Kelly_Guy said:
I completely agree. Bob asked Lee about buying something. Lee said there was one left, just to paypal him and it was his. Lee did NOT in the communication provide the paypal email, though he suggested Bob simply paypal the money. If it is not on the web site specifically, some blame for the miscommunication should go to Lee. Bob tried to get Lee's attention, Lee gave him a quick answer, told him what to do, but did not equip him with the appropriate knowledge, and Bob did the best he could to follow Lee's directions.
I do think Bob could have called, and maybe his response here could have been tempered, but if you are going to use the forum as advertisements, if you are going to make multiple posts selling your products in multiple forums, you may have to accept the risk that a customer might not call you, and the customer might rely on the same form of communication you chose to use for the advertisement.
I have found that accepting partial culpability, deciding to work in a friendly manner to remedy the situation, and then quickly moving on is a very good advertisement in and of itself in situations like this.
Kelly
I aggree also. It seems there is alot of extra comunication after the fact here in the thread that would be unwarranted, and be better settled in a more friendly manner. The simple answer that there was a mixup with the paypal address, and how can we get you taken care of would have been enough, and would settle the minds of most customers that may be reading here, and their thought's of dealing with someone. How was Bob to know the paypal address was different. Mistakes happen, and I can always look over that, but It could have simply been settled with an appology and left at that, to try and switch blame, well that tells Me alot about someone. Ever heard the phrase "The customer is always right"? I saw the thread also, and it just said send the money, no address was given if I remember correctly. I thought at the time that may cause problems, even that or the fact that I believe it was mentioned that only so many units would be sold at that price, which had me wondering if everyone was just sending payment without verification, if someone would get left out in the dark. He mentioned His emails were not returned, so who's court does the ball fall in. Chris Hightower does alot of bussiness, yet I can not think of one time He has not emailed me back, even when It may not have been that important, or bussiness related as this is. If this happens before the sale, then one not knowing better has to wonder what happens afterwards if there is a problem. It may be easier for a phone call, and I believe it is For Chris too, but he still answers his emails from people that prefer that type of comunication. I know because I am one of them. personally I don't see the problem, because I can't afford to stay on the phone all the time anyway if it were Me. Not just the cost of the call, but mostly the time away from work. It's much easier for me to email people back in My own time when I'm not right in the middle of something. Less calls missed that way too. The only time I call orders in with any of My suppliers is when I am making a large purchase and want to hook My rep up with the larger commission, and at the same time It benifits me, because I'm let in on deals or products that they do not always advertise or are too new to be listed.
Tammy You seem like a nice enough lady, so please do not rip into me here. I'm only trying to give an outside prospective to this situation from someone that has not dealt with You guys, but has been considering It.
I've had troubles with others before that got aired out, They took care of it, I gave credit where it was due in return, and even made purchases afterwards that worked out fine. Comunication is key most of the time, and most issues can be resolved much better without showing offense and simply trying to resolve the issue to keep the customer happy. I know some people are never satisfied, but that doesn't seem to be the situation here. This is just a simple case of miscomunication.
I think Bob's main thing is he wants the product. I'm sure taking care of that would have solved this problem much better, and that he would have reported it as so, as to make things right. That's just part of bussiness to me, sometimes it just takes a sqeeky wheel to get oiled.
When I consider doing bussiness with someone, I can easily look over mistakes or miscomunication, even a little heat from debate, but how well people resolve issues is what I look for in a bussiness partner. This is something I have to do Myself everyday. I go out of My way to that with My customers, and even loose money as a result sometimes, even when the ball isn't in My court, just to keep them happy.
This one was, and still may be an easy fix in My eyes.
I've done days worth of work refinishing a cue just recently that someone smacked the heck out of several times. It was clearly abused, but I fixed It for free, and practically had to refinish the whole cue. This simply because I felt My finish could have been alittle harder then it was. This had nothing to do with the damage to cue though, because it was clearly abused, and had deep dents in it, any scuffs would buff right out. They didn't even expect me to do it for free, just wanted a quote, but while I had the cue in house, I went ahead and did It for free, with the stimplulation that it would be the last time, and the next refinish I would have to charge for.
My point is, This situation here would be an easy one for me. Not out any money or even really much time to resolve It, and make the customer happy, while saving face at the same time.
Greg
