Monday, August 25, 2008

Reader’s Stories

Remember some time back I did a post about how some customers received unsatisfactory service/products? and also some issues that the e-shop owners face? Here's more:

Scenario #1

Customer A bought goodies from a pre-order shop. Upon much enquiries with regards to size, she agreed to purchase the item as she is petite in size and well, I know how you feel babe. Sometimes, they just don't fit. And when the goods arrive, the apparel was too big for her and the colour was wrong as well. Customer A was unhappy and they e-shop owners did little to clarify the mistakes.

***

Just a note to owners of e-shops and customers alike, do be sure of the goods in terms of size, quality, colour and etc to avoid disappointments and misunderstanding

Scenario #2

Customer B bought this top from this well known and frequently reviewed e-shop. Upon enquiries and such, she made the payment and waited for her goods to arrive. However, the package took 7 days to be delivered and upon arrival, customer B discovered there were holes on the apparel! She informed the e-shop owner, but there was also little clarification offered for the matter.

***

Oh dear, looks like sometimes service isn't as good as what the e-shop portrays it to be. And due to this matter, Customer B would not recommend this to her friends. Service is important, besides the quality of the goods of course. So babes, keep up the service too, not just making profits!

XOXO,

Your sister in shopping

50 comments:

The Shoplifters said...

there's one case where our stockist gave us wrong pairs for the larisa heels we have and we realized that only after the customer told us. we refunded her money and even gave her a dress from one of the shoplifter's small boutique. we always always try to satisfy our customer but sometimes .... *sigh*

Anonymous said...

Here's another real life scenario.

Customer A confirms her orders to E-Shop owner. E-Shop owner gave Customer A her bank account number and asked her to bank in the money.
Customer A banks in the full amount on the same day.

After 3-4 weeks, no dress arrived at Customer A's doorstep. Customer A managed to use another number to call E-Shop owner to find out whats going on(as E-shop owner wasn't picking up Customer A's calls).

E-Shop owner then tells Customer A that the dress have been sold out. Customer A demands for a refund. E-shop owner agrees and asked Customer A to email bank account information to refund.
Customer A sent the email on the same day.
After a week, still no refund/replies.
Customer A tries to call E-Shop owner on the phone but have not been able to get through.

ps: not trying to defame this person here but i have no idea how else to get through her and am writing this to warn other shoppers about this blog.

FYI: E-Shop owner (galzparty.blogspot.com)
(For those who are interested to see if it's true, you will be able to see the endless messages and comments i left on her blog to get through her but all was useless. no replies.sigh)

Anonymous said...

Customer A bought tights from e-shop owner. Upon receiving it, found that there were lines on the tights. Only after 2 months, she complained about the defect to the e-shop owner, as her sister, which happened to be customer B, also bought the same tights which also have the same defect. E-shop owner suggested customer A to send back the tights to get an exchange for new ones, but customer A rejects the offer as she do not have the package for the tights anymore. It's abit unfair for the e-shop owner as the complains only came after 2 months from the date of purchase. E-shop owner might have missed out the defects upon checking through the item. As all of us know, defects on tights are not noticeable unless when it's worn.


Another situation, where e-shop owner had restock item A for customer C, even before customer C makes the payment. Upon making the payment, customer C demand e-shop owner to send out item A as soon as possible. Customer C which stays at EM, did not receive the item within 2 working days, start doubting e-shop owner and demand her to provide the real tracking code as the tracking code provided earlier cannot be tracked at Pos Malaysia's website. If customer C cannot trust online sellers anymore, it is advisable not to deal or shop online. As online sellers would have a hard time to convince their customers and they have to bear all the accusations by them. Online sellers also need trust from their customers. Buy confidently without doubts!

Anonymous said...

i'm an e-shop owner, and would like to share my two cents' worth.

we blogshops are operating at a minimal (most of us are...?) and at times, we only earn LESS than rm10 per item. of cos, we strive to offer the best in terms of goods and service because in the long run, what matters most is the trust our customers have in us.

as regards to the scenario regarding postage, we can't possibly do posting (for poslaju items) every single day. it averagely takes at least an hour waiting time at the post office (even much worse when the subsidy rebate started, sometimes up to 3 hrs waiting time!).as we are students/working, we can only post once/twice a week. for instance, let's say for this week we are posting on monday and friday. say customer A's payment only got through on a monday night,therefore her parcel will be posted on friday, which means it will be delivered to her a week later (from the time she made payment).

just a fleeting thought, not related at all to the scenarios above,a buyer might complain that what she bought is not in good condition,and the shopowner might retort by stating that she is mighty sure that they were all in good condition when delivered. well, how can we know/do we have sufficient proof as to who is telling the truth and who's not? after all, as mentioned earlier, we blogshops will be doing this at the risk of our reputation, which we do not want to happen at all.

of cos, it never fails to liven my mood when customers actually take an effort to thank us for the goods and provide positive feedback. yes, lovely customers are many (thank you to all of you!). there's also rude/fussy customers, but thankfully they're just a handful and nothing serious so far.

that's just my humble opinion,so do spare me! :) teehee

xoxo
a blogshop owner

Anonymous said...

anonymous did not bother to check the tights properly before sending them. How can the defect happen to the same sisters? Clearly, anonymous isn't as accountable as she claims she is.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes as e-shop owners we may have over looked our items and didn't realised there were defects(we are only human) but non the less I think the customer should inform a.s.a.p and the shop owners should change the item for them as well.

As we e-shop owners should be nice and honest,how about our customers? certain customers are pretty rude and I think that they should also respect us.

You can't demand us to give you the same offer as another e-shop when the product wasn't even the same(and sometimes the design may be the same but the material is different or the workmanship is different).

