Yesterday I sent out a promotion for a product I was quite impressed with. At less than 10 dollars it looked to be a winner. And I was pleased with what I found inside the members’ area.
Keep in mind, I generally only promote products from people I know personally (face-to-face, after months and years of knowing each other). But this marketer has a good reputation and a good product, so I thought I’d share it.
Many of my customers purchased – and I thank you. I appreciate your trust in my recommendations.
And then it started. While I had personally had a smooth purchase process, my customers were not so lucky. This was the type of promotion where, as the affiliate, I received payments in my paypal account. As far as I can tell, 100% of those who purchased had a problem with getting into the members’ site for the product. Naturally, as my customers, they contacted me – the person they paid.
Confidently I went to the members’ site, logged in, and looked for the support link so that I could tell them MY customers were having problems. No support link.
I went back to the original sales page. No support link.
I went back to my confirmation email. No support link.
I had received an earlier email from this marketer asking me to promote the product. It said to contact him on his Skype address. I tried. No reply.
I went to his personal blog. No support link.
I went back to the original sales offer page. Someone else said they had submitted a ticket to his support desk. I asked where. No reply.
I replied to another email from the marketer saying he had had problems with the WSO but the link was fixed now. I got an automatic reply, giving me the link to his support desk. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I clicked the link – and was taken to his “VIP Affiliate Center”. I didn’t want affiliate links – I wanted help for my people!
Found a link below the lost password to submit a ticket. Still in the affiliate center, but I submitted one anyway, explaining the problems, lack of support and asking where my people could go to get help.
I typed in the captcha below the message to submit the ticket – and a new captcha appeared. Thinking I had typed those hard-to-read letters incorrectly, I typed the new ones and submitted. I did this 5 or 6 times before I saw a tiny one-line message at the top of the screen, telling me my ticket had been submitted. Apparently I submitted it multiple times – because the screen never “closed” to indicate it had been submitted.
Needless to say, it’s been a rough 24 hours in Customer Support Hell. And still no resolution.
So here are the lessons learned.
1. Personally I will no longer promote affiliate offers for people I do not know personally, who I cannot contact at a real support desk or call on the phone.
2. I have refunded all of the orders that came to me. I could not in good conscience keep the money, given the problems.
3. There should be a link to your support desk on the bottom of every page of every website you have.
4. You should use professional help desk software that lets people know that they have submitted a ticket. Submit a ticket yourself now and then to be sure things are working properly. You want to put yourself in your customers’ shoes.
5. Be careful what you call things and know when to STOP promoting. (My marketing friends are saying Never!). When I have a problem for support, the last thing I want to have to do is sign up as a VIP Affiliate in order to get that support. Likewise, when I get an email saying that I should contact your support desk, the last thing I want is a promotional “have you bought our xyz product” in that email.
It all really goes back to the Golden Rule. Treat your customers as you would like to be treated. Your customers are THE most important part of your business.
LOVE IT!!! Not what you went through….the fact that you handled it the way that you did. AWESOME integrity. You just tipped me over to YOUR OWN offer! See you soon! Cindy
Thanks, Cindy. I do love my customers – and value you!
Jeanette, I truly believe that. Sorry you went through the CS hell , but it IS indicative of a lot of the crap that purchasers of these “systems”, etc., go through way too often. I have unsubscribed from many “reputable” online marketers when I get a pitch for crap to make a buck. I don’t care who you are, due diligence and research are still my watchwords. Crap is crap. Thanks again for sharing that…..you have let a lot of us that have been taken down the “yellow brick road” off the hook……..happens to the pros, too. Thanks Again, Cindy
Hi, Jeanette,
I had a similar problem once with a product that seemed wonderful from a fellow who had a very good reputation. Luckily, I hadn’t promoted the product, I had just purchased it. The membership area I was directed to had no information in it, much less the products I had purchased.
He had a support desk, but it was very difficult to find. (I finally did.) He did have a “community” forum that you could post support tickets to, and I found many people were having the same problem. Some said theirs was fine, which was odd.
Long story short, what had happened was that their server was truly slammed from the promotion and the fellow was spending his time fixing it rather than taking time to tell people there was an issue, but that it was being worked on. He did get it all up and running and the product was very good, but it reminded me to always be in communication. Your customers would rather wait an extra couple of hours for a resolution if you have taken the time to let them know you are on it. (Some will still be angry and just go away, but that’s unavoidable.)
And always make it easy to find your support system!
Good lessons to learn as a marketer. Good lessons to learn as an affiliate.
