Forum Moderators: buckworks
1) "The Company" (as advised name is changed to protect the guilty) sends my programmer an HTML newsletter to my programmer advertising their products (computer hardware components). Since we are in the market for a new system we are an interested party and the newsletter is done well so we go to the site.
2) Shopping system. Site is done professionally. Lets you know which items are not in stock (as we ordered out of stock items from another vendor due to impatience :)
3) Tracking system link sent in receipt so we can track our purchase.
At this point I am impressed and thinking of making this a recurring vendor for my small (but growing therefore buying)company.
2 days later I call their toll free number (again a positive for them) and find out why the tracking system says that they are waiting for inventory on all items. I am told that one item is on backorder and will be there on Monday for shipment (I had called on a Sat). Not perfect but I can handle the little stuff.
On Tuesday I call again as the tracking system stills says "Awaiting Invetory". I am told that they are still waiting on the same item. I tell them to cancel the backorder item as I am waiting on the products to build the system. Am told that is fine it will ship that afternoon.
On Wednesday I call for same reason as above. Am told that 3 of the items (I thought I had only been waiting on one) were to arrive to their warehouse that day and that two other items would arrive in the next 2 to 3 days. Blood boils. I tell them to cancel the order as I will take my business elsewhere.
On Saturday (the emails actually came Friday Night) I receive 3 emails (I guess because of 3 boxes) that supposedly my items shipped. The items on the receipts are not the exactly the items I ordered (some are duplicated some are missing). I call on Sat and said I told them to cancel the order as I had been told it wouldn't ship for quite awhile. I was told it had shipped on Wed (but I didn't get emails until Friday) the same day I told them to cancel it.
Each phone call was followed up with an email that none of them was answered.
Needless to say they have lost my business completely but I thought we could use this to see how you can fail an ecommerce site even though you do proper marketing and seo work.
Here are the errors that I see.
1) Had services on their website that were not implemented. The availability feature is worse if you offer it and it's not accurate than just not having it at all. The tracking system was 48 to 72 hours behind. Since it was this far behind it did not help cusomter service staff by answering the customers common questions but rather added to the confusion.
2)Poor communication between customer service and order pickers in the warehouse causing errors and forgotten changes.
3)Extremely poor customer service which I believe is the most important.
Thank you for letting me vent. I feel much better :)
2)
Maybe they can fix some things before more people are subjected to their errors. :)
Great idea. As a matter of fact I will put that post into an email. Thanks!
