posted on October 23, 2001 09:31:47 PM new
Like many others, we enrolled in the Power Plan hoping that fronting cash to AuctionWatch would provide quick "real" improvements and enhancements. In silence, we have endured the outages, pop up ads, failure to add basic functionality like sales tax calculation on shipping and dutch auction PSM, changes to Auction Manager Display Options heralded as a "significant" improvement (experienced web page authors can put that together in less than a day) and the change to the fulfillment check list that produces a popup browser window to print invoices (the way it was implemented actually slows us down since we use multiple browser windows to process several auctions at the same time). Putting a BidPay ad on WBNs may be the last straw for us. In case other sellers have not seen it yet, it is to the right of money order payments and states
"Save a trip to the post office!
You can use the Western Union Bidpay service at the end of this checkout process to send your money order electronically.
Great for International Buyers!"
It makes it look like we endorse payment by BidPay. We do not endorse BidPay over any other money order payment method. And, we would actually prefer to not take BidPay considering their tactics like leading Buyers to believe we will ship before we receive a money order...incidentally we are not registered at BidPay. 90+% of our payments are PayPal and Billpoint.
AuctionWatch needs to rethink this and start putting the brain before the shortsighted buck. Our cost is averaged down to a point where we need to seriously consider taking our auction management business elsewhere.
[ edited by youremporium on Oct 24, 2001 06:40 AM ]
posted on October 23, 2001 10:03:02 PM new
I agree. Since I am registered with Bidpay, I thought perhaps they were only putting that on the WBN's that had that as a form of payment, but it appears not to be the case. This is a total violation of our rights as sellers to have something appearing on our pages that we do not choose to have. Even though I am registered with Bidpay, I have a very low opinion of them. They have extremely poor customer service and make it difficult for customers to pay unless they know every juicy detail of a seller (name, address, etc). The customer should be able to type in the seller's email address and be able to continue on with the process. When I submitted a question to Bidpay with regards to this, I got no response. And in fact, out of about 5 questions submitted to Bidpay over about 8 months time, I only got a response from one of the them. I demand that you take off the endorsement of Bidpay on our personal pages. I only take it because I allow International bidders and it's a good way for them to pay. Doesn't mean I want to endorse their company!
posted on October 24, 2001 06:34:27 AM new
This is getting out of hand!!! How dare you think you can put in any advertisement that you choose on our paid for WBN!!! I DON'T SUPPORT, ENDORSE OR WANT BIDPAY!!!! Great for Int'l Buyers - I only ship within the states. How can you justify doing something like this with no warning, no announcement, no permission!!!!! Hello anybody home????????????
posted on October 24, 2001 07:19:36 AM new
This is pretty outrageous, but no more so than a link to visit "My Storefront" on the WBNs that were sent out a few weeks ago.
I don't have a store front (nor any inclination to build one) and the individual who called me to task on that one was a customer that I valued.
He thought there would be more of my merchandise at that location - outside of eBay. He did not find that. He found a barrage of advertising for HIM to build a storefront.
Yes, AW does need to spend some more quality meeting time re-thinking advertising content AND placement.
posted on October 24, 2001 07:48:38 AM new
I was gonna start a thread for this but then noticed this one. I also saw the note that says:
Save a trip to the post office!
You can use the Western Union Bidpay service at the end of this checkout process to send your money order electronically.
Great for International Buyers!
I not only am not signed up for Bidpay but I don't do international transactions either! Even though I state in my auctions that I do not ship outside of the U.S. I still get bidders from outside the U.S. bidding and I must notify them and remove their bid and if I don't catch it in time now they will click on the link and see that and still think they are okay even though I also state in the WBN that I don't ship outside of the U.S. They wonder why I would state that I take Bidpay and it is great for international buyers if I don't take Bidpay and don't ship internationally and they think the WBN is MY form and that I programmed it and don't understand the concept of Auction Management sites. PLEASE get rid of that message in the WBN!!!!
We appreciate your feedback regarding the BidPay service integration released yesterday. Please understand that this is not an advertising arrangement, but rather an integration that streamlines electronic money order transactions for buyers. At the end of the checkout process, buyers are able to click the BidPay button and have all relevant information pre-filled into the BidPay form. Buyers can then complete and send a money order quickly from the comfort of their home.
AuctionWatch has received requests from buyers and sellers alike desiring this type of integration. Many buyers do not want to go to the post office or bank just to create one money order. Sellers have commented positively about the BidPay service because it enables much smoother and faster transactions with both domestic and international buyers. However, the feedback in this thread is clear that whether you find the integration valuable or not, it should still be up to you to decide if the BidPay service integration appears in the checkout process. This integration was intended to be an enhancement and we certainly do not want it to take away from the satisfaction of AuctionWatch customers. Therefore, we have done the following to rectify the situation:
1) Removed all messaging relating to BidPay as an integrated money order option in the first two pages of the checkout system, including the references to international payments.
2) Created a seller option to remove the BidPay button on the final “invoice” page of the checkout process, which allows buyers to pre-fill the BidPay form. If you wish to disable the feature completely, please go to https://secure.auctionwatch.com/my/acct/seller_global.html, then scroll down to the ‘Money Order’ option under ‘Payment Types Accepted’. Uncheck the box below the ‘Money Order’ option entitled, “Display button that enables convenient use of BidPay money order service”. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Save Preferences’.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. It is our intention to release enhancements that make volume selling more efficient for our users. If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.
posted on October 24, 2001 02:41:19 PM new
Many thanks for the quick resolution of the BidPay issue in a way that we hope is satisfactory for everyone (although a note to all sellers about this feature is advised).
Now to get greedy...since the real scope of our comments was intended to cover all of our pet peeves, they will continue to weigh on our decision to renew in March...
We can accept outages at the rate they have occurred over recent weeks and can endure very occasional pop up ads.
The option for sales tax calculation on shipping and handling charges and Dutch Auction PSM is critical to our ongoing business. We frequently absorb margin losses rather than explain the need to collect additional sales tax. We rarely run Dutch Auctions because we do not have the time to manage them manually. We would expect the sales tax enhancement would not take much more time than the BidPay fix. We understand the Dutch auction enhancement would take longer. However, we have been waiting over six months and at least two of AuctionWatch's competitors have the functionality now.
Making the change to the fulfillment checklist that produces a new browser window to print invoices was a bad decision. Put it the way it was and add a hint/tip to the checklist to press and hold the "shift" key and click on a link to produce a new browser window. As an ASP, help your Sellers become "power" browser users and teach them to use their keyboard to get through their work faster instead of just relying on point and click.
[ edited by youremporium on Oct 24, 2001 02:42 PM ]