The other product's cost price was probably cheaper or the other e-shop live nearer to the supplier thus lesser petrol cost, all this thigs are accounted for in the pricing.

You can just choose not to buy from us but was there a need to mock us that the other shop was " SO NICE, SO CHEAP...and PLS DON'T REPLY THIS MAIL",in case you misunderstand this message, we don't hold any grudge towards the other shop owner, just felt that if the customer doesn't want the price we offer fine, just leave, no need to be rude right?

Anonymous said...

yea.. customer a, as a customer should inform the seller if you have found defects on your item, not after 2 month and then putting all blames to the seller. I'm a buyer and received defect items too, but seller acknowledged of her carelessness and replaced a new one for me. Human makes mistakes, no one is perfect. Why would a seller want to send defect items to both of the sisters? I believe no blogshop owners would want their image go down the drain. Isn't it?

It's true how annoying seeing people spamming in other blogshop's chatbox. Do agree with the above shop owner: if you're not happy with the item or the pricing, then go to other shops. Why want to create havoc?

Anonymous said...

i bought a cardigan from a very well-reviewed and one of the top shops in emmagem. the holes for the buttons were like just snipped by scissors and the buttons were loosely sewn on. terrible!

Anonymous said...

I've come across a seller who offered a full refund to me because the shirt that I bought from her had an ink stain. Besides that, she apologized for not noticing the ink stain prior sending the shirt to me. A good seller.

Then, I bought a dress from another seller. According to the dress ad, the dress is made from QUALITY cotton. I was expecting QUALITY cotton, but when I received the dress, it wasn't up to my expectation. I don't mind paying if the quality is as claimed, but in this case, I feel cheated by the seller. Imagine the T-shirt that I wear at home has better quality than the dress. Bummer, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

i'm an avid online shopper myself and after reading the many comments left by both consumers and blogshop owners alike, i cannot help but share my two cents. i've had my share of good and bad experiences while shopping online, though i have to say i'm somewhat selective as to which sites i buy from as i am very much a perfectionist, even when it comes to the workmanship of the clothes i buy.

there was this reknowned shopblog i purchased from recently and it was beyond disappointing to receive an item way bigger than the modelled pictures. these 3 dresses i purchased were supposed to fit a range of "size 4 to size 10" and when it was hanging so loosely even on a uk8! emails and smses to the shopblog owner were replied with short, unfriendly replies about how buying was at my own risk and there's nothing they can do about it. never again.

however, i've also had my fair share of wonderful eshopping experiences and i believe a large part of that should be credited to shopblog clothesbucket. every piece of clothing received has always been neatly ironed, buttons reinforced, folded and repackaged. i've bought close to 20pieces from them so far, and there was only one time where the item had a slight defect- a tiny pen mark on the lining of the top, and even for that, i was offered a refund as they were out of stock. they've also helped me in selling off the few that didn't fit me by putting my in touch with other interested buyers, an after sales service i really appreciate.

just a tip for everyone, be sure to get the shopblog owner's contact number during a transaction. this way it's difficult for them to run off and leave you with faulty goods :)

Hungry Jo said...

I recently encountered scenario A where the blouse I purchased did not fit me. It was clearly not my size. I had specifically asked her before I make my purchase whether it'll fit me and the owner confidently replied that yes it would. Upon receiving the blouse, I promptly e-mailed the owner and all I got was the reply 'but that was what the supplier told me'. I mean come on! I'm sure you can use your own discretion by looking at the blouse. I've also asked her whether there's anything she can do to help but so far no reply. Very disappointing! After the money spent and the waiting!

Anonymous said...

I bought a dress from a quite well known e-shop. The dress was turqoise in colour. (NOTE : a very light blue colour.. TURQOISE) However, upon receiving the dress.. it was in DARK BLUE. The reason of the purchase was because I felt in love with the lovely bright turqoise colour. However, I received a dark blue dress instead of what I saw in the e-shop. When I asked the seller, she told me it was due to the resolution.I checked using other computers.. is all the same colour. So, an excuse of poor or diffrent screen resolution is NOT AN EXCUSE that the dress colour is diffrent.. and the seller also stated that the dress is EXACTLY THE SAME FROM WHAT IS SHOWN IN THE E-SHOP. BUT IT IS ABSOLUTELY DIFFRENT COLOUR FROM WHAT HAS BEEN BOUGHT AND SAW IN THE PICTURE THAT IS PUBLISHED. If the resolution is the factor, then E-SHOP OWNER/SELLERS/PUBLISHER MUST ADD A NOTE THAT THE IMAGE IS USE FOR ILLUSTRATION ONLY OR MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITEM. Yet, the exact/true item to be sold are much preferred to be shown to convince the customers.
A note to shoppers, please becareful when purchasing online, because you have the right to stand up when you do not get what you should get for the item you had purchased. An additional note to shopkeeper as well that please post the exact item preferences and picture in your shop to avoid any misunderstanding and unsatisfactory among customers who had trusted you.

Anonymous said...

Once i've arranged with a e-shop owner for a COD at Place A (which is more convenient for me) at 3, but she told me she couldn't make it and ask me whether Place B is ok. So, i told her no problem as i could ask my friend's help for transport.

On that day itself, my friend told me he couldn't, so i went out early a lil to catch a taxi to Place B. And when i've reached Place B, the e-shop owner told me that she can COD at Place A at 3+. That means i need to pay extra to go back to Place A again.

Sheesh.

And when i receive the item, the colour was totally different from what she showed in the pictures she gave. The description she gave was totally different from the real item.

I kinda pissed off. and swear that I myself would never buy stuff from that particular e-shop tho.

Anonymous said...

