four corners.

I attempted to repoint a second set of darts that I had ordered from Red Dragon In the UK. By this time the misalignment was so severe that it severely warped two of the three darts, and bent several of the tips before even setting them in the dart. As a result I ended up going through two packages of storm tips trying to repoint the red dragon darts, and warped them to the point that they will not even accept shafts. This was not by misuse or overcranking, rather the misalignment and the pulling of the arm was causing the darts to twist and bow out. With out a dart in the repointer the press arm was almost a quarter of an inch off from the point recepticle.

I wrote Target darts late last night, which wouldve been 8am there time, and I did not get a reply. I had high hopes, because I really like the idea of using the beveled target darts storm points, which are supposed to work on all standard dart barrels.

I feel I am out the money for the Repointer which I bought from you guys, as well as 30$USD for the two target storm tips that I bought else where as well as out the money for my set of red dragon darts which apparently are only available in the UK.

Is there any way you guys can help remedy this situation?

Thanks,

Jon
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08/16/12 3:38pm Kelly Breard wrote back

Hi Jon!


I'm sorry that there was such a problem with the re-pointer by Target. We have been selling them for awhile now and haven't had any complaints. Would it be possible for you to send me some pictures of the re-pointer and how it was bending the points? That would be helpful to us. Target has a Canadian distributor which is who we have to buy from and I can send them your email outlining the problems, but pictures to illustrate would also be beneficial.


Once I have some pictures, I will be in touch with our Target representative in Canada and see what they can do. I'll keep you posted!


If you have any further questions please reply to this e-mail or call one of the numbers listed below.

Thank you and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kelly Breard
Hot Shots Inc.
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08/16/12 4:16pm I reply with pictures(original pictures can be seen in my review of the multipointer)

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for the reply! I really do appreciate it. Im attaching some pictures below.

In picture 1 what you are seeing is the bottom of the repointer. What you see is two rivets are capped and two are not. The top left one immediately started to give as I was repointing my first set of darts. When I began repointing my second set of darts, the red dragon darts, it had gave tremendously causing the extreme misalignment.

In picture 2 you are seeing the repointer after it had gave. Should be self explanatory. It giving gradually worsened from the first dart I repointed. Seemed pretty clear that if the rivets were attached in a sturdy way this wouldnt have happened :S

In picture 3 you are seeing the shaft end of one of the red dragon darts. This dart and another from the set have identical damage. What happened is the awkward angle had put pressure on one side of the barrel bending it out and down and almost cracking it a bit.

In Picture 4 you are seeing one of the points that I did not finish installing. I stopped because the misalignment started to bend. The was one of the last two darts I attempted, the other sheared the point off.




Thanks

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08/16/12 4:35pm
Hi Jon!


I have forwarded your emails and pictures to our Target distributor in Canada. I will keep you posted next week once I hear back.


If you have any further questions please reply to this e-mail or call one of the numbers listed below.

Thank you and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kelly Breard

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[color=red]08/24/12 4:08pm A week and a day later I had not heard, so I wrote asking for updates.

Kelly

Any word?
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08/31/12 Two weeks and a day later, still no word, so I wrote again.

Any news? It has been almost two weeks now. If the distributor doesn't want to work with you guys, I can just take a refund or store credit plus a bit extra for the tips and darts that it warped and broke.

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08/31/12 Scott Breard takes over the matter and replies.

Jon,


I apologize for your inconvenience.



British Darts is the Canadian Target Distributor. I have just spoken with them and they will followup with me on Tuesday after they have spoken to Target.


Scott Breard
Hot Shots
//Below scott pasted in his conversation with British darts.//

(scott to british darts)
Can Someone please call me today at Hot Shots (905-6[color=red]08-8100) before 1:30pm to explain how we can be rectify this situation with a very disappointed customer I have who bought a Target re-pointer.

thank you,
Scott
(British Darts reply)
Hi Scott.
We have not heard from Target yet. I will call them this morning and hopefully get an answer and I will call you in any case
Regards
John

John McGregor

Sales Manager
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09/04/12 A little frustrated from this overly drawn out process, I play up a lead from Dartznutz forum and shoot target a PM

Hi,

I have had a lot of issues with my target multipointer. I feel that I got a defective one and it ruined a set of my darts and several sets of points. I've repointed plenty of darts before this so I am well aware of the challenges involved but I felt that this product must've either just been from a bad batch or worse.

Initially, I contacted the retailer that I purchased it from, and asked for them to remedy/refund/compensate me for my repointer/darts/points. However, they have been giving me the run around for over three weeks telling me that they have never had complaints before, that the distributor had to handle it, etc and claiming to just climb the supply chain rather than finding a way to remedy the issue for me.

I also initially sent an email to the target website, but it might've gone to the spam folder?

