Warning when buying services from popular WSO

[Alan Petersen]

Hey there,

Just a heed of warning when buying services even when the person is getting great feedback on the WSO. This only applies to services. In my case it was for article writing.

WSO was posted for exclusive articles. I ordered and the writer did a good job on my first order. I and others left good feedback on page 1.

A week later the WSO is still running so I ordered a second batch. This time the writer didn't deliver.

It's now been close to two months without the articles or the refund I requested. Luckily I'm only out $15 but still I don't like getting ripped off.

Now this is my assumption but I believe the writer must have gotten too many orders and was unable to deliver (I got a few excuses at first for the delay) but in the end no response to multiple email or PM. And others were also in the same boat from the comments to the WSO on pages 2 and 3.

So keep this in mind when ordering a WSO for services. If you're not one of the first in line you need to be careful. Even If the WSO appears positive with great comments on page 1. If you see a lot of comments meaning they're getting a lot of orders and still haven't ordered I would be leery of ordering. It's easy for even the best intentions to turn into an unmanageable work load.

If you do order try to use your credit card with PayPal so you can issue a charge back since PayPal will leave you on the hook if it's a service or digital product.

[Nathan Hangen]

That's pretty lame...I'm assuming you ordered 1-3 articles, which isn't that tough to finish. No email or response at all?

[Alan Petersen]

Originally Posted by Nathan Hangen

That's pretty lame...I'm assuming you ordered 1-3 articles, which isn't that tough to finish. No email or response at all?

Yep it was just a few articles. I gave them a lot of space since I noticed on page two of the WSO the tide was turning. I figured let them work and not have to deal with more "where are my articles" emails. But didn't work. Two months should be enough time even if backlogged.

[Nathan Hangen]

That's a shame. I know what it is like to get bogged down with article work, which is why I started moving out of that line of work. However, there are ways to fix it, like pay someone to help you out. There is no excuse for something like that.

[sevenish]

Excellent advice Alan.

I just commented on another service-oriented WSO thread on behalf of a newer Warrior member who was experiencing similar customer service issues. I rarely make comments in WSO threads unless I've a question or am already a customer, but in this case I think it was warranted.

[Alan Petersen]

Customer service is so important. It's the lifeline of any business. Even if this person comes through and refunds me I'll never do business with them ever again. So communication is key.

Being late on a few articles isn't the end of the world to me. It's not like all traffic to that web site will cease immediately if I don't get these few articles out there.

So for any service provider out there reading this if you get backlogged the worse thing you can do is stop communicating. The problem won't go away and it will only be made worse.

I'm certain this person didn't intend to do anything shoddy but once they stopped communicating, delivering the service they were paid to do, and not returning the monies involved then then they become a thief as far as I'm concerned.

[sevenish]

Alan,

You really should submit a support ticket. I know 15 bucks ain't gonna break you, but at least Admin will have that vendor on his watch list. In any case, the support system precipitated a refund for the customer in the other WSO I mentioned.

[pj413]

Alan,

I kind of know you feel; just last Friday I outsourced two websites to a local web designer in my area. Every since that afternoon I tried to email and call him regarding the design and format of how I want my sites made, but he never called me back or email me. So I decided to call one last time today to give him one last chance, or I was going to do a bank charge back. When I called this afternoon he finally picked up, to make a long story short we work things out.

Did you use PayPal? If so you can file a dispute and paypal will refund your money back.

[CmdrStidd]

As you can see by my sig I am a service provider. I cannot understand why they do not stay in contact with you, especially if you have already paid them for the items. It does not make sense to me that someone would do that. Don't they know that hurts their credibility with everyone, not just the customer they are messing over.

However, there is a flip side to this coin and it is one that has happened to me. I was hired to do a simple job writing 20 articles for a Warrior who will remain anonymous. I was staying in perfect contact with them and at one point I hit a snag and I asked them a question that I needed answered. I got no response from them. So far I have either emailed them or PMed them a total of 5 times. Since they did not get back with me, I have halted all further work and sent them a bill for the work that I did do to this point. I still have not been paid. I don't know if this person is sick, in the hospital, on vacation, dead or what but there has been nothing. What can I do? What should I do?

