Merchants with an "attitude" rather than "gratitude"...

Discussion in 'The Chatterbox' started by Primotenore, Jun 20, 2019.

  1. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    "The customer is always right"...remember that adage? I do. I am sure most of us here do as well.
    Those days seem to be over....:(

    I commented on a thread (not here) about my dismay at the latest trend of merchants who use Shopify. Note: I did NOT start the thread, nor was I the first to make this "complaint"
    Twice, recently, I have waited with baited-breath for a "Brush Drop". Sat at my computer...kept an eye on the clock; refreshed the screen every few seconds; some of you know the drill.
    Zero hour arrives; I successfully add the brush to my cart and in the 30 seconds it takes me to enter my payment information, the brush is sold out from under me. :angry019:
    Now, I find this an abhorrent business practice.
    I mentioned how I was not going to subject myself to this "free-for-all" ever again and that's when this particular merchant
    responded. It should be noted that I have purchased 4...count them, 4 brushes directly from him to the tune of almost $1000. (If that doesn't make me a great customer, I don't know what does)
    Merchant now cops an attitude. "What am I supposed to do about that?" "This subject is beating (he used the word "flogging" a dead horse"
    I suggested he complain to Shopify, saying that his customers are unhappy. It MUST be noted that at NO time did I blame him for this situation, indeed I clearly stated that in my first post.
    If I were that merchant, this would have been my response.
    "I am very sorry that you were unable to purchase the brush you had added to your cart. You have been an excellent customer in the past, I want you to remain a good customer. I will again reach out to Shopify to express your concerns, and I will also look into alternative methods to alleviate this frustrating situation".
    I made the suggestion of a 60 second hold on the product once it's added to a cart. This is a ridiculously short amount of time. Many, many merchants, especially in the theater world, use a timed "hold" on seats, before they are released back into the open sales.
    These merchants would not lose ONE PENNY, NOR ONE SINGLE SALE.
    Needless to say, I am now a "former" customer of this merchant. Never again.
    Primo's rant is over.
     
  2. Preacher

    Preacher Well-Known Member

    I feel your pain. Some merchants act like they are doing us a favor by taking our money. I also agree that once an item is added to a cart, a short hold should be put on it to allow the customer to pay. But it seems that as long as the vendor is selling the item, they don't care how the customer is treated.
     
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  3. DesertTime

    DesertTime Well-Known Member

    When you go into a brick-and-mortar store, once the item is in your cart, it's no longer on the shelf. Until your post, I had no idea this wasn't the paradigm for online shopping. Not only is it unfair, it makes absolutely no sense. The same item can exist in multiple places at the same time.

    But a broken shopping system is one thing. The vendor's attitude is entirely another. One can be fixed with some code changes. The other likely requires a lobotomy.
     
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  4. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Sounds like a Supply & Demand bottle neck. While the supplier may be increasing demand by an artificially small supply, market saturation is the flip side that leaves unsold product. Without placing onus on the seller an increase in price or production could remedy the problem. Obviously the product is in demand if it sells out quickly. Maintaining quality in a premium product keeps their reputation high. Bad press for lousy customer service doesn't make upset customers repeat buyers.

    So do they need to ramp up production while maintaining quality thereby maximizing profits? Are the quickly sold out products hitting the NOS secondary market quickly at inflated prices for their rarity? Being an upscale artisan doesn't preclude being a savvy businessman.
     
  5. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Your post brightened my day.
     
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  6. lightcs1776

    lightcs1776 Well-Known Member

    I have never seen a site that didn't either use a hold time or marked the item as sold unless you deleted it from the cart. I would be done with it after the first occurrence.

    And the businesses that place a priority on customer service are the ones that also are more profitable.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     
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  7. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Good points, Rick, but not the real issue here. The real issue is merchants using Shopify to sell their wares. The idea that you can put a product in your virtual shopping cart and lose it to someone who types faster than you can is my issue.
     
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  8. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Well, it took two occurrences from two different merchants for me to "see the light".
     
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  9. BigD

    BigD Well-Known Member

    I'm sorry to hear this has happened to you.
     
