Another Trend I have seen here on the BOI

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

Dont you just hate when this happens?  

A customer gets something they arent quite happy with, call you and your not home(HellOOOOOOOO we may be at WORK) and leave a message to call back or email you.  Before you get home to get the message and fix any troubles they go and post all over the net inside of 30 minutes of the original contact.

If your unhappy give the dealer a little time to get home for crying out loud and find out before you go posting all over the net.  Then if you dont get satisfaction and they can't/won't make it right, by all means post away.  

This is another one of those distubing trends in our hobby.  I have seen several do it here on the BOI.

Customers without patience.

Remember this, we have to work too.  We are not always available at the drop of a dime.  Give us a chance to make you happy before you kick us in the BALLS.

 

[HerpUtopia]

Tim,

Just wanted to provide some food for thought! I looked at your website; it looks "above average". What I mean is, it doesn't look bootleg; far from it, it makes you look quite professional.

Even most of the "below average" sites give the reader the impression that the breeder is a full-time herpetologist.

People "on the inside" of the industry are fully aware that very very few breeding operations are full-time operations; People looking in from the outside are not really privy to this information unless they are serious herp geeks, I think. 99 out of 100 breeder websites portrays a person with a full time job as someone that does nothing but breed herps.

What's my point? Maybe it'd be worth your time to be up front that you have a full time job and familiy to attend to before you deal with your "herp business". I would think most buyers would actually be happier with their purchasing experience if you set their expectations, instead of letting them assume that breeding is your occupation.

There will always be individuals who are confused or malicious though... you might be able to limit your exposure to those headaches but the only way to avoid them is to stop selling animals. IMHO <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

^Curtis

 

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

Curtis
Let me clarrify a few things for you.

First off, I was going to put this topic in a thread that was started on the BOI but it got deleted.  I havent had this problem yet and hope to never have it either.  

Secondly, it was just and observation of mine.  

Third point of note, I clearly state that I am a private breeder on my site.  Not a public store.  All my customers to date have been excellent.

 

[dwedeking]

Tim,

Wow, you look to professional  <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>  I'd take the bonuses of looking too professional over the smaller negatives of looking unprofessional.

In my other line of work (business to business services) I have over 70 monthly clients plus 300+ customers over the last 3 years. All of them act like they are my only customer. If you do a good job at your customer service this will be a problem you will have to deal with (you should make each customer feel unique and special), if you do a poor job they will be your only customer. Both situations carry problems. I'll take the customers thinking you should stop the world spinning to take care of them over the one customer problem  <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

 

[AztecFred]

Question for you.What does a "Professional person" LOOK LIKE?

I will end it at this,Ive seen people in this business that had LOVELY full color flyers advertiseing their snakes, that dressed well, and spoke well..and they turned out to be totally  dishonest brokers that resold snakes other people produced, all the while representing it as their own. And more...

So, that Biker there on table #4? ......I JUST might buy from HIM, because in this industry, some of the most well coffed and well represented people are often the ones that are in a rush to make money.

Reputation is great, but evn a new person can be solid and honest. my opinion, for what it is worth.
Fred

 

[dwedeking]

Fred,

You are 100% correct, except...

... This world runs on impressions. Your "biker" will get 1/2 the sales from 1st time buyers than the "slick salesman". But he will get 4 times the repeat buyers from the small percentage he is able to sell the first time. The secret is to look professional and then back it up with action. Those are the ones that are top sellers year after year.

 

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

Fred,
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Question for you.What does a "Professional person" LOOK LIKE?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Answer is this guy,

All kidding aside, dont you think that a little patience on behalf of the buyer could save them some greif and aggrevation?

I mean, if they are unhappy for what ever reason, and try to contact us, allow us the opportunity to get back in touch.  I  have heard that some "BIG BIZ" get 40 to 50 emails a day, do they get back in 2 minutes after you send yours?  Most likely not, but the good ones WILL get back in touch with you if your patient.

I wish the webmassar hadnt taken down the post so you guys could see what I was talking about first hand.

Still its a good conversation anyway.

 

[HerpUtopia]

Tim,

What does, "Private Breeder" mean to you? What do you think it means to "the average Joe"? Might it mean one of these things? Or perhaps something different?

Private Breeder = Mom and Pop operation.

Private Breeder = I have a real job and a familiy that come before you,  my "customer".

Perhaps you mistook my post. I'm not advocating that buyers should expect ANYTHING from ANYONE regardless of appearances. I'm not saying it's "right" of a "customer" to expect a responce in less than 24 hours. All I'm getting at is that good comunication, and the proper setting of expectations can resolve 99.97% of those problems before they ever start.

Capice?

^Curtis

 

[dwedeking]

"All kidding aside, dont you think that a little patience on behalf of the buyer could save them some greif and aggrevation?"

You are 150% correct....

....But it doesn't matter what industry we're talking about this will never happen. Customers will want whatever issue they have, solved 2 hours BEFORE the issue happens.