[Josh Anderson]

If you do order try to use your credit card with PayPal so you can issue a charge back since PayPal will leave you on the hook if it's a service or digital product.

Be careful with that. If you do that I guarantee you that PayPal will flag your account and if you do it more than once they will likely suspend your account.

Also if you have not done so you should probably just post this in the WSO thread where you are having the problems as that would be the most effective place to voice your complaint.

[Andres]

Hi Alan,

I had a similar experience. I ordered 25 articles from one WSO although half the articles were fine it was clear he outsourced the writing for my 3rd niche and did a bad enough job where I had to re-rewrite half those articles.

On top of that he submitted 3 articles using the wrong resource box pointing to a different website when I said not to.

Gee....thanks dude.

[Alan Petersen]

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Be careful with that. If you do that I guarantee you that PayPal will flag your account and if you do it more than once they will likely suspend your account.

Also if you have not done so you should probably just post this in the WSO thread where you are having the problems as that would be the most effective place to voice your complaint.

I did leave a post in the WSO as well before I posted this. I meant this thread to be more of a suggestion for warriors to keep an eye out for the work load of service providers since it's a bit easier to spot on a WSO.

Good idea sevenish, I sent an FYI to the admins via the help desk.

Very true CmdrStidd communication must be a two-way street.

[LivingCovers]

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

So for any service provider out there reading this if you get backlogged the worse thing you can do is stop communicating. The problem won't go away and it will only be made worse.

Worthy of note.

As a service provider myself also, this are my thots;

All service providers sh'ld strive to provide quality service regardless of how much you get backlogged. Remaining in communication with clients is so vital and most clients will just require you to open up and let them know what you're going through. Some will understand and give you as much time as you need and all you'll have to do is work on those that are needed urgently.

Kindest regards,

Olatunde.

[Jenni Mac]

Fully agree with the sentiments here!

As well as providing a service, I have bought services and had problems. For me one of the keys to providing a service, is to make the client's life easier.

If your client is left out on a limb, spending valuable head space wondering if you're doing their work, if you've skipped town with their money, then you're not making their life easier, you're causing problems for them.

At the end of the day it comes down to doing what's right! Finding yourself stretched is one thing, but how do you recover the situation? Step up is what I was taught, not to run and hide!

[Scott Million]

Try Articlez.com mate

Great content, great service, and well priced info-articles.

Scott

[seree]

I got the same problem as you Alan!

My first package was well done by him but the second one didn't deliver.
If I can remember correctly, it's 5-6 months now.

He always reply to me when I PM to him but he just say sorry for late, he'll give me a pack of bonus and etc... But now I didn't get anything from him.

I hate article writing WSO because of this. No guarantee to deliver even he has a great feedback!

Beware!

[sevenish]

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Also if you have not done so you should probably just post this in the WSO thread where you are having the problems as that would be the most effective place to voice your complaint.

Actually, submitting a support ticket tends to yield better results than begging for attention in a sales thread.

[dmarze]

I ordered a lot of articles here at WSO forum and never have some big problems with writers. The only problem I have was they didn't delivered articles on the time they promised.

[Kunle Olomofe]

Alan (others), if your conclusions (assumptions) as to why this person has refused to respond over 2 months are correct, there are likely some underlying problems that have caused what you're seeing (which I'll touch on below in this post), for now, we don't know what exactlyhas happened so that much of what has been said is conjecture on the part of buyers, for all you know this person might be innocent of these accusations even though no replies have been received. It is possible something else beyond their control (not relating to overwhelming no. of orders etc) has happened.

It's necessary to give the benefit of the doubt and assume they are innocent until proven guilty especially when as you say they delivered brilliantly the first time round.

In any case, to avoid this kind of thing happening again and again, I seriously think it's necessary for WSO posters to set reasonable LIMITS per WSO or even ANY project. The solution here IF the service provider got overwhelmed is to have sensibly LIMITED no. of orders to what they can reasonably/perfectly handle.

Also another piece of advice is to get some assistance, if ever you think your business needs it. Hire someone at least part-time to answer emails and follow up with customers.