Geoff
Geoff – I agree. As marketers and business owners we are constantly straddling the fence in terms of where our focus needs to be in the next 10 minutes. But I have to say, even IF this marketer fixes all of it, I’d have a hard time promoting him or his products again. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. Something about the uncaring attitude.
I can understand tech issues – we all have them. But when you purposely make it a habit not to give people a link to your support desk, it just doesn’t sit well.
Thanks for weighing in on this!
Gosh, Jeanette, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Actually, I’d made a decision last week to STOP purchasing things – PERIOD! (At least for a while) But, because it was you, I broke my rule. I will still always take a close look at the things you promote – I value your discernment that much. I got the refund from you, and Thank You very much. Again, I’m just sorry you had to go through all that.
Gratefully – Your Friend and Customer
Jeanne
Oh, thank you, Jeanne. And thanks for that touch of sympathy I asked for in my email. I needed a hug!
Appreciate you!
Jeanette,
I can so relate to your story!! I too had a day like that recently, and was so miffed! I got my money refunded – but what about the hours I wasted in the process!!
What “professional help desk software” do you recommend?
Lauren
Lauren – I use a fairly complex package (Kayako) that I’m not 100% in love with, but I do know it gets the tickets to me dependably. I’ve used free packages – OSTicket, for one – and I’ve used paid packages. Several people use ZenDesk, but it is complex.
I think the most important thing is to test it as a user. And not just once, but maybe once a month. See how it feels to submit a ticket, what you get back, and how quickly your staff (could be you!) responds to it. And then what’s in the message.
I know from experience that we sometimes set things up, forget about them, then are appalled at what we see 12 years later!
Sometimes it’s just six months later!
Very interesting you should write about this topic today Jeanette. I specialize in Customer Service and Appreciation and your “lessons learned” are all well thought out and well-written points.
My youngest son phoned me yesterday to tell me about an experience he had just had which he felt was extraordinary service. He said he’d be a customer for life because of the treatment he received.
Here’s the story. He had recently purchased a new vacuum and it wasn’t working as well as the reviews he’d been told. A Kirby salesman came to his door and offered to vacuum his floor with a Kirby AFTER letting him vacuum with his new vacuum cleaner. The Kirby picked up so much that the other vac left behind he ended up buying one. Then, just 9 days later it suddenly quit working!
Now here’s where the story gets interesting. He couldn’t find anyone in his area (Ft Hood) to honor the 3 yr warranty & fix it free. They all wanted labor paid. He called the salesman and 3 days later the guy called back & gave him the name of a repair place in Austin. He drove to Austin even though it cost him gas because of his principles, believing he shouldn’t patronize a business who wouldn’t honor their agreements, and the older gentleman (who I believe was the owner of the store) completely repaired it at no cost, chatting with him in a friendly way all the while. He’d been fixing vacs since 1954!
My son was so impressed by how nice the man was & how well he fixed it that he told the man he wanted to purchase a big supply of vacuum cleaner bags, The man grabbed a big stack and handed it to him and when he pulled his wallet ou to pay the man said, “No charge. You had to go all this way just to have your warranty honored, and I so appreciate your military service for our country. I should be the one thanking you.” My son was overwhelmed by this man and said he will tell others about him.
It gets better. I had lunch here in Colorado today with a friend who used to live in Austin. She knew about this vacuum cleaner man and had used his servcies before and told others about him as well!
Offer bad service and you will go out of business. Offer okay service you might too. Exceptional service is what makes a business stand out and build loyalty, offers plenty of referrals, and so many other benefits. Thanks so much for your mentioning the Golden Rule Jeanette. It’s an honorable way of doing business and living life. 🙂
Beth – what a wonderful story. And the fact that it ties in with exactly what we’re discussing – and it involved Austin – well, just perfect! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jeanette
In all the years I’ve known you, I’m still learning from you. I was just wondering what had happened to the product, when lo and behold, there was your email with the refund. Thank you for the refund–most of all thank you for being you–for turning this into another lesson learned–and for not making us go through what you had to go through. You have my sympathies. Go take a bubble bath and relax. You earned it.
Patsy
Thanks, Patsy, the hot tub may be calling me soon! What a great idea.
As you know, I believe every experience we have teaches us something. I just enjoy sharing it with all my good friends online. Thanks for being there for me!
An unpleasant customer servie can happen offline too. My cell phone was printed – by accident- in a local phone directory.
