Mike @ Outback Reptiles

Also, I did tell you how you could make it right:

Find a comparable snake (female Amel corn snake w/ absent patterning) and sell it to me for the price I paid for the first one, and ship it to me at actual shipping cost (rather than $55 standard).

~Beau

Originally Posted by BeauBoi

Take another look at the screen shot from my phone that I posted. I DID call your cell phone (at 10:07 am), it is listed right under where I called the office.
~Beau

Yes, and like I told you I was driving in between facilities all morning.

Originally Posted by Mike Schultz

I almost always answer my cell unless I am driving.

Ugh!

ABERRANT pattern, NOT absent :-/

~Beau

Originally Posted by Mike Schultz

I was at a show all weekend, which is why I did not know the animal was sold until afterwards. I did not "get her money anyway" I refunded it to her.

Actually, I didn't say "her" money, I said "the" money. I.e. that you got paid for an animal anyway, so why do you care that one person got misled/disappointed/lost wages waiting for a box and a snake that never arrived. What's it to you that she lost out, you still got paid.

You are not understanding the point here.

Are you, singly, the ONLY person in your entire business who can take an animal off the site if it is sold? If an animal is sold in the shop, why can NO ONE ELSE mark it sold on the website? If an animal is sold on the website, why can NO ONE ELSE mark it sold in store?

I don't care if you are at a show. SOMEONE needs to take care of the shop and the sales, SOMEONE needs to mark inventory sold or remove it from the website. If you're at a show and are, obviously, incapable of doing these things, then you need to employ someone who can.

This is basic inventory upkeep. It isn't difficult. When Eyvonne called you and asked about the snake, did you take 5 minutes to call your shop and verify it hadn't be sold? If not, then WHY not? Once she paid for the animal, did you call the store and tell whoever was there "hey, I just sold #amelcornsnake003, you need to mark it out of inventory"? If not, then why not?

If you are oh so busy at a show that you can't do these things, then why do you not have an employee who can?

And this...

Originally Posted by Mike Schultz

I even offered to buy you a pizza after you told me you weren't going to order from me ever again, so I really had no motivator to do that besides me trying to be helpful... But you're right, I guess some people are never happy.

This could have been yours but instead i'm eating it while replying to BOI threads. /shrug

...comes across as very immature and almost mocking of her discontent with the situation.

Originally Posted by BeauBoi

Also, I did tell you how you could make it right:

Find a comparable snake (female Amel corn snake w/ absent patterning) and sell it to me for the price I paid for the first one, and ship it to me at actual shipping cost (rather than $55 standard).

~Beau

Shipping cost through the most popular reptile shipping service: $54

Cost of a 12x9x6" shipping box: $4.50

Cost of a fedex scheduled pickup: $4 per box

Cost of standard snake bag: $0.70

Seems like I gave you a pretty good deal on shipping, honestly.

Originally Posted by BeauBoi

On Jul 26, 2016, at 11:48 AM, Mike Schultz <mike@outbackreptiles.com> wrote:

Hi, apologies for the poor communication; I've been back and forth between our different facilities all morning. Unfortunately I was mistaken about having the amel- I got back to the shop from our shows yesterday and realized that while the bin was in its spot, it had been sold previously by a different employee and they did not break down the bin. And it totally slipped my mind about shipping yesterday. I understand this is kind of a pain for you as you were expecting me to contact you about it and I did not. I'll have your refund processed ASAP for the animal and as a token of good will / apologies for the inconvenience, I'd be happy to discount 10% from any future purchase for you.

Thanks,
Mike

Outback Reptiles
mike@outbackreptiles.com
Office: 703-365-2262
Cell: 703-895-0043

Two questions -

1. Mike, when you noticed on MONDAY the snake was sold, why did you not immediately email/call the the customer to let them know of the error? It would have taken 5 minutes.

The email/call would have saved the customer from waiting on Tuesday for an animal that was never going to arrive.

2. Why did the employee not remove the animal from website, remove its listing in inventory or "break down" then bin as you put it?

Originally Posted by Mike Schultz

Had I knowm the animal was sold, I would have removed it from inventory. How is that a "BIG question"?

How many times do I need to explain to you that I made a mistake in thinking we still had it?

Do you understand why I am frustrated that I have to keep explaining over and over again the simple concept that "I was wrong about something" ?

You have not explained why the miscommunication happened in the first place.

Originally Posted by Mike Schultz

When an animal is purchased, I remove it from inventory. If i did not realize an animal was previously sold, it would still be in inventory.

I do not understand what is so complicated about this.

Why were you not informed by that employee that the snake was sold?

It appears you have a very slack employee.

----
I see both ends of this, after a show you are tired and not thinking straight; as a customer, waiting around for an animal is frustrating, especially when the seller won't answer the phone.

Why was there not an employee to answer the phone at the store?



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I told you what you could do to make it up to me, if that is what you really want.

I have said to you in private, and here publicly, that I accepted your apology.

I have also said that privately and publicly, that I hope you will change your system so that employees check the system before they sell something and adjust the system as soon as the DO sell something.

Finally, I have expressed from the beginning that an offer of 10% off or a pizza in no way makes up for me taking off work for a day (to wit-- I cannot discuss this further until after work).

~Beau

Originally Posted by Fangthane

From my perspective, this looks like it may be a situation where a "perfect storm" of ball-droppings allowed a customer to slip through the cracks. In the age of smartphones, there's really no excuse to not maintain contact, especially when multiple modes were attempted. That's probably the only real strike against you that I see out of this.

If the OP actually did lose a day of work over this situation, a 10% discount or a pizza just doesn't seem like righteous compensation for losses that were incurred due to your (Outback's) negligence. Maybe something a bit more substantial would demonstrate how sincerely you regret the situation. Maybe a free snake of comparable value, with the OP only paying actual shipping costs, would be a more meaningful gesture? While it does appear to me that you did clearly show contrition and took immediate steps to make it right, I don't like the idea that your compensation doesn't come close to making up for a day of lost wages.

I am not interested in making up for lost wages. I did not tell her to take a day off work. Who is to say she isn't a CEO making $25,000 per day? Or who is to say she works online reptile sales based on commission and made $0 that day like I did?

Originally Posted by Snake-Queen

Two questions -

1. Mike, when you noticed on MONDAY the snake was sold, why did you not immediately email/call the the customer to let them know of the error? It would have taken 5 minutes.

Because I forgot, that's what I told her in the first email. I made a mistake, apologized several times and offered several options to make up for it. This is why I am getting frustrated- how many times do we need to determine that "Oops, I messed up?"

Originally Posted by Snake-Queen

2. Why did the employee not remove the animal from website, remove its listing in inventory or "break down" then bin as you put it?

We keep, manage and sell thousands of animals. I would say we have a pretty good track record as this situation rarely, rarely happens. And when it does, I fix it immediately like I did here.

I am really not sure what the purpose of this constant back and forth is. We can continue to reinvent the wheel here figuring out how "Mike made a mistake on one of the 29 orders he took last week" or we can move on with our lives as the problem was rectified before this thread even existed.

Yes you apologized and refunded, that is really all you can do.

I would however look into hiring someone to help with the website to make sure this error doesn't happen again.


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