Bellyaching About Retailers

[warren]

If a complaint comes from a long time, respected member, listing how he has tried to remedy the complaint, omitting emotion, drama, name calling, angst, etc and that his stated goal is to simply put the problem out to the membership for whatever the value. I'd give it some weight.
Negative posts may come from competitors in an effort to drive business from the named retailer. A complaint may come from the retailer to simply get his name bandied about and enjoy the support some members will post, perhaps resulting in more customers from the sympathy generated.
A whine/whinge/rant, while perhaps entertaining to read, accomplishes nothing with regard to solving the problem. Too much emotion and too little detail.

 

[cshubhra]

If a complaint comes from a long time, respected member, listing how he has tried to remedy the complaint, omitting emotion, drama, name calling, angst, etc and that his stated goal is to simply put the problem out to the membership for whatever the value. I'd give it some weight.

The moment someone spends time to remedy a problem, it can be equated to spending money. So, a retailer who gets it right first time would be better off than someone who does not make a mistake. Fixing a mistake is much more costly then making a mistake.

People would get emotional when they have to spend time fixing something which they did not cause in the first place - there is nothing wrong in it, but not getting emotional shows maturity.

Negative posts may come from competitors in an effort to drive business from the named retailer. A complaint may come from the retailer to simply get his name bandied about and enjoy the support some members will post, perhaps resulting in more customers from the sympathy generated.

Can happen and will happen. Smart people can distinguish between genuine emotion and obvious false campaign.People's mileage may vary.

A whine/whinge/rant, while perhaps entertaining to read, accomplishes nothing with regard to solving the problem. Too much emotion and too little detail.

It prevents someone from making the same mistake in the future. If a restaurant has bad reviews, I will not go there, and so on.

 

[mso489]

If people just want to vent, and they say they just want to vent, I suppose I can take it or leave it. If they want to give facts and fix the problem, and show evidence of already having taken some measures, I can understand that. If people get too wrapped up in trying to figure out which one it is, and bring in all manner of other dissatisfaction as side issues, time to try another thread. It's true.

 

[captpat]

Actually I find those posts to have some value, without them I would have spent money with sketchy eBay sellers or outfits who have buggered up their warehouse/shipping operations. Of course one should take the time to sort out the odd once in a lifetime sort of event or inputs from trolls.

 

[cshubhra]

+1 @captpat

 

[pipesmokingtom]

My post, most definitely, was not in reference to commentary regarding eBay sellers.

 

[aldecaker]

Bah, let 'em vent/whine/whinge/bitch/bloviate. All of this crap (and the pos/neg responses to it!) goes into making the forum the forum. Without it, we're left with:
A: I think _________ makes a fine pipe.

B: Oh, me too.

C: I must respectfully disagree; I own one and don't care for it.

A: Why, most assuredly, to each their own!

B: Oh, I agree with that, too.

C: This weather certainly is divine.
No one wants to read that kind of shit the whole time they're on the forum, and anyone who says they do is a damned liar.

 

[cshubhra]

Offtopic - @pipesmokingtom - Your profile picture brought a smile to my face in the midst of a heated friendly banter
@aldecaker - Fully agree

 

[woodsroad]

The weather has been nice lately. Are you implying that it hasn't been?

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

No one wants to read that kind of shit the whole time they're on the forum, and anyone who says they do is a damned liar.

I do.... say, did I ever tell the story about the time I was hunting for a particular pipe? Rare as they get, this pipe was. I searched and searched and searched, but no matter where I went, the pipe eluded me. And then one day while roaming through some heavy forest, I came across a lake. A sasquatch was there, sitting upon a stone and having a deep conversation with a creature much like the Loch Ness monster. Hanging from the lake monster's mouth was a Savinelli Virginia 904. And in the sasquatch's hand was a Peterson Rosslare Royal Irish 106...... true story! Honest!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I agree that controversy is the spice of the forum in a lot of cases, it's just that the internet has given rise to some real challenges for retailers and I sympathize to a point. With sites like Yelp that allow reviews to be posted without verification and businesses really don't have much recourse, even to try and rectify a poor experience, I think that puts businesses at an unfair disadvantage. It seems like everyone here is SO vocal when things go a little sideways that it isn't a fair picture. Information is too readily available now in a lot of cases, in my opinion.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

That said, I guess that's the game you play when you're an internet retailer.

 

[aldecaker]

It does get to be a little grating sometimes, but look at the bright side for the e-tailers: most people, no matter what kind of verbal fireworks they may spew, vote with their wallets. E-tailers can offer much lower prices than B&Ms, so they can probably weather a few online shitstorms. I think most people on forums take that stuff with a grain of salt, anyway.

 

[cshubhra]

I agree that controversy is the spice of the forum in a lot of cases, it's just that the internet has given rise to some real challenges for retailers and I sympathize to a point. With sites like Yelp that allow reviews to be posted without verification and businesses really don't have much recourse, even to try and rectify a poor experience, I think that puts businesses at an unfair disadvantage. It seems like everyone here is SO vocal when things go a little sideways that it isn't a fair picture. Information is too readily available now in a lot of cases, in my opinion.

The world changes @tom - when I was younger (not that I am old now) customer service was a given. However, I have seen it deteriorate over the years, but with the internet there is a lot of information available for everyone, so businesses who have slacked a little, need to up their game now.
It is is common knowledge that people post negative reviews more than positive (In general). While the negative reviews need to be taken with this understanding, along with trolls, shady business tactics to vilify competitors, most people can still understand a bad review written as a campaign vs. a genuine bad experience.
Too much information can never be a bad thing, people process them in the right spirit instinctively

 

[aldecaker]

Dammit, Woods, sure the weather's been nice lately, but how many forums do you want to read about it on? :wink:

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Dammit, Woods, sure the weather's been nice lately, but how many forums do you want to read about it on?

At least one more!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

@cshubhra - All of that is understood, yes. I'm saying I can't put myself in to the mindset of someone that has a bad retail experience and then has to tell everyone else about it. It's not a "public" situation for me, personally. It just seems like it's all become a group-think, trendy thing to do, moaning about being mistreated.
I'm also not the type of person that would ever send a steak back to the kitchen because it was overcooked, so there is that consideration. I'm a pushover, but at least I'm polite

 

[aldecaker]

I hear bad pizza gets you pretty wound up. :rofl:

 

[didimauw]

I don't like hot coffee gone cold, and I don't like cold coffee that got warm. Lol

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I hear bad pizza gets you pretty wound up

:clap:
Ah, but you see, I'd never order bad pizza to begin with. I can tell by lookin' at it if it's going to be worth my time or not. :lol: