Saturday, July 13, 2013

How to FAIL at Business 101

I know many people in the Pagan community who are good as gold. Many of these same people are handcrafters and put their heart and soul into the things they make and then sell in their etsy shop, or on eBay or even in their own eCommerce storefront. Which ever way they do business with the public, they are honest, and timely in getting their orders taken, processed and then shipped out as soon as possible. And if there may happen to be a hitch in the process, they take the time to contact the person who has ordered something from them to let them know there will be a delay, and how long that delay will be. They also faithfully answer emails from customers and do not ignore anything. Why?? Because they know their reputation and often times their livelihood depends on great customer service.

Recently, there have been quite a few people who are unhappy with a particular store that sells to the Pagan community (Even more recently, it happened to a family member and I can't keep quiet any longer, *sigh). Some have placed orders in good faith and waited WEEKS for their item to arrive, even after the payment was deducted from their checking or PayPal account. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance with this company. I have seen post after post flood my Facebook News Feed on a daily basis about the way this company doesn't fulfill their end of the transaction. They also don't answer emails, but post excuse after excuse on their Facebook page about they didn't get any messages because their email or messenger has a glitch. All the while posting the new items they have for sale...

OK... I can be reasonable here. I know things can go wonky with email and messenger and Facebook more often than not, and especially during Mercury Retrograde. However, when an order is placed over 90 days ago, the money has been deducted from the checking account, item has NOT been received and you WON'T answer the numerous emails and messages, AND this seems to be a pattern for you, I can clearly see there is something wrong with the way you do business.

So, here is where I call the problem out by name. If ANY of you who read this have done business with this particular company and have positive customer service with NO problems receiving your merchandise, then I say Good for you. Unfortunately, there are just too many in my opinion, who have had less than stellar experiences with UmbraLight Metaphysics.

To UmbraLight Metaphysics I have this to say. IF you honestly are having issues with your email and messenger, you need to create a new email account so you can keep track of those people who are not happy with the way they have been treated. You also need to figure out how to improve on your customer service. Get your shit together or get out of business! Harsh?? Perhaps. But I know from the depths of my soul, if this had happened to me and my etsy store, there would be NO second chance. Word of mouth advertising is the most effective way to promote or ruin a business of any kind...