Unable to Contact Article Writer After Purchase -- What Would You Do?

Just looked at your signature, Benjamin...

I'll give you a shot if I don't hear back from him by Tuesday.

IMHO, communication with customers should be paramount. Two business days is even too long to go without a response.

VegasGreg,

While I understand where you are coming from, I don't think your response is fair to me. The way my post was worded, I didn't say I'd file a dispute "after 3 days"....in fact, all along, I've said I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. This is my post that you had quoted and responded to:

"For future reference, at what point of not hearing a response, would you deem it OK to pursue recoupment of funds through Paypal?"

When you say...

"Did you not get an email from Paypal saying the money was sent? That is confirmation they received it."

Yes, I received an email from Paypal. That validates that they received MONEY. That isn't validation that the order was received and that they are working on it. I'm happy for them that they received my money....maybe my expectations were set too high, however, I don't think it was unreasonable for me to expect a confirmation of receipt of the order and project beginning. From reading the posts here, it 'appears' like to MO here is just to place an order in a queue, though.

fwiw....you can call me paranoid or impatient, but there are many people who, after paying $250 would at least want a confirmation. Sending money, as evidenced by Paypal, isn't a confirmation that something is being worked on, or even placed in a queue--just that money was received by them.

And....VegasGreg, it's fine that you responded the way you did, but then you cap it off with something like this:

Based on THIS, It doesn't seem like you are 100% certain that I haven't been scammed....

"Oh well, I hope you really haven't been scammed as I hate when that happens to anyone, especially us cool Warrior folks. But I do think you may be jumping the gun just a little bit here."

Based on the use of words like "I hope" and "I think" and "may", I believe my outlook so far is justified. No, I'm not going to Paypal right away, but I'm also not discounting it as an option at a later date.

Responding to email is a part of business. In business, it rarely matters what YOU think, but, instead, how things are perceived by customers. Yes, the articles were "only $5", however, myself, and others, are still paying customers. I don't expect pages of dialogue in response, but I don't think it's unreasonable to at least expect acknowledgment. The perception, for me (and it could be for others, as well), is that customers are just being ignored. If he doesn't deem it important enough or worth his time to respond, that's his prerogative....based on the experience, I'd be well within my rights to never use his service again. That's my right just as much as it's his right to not respond.

"Did they agree to the request BEFORE you placed your order?"

No. My bad. An email was sent prior to purchase, I didn't hear a response, but I decided to move forward. It is what it is....the request would have made things a little easier on me, in lieu of being potentially cut off from the internet by the end of the week (essentially, at least receiving some of the articles early...), but it wasn't imperative. It didn't hurt to ask, so I asked.

That's a different issue than seeking confirmation of receipt and even acting on the ordering by placing it in a queue.

For the record, I know you referenced "some of the replies" on this thread, but I haven't personally called the person a "scammer". (Someone else may have?). I've mentioned that I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. A paypal dispute would be a reasonable course of action...eventually....as it would be for anyone who shelled out $250 and received nothing.

I'm not a nightmare/red flag customer. I don't need to have 100 long-winded exchanges, with the service provider. In fact, heck, I don't care if he responds with a simple "Yes." or "No.". Unfortunately, it's very difficult to know how "this" operation, or any operation for that matter, works, until you actually engage them. Call it a bad decision or a good decision, but I chose to move forward because of recommendations--I can take responsibility for my decisions, and I will.

My main point all comes down to communication and perception. For a customer to be ignored, or tagged as a red flag customer, simply because they had wanted validation beyond a Paypal receipt showing that money was sent, 'could' cause that provider to loose out in thousands in extra business. That's a risk that he is taking by not responding to a simple email.

Sure it is. No one argues with that. But you may not get top retail service from a low end outlet store - that's the reality. We can all say "we wouldn't do that" - but we don't work at those prices either. I'm not saying it's right - it isn't - but you knew when you ordered that your first email went unanswered. That was a pretty clear indication of the level of "customer service" this provider offered.

I have also found that odd as well. Seems like a good way to run your business into the ground by just blindly throwing money out there like that and "hoping for the best".

Sending a confirmation is not only common courtesy, but it's how all business should be handled when someone makes a purchase, regardless of what it is.

Think about it on the flipside - if you ordered a physical product online and never received a confirmation or shipping confirmation, would you just let it slide? Most probably wouldn't. The same rules apply to this situation as well.

Just like Nicole said - no matter the size of business, a customer is a customer and the same level of courtesy should be applied across the board.

Hopefully you get things sorted out and you get your articles. After that, I would probably test the waters with other content providers until you find someone you can trust.

That's how as a customer you would like a service to be run.

You were notified that there would be around a 10 day turn around and you read that they had a good reputation, why do they need to send another email repeating what they have already told you? If their processes weren't working then they wouldn't have that good reputation that made you give them a try in the first place.

It might only take a few minutes to reply to you but if they had to reply everyone then the time adds up really fast. You mentioned earlier I think that you wanted the content to be delivered as completed rather than all at once. That's a red flag as it means they now have to treat your order differently to the processes they already have streamlined. You become more expensive than the rest.

Price; Quality; Speed: pick 2 as you won't get all three. It sounds to me like they do know how to run an efficient business but it is a business that doesn't meet YOUR requirements.

If your order isn't delivered Thursday week then you have every right to expect some customer service.