Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
The Official "WTF MERCH!" Thread
Tshirtlimbo:
Hi all. New poster. Just registered to bitch about merch.
The only thing that bothers me more than having initiated a business deal with QC, and then having been ignored for coming up on 3 months, is apologists in this thread arguing for sympathy for a two-person sales operation.
In business, there is *no* excuse for not delivering what you've promised. If you *do* get caught in a position where you can't deliver you have to either scramble to re-negotiate the deal or accept a big fat "two-bit operation" sticker on your forehead. As a bonus, in the real world you risk being sued for breaching a contract.
If you have too much business (a good problem to have) -- you need to scale up your operations. If that's hard to manage, here are two quick and acceptable stop-gap solutions:
1. E-mail everyone with an outstanding order.
If the QC team can't manage this, they can grab a geek who can (does QC even have a customer database? Are they copying and pasting orders from e-mail?) In the mass e-mail, say: "Wowee gee! We've overwhelmed :( Please be patient and if you don't have a shipping notice within 3 months let us know at [email protected]. SORRY!!!!!"
2. Set up an auto-reply at QCmerch.
THIS IS SO FREAKING EASY IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. Say "Wowee gee! Etc." Cut and paste the text from the opening post in this thread. There is no reason why a confused/dissatisfied customer should have to dig around a forum to get some answers. Seriously, don't even try.
As it is, the QC team is acting like they don't give a shit about the people that want to buy their merchandise. I fully expect that this is due to inexperience and incompetence as opposed to actual malice -- but how long do they expect that to be tolerated? Do they regret that some customers are being royally screwed and ignored? Is there a mea culpa anywhere? Is it really that hard to UPDATE THE WEBSITE or send out some mass e-mail?
It boggles the mind. Man up QC Team!
Ben.
Tshirtlimbo:
"Taking ownership of the problem" ,as MightyMouse puts it, is exactly what I'm talkin about.
No-one expects two (or three people) to print, package, ship, etc. an insane number of shirts. All we expect is that the QC team conduct their business professionally. That's never too much to ask.
Peace out.
Kragit:
Like I've been saying, I have no problem with people coming here to complain (in a reasonable manner) about their order, that's what this topic is here for.
My issue is with people who have no regard for Jeph or Cristi at all. I know that "this is a 2-3 person operation" gets used a lot, but imagine yourself in their position. If you were working as hard as you can to fill hundreds of orders, trying to find a way to respond to thousands of emails, you'd hope people would be a little sympathetic to your cause.
I AGREE that an email would be nice. I AGREE that they need to take ownership of the problem. All I'm saying is that we need to be somewhat understanding of their situation. The money that they make has to go to any living expenses as well as server bills, shirt orders, etc. Even though they might be doing a lot of business, they might not be making enough to hire other employees.
--- Quote ---As it is, the QC team is acting like they don't give a shit about the people that want to buy their merchandise. I fully expect that this is due to inexperience and incompetence as opposed to actual malice -- but how long do they expect that to be tolerated? Do they regret that some customers are being royally screwed and ignored? Is there a mea culpa anywhere? Is it really that hard to UPDATE THE WEBSITE or send out some mass e-mail?
It boggles the mind. Man up QC Team!
--- End quote ---
Who are you to say these things about them? Just cause they fall behind doesn't mean their inexperienced, incompetent or don't give a shit. They simply could be too busy.
Life is a learning experience, and theres a lot to be learned for both sides here. If Jeph and Cristi need web help, I'm sure there's plenty of people who'd be willing to help, myself included.
I would LOVE for Jeph or Cristi to post here, or on the homepage or ANYWHERE updating us on what's up. I hope that they do, and they do it soon.
Like I've said before, in the over two months it took to ship the shirts, I moved and now may never see my shirts again. I'm not here to clear them of all wrong doing, I'm here to simply offer explanations as to why orders are taking a while, as well as defending them against people who are clearly taking it too far ("They don't care about us", or taking it personally "I'm never gonna order anything ever again!").
Bloobeard:
--- Quote from: Kragit on 17 Nov 2008, 11:07 ---
So, let's put you to work, creating, packing, and shipping hundreds, maybe even thousands of shirts every day and see how you like it.[/quote/]
Hey, I have a job and I have deadlines and guess what? If I didn't meet those deadlines I wouldn't have a job.