Many tend to make money here only to spend it elsewhere instead of growing their business in all areas with what they are making. Part of the problem also though is all these prices you guys are mentioning are so small that they can hardly cover basic expenses much less help the owner expand and better cater to you.

It's not anyone's fault except those who let themselves fall into these traps.

If someone is charging a buck for something worth $10 or $20 at least, and they have no limits and just two arms, 2 eyes, 2 ears and one nose, they really are over-stretching already.

The fact is too many people are cutting corners underpricing themselves to death or paying peanuts and always still expecting expert results, fact pay peanuts you get monkeys jumping in to serve you, read this post: I Paid A Kid $40 To Shovel My Walk Today

And before you compare one man businesses that charge peanuts to big businesses that do the same, think on it and the answer will be clear, more hands equals a bigger edge.

Maybe if we all encouraged a better pricing structure we would have less people rushing to buy from one person who then gets overwhelmed and under delivers because of it.

There's more to say but the point should be pretty clear already.

Just to clarify, not blaming Alan for anything, just trying to reason out why you may have gotten burned and suggest ways we can all help make sure this ceases to happen.

I sincerely pray the day will come when people who charge too low will be ignored by buyers here because they know the quality of product, service or customer service may be directly tied to their pricing... I eagerly wait to see when prices are set sensibly once again. It will change A LOT of things for the better--even and especially for the buyers.

Cheers,

Kunle Olomofe

[Jenni Mac]

Originally Posted by seree

I got the same problem as you Alan!

My first package was well done by him but the second one didn't deliver.
If I can remember correctly, it's 5-6 months now.

He always reply to me when I PM to him but he just say sorry for late, he'll give me a pack of bonus and etc... But now I didn't get anything from him.

I hate article writing WSO because of this. No guarantee to deliver even he has a great feedback!

Beware!

Hi seree,

Please don't tar all of us with the same brush! I have NEVER failed to deliver.

And if I'm honest, this is why I DO NOT have a 'Buy Now' Button on my site or my ad, because I don't want to get overloaded. When someone makes an enquiry, I can then personally go ahead and let them know IF I can fit them in and then WHEN I can deliver their order. No chance then of waking up one morning and finding 10 orders and all wanting delivery within days!

Having a 'Buy Now' means you could potentially either end up having to refund a bunch of buyers, which I equally think is bad for business, or burning yourself out!

Jenni

[Mark McClure]

Jenni,

Me too - No "buy button" for articles.

In the personal dev niche I've done '48 hour specials" announced via a blog post for a reduced service offering or product. But again, no buy button for a service where I'm selling my time and talents.

"The first 5 to paypal me $ xxx" is how I usually restrict it - potential buyers then understand they're going to actually get my time and attention withing a reasonable time frame after ordering.

[Jenni Mac]

Originally Posted by Mark McClure

Jenni,

Me too - No "buy button" for articles.

In the personal dev niche I've done '48 hour specials" announced via a blog post for a reduced service offering or product. But again, no buy button for a service where I'm selling my time and talents.

"The first 5 to paypal me $ xxx" is how I usually restrict it - potential buyers then understand they're going to actually get my time and attention withing a reasonable time frame after ordering.

Shared sentiments indeed Mark!

It's just little old me, I don't have 'a team of writers', whether real or imagined. I enjoy writing and researching and I'd like to keep on enjoying it. Not only that maintaining my reputation above the money grab is vital!

[Traffic-Bug]

yes you gotta be really careful these days. Paying an 50% advance or escrow is OK. but never pay in full until the product is delivered completely. Freelancers did the stuff for free without asking for advance payment but these days there are many unethical unscrupulous non-paying buyers also , who do not pay after the work gets done. So they have to be careful also so they dont waste time working on non-paying works. Theya re not wikipedia editors to work for free

[abelacts]

You are right. Don't believe everything you see in WSO. I am a bit better than you, I got my refund. It's for copywriting and more expensive.

[TheWatcher]

Good and reliable writers are pure gold. When I find one I try to keep them busy.