When I try to call AT&T, they keep telling me that they don’t print cell numbers in the directory. I have offered to send them back the book but no one has taken me up on my offer. They only keep transferring me to a different department where I explain my situation all over – only for that person to tell me that they don’t pring cell numbers in the local phone directory.
I’m still working on the problem with customer service.
Can someone think of another name instead of ‘customer service?’ That sounds too nice for what I’m going through!
I’m laughing, Carol, because just when we think WE are having a bad day – we hear YOUR story. What a nightmare!
My cell phone number is 422 and a popular leasing agent’s is 442. Needless to say I get a LOT of real estate calls – especially on weekend mornings. Grrr. I even have a voicemail telling calls this is not a real estate number. But turns out more real estate brokers bypass the message and leave voicemail anyway!
For years I tried calling them back, trying to be nice. But they would argue that THEY had called the right number – and I was mistaken. I finally gave up. If the person they are going to visit doesn’t know they’re showing the house at that time, there’s nothing more I can do.
I’d take a printout of the phone book to your local AT&T store. My local cell phone sales guys are great! They made calls to get our home number repaired – after those same calls hadn’t worked for me for 3 weeks! Now all my phones work again.
Good luck!
I’ve had a horror story too – in one case with someone I had met and trusted, who charged people’s cards an extra time.
Along these lines, I’d like to add that some people turn everything over to their VAs without properly training them. Some VAs are wonderful, of course, but some just don’t “get” customer service, they’re not empowered to make decisions and/or they don’t understand the question. I once had a question on a time-sensitive offer; the VA got back to me after the special ended, with no apology. I’ve never forgotten.
I agree, Cathy. Our memories are long when we’ve been wronged. Particularly in online business, there is a modicum of distrust to start. It only takes a small infraction to make that marketer totally suspicious in our minds.
Hi Jeanette
I don’t usually buy WSO´s but i did buy this one because of your recommendation.
I didn’t want to launch my own WSO but i thought it would be useful in helping me build my own products
As you know, PayPal took my money and deposited it with you, as the affiliate. And so, as far as I was concerned I had bought the product.
Now, the next part of the saga is my fault. After waiting an hour or so to receive the download link I hit “reply” to your original email “Haven’t done this in a while” to tell you what had happened and to ask you to forward the download link details.
To tell you the truth I hadn’t noticed the “TechTamersSupport” link at the bottom of your email
But i did get an automated message from my email to you which said:-
“JC here, I’m protecting myself from receiving junk mail. Please click the link below to complete the verification process. You have to do this only once.”
After i had clicked the verification link I got another email saying:-
“Thank you for verifying your email address with Spam Arrest! Your email has been forwarded to JC’s inbox.”
Nothing happened.
When I had heard nothing more from you, around 20 hours later I did an internet search for “Contact + Jeanette Cates” and through that search I finally found the TechTamers Support Centre
Arising from my ticket that I submitted explaining what had happened, I received an acknowledgement email and then, several hours later I received a refund notice from PayPal with a note from yourself saying:-
“Apparently the site from which you ordered the WSO Blueprint had problems, so I am refunding your purchase. My apologies for the problems and frustration. Look for an article shortly with the full story.”
To tell you the truth I have not been impressed by your support.
I feel that your response has been impersonal and should have at least asked if I wanted to continue with the purchase of the WSO which I had already paid for.
I am left feeling disillusioned and disappointed with the whole incident and I can’t help but feel that someone with your reputation could have handled the whole thing in a better manner
Wow, David, just when I’m patting myself on the back. (grinning). As I’ve said, we can always do better.
How could I have improved the experience for you?
Obviously I don’t personally answer every email that comes to my info@ email address. I receive over 400 messages per day just to that account. Hence, I use spamarrest for the first level of protection. Then my assistant checks those that are confirmed once a day to handle the customer service. Yours probably came in after she checked yesterday, so I got it this morning.
I’m sorry that you felt the response was impersonal. Since I had no way to send you to the product you paid for, I felt it only correct to refund your purchase. Since then I have made arrangements for you to receive the product at no further cost, so look for an email from them.
I am looking forward to hearing any ideas you have on how to improve our service and how we might have handled this situation better.
Jeanette,
Dave says it was his fault that he did not see your support link in your email – and yet he says he is not impressed by your customer support? How does that work?
Talk about damned if you do and damned if you don’t! Complaints if you refund, and complaints if you don’t.
Some days you just can’t win!!
Geez – makes you wonder why we bother!
So you reward his stupidity by getting him the product for free! Now that really is terrific customer service – above and beyond what is deserved!
