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I'm always wary of the "great customer support" gambit. I mean, of course everybody likes great customer support, but who actually makes everyday purchase decis

by Xixi 11y ago

I'm always wary of the "great customer support" gambit. I mean, of course everybody likes great customer support, but who actually makes everyday purchase decisions based on hearsays about customer support quality? I'm not talking about business threatening decisions (like relying on a free Google API, or tying your hosting to your registrar). But for most purchases at worst you will lose the money tied to it, which is probably not that big a deal. Few weeks ago I ordered stationaries from an obscure Japanese website I had never heard about before, for my Japanese tea subscription service [1]. Total cost was around ¥4500 (~$37). I didn't hesitate, worst case I would have lost ¥4500. Turned out everything went very smoothly and I will certainly buy from them again. But maybe they have dreadful customer support, how could I know? Next time I look for something online maybe Google will propose me a "Buy Now" button. And maybe I will give it a try, what could possibly go wrong? At worst I will lose a few bucks? [1] Tomotcha (https://tomotcha.com https://tomotcha.com)

DanBC 11y ago
You found that Japanese stationery company via the www? So in your searches you may have seen "buy from X, they're great", followed by a bunch of people either saying "steer clear they ripped me off they're scum" or "I frequently buy from them. I had a problem once but they sorted it out really quickly"[1] Also, in UK google might face some legal problems with distance selling regs unless they sort out the customer support stuff. [1] if you place fake reviews having a few like this is probably a good idea. It's much more preferable to me to see things like this than a bunch of five star great reviews.
- Xixi 11y ago
  I've had PayPal freeze an account and ask for two metric tons of paperwork to unfreeze it 48 hours before launching a SaaS business. Postponed the launch by a week, not such a big deal compared to if had been the other way around. I learned my lesson to be very careful on who I rely on for my business. That said, I'm only careful in proportion to the risk: why spend much time reading random reviews for a small purchase? Especially (to go back to the subject of the thread) if it's to buy something from a big brand like Google: I'm certain to find both good and bad reviews, both fake and real. I'll just try and see by myself. Small risk for me. Huge risk for Amazon...
  - yc1010 11y ago
    I had paypal almost kill my business a few years back by freezing thousands of €'s for 6 months and telling me bye bye despite me providing all the relevant business and personal documents they required. I haven't bothered with paypal or ebay since. Hell with them. BTW thats another plus for Amazon, their giftcard program. Beside being able to buy them with cash in any shop one can get amazon.com giftcard on gyft.com for bitcoin and save 3% (or more if want to risk localbitcoins.com) and then go shopping on Amazon. And I prefer the way they group all sellers under the same item and delivery charges + taxes are clearly displayed up front. None of those cringe-worthy ebay pages with HUGE FONTS and misleading delivery information.

by Xixi 11y ago

DanBC 11y ago

You found that Japanese stationery company via the www? So in your searches you may have seen "buy from X, they're great", followed by a bunch of people either saying "steer clear they ripped me off they're scum" or "I frequently buy from them. I had a problem once but they sorted it out really quickly"[1] Also, in UK google might face some legal problems with distance selling regs unless they sort out the customer support stuff. [1] if you place fake reviews having a few like this is probably a good idea. It's much more preferable to me to see things like this than a bunch of five star great reviews.

Xixi 11y ago
I've had PayPal freeze an account and ask for two metric tons of paperwork to unfreeze it 48 hours before launching a SaaS business. Postponed the launch by a week, not such a big deal compared to if had been the other way around. I learned my lesson to be very careful on who I rely on for my business. That said, I'm only careful in proportion to the risk: why spend much time reading random reviews for a small purchase? Especially (to go back to the subject of the thread) if it's to buy something from a big brand like Google: I'm certain to find both good and bad reviews, both fake and real. I'll just try and see by myself. Small risk for me. Huge risk for Amazon...
- yc1010 11y ago
  I had paypal almost kill my business a few years back by freezing thousands of €'s for 6 months and telling me bye bye despite me providing all the relevant business and personal documents they required. I haven't bothered with paypal or ebay since. Hell with them. BTW thats another plus for Amazon, their giftcard program. Beside being able to buy them with cash in any shop one can get amazon.com giftcard on gyft.com for bitcoin and save 3% (or more if want to risk localbitcoins.com) and then go shopping on Amazon. And I prefer the way they group all sellers under the same item and delivery charges + taxes are clearly displayed up front. None of those cringe-worthy ebay pages with HUGE FONTS and misleading delivery information.