I ordered 20 articles from a WSO recently, based on testimonials and early feedback posts.

what I received was 10 that were well written, but not aimed at the target market I requested them for, and so useless to me. Another 6 were absolutely fantastic quality, 1 was a cut-and-paste job and the remaining 4 were fluent gibberish!

A 30% hit rate is not what I consider good service. A months down the road I still haven't had my order satisfactorily resolved - rewrites were promised and not delivered.

-Mark.

[Alan Petersen]

Kunle,

I hate to sound like a heartless bastard but this is business. If was in the hospital or away for months because of some kind of emergency I would make sure someone would communicate with my customers.

Even if I were dead my wife would send a broadcast to my customers. As I've said communication is key.

We would never let a brick and mortar store not deliver the goods or refund our money even if they're a small one-person operation. Why should we do that online?

It's simple. You deliver the goods or you refund. If you don't you're a thief. When I worked for in corporate America my Dad died they gave me 3 days to go grieve then I had to be back to work. Pretty cold but it's a business.

I also wanted to point out that I've purchased a lot of services in the WSO section. For example, all my mini-sites in 2008 were designed by warrior via the WSO. I will continue to buy services from warriors via WSO I'll just keep an eye on the work load before I order from now on.

In no way should all service providers be painted with the same brush! That was my not intention. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it was for articles I should been more vague and leave it as "service providers".

Originally Posted by Kunle Olomofe

Alan (others), if your conclusions (assumptions) as to why this person has refused to respond over 2 months are correct, there are likely some underlying problems that have caused what you're seeing (which I'll touch on below in this post), for now, we don't know what exactlyhas happened so that much of what has been said is conjecture on the part of buyers, for all you know this person might be innocent of these accusations even though no replies have been received. It is possible something else beyond their control (not relating to overwhelming no. of orders etc) has happened.

It's necessary to give the benefit of the doubt and assume they are innocent until proven guilty especially when as you say they delivered brilliantly the first time round.

In any case, to avoid this kind of thing happening again and again, I seriously think it's necessary for WSO posters to set reasonable LIMITS per WSO or even ANY project. The solution here IF the service provider got overwhelmed is to have sensibly LIMITED no. of orders to what they can reasonably/perfectly handle.

Also another piece of advice is to get some assistance, if ever you think your business needs it. Hire someone at least part-time to answer emails and follow up with customers.

Many tend to make money here only to spend it elsewhere instead of growing their business in all areas with what they are making. Part of the problem also though is all these prices you guys are mentioning are so small that they can hardly cover basic expenses much less help the owner expand and better cater to you.

It's not anyone's fault except those who let themselves fall into these traps.

If someone is charging a buck for something worth $10 or $20 at least, and they have no limits and just two arms, 2 eyes, 2 ears and one nose, they really are over-stretching already.

The fact is too many people are cutting corners underpricing themselves to death or paying peanuts and always still expecting expert results, fact pay peanuts you get monkeys jumping in to serve you, read this post: I Paid A Kid $40 To Shovel My Walk Today

And before you compare one man businesses that charge peanuts to big businesses that do the same, think on it and the answer will be clear, more hands equals a bigger edge.

Maybe if we all encouraged a better pricing structure we would have less people rushing to buy from one person who then gets overwhelmed and under delivers because of it.

There's more to say but the point should be pretty clear already.

Just to clarify, not blaming Alan for anything, just trying to reason out why you may have gotten burned and suggest ways we can all help make sure this ceases to happen.

I sincerely pray the day will come when people who charge too low will be ignored by buyers here because they know the quality of product, service or customer service may be directly tied to their pricing... I eagerly wait to see when prices are set sensibly once again. It will change A LOT of things for the better--even and especially for the buyers.

Cheers,

Kunle Olomofe

[cballi]

I have seen more than once (not on WF, though) where a writer just seems to disappear and everyone posts that they are waiting for articles, and then after a few weeks they re-appear and claim to have been in a horrible accident. Now, maybe some are being truthful, but how often could this actually happen. Very amusing - I should have bookmarked the threads.

The lack of customer service is what is inexcusable. I could see a writer getting in over their head with a WSO, but communication is absolutely necessary.