Great tips even though I’m sorry you had to go through it You’ve told us all of this before but a “story” really brings things home! Thank you
Terrie
And you know that stories aren’t my strong point. So I’m glad to oblige! 🙂
Hi Lauren
Yes, I am being open and honest in what I am saying. And I have had to learn the hard way that it is better to say what I truly think rather than pretending otherwise (I was brought up to always put a happy face on things and to pretend that things are ok even when they weren’t).
And so, no, I didn’t see the support link tucked away at the bottom of the email, at the time i was ready for bed (1.00am in the morning) and at a glance the link just did not stand out as being an alternative to the typical “Contact” label.
The reason i wasn’t impressed is that I waited 20 + hours for some sort of response that didn’t come and then, it literally took me around 20 minutes searching to locate a contact point for Jeanette. Maybe you would like to just try it for yourself to see what you come up with.
And pardon me if i say that i would not call my missing the link as “stupidity”
It seems that you are very strict in your attitudes.
Jeanette, thank you very much.
I take back what i said about your response being impersonal and i thank you for your kindness and your generosity.
Thank you, Dave. We’ve all overlooked critical details at one time or another. I totally understand.
And it IS frustrating to have to wait. I did not say that there was any “stup…” involved (that’s a four letter word in our household!)
I appreciate your following up with me. Like you I was taught to gloss over things so that everything was happy. But I think that honesty is always the best policy. We can only get better with the help of others.
As a result of your feedback, I have just registered JeanetteCatesHelp.com and forwarded it to my current support desk. So hopefully the next person will find it easier to find the help they need.
Thanks, Dave!
Dave,
I agree it is better to say something rather than hold it in. That is why I posted my comment!
I get it – you sent an email at 1am – waited 20 hours, then did an internet search and spent another 20 minutes searching for Jeanettes contact info.
Thats stupid!
Jeanettes techtamers support link is directly under her address – about an inch under her name on the email. You could not even have looked.
You could also have just typed in JeanetteCates.com and found her that way – 2 seconds!
If a lesson is learned to read emails carefully, then I suppose your time has been well spent!
Lauren – thank you for defending me, as I’m sure that’s what you intended. Of course, as I told Dave, we’ve all done those things we wished we hadn’t – and overlooked critical information. In fact, in trying to resolve this issue with the vendor, I went back about three times looking for links – especially after he told me they were right there in front of me!
But alas, in this case I was correct – and there were no links. And those that were where he said they were led to Under Construction pages.
But at least I felt like I had checked. As I know Dave did, too.
Thanks for your contributions!
Jeanette.
You offer one of the best services that I know on the internet. You are an honourable person, who goes above and beyond what most people do. Your reputation is beyond first class.
It really burns me when people take a pot shot at you, even when you have again demonstrated that you have taken the moral high road, and gone above and beyond yet again!
I will jump in and say my piece to anyone who acts in a disrespectful way, especially when the person they are dissing has posted an explanation of what happened.
Your email that started this whole debacle off had the subject line “Haven’t done this in a while” – and I am guessing you won’t do “this” ever again!
Long live the Jeanette Cates of this world!! You are what restores peoples faith! At least you do for me!
Lauren
This whole episode serves to highlight the difference between this WSO person and Techtamer’s fantastic customer service!
Tom – thank you! I appreciate your kind words – and your ongoing support.
Jeanette:
You are the poster child for great customer service. Thanks for sharing your story and your recommendations for others.
I’d tell you to suggest to the vendor my bestselling book, “Calming Upset Customers,” but in my 32 years in the speaking business I’ve found the people who need it the most never buy it! So I’ve filled another book with stories like the one you tell, plus those of great service. (“Remarkable Customer Service … and Disservice: Case Studies and Discussions to Increase Your Customers’ Delight”)
Thanks, as always, for being such a great exemplar of excellence in everything you do.
Coming from you, Rebecca, that is a particularly appreciated compliment. Thank you!
You serve as a shining example of top-notch customer service and consistency throughout the speaking and customer service industry yourself. I’m so glad you’ve put all of your experience into print to share with the world. Congratulations on the newest one!
And thanks for stopping by to add your comments.
Dr. Cates, Beth Earle, Rebecca Morgan, I think all of you should get together and do an ebook “Customer Service for Online Marketers”
As usual, Jeanette, your years of experience and ability to convey powerful messages have exceeded all expectations. THANK YOU!
Thank YOU, Rosie! What a fun idea it would be – in fact I already have the domain name. 😉