Joel Shore's Blog

If You Are This Stupid, You Don’t Deserve To Be In Business

It’s all about customer service. As business owners you either check in on customers yourself or have account reps that do so. But when it comes to doing business online, the model has to change. Nevertheless, it’s still important to know that the customer has been served to his or her satisfaction. Anything less than that puts the ongoing existence of the business in jeopardy, whether it’s yours or that of a client you support. It all comes down to your eCommerce implementation and the people behind it.

So let’s talk about the astonishing incompetence and ineptitude of an online retailer called RitzCamera.com. If you sell anything online and your order-processing system is anything like theirs, you do not deserve to be in business. You deserve to be in bankruptcy.

Suppose for a moment that you went to RitzCamera.com on Aug. 29 (yes, I know it was Michael Jackson’s and John McCain’s birthdays and the unfortunate anniversary of Katrina, maybe that was an omen). You place an online order. Seconds later, you receive a confirmation via e-mail. So far, so good.

Six days later, you start wondering where your order is. It should have been delivered by now. You never received an e-mail shipping notice with tracking info, so you go to check your order status via the Web portal. Surprise! It’s nowhere to be found. Searching by order number, e-mail address, last name, and ZIP code turn up nothing.

Fortunately, the Web site has a live chat feature. You decide to try it out, and since there is a little thumbnail picture of a cute blond wearing a telephone headset, you figure you’re in good hands. Sorry. You don’t get the blond. Not even a female. You get someone who confirms that he’s at a location halfway around the world. (Clue: Pick a populous Asian country to which the U.S. has outsourced nearly everything.) Since you understand only actual spoken English, the typed live chat seems like a good alternative. Unfortunately, “Smith B� doesn’t have a clue. He can’t find your order either. And he can provide no explanation. Smith B types “The order might have not been gone through,� to which you reply, “I’m looking right at the confirmation e-mail.� Next, Smith B suggests the order might have been canceled due to “some error.� Fine. So, you type, “Then you would have a record of that error. What was it?� Smith B, now clearly in over his head, gives up and suggests you call the U.S. toll-free number. So much for outsourcing customer support.

You discover the phone is no better. Served by someone with a wimpy voice who speaks as though he has a clothespin on his nose, he can’t find the order, either. It has simply vanished. Nothing could be done except place a new order. At this point, you become, shall we say, impolite. Nevertheless, Mr.

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