 

[Rob Hill/Geckos Anonymous]

I have to say I have never had a problem with customers wanting to hear back within a couple of minutes of leaving a message or e-mail.  Most people that I have dealt with seem to understand that, although customers are important, they are not the only thing going on in my life at that particular moment.  Sometimes it takes me a 10 minutes, sometimes it may take me 12 hours to respond, but I have yet to have a customer say, "hmmm, this guy didn't answer me in five minutes, I am going to trash him."  It just sounds to me, Tim, that you got someone with no patience.  Whatever his problem was, patience is a virtue, although one far too absent in today's society.  
As far as the comment that most people "on the outside" don't know that most breeders have real jobs, I have yet to have anyone think that this is all I do.  God I wish it WAS! <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>  And I have sold to everyone from other breeders to the little girl and her mom that just want a neat pet gecko.  ALL of them seem to understand that bills have to be paid and that I have a "real" job to handle that while doing the reptiles on the side.  
Not totally sure where I was going with that, but I hope someone got it <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>  I guess my point is that when we buy, we have to be patient sometimes.  And I have yet to see any problem get totally resolved in 30 minutes.

 

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">All I'm getting at is that good comunication, and the proper setting of expectations can resolve 99.97% of those problems before they ever start. </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Well said Curt, but is "Private Breeder" that complicated? Or do you really think that the average person is that stupid as to not be able to understand what it means?  I think it's pretty clear and consice on its meaning.  It means I am no PETCO with 24 hotline service.  But my customers do come first should there be an issue.  Just read all the post on here about me and my biz practices.  Not one bad guy post in the lot.  That pretty much says it all from my point of view on my customer service and communcations.

I will say it again because you seem to think its me with the bad customer with unreal expectations, I have not ever had this happen to me this was in reply to another thread started on the BOI that got deleted about another buyer/seller.  


According to the post the buyer had a complaint called and left a message and then within 30 minutes posted a bad guy on the BOI.  All because he didnt get an immediate responce.  The seller was at work and answered the emails as soon as he got home.  Then flipped here and saw he was to late, he had been trashed on the BOI by the same impatient buyer.

Capice?

 

[HerpUtopia]

Tim,

I was just generalizing with my responces. I certainly didn't mean to imply that you had any undesireable business practices!

Sorry for any confusion.

No, I don't think even the most ignorant among us would confuse "private breeder" with "24-hour PetCo everything your pet could need" type of service. In fact, I completely agree that it should imply "personal and respectful service".

Now, not every customer is going to be "on their medication" when they contact you, so even if this were not "hypothetical" I wouldn't draw any conclusions about you from having had to deal with a customer like that; if, however,  you had similar troubles time and time again I'd have to begin to wonder if you (hypothetical "you" not, "Tim" you) weren't bringing it on yourself by somehow not providing "personal and respectful service" in a consistent manner...

I don't know what thread got you started on this, but hopefully it will serve one of the purposes of the BOI... it's not only there to warn buyers about bad sellers, it's also a way us breeders can stick together and identify luzers looking for herps. I know I'd be highly disinclined to do any type of business with someone that ran to kingsnake.com or the BOI to trash one of my peers with no good reason, and especially without trying to find amends with the other party before spray-painting their complaint on the alley wall for all to see..


^Curtis

 

[AztecFred]

"Private breeder"

I think the title speaks for itself, once new a lady with 7 kids, all with diffrent dads and none of them around to raise one of em'

She qualifies as a private breeder.

I think communication is the key.
Both on the customers part and the sellers.
Sometimes things go haywire and mistakes are made
It is easy to get al bent out of shape, as either seller or buyer when things dont go the way you planned them. We need to forgive each other for not being perfect, most breeders have real jobs and families to take care of, so they are often badly overextended in terms of time and the many tasks they acccomplish, whether that be putting up ads, building and refining websites or takeing care of snakes and shipping them. most customers dont REALIZE just how much work it actually is, and how much time it takes up.
For sellers, customers often have hurried and hectic lives, and they often just want things to go smoothly and to get their pourchase in hand as soon as possible. Often this works out, which make a everyone happy, sometimes it doesnt, and  sellers have to understand that the person on the other end just doesnt realize how much work it is and how little financial reward is often involved in it. If they did, they would be WAY more lenient. My opion. Just mine. All mine.


Fred Albury
(Aztec Reptiles_

 

[sschind]

disclaimer"  the word "you" as used in this post does not refer to any one person.  rather it applies to all who fit the descriptions within.

How many times have you seen this, or heard of it.  One time hardly seems like a trend to me.  More like some impatient idiot that we all have to deal with from time to time.

As far as the term "private breeder" goes, you breed your snakes and you sell them to the public.  You are not a "private Breeder"  I am not saying you should sit on the internet 24/7 waiting for emails and reading message boards (only ritchie and neil seem to have the time for that  but you owe it to anyone wanting to buy from you (or anyone who has bought from you) to offer timely service.  I don't care if you have one pair of cornsnakes and sell 15 babies a year or 100 pair and sell 1500 babies a year,  you should be able to offer 24 hour response time if you are going to do business on the internet.  If you are unable to attend to your emails everyday, you should make sure that people know your telephone number and have an answering machine, and you should return their calls within 24 hours.  Of course there may be circumstances where this is not possible (out of town for a show for example) but then this should be noted on your website or on your answering machine.

Steve Schindler

 

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">...you should be able to offer 24 hour response time if you are going to do business on the internet.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Totally agree, but 30 minutes is a bit unreasonable for anyone to expect.  Before you start slamming them on the net.

Wouldnt you agree?

 

[sschind]

Yes, I agree.  I think 99.99% of the people do (the other .01% is the guy who couldnt wait more than 30 minutes)

I guess my post was more aimed at those people selling who say things like "I don't get a chance to check my email much so it may be a while before I get back to you"  Ive seen posts like this more than once.

Steve