posted on December 23, 2005 12:23:13 PM new
Just got this email from vendio. Will be closed from 12/24 to 1/2
This is an automatic acknowledgement to let you know that we have
received your email, and will address your issue as quickly as we can.
Vendio headquarters is closed for Christmas and New Years from 12/24 to
1/2, but there will be a light customer service staff on duty. There
may be a slight delay in our response times, and we apologize in
advance
for any inconvenience this may cause you. If your question is billing
related, we will process your inquiry the week of January 2.
In the meantime, please check our online Knowledgebase, as your
question
might already be answered. You can find the Knowledgebase search field
on the Help page, at this URL:
posted on December 23, 2005 01:24:21 PM new
Y'know, that seems like a long time to be closed, for a business. I'm surprised.
______________________________
posted on December 23, 2005 04:18:03 PM new
That is a long time. I'm sitting in my hotel room in Las Vegas on vacation, and I am still connected for customer service!
posted on December 23, 2005 05:08:45 PM new
But it will come during the period when it is most likely that Ebay will offer a FLD or a major promotion. What happens if Vendio crashes on that day and the only person in the building is the janitor?
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on December 23, 2005 05:23:57 PM new
Typically when a Silicon Valley business closes over the holidays it is suffering financial problems. It closes down to force employees to use vacation hours, and saves having to pay 5 days' payroll. When you're undergoing a cash crunch, 5 days can be a big help.
This is an astoundingly common practice here. It's happened to just about every programmer and engineer I know, one time or another.
The "light customer service staff" is typically one person reading email from home.
posted on December 23, 2005 10:17:26 PM new
Something to ponder Fluff - though if you believe this http://www.vendio.com/company/pr/pr71.html everything is ( or was ) swell in Vendio-land.
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posted on December 23, 2005 10:30:14 PM new
Hmm...I wonder if Vendio's EASTERN EUROPE offices are closed for the holiday too!!??
"Vendio was founded in January 1999 and is the independent leader in online sales management. Each month, tens of thousands of small businesses utilize Vendio's sales management and merchandising services to sell over $50MM of products on both their own branded stores as well as the Web's leading marketplaces. The company is privately held, recently celebrated their third year of profitable growth, and is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Eastern Europe."
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posted on December 24, 2005 06:57:30 AM new
Thanks for the link, Neglus.
No, I don't believe a word of that PR. Here's why:
The company is privately held
Non-public corporations don't have to release any kind of financial data at all, nor do they have to have to conform to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices). That press release could be pure fiction. No one would ever know.
Does anyone remember AuctionDrop?
Hey, they're still in business. Barely. But if all you read were their press releases you would never known they blew through their $17 million in VC money, had to close ALL their walk-in stores (six in the Bay Area alone), cancel their grand plans for expansion, give up the idea of franchising the Auction Drop concept, continually tighten down the restrictions on what they'll accept for consignment and now...
Having started out life in prime retail space adjacent to Best Buy in San Carlos, CA, AuctionDrop now operates from dirt-cheap warehouse space in Fremont, CA. They boast over 3,800 drop-off locations across the country: UPS Stores. Your item has to be worth more than $75 and weigh less than 25 lbs. (I suspect early UPS Store walk-in customers shipped them a few boat anchors.)
And yet, scanning a recent list of their auctions, it is clear that the majority of them are not the result of UPS Store drop-offs, but of a contract to handle returned big screen TVs from a major electronics chain in the Bay Area. We believe it's either Fry's or Costco. You won't find a hint in their PR that even their latest desperate measure, the drop-off idea, has turned out to be a dud.
It's wisest to pay attention to what they do, not what they say.
fLufF
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[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Dec 24, 2005 06:59 AM ]
posted on December 24, 2005 07:21:39 AM new
Just a quick post and then I HAVE to go shopping!
I wonder if Vendio is poised to go public? Under the "Jobs" section of Vendio:
Job Opportunities
Do you want to surround yourself with top-notch talent? How about partner with a company with an outstanding record of profitability and success? Vendio can offer you an accelerated learning curve and a chance to broaden your horizons. Join our team for competitive compensation, medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D, 401K and pre-IPO stock options
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posted on December 24, 2005 07:37:19 AM new
No. All Silicon Valley start-ups do that.
And all Silicon Valley job seekers understand that pre-IPO stock options, in 99 cases out of 100, turn out to be good only for lining the cat's litter box.
The route to heartbreak for a job seeker in these parts is to assume that a position advertised actually exists. It ain't real until they make you an offer -- in writing.
fLufF
--
P.S. Remind me to tell you about Sony Microsystems once, who interviewed nearly everyone I know and never actually hired one blessed soul, despite telling them to report for work on Monday.
posted on December 24, 2005 12:26:19 PM new
I would think that Vendio is saying there will be a "light" customer service staff working from 12-24 through 1-2.
SURELY the Technical staff will be working!
It would be very unfavorable for a serious tec problem to go unresolved while Vendio vacations.....
posted on December 24, 2005 03:49:12 PM new
deur1,
I worked several stints as a Unix sysadmin contractor for a large and well-known (just ask eBay) provider of Unix servers.
During one of those stretches, the company was closed over the holidays. They asked me to come in, though, and do customer support for a whole slew of departments.
The idea was that I would handle the initial call, then for those things I could not fix I would track down the relevant technical contact, who was *on vacation*, since everyone but me was on vacation. That person would talk me through what had to be done.
It was interesting and hair-raising, especially when the company CEO had his assistant call from Aspen because he could not dial in. Took a while to fix that one.
I guess I'm a little surprised that you guys don't know this stuff but you haven't been exposed to the industry. Many of the high-level repairs to networks and peering sites happen at 2 or 3 am when my husband's cellphone starts ringing. He walks (stumbles) 10 feet or so to his laptop and hopefully less than an hour later he's back in bed bagging Zs.
There's very little a techie needs to be on-site for any more.
Caroline 