Either way, I regretfully posted a product review here on this site that explains and documents the issues I had, complete with photographs. http://www.dartsnutz.com/t2763-target-multipointer-review?highlight=target+multipointer

One member of the forum told me that you might be able to remedy the situation. I held off on messaging you because the retailer was supposed to contact me on tuesday after they followed up yet again with the distributor but they seem to have flaked out.

Is there anything you can do to help me here?
I would be happy with a replacement pointer that works, as well as replacements for my damaged darts and points.

Thanks,

Jon H.
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09/06/12 Rob at target replies! Finally I'm getting some where!

Hi Jon,

First of all I would like to apologise for the problems you have incurred from using one of our products.

This is currently being dealt with - we have spoken extensively with our customer rep over in Canada about it and the shop which supplied you with the Multi-Pointer and the matter is being dealt with.

Many thanks

TargetRob



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09/06/12 A day short of a week later no news from hot shots so I follow up yet again.

Any word after the follow up?

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09/07/12 Still havent heard from hot shots even though the matter is being dealt with, so I decide to contact British Darts Distribution

Hi,
I am the customer that had the defective repointer. Scott from Hotshots said he was going to follow up with you guys on tuesday, but I haven't heard from him yet. Rob at target said that they had already spoke to you guys and that the issue was being "dealt with".

Any word? I am very anxious for some sort of remedy/compensation/replacement for my repointer/broken darts/and points since it has been nearly a month since I contacted Hotshots Games with my problem.

I do not necessarily think you guys should be the ones responsible, but every one seems to be passing the matter off to you guys.

Thanks,
Jon

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09/07/12 Quick reply from B.D.! It's always feels great to get quick customer service!

Mr. Hough,

Gerry from here did speak with Target and there was a solution offered which I know was then discussed with Scott .The matter was left with Scott to discuss with you.

I do not have the details personally and Gerry is away until next Wednesday.

In any case, I have called Scott on receipt of your message but he is unavailable today. I did however relay your message to Kelly at Hot Shots and she will ensure Scott receives it, so no doubt he will be back in touch with you.

Sincerely,

John McGregor
Sales Manager
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09/11/12 Still haven't heard from scott. Wondering why I'm not privy to the solution thats been "offered" so I wrote Scott again

Hi Scott,

It's been ten days since I've heard from you, about thirty days since I originally contacted your store about my defective product.

I've been in touch with both Rob at Target as well as John McGregor at British darts. They both said last week that it had been dealt with and a solution had been offered to you to solve my situation.

Just wondering why I haven't heard back from you if a solution had been arrived at early last week?

Thanks,
Jon H
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09/11/12 about three minutes later I recieved a reply from scott

Jon,


Please ship the item back to us and we will have it replaced by British Darts as per Target.


Our address is:


Hot Shots
3150 Ridgeway Drive #25
Mississauga ON L5L5R5 Canada


regards,
Scott Breard
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09/11/12 Now I am a little confused. What about my broken darts? Do I have to shipping once over to send you back the defective product that they sent me? I reply

Scott,

Thanks for the prompt reply!

Your store and or target is going to pay for the shipping charges correct? What about the set of darts and tips the repointer broke? Is that just my loss?

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Later in the day no reply, however I do get spam email from hotshots about joining their linkden page.
Me'thinks this is the last email I will get from them. Hope my experience helps you make an informed decision.

Damn, its a messy state of affairs, I can understand your frustration though!

Sounds like a disaster mate. At least your getting it sorted (all be it a month later ) Good man for being so persistant though and following it up with the different people yourself

Update!

Since my last reply to hot shots inquiring whether or not they would pay shipping for me to ship my broken repointer back to them and asking if they were going to compensate me for my broken darts. Hot shots never replied and I refuse to send it in at my expense since I wasn't responsible for it being defective.

I gave up because the time it was taking to follow up on Scott the owner had exceeded the value of the dart repointer and my broken darts.

However! the day before yesterday, I recieved a forwarded email from british darts distributor to scott at hot shots asking what the status of my case was. They also made it clear that the offer they presented to scott to present to me was that they intended to replace my repointer, give me a set of 80$ target pures and a set of storm points for my trouble. They did not understand why scott had not contacted them with my prefered dart weight! They also mentioned that scott was responsible for shipping!

Interestingly enough this WAS NOT the offer scott had made me and he never asked what weight dart I used.

This leads me to believe that scott was intending to keep the darts and resell them!

As a result I am changing my rating of Hot shots to 0/5 stars, and up'ing my rating of target and british darts to 5/5 stars!

Wow. I've watched some of his YouTube videos, seems like a nice guy, but I won't buy from them now. Thanks for the warning.

Damn thats not good Vallyr, and I am glad you have made this post here so people can see it.

Not a good way to conduct business really. Very poor!

Yeah I know! To be honest, until I received that forward, it had been almost a month since I had last tried to contact scott at hot shots, so I had given up.

Sad thing is, according to his youtube channel he personally knows and is friends with alot of famous canadian dart players like John Part and Bob Sinaeve.

moved to new forum
http://www.dartsnutz.net/showthread.php?tid=488