Dear all, online shopping is way so much cheaper than what u can get the similar stuffs in cats whisker, bangsar shops like Mooie those kind. And of course, what i mean is, if u wana pay less, dont put a very high expectation of getting a very good kinda material. As customers always complaint why different colours n all, with flash or without flash of the pictures does affect the true colours of the clothes. E onwers also should just take a pic of clear true colours for all clothes by NOT EDITING the colours.

AS for the pricing, expensive n all, i agree with the previous annoymous, u dont like, u can leave, thats not necessary to spam ard the corner asking other customers not to buy from this on9 boutique or PASTE the link of another blogshop that is selling the same stuffs but in cheaper price, OR saying" Oh, why ur things is so exp, i can get this from XXX or only RMXX". Okay, and SO?? what is ur point?? chasing other customers away just bcos u r jealous that the e onwers are earning a profit??

Blogshop onwers, we are here to earn a profit, not playing a fool, petrol fees, time consuming, walking ard under the hot sun to hunt for the best for customers, checking mails everyday, sacrifice out time to drop notes, posting parcels, as some of us are still working/students etc etc.. not to forget cover the cost, cover the sms-es/call bills... issit worth to put ur price as LOW as possible so that ppl will buy from YOU?? As an e onwer told me that XXX was selling in RMXX price, but another shop PURPOSELY wana set a lower price than hers. changing n changing the price, AS LOW AS POSSIBLE, issit worth it? As for the customers, obviously is good for them, but just think urself, issit worth playing a fool like that!!

For the backout babes, please dont ask us to reserve the things u are not keen of buying it unless u really do. WE HATE BACK OUT BUYERS!!!!! and asking millions kind of questions but not planning to buy & delaying the payments everytime!!!

Anonymous said...

I've been waiting for these kinda exchange of thoughts among customers and e-boutique oweners and I guess I could give an opinion or two on the my point of view as a customer. :)
I've recently started online shopping because, let's face it, blog shopping is much more easier. We could just go from one link to another in search of our clothes. Everything is readily there and you could compare the prices soo easily.
However, since I'm still not so confident in the whole posting thing in Malaysia, I only choose to shop with e-boutiques which offers cod around my area. And I know how annoying it must be for someone to reserve something and backout in the end which is why I never backed out on any purchases. I think customers should really stop complaining so much cuz if you don't trust the owner to post it to you, then DON'T buy from the shop. It's no use paying and then proceed to complaining when you've only waited for what? 2 days? You know, our Malaysian Post system isn't exactly THAT good. Sometimes items could get lost in the mail. =/
Anyway, I just wanna say I really do appreciate all you e-boutique owners out there. Thanks for taking the time to go hunting for the lovely clothes, taking lovely pictures and meeting up with your customers!
And I especially adore clothes from clothesbucket.blogspot.com
She's a really good seller + the way she reviews her clothes are really interesting + provides good pictures. Thanks girl! :)

-R-

Anonymous said...

online shopping sometimes conveniences us yet sometimes makes us go really pissed off...

well for me i've encounter my share nice and lovely blogshop owners who are helpful and nice to provide us all the info we want =)Thank you , you guys!

however, there's this particular blogshop which don't clarify that there's a fee for COD. The COD Points are stated but there's no statement indicating there's an additional fee for the location!i was informed through sms that there was an additional RM 5 fee for COD delivery. i was really unhappy but still i have to pay that additional RM 5 for the COD because it'll look so petty if i asked them to waived them off.

i feel like they should place the additional COD fee in their blog. and yes, although their items are wrapped in nice pink crepe paper packaging that looks really attractive but we shoppers would prefer honesty than this.

Anonymous said...

people people. shoppers blog owners.
i've seen clothesbucket has been getting alot of support.
and i totally agree with you peeps!
keep up the good work clothesbucket.
their price are reasonable, qualities are good & of course the service is extraordinary! I've bought a few tops from her, and the first pieces has some deficits and she was happy to change another for me, even thou it was worn before. :)
however, shoppers plus do bear in mind that the quality of the goods we get online can't be compared to anywhere else. its suppose to be affordable, we can't expect 101% perfect quality, as they get from suppliers from really low cost.
I've bought a cardigan from a blogshop, the button holes [or whatever u call it] was in shitty condition, as thou it was snipped off by scissors, but hey it was bought at a reasonable price, quality's good, what more can I complaint?

Yes, we buy at our own risk. but blogshop owners who doesn't specify their goods correctly should be blamed for.
wanna avoid problems with your goods, try doing COD's if you can.
As then you getta check ur goods beforehand. and meet up with the blogshop owners. That's what i've been doing. try shopping at a few specific blogshop which u are comfortable with to avoid problems.

just rants. sorry if i offended anyone. :D

loves.

Anonymous said...

I agree with shopaholic and R that clothesbucket is a really good seller. I've been buying her stuff for almost a year now and she never disappoints me.

All the items are carefully and thoroughly checked before they are neatly packaged and given to customers. I never bother checking the items when we COD as I fully trust that she has done the checking for me.

Because of that, I buy almost all my clothes from her as I know she lives up to her reputation of being an honest and good seller. Keep it up babe!

Anonymous said...

I agree with one of the sellers who commented above. That us sellers really do take the time and effort to search for items (under the sun or even the rain), travelling around in public transport, taking pictures and coming up with descriptions.

Some customers are great (those who are used to shopping online) who are easy to deal with, but some customers just make things harder. They place an order and after that ask more questions about the product and then just disappears. It's so frustrating when you are waiting for the buyer to reply you.

We also help buyers restock some items without charging them a deposit, didn't want to make a hassle for them. But the worst thing is, after going down to the suppliers (with public transport again) and we have contacted them that we have restocked it for them, they just don't reply us, or takes a super long time, or tell us that 'Sorry, I'm not interested anymore'. Gah.

