Customers!!

[tony84]

I have no problem with peoples requests, no matter how obscure they may be. I dont mind going the extra mile - and quite happily do it because i know i appreciate the same thing when im the customer.

But what i really hate is snidey nasty customers....(this is where i moan),

We have had an email from a customer who has said they have only received 1 item (on a 2 for 1 product we are selling off to get more space in our office).

We know this is wrong for many reasons - everything is double checked once when putting the order together and then again when it is being packaged. BUT the main reason we know it went out correctly is every item gets weighed - so when we put the same 2 items in the same jiffy bag... guess what, the weight is identical!

It looks like that little comment ended this "complaint" in a flash but if we hadnt have checked the weights it would be our word against theirs and they would no doubt have won the argument with paypal or the credit card company.

My little rant is over now.

 

[Eagle]

I thought PayPal always sided with the buyer or are people just bitter?

 

[Consistency]

Customers still believe that they are always right and programmes such as watchdog fuel their opinion.

There are many many customers who use this position of "being always right" to take the rise and fleece businesses. I am a strong believer that their should be programmes such as these exposing this type of customer who lies and causes untold damage to our businesses. Of course there are some bad businesses, I had an incident recently with a box of pens that I could rant of but there are also bad customers.

 

[Eagle]

^ Definite gap in the market there.

 

[tony84]

Im not bitter because it never went to the bank or paypal - purely because we could prove without a shadow of a doubt the customer was wrong or in effect stealing (depending on how you wish to term it).

To be honest were talking about an item that sells for about £9 each, but to clear the stock we are doing 2 for £9 - its by no means going to make or break us but they have a great deal anyway so pushing it more is just taking the proverbial. Another give away was that we had an even number of the items...and we still do.

 

[Eagle]

Didn't mean you were bitter; just the usual whinging fannies!

 

[tony84]

ok ill let you off then

I do occasionally moan but only when people are trying to take the ....

I work hard (i say that as im on my couch with my feet up and TV on), so i dont appreciate it when people try to rip me off.

I have to bite my tongue because what i really want to say is send BOTH back and ill give you your money back, try to get a better deal elsewhere.

 

[KennyRussell]

the joys of dealing with the public!! i made a decision years ago only to do B2B but then i took over 10 retail stores in the USA selling baby furniture and boy was i in the deep end nut just customers but pregnant customers and these stores were all in distress and failing customer orders so it was a test in patients but in the end i really enjoyed it as my nature loves to help people.
I am new around here and enjoying the posts


Kenny

 

[Consistency]

We all have to moan, I love a good moan. I have got loads to moan about and it is better to channel those energies into a good old moan than to get drunk and run somebody over.

We all love it and gets us a deep breath!

 

[Sky Racer]

Where there are customers there is moaning. We have 1000s of customers on our database and it's not often one of them pee's me off but you do get the scammers, the 'Mr I am right all the time' and the general idiots who think that the retailer must be out to fleece them...

You always seem to get them, we have had 'you only sent me three of those instead of four' but it was an item only sold in sealed packs of four... we also had 'this is used, I thought I'd get a new one so you can refund me as I don't want it' and that was for an item very clearly marked as used on our website.. and then the ones who insist that they no longer need this part so I'd like a refund plus return postage and you can have it back... .....rant over for now....

 

[Graemem]

Customers still believe that they are always right and programmes such as watchdog fuel their opinion.

There are many many customers who use this position of "being always right" to take the rise and fleece businesses. I am a strong believer that their should be programmes such as these exposing this type of customer who lies and causes untold damage to our businesses. Of course there are some bad businesses, I had an incident recently with a box of pens that I could rant of but there are also bad customers.

It'd probably just inspire a new wave of opportunists!

 

[saxondale]

just to be pedantic - what you sent may not be what the customer recieved.

