Armorsmith Archive
Thread: Who's fault and how would you resolve this?
hopnasty
Fri Oct 08, 2004 4:31 pm
#14
Homer_J_S wrote:
Shion,
I have no problem replacing the armor for this guy, Personally, my monthly income is in the 9 figures so it just a drop in a bucket, but the guy started out with and attitude that it's my fault and he deserves a refund. Everyone who knows me on my server knows I'm very generous andfair but, this guy pissed meoff with his attitude so much make menot want to refund him although, I'll probably will because I know the money he spent is worth alot more to him than it is to me. But, he threatens me that he will never buy anything from me and his guild will never buy from me again if I don't refund him. If he approached me saying hey I accidentally left a set of armor on your vendor afterI bought it and it got deleted instead of accusing me how he has 36 days to pick up and I never warn him that the vendor was getting deleted blah blah blah... I've would have refunded him immediately.
I'm just posting this to just give other AS's a heads up if this ever happens to you.
I missed the part about the "customer's attitude" from the start. If that's the case, refund his money and /ban him. If you're as sucessful as you say you are, then it shouldn't be a big deal banning him or even the risk of his guild boycotting your business.
It basically boils down to, "how do I conductbusiness", which is completely open to the business owner.
Should I be the bad guy and say "screw it"or be the good guyand refund the money. I've learned that you can't please everyone and you will always run into jerks no matter what.
Getting back on topic... If this happened to me, I would make it absolutely clear:
1. I am doing YOU a favor by refunding your money.
2. Explain that there is no way for me to see what's pending in the storeroom for items that customers have purchased.
3. Attitude doesn't get you anywhere.
4. Here's a free suit to smooth things over because of the city remodeling.
If you look at above you'll see I love utilizing the "good cop, bad cop" route. I am expressing dissatisfaction with refunding the money and I am explaining to him why I'm hesitant on refunding, but in the end, not only does he get a full refund, he gets the suit that he left behind for free. It sets him up for getting angry, but then defuses him when he gets a free suit. It catches him off guard and he walks away thinking "Damn, this guys is cooler than i thought" It may not be the best way, but hey, I'm a gemini, so I've been two-faced since birth. 
But that's just me...
But that's just me...Message Edited by hopnasty on 10-08-2004 04:35 PM
Duckfat
Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:16 pm
#15
Its neither your fault nor the customers fault. It is SOEs fault. Your customer was under the impression that he had the time to pick it up and for whatever reason was not able to do so before you moved. You were under the impression that you had emptied the vendor prior to moving it. If the devs would simply implement simple warnings that the vendor was in fact not empty before you delete the vendor it would save both sides a world of headaches. They have this available for harvestors so why shouldnt they do it for vendors or anything else that may be mistaken destroyed when the owner thinks it is empty but it is in fact not empty.
Now that we know whos fault it is lets discuss what you should do. If the guy was polite and a valued customer I would give him what he wants, whether it is a refund or a new suit (after all its a measly few hundred thousand credits worth). However you stated that he was very rude and being a complete a$$hat and demanding things from you. In this case I would simply let him know whos fault it was based on what I wrote in the first paagraph and tell him to submit a ticket. Oh and wish him good luck with that route when it would have been much simpler if he showed some decent courtesy before I banned him from my vendors.
justapilgrim
Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:36 pm
#16
SOE fault
happened to me the other day, gave him 50% off another suit and told him to send a ticket
Homer_J_S
Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:02 am
#17
Shion,
I have no problem replacing the armor for this guy, Personally, my monthly income is in the 9 figures so it just a drop in a bucket, but the guy started out with and attitude that it's my fault and he deserves a refund. Everyone who knows me on my server knows I'm very generous andfair but, this guy pissed meoff with his attitude so much make menot want to refund him although, I'll probably will because I know the money he spent is worth alot more to him than it is to me. But, he threatens me that he will never buy anything from me and his guild will never buy from me again if I don't refund him. If he approached me saying hey I accidentally left a set of armor on your vendor afterI bought it and it got deleted instead of accusing me how he has 36 days to pick up and I never warn him that the vendor was getting deleted blah blah blah... I've would have refunded him immediately.
I'm just posting this to just give other AS's a heads up if this ever happens to you.
BoveApako
Sat Oct 09, 2004 2:05 am
#18
The real question here, if he indeed valued this armor why did he wait an entire week to pick it up? He couldnt have forgotten or else he wouldnt have sent you a tell. Do you have the receipt from him buying it?Even if that isso, I would tell him that he is in no position to be angry with me and to take his attitude and buisness elsewhere.