But we have really great customers. Despite of these problems, selling stuff online is a really fun experience, we have met so many cool people! :)

Anonymous said...

as a blogshop owener, i want to comment regarding "anonymous's" comment about the cod fee.

sometimes blogshop owners may have forgotten to let people know about the cod while dealing. we're pretty busy and it maybe an honest mistake that it may have slip our minds once in a while. at least the person did inform you by text even before meeting you face to face.

however, if the blogshop owner only informed you when meeting face to face then the owner should be at fault and should waiver the cod fee.

but i'm pretty sure most shops have already stated on their 'side bar' regarding cod fee. they may not have stated the price but i'm pretty sure that they have stated it already.

advice to other blogshops, if you charge cod fee to customers, do state it on your side bar to avoid any complications such as this =)

Anonymous said...

in my opinion, i think that it is pretty much known Fact that cod fee or posting fee do apply for every blogshop out there.

and my advice is to read the all that is written on the side bar of blogshops, before purchasing anything!

Anonymous said...

i disagree.
imho, blogshops have no right to impose an extra charge for CODs. true, it may cost them an extra RMxx of toll, petrol and time to get to the COD location BUT the customers also have to incur a certain RMxx amount to get there as well. if you're charging for home deliveries, then it's perfectly fine. but to charge an RM3 for a COD at One Utama (for example) is just bloody ridiculous. say the blogshop owner meets 5 different customers at One Utama on that day. 5 x RM3 = RM15 to cover their cost for petrol and parking? it looks like it's more than just the clothes that these blogshop owners are profiting from. and let's not forget, the customers need to fork out those extra RMs for their own parking fee and whatnots as well. unfair much? running a business would always incur overheads, the time, petrol and toll paid to get to the COD locations are one of them and the consumers should not have to pay for them.

Anonymous said...

I've also had my share of bad experience with e-boutiques. There were incidents whereby the 1 dress had stains, another one was slightly torn. but amazingly both the e-stores treated me differently. the one where the dress was torn(had holes)wanted to replace and even refund if i didnt want it... but on the other hand, the dress which had visible stains, the e-boutique owner claimed she couldn't replace it. i haven't worn it coz its a right at the chest area.i understand probably they have their own policies, but its just a waste of money and the other party has no worries.
even if you offer discounted price the next time...who would buy?

i feel there are both good and bad shoppers) and (sellers) but most importantly basic customer service skills and ethics is important.
Some excellent e-boutiques are clothesbucket, rainbomallows, a-fashion obsession, a model studio, candy treats, enchanthing hearts, marshmallow and pumpkin! friendly n most importantly UNDERSTANDING babes. keep up the good job!

Anonymous said...

I'm a customer and a blogshop owner myself.

As customer's point of view, I have to say so far, I'm pretty satisfied with all the things I've bought. Just this one time where I bought a calf length glads frm blogshop A and there were glue stains on it. But it's no biggie as I'm only paying for less than RM80 when some high end boutique is selling for more than RM100 (Seen in CLEO Sept issue). And yes, I totally agree with those who supports Clothesbucket. I have to say Clothesbucket, White Label Closet & A Fashion Obsession has done great job in providing the best goods & services for all their customers. What I am trying to say is that we, as customers shouldn't put so high hopes and pressure on the e-boutiques. I'm pretty sure all of you've seen some customers spamming other blogshops with expensive prices, lousy service yadayada but when they're ask to provide details and items they've bought, questions were ignored but d spamming continues. As for some e-boutiques, I suggest they provide reasonable answers to customer's enquiry especially when asked about price differences for d same product. " We set our price according to quality" sounds like they're indirectly accusing other boutiques for selling cheap quality items. Bit unfair, no?

And another incident, I saw a dress that I really loved in one of d blogshop. Placed my reservation and set a date n time for COD. To my dissapointment, I was told tht there'll b COD charges when d previous time I wasn't charged any though it was stated there'll b COD fee in d blog then. I was curious as of y out of d blues m I charged for a fee. The reply I got, "I am sorry but I am doing all this by myself. My partner's not in M'sia and btw, d dress you requested has been sold." I was once again dissapointed and this time, VERY as she promised to reserve it for me.

As blogshop owner's point of view:

I've come accross a few customers who backout the last minute by not replying emails, calls and smses. For a few scenarios:

Scenario 1:
Customer place an order for an item. COD to be done at her place during weekdays in the evening. When date & time has been set, we went to her house for COD but we kinda got lost at the area as we're not familiar with the roads there. Called her up, she say she's not free and wishes to postpone COD the following week. I was okay with that but my partner was pretty pissed for not informing us. The following week we emailed her to COD but she claimed that she'll b busy till next week. Fine. On Sunday, d same week, we mail her, texted her but we've yet to receive any reply. We then sent her last email stating that it's been weeks she reserve d item and it's unfair for other customers and we asked her to kindly inform if she's no longer interested. No reply.

- We've done our best to satisfy customers but we can't just satisfy one and neglect the rest. We have to be fair, no?

Scenario B:

Customer A place reservations for a number of items and has confirmed her orders. All details were provided and we've had customers asking for d items customer A ordered. Due to that, we went and restock the items and sell it off to other customers. We sent a couple of emails requesting for payments as Cust. A is living in Kuching. When we asked if the contact provided is her home num, she said yes. After 2 weeks (we're still sending emails to her regarding her reservation being overdue), still no reply from her. When my partner called the num she gave, someone answered but hang up. Next time we called, it was a voice machine. When we checked the phone number, we're shocked that it was actually an Australia's fixed line number and it cost my partner a bomb for the phone bills.

- Now that we ask for upfront payment, some customers refuses to pay and request to pay later on during COD. We know most of us love to break the rules however some rules are not meant to be broken.