 

[silvermusic]

As someone who grew up in B&M retail dealing with people face to face it took a long while to get use to dealing with customers online, even now I much prefer speaking to people on the phone than trying to deal with something via email. But it seems a dying trend, customers seem to want less real interaction with people they're buying from which I find incredably frustrating coming from the old school. Something that could be sorted out with a 30 second phone conversation drags on and on via email over several days.

As for having a good old moan, yep nothing like it. In the old days we use to go outside have a ciggie and a good old moan amongst ourselves, then come back in and carry on. Not so easy online, hence places like this are good for letting off steam and getting something off your chest.

 

[Parsley Sage]

I'm just about to launch my new web site in January, everything is in place, all I have to do is sort out the paypal buttons.. but as a new online business I have found reading your comments very helpful... for one, I shall make sure that I weigh all the packages and parcels! If you any other good tips in dealing with online customers, I'd appreciate it very much!

Best wishes Risha

 

[Consistency]

I'm just about to launch my new web site in January, everything is in place, all I have to do is sort out the paypal buttons.. but as a new online business I have found reading your comments very helpful... for one, I shall make sure that I weigh all the packages and parcels! If you any other good tips in dealing with online customers, I'd appreciate it very much!

Best wishes Risha

A telephone number, rather than all these e-mails that people do back and forth that take ages. It is good to e-mail sometimes as it goves proof of conversation but in conversation rather than telephone you can gather an attitude whether it be good or bad. People are losing the ability to talk nowadays and it really is sad.

Good luck with your business.

 

[Parsley Sage]

A telephone number, rather than all these e-mails that people do back and forth that take ages. It is good to e-mail sometimes as it goves proof of conversation but in conversation rather than telephone you can gather an attitude whether it be good or bad. People are losing the ability to talk nowadays and it really is sad.

Good luck with your business.

Thank you so much!
Yes I agree that the 'personal touch' is much better, emails lack the warmth of personality and can be so robotic, I suppose some find it easier to rant in emails which they probably wouldn't do 1-2-1 or on the phone.

Best wishes!

 

[Consistency]

Thank you so much!
Yes I agree that the 'personal touch' is much better, emails lack the warmth of personality and can be so robotic, I suppose some find it easier to rant in emails which they probably wouldn't do 1-2-1 or on the phone.

Best wishes!

If they are in a rant as well, hearing your voice may well have a calming effect as you can have a conversation and if the problem is bad at least explain it.

I had a problem a few months ago, I ordered some pens for a promotion. I rang up but before he would do anything wanted the money in the account. I was unhappy with this but thinking logically I understood as Asda won't begin to pick your order until you have paid. It is part of ordering online.

He then designed the pens and we approved them and the pens came a while later. The quality was far below standard. We had to spend ages screwing them in as if we were on an assembly line and there were a few that were just in pieces and bits of pens. Upon complaining, he said if we send them back he would have a look at them. We explained we wanted a refund. He said he would get in touch when he heard from us.

We sent them back and nearly two weeks went by. He said that he had passed the pens to his supplier for inspection and that he could not give a refund until his supplier had decided what she wanted to do. I was furious with this and kept calm. It took a few e-mails and calls and he just kept passing the buck to his supplier. We were never given details of his supplier obviously.

In the end we had to press the point more, after all we had paid him and the "contract" was between him and us as our supplier. What happens between him and his supplier is between him and his supplier. We got a refund after about a month but it took far too long and too much communication and as a result we will never buy from him again.

His supplier said it was a manufacturing fault. I was close to taking this further and really did not like having to take this stance so it is better to always be aware that if you are opening an internet shop, the customer buys from you and pays you. It is always better to refund and then take it up with your supplier.

Good luck.

 

[Parsley Sage]

I'm sorry you had to go through all that rigmarole! How very frustrating!

Yes we will be offering a refund or exchange as part of our service. I think its always best to go that extra mile, because word of mouth and reputation are big factors in marketing that can make or break you and a bad reputaion will stick like mud.

I'm really glad I found this forum I'm finding it a great help and very enjoyable!

Thank you!!