--- Quote ---Seriously, why be such a jerk? There's ONLY 3 people working, creating, packing and shipping EVERY SINGLE SHIRT ORDERED. Give them a break. They reply to IM's and emails when they can, and I'm sure they can only respond to a limited number without getting too far behind.
--- End quote ---
When do they reply to emails? Huh? Seemingly in an ad hoc and random manner.
"Without getting too far behind"??? So 2 or three months after the advertised shipping time is not too far behind in your estimation?
--- Quote ---Would it be nice to get our merch sooner? Sure, but sometimes it's not possible. I think they're doing a damn good job for having only 3 people working. If you want them to go faster, why don't you front the money to hire more people?
--- End quote ---
Maybe I should explain how a business works.
I, as a customer, pay the business owners an agreed price to supply a product, do be delivered in an agreed timeframe.
They couldn't manage it and kept me uninformed throughout the process so I have my input into the running of the business the only way I can i.e. I don't buy any more shirts from them, and I badmouth them whenever the topic comes up.
They then lose business.
--- Quote ---Why can't people have patience? Seriously.
I completely realize this is the thread to voice your concern, but some of you are being ridiculous....
--- End quote ---
I was patient. I waited 6 weeks before sending my first email to qcmerch, another 2 weeks for the follow-up, another two weeks before the third, this time to qcmerch and to Jeph, another 2 weeks until I found this thread and installed AIM, by which time it was too late to cancel via PayPal, and believe me, I would have.
Seriously! Kragit, are you Jeph's mother?
--- End quote ---
Kragit:
--- Quote from: Bloobeard on 18 Nov 2008, 16:03 ---Hey, I have a job and I have deadlines and guess what? If I didn't meet those deadlines I wouldn't have a job.
--- End quote ---
So do I. I'm not saying everything perfect. I'm just asking people to have some patience and try to understand their situation.
--- Quote from: Bloobeard on 18 Nov 2008, 16:03 ---When do they reply to emails? Huh? Seemingly in an ad hoc and random manner.
"Without getting too far behind"??? So 2 or three months after the advertised shipping time is not too far behind in your estimation?
--- End quote ---
Not when you only have 2-3 people working for such a popular comic.
--- Quote from: Bloobeard on 18 Nov 2008, 16:03 ---Maybe I should explain how a business works.
I, as a customer, pay the business owners an agreed price to supply a product, do be delivered in an agreed timeframe.
They couldn't manage it and kept me uninformed throughout the process so I have my input into the running of the business the only way I can i.e. I don't buy any more shirts from them, and I badmouth them whenever the topic comes up.
They then lose business.
--- End quote ---
I don't need you to lecture me on how a business works. I'm part of a successful one. Fact of the matter is they don't have the manpower or resources a properly setup business would have. If you get technical, they're not even a "business", just people working as hard as they can to provide people with comics and merchandise while trying to live a somewhat normal life.
--- Quote from: Bloobeard on 18 Nov 2008, 16:03 ---I was patient. I waited 6 weeks before sending my first email to qcmerch, another 2 weeks for the follow-up, another two weeks before the third, this time to qcmerch and to Jeph, another 2 weeks until I found this thread and installed AIM, by which time it was too late to cancel via PayPal, and believe me, I would have.
Seriously! Kragit, are you Jeph's mother?
--- End quote ---
I was patient as well, it took 2+ months to send my shirts and I never sent an email. Now, even with the fact I may never recover those shirts, I'm still here trying to defend them.
I fully realize there's a problem and they need to fix things, but please, have some compassion. These are 2 people trying to make a living, working as hard as they can as well as trying to have time to themselfs.
I emailed Jeph about the issue and this is what I got back:
--- Quote from: jeph ---The general progress of orders is that we are sending them out as fast as we can.you may have noticed that neither cristi nor I have been on the forums lately- we're busy mailing out orders! If an email about merch doesn't get answered it's usually because the order is either being processed or the person is emailing within the 2-4 week shipping time. And of course sometimes we just miss emails or they get lost!
Jeph
--- End quote ---
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version