- To anonymous, not all blogshops charges COD fee. ;)

Anonymous said...

i once bought an item from ttt, once i got it i found that it's defective, so i told her. Guess what?!!!
No refund, but she said a RM20 rebate for MY NEXT PURCHASE is the best she can do!

I asked, what about exchange for a similar item but WITHOUT DEFECT (of coz), she said, sure, but i have to bear all postage fees incurred! :(

This isnt the way it should be resolved lerr......

Anonymous said...

yup, its quite true whereby when we shoppers find defect in the clothes, the e-store owners don't want to replace them...all kinds of explanations given. and then offer discount on the next purchase. but people already lost trust and faith in u mah....
who wants to buy from the same store again?
not the way ler..

Anonymous said...

to anonymous who commented that "blogshops have no right to impose an extra charge for CODs",i would like to clear the matter.

that's just an assumption that the seller is meeting 5 persons. what if she is just meeting ONE person? oftentimes, the cod charge would not even be enough to cover the petrol consumption itself (even if there are 2 or 3, it might not be enough also, depending on how much is the cod charge and how much is the actual cost incurred. then again, how likely will there be 5 customers who can meet at the same day at around the same time?)

well, yes, doing business is about incurring overheads. BUT as we all know, these overheads are passed on to customers anyhow. that's why those offline boutiques are charging at least 2 times higher than those sold online. They simply pass all the overheads to the customers! that is the way of doing business. and that's why you can get it much cheaper online, we minimize our overheads (petrol,parking fee and toll to meet supplier,customer,posting, tailor's that's just a few of it)or else we would not even be able to break-even!

and oh, speaking of doing business, agree with Anonymous (posted August 26, 2008 5:39 PM ), what's the point of competing with each other, sellers? the market is big enough (at this point, at least) and even if the items are the same, the pricing doesn't have to differ so much (yes, there indeed will be difference.. "pricing strategy" kononnya...) which will disadvantage us sellers in the end.



peace out.

Anonymous said...

i am an e-shop owner and frankly speaking, we do not make A LOT of profit from doing this (unlike what some ppl think). some of us just do it out of passion. i think COD charges if reasonable, it should be charged. if we don't, the margin of profit will be very low and it's not worth doin it. but if you want to incur such charges, customers must be informed beforehand, even before the deal is sealed. that's fair for both party.

and, yes, y compete among ourselves? it's inevitable that sometimes we will end up with same items since most of us take stocks from same place. but to me, it boils down to how good is your customer service. i always try to make friends with other blogshop owners (some i knew during bazaar & some i bought stuff from & some who bought stuff from me). we're in the same boat. no need to push each another down the river. ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm an online shoppers, i totally understand that bloggers do not like back out buyers so i nv back out before.. as i always shop in few specific blogs like pumpkin, tictactoe, clothesbucket and a model studio. they have really nice items with reasonable price and they always have fast resposne and very efficient on posting the items and arrange for CODs.

As for cod charges, i think we sometimes need to bear for the charges because it is the same as taking postage like RM6 for POS LAJU. But of cos, not more than that. But i came across some of the online boutique that the clothes shown in the poic is very nice and very good material (photoshop maybe?) but in actual when i recieve the item is totally not i hope for or the sizes where they stated free size but in real it coulden even fit up to a UK8.

Thanks for the e boutiques that really take the efforts to satisfy us :)

Anonymous said...

Sigh... e-shop onwers are so hard to be yeah? getting complaints and all but sometimes customers didnt think of what they actually did wrong or inform us late about the defective goods.

Plus sometimes we really have so much things to do until we cant check all of the items one by one. Imagine that we have so many stocks in hand n mostly after supplier gave us the stock, nicely packed, (we cant pack them so nicely after we took it out), we normally think that the product is fine. BUT some customers complaints are really too much, defective items should tell us asap, but not after few days, one week or two weeks.

Rights and Wrongs.. both have!
Nobody is perfect!
Even blog onwer AS A CUSTOMER themselves did ask us to restock/reserve the items but back out the last minute!! Funny nuff?

tictactoe :) said...

well, i also agreed with sm, "e-shop owners are so hard to be"

customers are always right??? =(

Anonymous said...

As an e-shop owner, I do think that COD charges are appropriate. As we, sellers need to travel to specific places, spend our time and effort to COD, where we could just stay at home and insist on postage. We provide COD for buyer's convenience sake, as some would not be able to sign for parcel, or some want to have safe trading, or even some might prefer to COD to save on postage which might cost more..

Anonymous said...

hey girls i would like to comment on the post August 26, 2008 8:41 PM

i'm not saying it's not right to charge a COD fee, i do agree that these blogshop owners go through alot in getting these items for us buyers.

but it's totally unreasonable to let the buyer know that there's a last minute charge of COD which is not stated in the blog? if these blogshop owners do not clarify their terms and conditions clearly, they will definitely miss out alot of customers in the future.

i believe that online shopping includes a certain degree of trust between the blogshop owner and the buyer that needs to be sustained.

yea i know that the blogshop owner texted the buyer saying that there's a RM 5 additonal fee instead of meeting face to face and then telling her, i don't see a difference in that because the COD fee was not stated at the blog.this could also mean that the blogshop owner can charge any amount of additonal COD fee, right?

also, some blogshops are charging up to RM6 to RM7 for COD delivery. if there such need to charge the amount of COD fee that will cover their expenses (petrol,time, etc..), might as well do not do their COD at those locations which are not convenient for them until they can charge such a high fee of COD. we buyers can totally opt for delivery by courier which is the same price as RM 6 or RM 7.

these are just my frank opinions, not here to offend anyone.

nevertheless, i still heart online shopping! =)

Anonymous said...