 

[Consistency]

Another thing as well of great importance, do not rely too much on paypal. They may well build you up and they may well shaft you as they have done to so many people on the basis of a sudden change in your account activity, sudden increase, need more information to verify, money laundering etc.

Try not to put all your eggs in that basket as there have been many who have lost their businesses because of paypal. If you have a business bank account, you can use this as a payment option so they can pay on line but make sure they put a reference of some sort so you know their transactions. They will need your bank account number, bank name as they may go into their branch, sort code and name on the account.

Paypal are good to start up a business with but get out of their clutches as soon as you can. Paypals best pal is itself! It can freeze your account with no notice, and keep all your money for 180 days. It will not let you refund or anything. I detest paypal.

 

[Parsley Sage]

Another thing as well of great importance, do not rely too much on paypal. They may well build you up and they may well shaft you as they have done to so many people on the basis of a sudden change in your account activity, sudden increase, need more information to verify, money laundering etc.

Try not to put all your eggs in that basket as there have been many who have lost their businesses because of paypal. If you have a business bank account, you can use this as a payment option so they can pay on line but make sure they put a reference of some sort so you know their transactions. They will need your bank account number, bank name as they may go into their branch, sort code and name on the account.

Paypal are good to start up a business with but get out of their clutches as soon as you can. Paypals best pal is itself! It can freeze your account with no notice, and keep all your money for 180 days. It will not let you refund or anything. I detest paypal.

Wow I wasn't aware of all that!! The reason I have got Paypal buttons on my site is that they are already provided with Moonfruit who I built my site with. I haven't activated the buttons yet, or got a business paypal account going as being a complete newby I have only just opened a business bank account.. I'm waiting for all the paper shuffling to go through, which has been delayed due to Christmas holidays. I have applied for a portable machine to take card payments, as I also intend doing direct sales party plans and craft fairs/farmers markets and being able to take card payments is ideal for those impulse buyers! I think with that I will also be able to take card payments over the phone too.. and I will be able to add that to my web site as well.

 

[silvermusic]

Another thing as well of great importance, do not rely too much on paypal. They may well build you up and they may well shaft you as they have done to so many people on the basis of a sudden change in your account activity, sudden increase, need more information to verify, money laundering etc.

Try not to put all your eggs in that basket as there have been many who have lost their businesses because of paypal. If you have a business bank account, you can use this as a payment option so they can pay on line but make sure they put a reference of some sort so you know their transactions. They will need your bank account number, bank name as they may go into their branch, sort code and name on the account.

Paypal are good to start up a business with but get out of their clutches as soon as you can. Paypals best pal is itself! It can freeze your account with no notice, and keep all your money for 180 days. It will not let you refund or anything. I detest paypal.

It's a pity you let one post out of those that you've posted on this thread so far let you down. Nothing wrong in PayPal, like any payment gateway they'll require by law various things such as proof of who you say you are, that's down to money laundering regulations. In fact it's good that they take a pro-active approach to stopping bad eggs, good for traders and good for the public perception which is actually very good. I did once work out how much money I've put through paypal without problems and it runs into several hundred thousand pounds. Having said that, yes it is wise to have more than one payment proccessor, Google Checkout and NoChex are two one's easy to start with, but PayPal is still king until you get your own merchant account that allows you to take cards directly on your site. People don't want to mess around with bank transfers no matter what you seem to think, they want the convinience and ease of paying by card in a few mouse clicks. If you don't take credit/debit cards online you're going to be dead in the water before you even start.

 

[stefanraj]

See its not a incident of one customer,All the customer have a same thinking.
All are telling the same thing,but for this kind of situation we have to smart.
They always tell lie about the services and product,we have to mold our marketing in such a way that he will also convert and he will happy.

 

[Consistency]

Silvermusic - you and I will always disagree about paypal, just wait until you are stung by them and then you will see!

I did everything by the book, gave them all the information, like so many many others and it can quite often get you nowhere. Do a search on this forum for other peoples experience of paypal. It is not comfortable reading if you are under their thumb.