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  10. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    I agree, there are countless issues here. Operating in the realm of scarcity, perceived or real, will never be beneficial to the consumer. I believe this is where good CS begins or ends. Sellers, manufacturers, artisans and the like can begin good CS by making sure this is not the world they trade in, while also not flooding the market. The problem here is there isn't the crazy money being dropped by rabid consumers. It might mean they have to sell 30% more product to result in the same net profit, but the consumers are happy. This also means sellers/producer/artisans must be confident in their product. If they are confident, pre-sales would ease some of the pressure and assure they don't get left with too much, if any, overhead. Again, this results in happy consumers.
    In the scarcity model, you have to deal with flippers and hoarders, and it serves as an adulterated and a manipulation of the Supply and Demand model. It sounds like the seller is a complicit participant to me and is no longer an option on principle alone.
     
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  11. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    That was my assumption. The side effect of artificial scarcity. That's the makers buisness model, not Shopify's check out app.
    Joseph to satisfy my curiosity I briefly looked into this outfit . Never dealt with them myself & have no idea why they would promote a faulty business model with poor CS. It looks like they sell services to hobbyists that want to go commercial. They suggest their service can "provide everything you need from end to end (minus the product and business know-how) to set up and start selling your product". I've made purchases from Etsy dealers, Amazon subsidiaries, and Ebay businesses and have few complaints. Since Shopify doesn't supply the product and business know-how the problem can't be them, right? If Shopify's E-commerce check out program has a flaw you've spotted it. Might not be the only issue since my Google search of "problems with Shopify" netted 28.4 million results.
     
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  12. Frijolero

    Frijolero Well-Known Member

    I suspect that you have and just didn't realize it. I know that sites selling tickets for reserved seats will put them on hold. But retail shopping? Leaving the item in stock until the purchase is complete is pretty much the standard. Can you point to a site that doesn't work that way?

    Some, like Etsy, even tell you when an item is already in one or more carts:
    https://www.etsy.com/shop/wildwestbrushworks
     
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  13. Rev579

    Rev579 Well-Known Member

    We need to all go fill our Etsy carts
     
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  14. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Is that like telling the Exit Pollsters you voted for the other party to skew their data?
    :eatdrink013:
     
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  15. Preacher

    Preacher Well-Known Member

    This is the equivalent of taking an item off the shelf and putting it in your cart and someone walking by and removing it from your cart and running to the register with it. I agree that the solution is a hold on an item when it is carted. It gives the buyer a chance (since technically they were the first one with the item). The problem is that I don't believe that this is an issue unless (like us shavers do) you are chasing a very limited item (like a special razor or brush). Were I a vendor, I would set up my own e-commerce system in order to be fair to my customers.
     
  16. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    Since were talking about used electrons, electronic shopping carts, and hold times - adjust the software to "hold" for a specific time period like an hour. Give the shopper a little time to transfer funds from savings to checking accounts, or get clearance from the SWMBO before the shopping cart abandons the item. That way the inventory is not held up indefinitely, just long enough to make the sale on a first come,first served basis.
     
  17. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    As much as I would like to take the side of the seller, in this situation, I cannot. Look at it from the sellers point of view. If someone puts their expensive, limited quantity item, in their "Cart", and it takes it off the list to be sold, then, later changes their mind, 1 min to 5 minutes later. Also, during this time, a buyer really wanting this same item, just wasnt fast enough to put it in their cart. The serious buyer thinks he just lost out, and gives up, leaving the item for sale again, for who knows how long, perhaps not selling, because the serious found it somewhere else.
    See my point?? There is an old adadge, "You Snooze, You Lose".
     
  18. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    I don't see an issue with an item sitting in a cart for a few minutes allowing the buyer to enter their payment information and process the transaction, and having the item NOT be available to other buyers who can type faster. Nothing wrong with that approach. Your point that after 5 minutes that "limited quantity item" is no longer available and may not get sold is ridiculous. The whole point here is these are limited quantity items that are in far higher demand than the supply. The concept of a serious buyer missing out can only happen for the last item (or maybe last two) items left. And usually these items are not available elsewhere so the serious buyer won't be able to find it somewhere else. I'm sorry but virtual shopping should mirror as close as possible to real shopping in a store. If a buyer cannot process the transaction within a paltry 5 minutes, then it should time out and be automatically removed from that buyer's cart, making it available to other buyers. 5 minutes isn't going to harm the seller one bit.
     
  19. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    “You snooze you lose” simply does not apply in this case. If I am “awake” enough to get it in my cart first, then at least allow me a minute to complete the transaction.
     
  20. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    If you are typing as fast as you can, then you aren't snoozing. A poor analogy for this frustrating and in my opinion unfair experience.
     

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