What will be your conclusion when you have say 5 customers who bought the same product from you and you get the following feedbacks(It's a real scenario):
Customer 1:Love it.
Customer 2:Likes it.
Customer 3:Loves it too.
Customer 4: You are a cheater, the thing is lousy, is not like the pic at all...etc etc and starts spreading that ppl shouldn't buy from you..(her prob was it's not the same as the picture, but if so why other customer no complain?)
Customer 5:Love it so much.

So base on that are we as shop owner are a real cheater or customer 4 so happens to be a trouble maker? @@

It does hurt when your customer complain that you are a cheat when you have gone all out to ensure you have done your best for them and as well as continue to improve our services, but then with the scenario above, should we actually refund money or ignore?will other interested customer buy from us after reading their complain?or will customers start to take advantage of our kindness?(Assuming you are not as established as our beloved clothes bucket and tic tac toe and etc etc)

plus, customers that are satisfied don't always spread their satisfaction via tag board, whereas unsatisfied customer, genuine or not will put it on the tag board...@@

Anonymous said...

I'm an e-shop owner as well as an avid online shopper. I'd like to comment on the issue of cod fees.

I think it is reasonable to be charged a small fee for cod, just as how the buyer would bear the postage cost. I personally dont think RM3 for cod in 1Utama is ridiculous because for me, i have to pass 2 tolls just to get there in which the RM3 is just enough to cover. What about my trip back (another 2 tolls), parking fee, and the increasing petrol prices? And most of the time i cod for 1 customer per location. We as e-shop owners put a lot of effort...re-scheduling, getting stuck in the jam, sacrificing our time...not to mention some buyers who cant be on time and make us wait. You may ask if it costs so much then why cod at 1Utama? Its because many of my customers are from that area and its more convenient for them and for their shopping satisfaction, i dont mind losing a bit for that.

Most of the time, a cod is arranged at a place convenient for the buyer, not the seller. So just because 1Utama is near you and it seems ridiculous to pay RM3 for cod there, doesnt mean its the case for the seller. And no, im not directing this comment to anyone in specific. Just taking it as an example from one of the previous comments. No hard feelings ok. It can be anywhere near you, but it may not be near and as convenient for the seller.

But i do agree that some blogshop owners charge unreasonable fees for cod (RM6-7). If thats the case whats the point of cod anyway? Isnt cod supposed to be cheaper? If thats the case, I'd rather pay for postage and save me the trouble of arranging my time and meeting the seller which would also cost me a bit for petrol and parking fees and let the seller just queue-up at the post office. Saves me the effort and money.

Anyway, just my humble opinion. Not directed at anyone, and not meant to be offensive nor rude. =)

A Bouquet of Tulips said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

shopping online gave me bad n good experience. i dunnot hv to say the bad e-shop owners since dis will jeopardize their business, but ridiculous! charge for COD? juz me 2cents, i hav great experience with some e-shop owners; pumpkin, always friendly, give updates and all pieces in gud quality, belisaya very gud customer srvice,very friendly and cheap, lovelylolitas very nice lady tho havnt meet her she sounds so nice in the phone, shebop pricey but of very nice ladies, customer service also very good.. thank u.just my humble opinion.

Anonymous said...

as an eshop owner and customer of eshops myself, i think if you are SINCERE, TRULY SINCE in your transactions, you seldom go wrong...

ONE SIMPLE QUESTION:
If you buy online and the item is defective, AND,
you inform the seller as immediately as you found the defect within the 1st or 2nd day, WHAT SHOULD the seller do?
***here, we are talking about very straight forward fault on the seller side, so what should you as seller do?

Like i mentioned, i myself am an eshop owner, yes, sometimes we are swamped with things to do and thus, we overlooked some items that are defective...i have come across that myself too..
WHAT DID I DO?
I felt super guilty, i offered a full refund, INCLUSIVE OF POSTAGE FEE, OR
*EXCHANGE where i bear the postage for return and exchange coz obviously it IS MY CARELESSNESS for letting the defective item go out!
I also offered a free delivery on top of the above for her next purchase as my sincerest apology.

Now, please dont tell me "THAT's THE BEST WE CAN DO" when obviously you are NOT doing the right thing.....we should really provide DECENT & RATIONAL customer service...


-e-customer & e-seller in 1

Anonymous said...

I think the comments are a bit lop sided, obviously if you are angry you will definitely vent it here but those satisfied customers?

Seems a few only have actually came out to praise e-shops. This will definitely scare new ppl who are interested in purchasing goods on9.

Satisfied customers hurry stand up for e-shopping!! :)
hehe..

Just my 2cents,
Owning an e-blog is exciting and despite unreasonable customers,there are plenty of great customers out there, we are really happy, to see tht our customers replying with thank you and love it so much messages.

Love all our customers :)
And just an opinion, I think it's not tht difficult to re-package your items, it will definitely lessen the chances of giving out defective goods :)If you have the time, iron it out, it's quite hard to miss a defect when you actually iron the clothes, but of course sometimes we still do fail to spot the defects but non the less, a refund is appropriate!

After all, this huge community is brought together from e- shopping :)

Anonymous said...

I'm an e-blog shop owner and i want to comment a little about this topic.
It happened to me that this customer wanted to purchase this last piece item from me and ask to reserve it. She said she would bank it the amount by end of the week. I did state in my blog that the money has to reach me by 5 working days. Meanwhile, there are 2 other customers interested in the same piece but i had to tell them that its reserved. So i waited for her to reply that she had made the transaction, but til one week i had to send her a msg again. She said she really wants it and will bank in by next week. So i waited next week again. After 2 and a half weeks of waiting, i send her a msg again. she replied after a few days that she doesnt want it anymore.
So tell me, how would u feel? and what can be done? u just lost some potential customers just waiting for her. Its pretty hard to tolerate these situations sometimes right. And we cant sell it off to another person while its reserved because that would be unfair to customers right. So spare us a little and dont back out on us after a few weeks.
I understand it is easy to change ur mind if you find something else but if that happens, do inform us earlier so that we can let it go to someone else. We are human like you too so anything can be negotiated if ur polite enough to inform us.

do not be offended if u have done nothing wrong though, just a reminder. i do love some of my customers too though!

