posted on October 23, 2001 08:55:58 PM
I find myself in a situation that leaves me dumbfounded and would like to know if, in your opinion, I'm overreacting.
I signed up with a company (www.vrane.com) whose robots pull email addresses from a sellers auctions while still live -- an easy way to avoid losing them when the auction closes. The cost for the service was $10 which I paid through paypal.
Things got strange from there. I received instructions to setup my account and did so, but couldn't get it to work. I waited a couple of days and tried again.
Still no luck so I emailed the webmaster for help. No response.
Another week later I wrote again referencing the previous email for help and asked for him to please respond to me.
His verbatim response was "you have no run no auctions in the last month. Maybe you don't know how this works."
I was thrown by the tone and told him so. I wrote back that I'd asked for help and that, since I've run 100 auctions in the past month, there was something obviously wrong in the account. I wrote that I'd gladly take responsibility for having made the mistake myself - but that I didn't appreciate his sharp answer to a simple request for help.
Again, his verbatim response... "you are registered as [myemail.com] and it has been setup that way. if you want to change it tell me."
Now how can I tell him when I'm still not sure what the problem is. Why the hostility? I responded with a request for a refund to avoid any more interactions with this person.
Now he wants my address to send me a check (I paid through paypal per the instructions on his site) and wants me to write a letter and snail mail it to him that I won't use any of his services in the future. (Mind you, I haven't used any of his services to date because he would not help me.)
Is he kidding? Besides, how could I when he becomes angered with customers who ask questions.
Am I overreacting here? I always bend over backwards to help my customers because there are so many different levels of computer skill on the net. It escapes me how anyone could be actively unhelpful and rude to a new customer!
I strongly dislike conflict and seldom allow situations to reach that level. Here I really don't see what else I could have done other than just forgetting the whole thing and losing my $10. (Which is what I expect will happen anyway.) Nevertheless I feel very guilty and keep wondering if I should have handled this differently.
I would really appreciate some additional thoughts and perspectives on this deal.
posted on October 23, 2001 09:24:02 PM
Hi Melissa,
I'd probably feel the same way in your situation... but I've heard similar stories about vrane and customer service. From what I've heard, vrane is run by an individual who is probably more of a programmer type than a customer relations type, and his correspondence reflects that. It sounds like there was some misunderstanding between you and him, and unfortunately friendliness isn't one of the "services" provided by vrane -- which is too bad because I've heard the vrane tools are quite useful.
If you don't feel like dealing with it anymore, maybe just kiss your $10 goodbye, or ask one more time what you're doing wrong, and maybe you and he can get some better communication going! (Doubtful, but who knows...)
posted on October 23, 2001 10:37:48 PM
First of all Melissa, don't feel guilty, you've done nothing wrong!
I don't use Vrane's MaxEmail, but I use some of the other premium tools and it took me awhile to figure them out. I did subscribe to them knowing about Vrane's lack of customer service, so I was prepared to dink around a bit. Now that I know how they work, they're terrific.
The biggest thing I found helpful is whenever sign in is required *anywhere* on the Vrane site, use your whole email address, not just your eBay ID. Even when it asks for your eBay ID! Don't know if that applies to you or not.
Take a deep breath and try emailing again-maybe include a link to your auctions? Once you get it I'll bet it will be worth it.
posted on October 23, 2001 10:53:17 PM
were you trying to pull info from past auctions or current and new auctions. I think it has to be in place and then it starts monitoring your auctions.
eBay fees are like being slowly pecked to death by chickens!!!
The products of Vrane are usually great and you get tremendous value. Customer service is lacking. If you need regular service, then Vrane is not for you. Personally, I find Vrane's customer service no worse than ebay's or other online services. At least Vrane does not respond with the stupid robotic emails which does not tell you anything.
As a previous poster indicate above, you need to use your full email address, not your ebay alias on Vrane. If you ever change your email address, you need to let Vrane know.
Also, I think the product you sign up only works on current/future auctions after your signup. It cannot pull up info from auctions closed prior to your signup. I think that was what Vrane was referring to when he question if you know how the service works.
posted on October 23, 2001 11:49:44 PM
About a month ago I had a problem with some snipe bids I placed through Vrane and I wanted to cancel my bids. I was unable to access the item numbers anywhere on the site so I emailed Vrane and got a nasty response from someone who sounds like the same person you are dealing with.
I was told I should have written down the item numbers and he insinuated that I was not too bright for not writing down the items in the first place.
The guy was a rude ass****! (I really wonder why he is in customer service in the first place.)
I have read some threads recently complaining about Vrane and their lack of response to their paying customers. There was also a thread that commented that Vrane was going out of business. I don't know if this is actually true or not, but it does seem as a business they leave a lot to be desired, at least in regards to customer service.
posted on October 24, 2001 09:29:11 AM
Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better knowing I'm not crazy! His response was so illogical that I really wondered...
I'm not normally someone who needs lots of customer service, having been active online for several years now. The email address for ebay id note that several of you told me was probably all I needed to know -- but rather than help me I was treated like a half wit. I'm glad that several of you find his services useful -- they do sound quite good -- but I will not give my money to someone who so lacks customer service skill that they cannot answer politely a simple setup question.
I'm still pretty angry about it but rather than waste that energy I think I'll turn it around and do something nice for MY customers. I'd hate to think that people recognized my company url and associated it instantly with rude, unhelpful service!
Some of you asked about my auctions. I didn't put a sig line because I really didn't know where this whole thing was going and didn't want to start a flame war around my username! For those of you who were interested, my ebay id is mmcnatt and I have an ebay store at ebaystore.com/jumpstartauctions. Stock is low today but I'm posting auctions heavily the rest of this week...
Problem is you are going to find that some of Vrane's services are not available elsewhere. Or, his pricing is so low relative to the competition that it makes it tough to use some other service.
I understand the frustration with his customer service. But, once you get use to it, the site is really pretty good.
Also, I think another problem is that Vrane does not really know what causes errors on the part of users. For example, there is no trace of your attempts to their site. Their service does not have much in terms of error captures or reporting of errors to users. Thus when you email him, I don't know if Vrane even knows what you error was. Sometimes, I wonder if Vrane even knows how errors are generated. I sincerely doubt Vrane use his own products.
-- which is too bad because I've heard the vrane tools are quite useful.