Searcher
Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:06 pm
#19
Yep refund his money. I really hope you already made this decision and most armorsmiths with skill and history in this trade can afford to lose one sale to an issue like this. I do not think the customer is right for using your vendor as a storage unit but this is an unusual situation. I have had two armor vendors at one point and eventually let one die because I could not keep up with demand, thankfully I did not have an issue like yours but if I had I would refund, express my disatisfaction that the customer left thier suit for so long and to hurry up and burn out the suit I just credited them with 
Regards,
joined42904
Sun Oct 10, 2004 10:39 am
#20
If he is giving you a lot of attitude I agree that I would ban him from the structure after refunding the money.
However, as an established AS on my server, it just isn't worth it to me to have someone post on the boards a complaint even about something not my fault if the amount a few hundred k. Not refunding would imo make the armorsmith appear greedy to the community.
The refund/ban is elegant. It isn't something a greedy person would do. And it expresses a lack of desire to deal with folks who are rude to you.
Dova
Sun Oct 10, 2004 3:41 pm
#21
hopnasty wrote:
Totally customer's fault, however, if you don't abide by the addage "Customers are always right" then you shouldn't be in business.
Says who? The "customer is always right" line is the biggest piece of crap statement in business. The customer is absolutely NOT always right. Good customer service and standards should always be adhered to but sometimes the customer IS wrong and they DO NOT deserve any form of compensation. It's just bad business to blindly bend over anytime a customer deems themselves "right". Particularly in games such as this where we see many whining idiots who want nothing but free stuff and who spend (it would seem) most of their time conjuring ways to get said free stuff. The customer is always right is simply bad business, not good business practice.
Ryche_Mykola
Sun Oct 10, 2004 10:58 pm
#22
If I spend a couple hundred thousand credits on something I'm not going to leave it sit on a vendor for a week. If you have 2 purchase e-mails from him, I'd make him a replacement suit. I personally think he's trying to scam a free suit.
joined42904
Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:10 am
#23
I think he's trying to scam, too. But realistically...who has emails from customers 1-2 wks ago and runs a volume business? I see who buys it (to give in-guild discounts) and kind of familiarize myself with my customers in case I get IG tells or requests for odd armor types (which i fill if it's a loyal customer and don't if it's not).
Finegold12
Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:26 am
#24
>>>>this guy pissed me off with his attitude <<<<<
Oh, that brings new light. If that's the case.. screw him. His loss.... but I'm mean and nasty.
Oh, that brings new light. If that's the case.. screw him. His loss.... but I'm mean and nasty.
hopnasty
Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:47 am
#25
Dova wrote:
hopnasty wrote:
Totally customer's fault, however, if you don't abide by the addage "Customers are always right" then you shouldn't be in business.
Says who? The "customer is always right" line is the biggest piece of crap statement in business. The customer is absolutely NOT always right. Good customer service and standards should always be adhered to but sometimes the customer IS wrong and they DO NOT deserve any form of compensation. It's just bad business to blindly bend over anytime a customer deems themselves "right". Particularly in games such as this where we see many whining idiots who want nothing but free stuff and who spend (it would seem) most of their time conjuring ways to get said free stuff. The customer is always right is simply bad business, not good business practice.
That is your opinion. However, I can assure you, a majority of businesses abide by this rule. If you don't, eventually, you'll have no customers left with that attitude. This one customer, can single-handedly tell 5-10 people about his experience with you. That one experience can jade his view on purchasing armor from you ever again, which, in turn, will spread to other people. If you bite the bullet and refund a 300K suit, you will have satisfied the customer and his "good" experience will spread. It's a well researched fact, people tend to complain to their friends about negative experiences MUCH more than good ones. Do you really want to risk such negative feedback to be spread about your business over 1 suit worth 300K? Is this suit worth 1-2million in future sales (from both the customer in question and the people he will talk to)?
Personally, 300K is a drop in the bucket. Regardless of conspiracy theories on him trying to "scam" you, the bottom line is you will have a happy customer. Happy customers share their views just like unhappy customers. I prefer to keep as many customers as I can happy. They're the ONLY reason I'm in business.Without customers your business will fail. Period. As a businessman, a bad reputation will cost you in the long run.
Granted, there are certain bad apples that you will HAVE to address in a more negative fashion, however, in this particular scenario, I stand by my statement, "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!"
Dova
Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:54 am
#26
Ummm, I run a successful business IRL and I can assure you that the customer is not "always right". My very healthy company and satisfied customer base IRL disproves this silly adage. I have fired customers in the past and it has had no negative effect on my business. In fact the effect has been positive because I've learned to prune the PITA folk that do nothing but chew up money and resources from reputable businesses. As a result 75% of my business is now based on referrals and I focus the time and efforts of my business on good positive customers. Not an opinion, a fact in a real life business.
You need to understand that some "customers" can never be satisfied and that one needs to learn when to cut them loose. Feel free to dump money into customers who want nothing but to grind you down. I'll still be standing when they've drained your resources into nothing.