Anonymous said...

I been shopping online last time and bought a few clothes from a renowned shopblog... one time the colour was wrong, I ordered purple and they send me black, but ok fine, colour still ok with me, then another time, another dress got holes in the pocket... I feel a bit like WTF to be honest..... since I paid for over RM50 for that clothes + delivery.... really overkill la.

Anonymous said...

i've been reading all this comments and i couldn't help but agree; there are some bad mannered customers and not forgeting some not so nice e-shop owners as well. i've been buying for quite some time now, and have come across many types of e-owners. some are really nice in helping while some would answer the questions like'can't u see..im not interested to answer'. answers are damn rude at times...when tht happens i just ditch that e-hop no matter how nice the items are.
but recently, i bought this top and it was slightly torn at the sleeve. i didn't want to make a big deal, but thot of just emailing the e-shop owner and informing her. wow, response was: firstly denial, impossible it could have been torn!
but DUH..it was!
secondly,no refunds... no replacements...we don't do that, not our procedure.

guess they have no conscience la....

wht kind of procedure is tht?
hello...even policies are to be suited to the seriousness of the scenario...
better put that 'policy' on your blog so everyone would know it...

so now im stuck with a top with torn spots. :(
better don't be in this business ler...

Anonymous said...

I do not sell clothes but I sell handpainted shoes, and I guess the experience thru being a customer & a seller is somehow the same like how everyone here feels.

I've met some customers who claimed themselves as perfectionists and require their shoes design to be perfect.

Of course I did all the stuff. Rough draft, colouring, and final design. I do not charge but now I find out that it really takes a lot of time. And when the customers demand for changes on the design a few times, my head is getting kinda big *haha*.

I've been doing this design for like 2 months. The customer couldn't decide with the final design, couldn't decide her shoe size, delayed her payment for 2 weeks. That's ok. But after counting the time & effort I'd given in, it's definitely not an enjoyable experience.

I just hope that there wont be so many perfectionist customers in future. Handmade items are not perfect but they are made with 100% love & effort. And blogshops are really not an easy thing to maintain.

Good blogstores like Milky cottage, ticktock365, myshoppingsprees and jollibee are highly recommended =)I'm a satisfied customer of all those. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

i left a comment earlier but got disconnected.

anyways, this is a great idea by ashopaholic's den for us to gather and share our thoughts on online shopping!:)

just wana give a shoutout to these blogshops:
a bouquet of tulips
the.envelopes
soakrepublic

a bunch of friendly and patient ppls who not only ensure great quality products but well-handled postages!
one word: fabulous!
definitely visitin their blogs for more shoppin sprees:)

of course there's one shop that shall not be named which i purchased an item from. it's one of the top-ranked shops in emmagem. product came to me as tardy and low quality. therefore, being the one of the tops doesn't ensure the best too.

good jobs to the rest of the blogshop owners too!

lookin forward for more updates from u all.

hugs:)

Anonymous said...

As both an e-shop owner and online shopping fanatic, I have to say that I can understand both sides of the story; even more so now when I've started off a shop myself.

First and foremost, my pet peeve of buying online is with the sizing. I get assurances telling me that it's free size and can fit all - I get that free size means there's only one size available, but obviously that can never "fit all". Just a note to sellers, do indicate the sizes that can fit into the free sizes to be fair to the customers.

As a buyer myself, I've had the best experience with clothesbucket myself. She was on time (early even!) friendly, told me to let her know again if there was anything wrong with the top I bought, and definitely no complaints about the shirt I got because it's really good quality. bucklebuckle was also great to me as I was new to online shopping then, and she patiently walked me through the steps of how to get a TAC and how to transfer money. :) Much thanks babes!

But on the other side of the coin, I do think that customer satisfaction is important. I believe I speak for a lot of credible e-shops when I say that we really do check each piece before we send it out/deliver i.e. sewing on buttons which are loose, cutting off loose threads, looking out for defects with a keen eye; because most of us obviously don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot by spoiling our reputation this way. However, I admit that there are times that defects may be overlooked, but if that's the case, then the seller should most definitely be alerted immediately to remedy the situation.

Also about the point raised regarding colouring? I have to admit that sometimes its extremely hard to get the colour shown exactly as how it is due to lighting, flash/no flash, different cameras (For some reason, my camera has a serious problem with blue). It's difficult to control, but again blog-shop owners have a responsibility to ensure that it's at least close to what is shown, or explain to the customer the actual colour. Being a user of Photoshop myself, I've seen the way some blog-shop owners edit and change the colours of their pictures and I just feel its really unfair to customers.

We've had our fair share of disappearing buyers recently and honestly, all we're asking for is a simple mail stating that you're not interested anymore which isn't really that tough. Sure, we'll be a little ticked off that you reserved it and backed-out, but what's even worse is completely ignoring us/disappearing on us :(

That being said, I'd just like to thank all our lovely customers - those who are friendly, polite, on time, quick buyers - it never fails to put a smile on our faces for the rest of the day when a buyer lets us know how much she loves a piece she's bought. :)

Anonymous said...

I am a blogshop owner, sometimes a customer as well =) i totally agreed to the comment posted on August 27, 2008 11:23pm, "customers that are satisfied don't always spread their satisfaction via tag board, whereas unsatisfied customer, genuine or not will put it on the tag board...@@"

well, we as blogowner need to do our best to provide our customer the best. Will customers start to take advantage of our kindness? for example, she normally wears uksize 10, but she insist that she want to get the dress that fit a small uk10 fr me, when she tried it on, it is too tight for her so she spoilt the dress due to over streching.she claims that it was a defect, but when the item was handed to me, it is obvious that it is due to over stretched. what can i do? so "geram"

i once met a customer who is a trouble maker too. she bought a top fr me, but i guess she found it not suitable for herself after she wore it on, so she leave some stain "in a purpose" on the bottom part of the top.(have no idea what ink is that, and i am sure the stains are not there before i pass it to her, cause i repacked it nicely) she asked me for a full refund, so? i did so, but i think some customers are really too much.

of course, there are some customers who are really good, they are so understanding, so friendly, bank in on time, keep their promises, honest, not too fussy, nv back out,they keep me going. thanks god i met them. =)

well, hopefully, our satisfied customer will still stand on our side, although, sometimes, we as blogowner overlooked some issues. but arent we all human? we all make mistakes. =/ it is a matter of give and take

Anonymous said...

some blogshop owners are realyl dedicated to their job.i personally can be quite a ditz and sometimes miscommunication happens, and the blogshop owner misunderstood my sms for cod, yet still politely accepted my apology for the mix up and even resheduled for a later meet up. Kudos to you blogshop owners out there who really make the effort

Anonymous said...

I do want to add another point to the COD part. Sometimes buyers insist on CODs not because of cheaper rate but rather in fear that the items may get lost upon delivery. As an e-shop owner myself, I do understand that part and I personally offer CODs at no cost.

However, I don't think it's unreasonable for blogshops to charge fo CODs. It isn't just the petrol and parking, but also the hassle of arranging CODs. The number of SMSs and calls they make to confirm a time/location. More often than not, buyers expect the sellers to call. Not to mention, the wait they have to endure for customers to arrive. I'd once waited for 2 hours for a customer because everytime I called/messaged, she said she's only 5-10 minutes away. So what are sellers to do?

What some online buyers fail to grasp is that, boutiques out there mark up their prices in the range of 300% to 500%. Hence, they can afford to replace a completely new item for customers, even when it isn't their fault because such risks/costs would have been calculated within their profit margin, in the price you paid. Their objective is just to keep you coming back to further contribute to their profit. A majority of blog shop owners, however, are only students looking for cheap shopping. Hence, they are willing to buy clothes in bulks and perhaps mark up the price by RM10-RM15, possibly just sufficient to cover petrol, parking, handphone and the effort of hunting down pretty bargains in our dreadful weather for your shopping comfort at home. Indeed, customers should always come first, but do give them a break.

As for the perfectionist customers mentioned by Tenlittletoes, you can't expect a Gucci service at an Amour price. If you have such high expectations, do opt for retail boutiques and pay retail prices instead. I shop online as much as I sell online, and I never expect too much from sellers because I know the items are already so worth it. The prices I paid were probably 60% off retail price.

Not to forget, a big shout out to ashopaholicsden. It's great that we finally have a medium to share our opinion on such issues. =)

Anonymous said...

as a shopper and an e-shop owner, i'd like to give props to clothesbucket and shopaholics unite for their good communication skills. i think we have a lot to learn from clothesbucket especially, because she is always a delight to purchase from, one of the nicest e-shop owners i've ever dealt with. also her packaging is always lovely, it's like opening presents! ;-)

no doubt i've dealt with rude customers, but i've also dealt with rude e-shop owners. so when i deal with our customers, i try to give service with a smile, just like what shopaholics unite do. they reply every email regardless, and they always reply with a smile.

buyers, remember that u are opting for online shopping because it's convenient, saves time, and saves energy. with all this, other things has to be sacrified, ie u wont be able to try on clothes, and the colour/material may look slightly different. if u want to shop online effeciently, always inquire about the measurements, the material, the true color. any good e-shop owner will be happy to attend to your inquiries. if they're reluctant, then it shows that there's something fishy going on, or they don't want your business, so forget it and move on because there are plenty of other e-shops out there!

e-shop owners, we need to do our part too. if your customer forgets to inform u that they're no longer interested, after 2-3 days of reservation, remember to email them to ask if they're still interested. if you dont, and after 1 week they email u and say they're not interested, u have no right to be angry and flame that buyer, because u didnt do your part as an effecient seller either. actually, with my experience it's best to state in your blog that items will only be held for x number of days, if there's no notification, the reservation will be cancelled. simple as that, no need to go round sulking and flaming other ppl.

thanks shopaholicsden, btw!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I totally agree with the fact that if there are any defects in the item which any of the customers happen to purchase by mistake, it is the responsibility of the customer to inform the e-shop owner as soon as possible. Instead of waiting for few weeks later and sending a complaint to the e-shop owner.

Just thought that it might enlightened some e-shoppers out there about one of the experiences I encountered few weeks back.

As a fashion addict, I have made a decision to purchase a bag and some bracelets from one of the online fashion sites.

Hence, the owner quoted the price for me once I've confirmed the items I wanted to purchase.

I noted the total amount and thought that the amount was quite reasonable. Payment was made to the owners bank account the same day. The owner was also informed about the prompt payment which I made.

I waited patiently for a few days and still no reply from the e-shop owner. A week finally passed and no reply even after sending numerous emails to the e-shop owner regarding the status of my transaction.

Finally, after 2 weeks, the e-shop owner replied my email indicating that the amount I paid to the bank account is incorrect. Resulting in which she (e-shop owner) is unable to sent me the items I ordered previously.

I was extremely dissatisfied with the level of service provided.I simply couldn't believe the attitude of a salesperson as the I had paid the amount which was quoted by the seller herself. Now, the seller is accusing me of paying the incorrect amount after 2 weeks!

I hope none of you out there will encounter similiar situations like mine.

Peace :)