Are pod sellers hostile or is it the whole internet?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I am curious, do folk who sell fresh peppers on the internet have a horrible reputation or is it internet merchants in general?  We've had great luck with USPS but things do occasionally go wrong.  We replace or refund.  When things go horribly wrong, we do both.  It is nothing but a thing.  But patrons seem very surprised when we are so casual about it.
 
But there is more to it than folk just being surprised.  Sometimes the first email about a problem will include all sorts of screen shots and other proof that they paid for their order as if I am going to doubt them. 
 
Is it just an internet thing? 
 
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cruzzfish said:
It's the whole internet. Not even merchants.
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This.  Think on it - the whole 'pics or it didn't happen' thing is really the standard now.  This is the world as we and technology have shaped it.
 
So anyone looking to make a claim online is all about the pics.  I have ordered/received things from online vendors that have been damaged in shipping and those vendors asked for photos (at the time I felt like they were calling me a liar, now that I know better it's for them to be able to file a claim with the shipper).  It's cool that you guys are casual and customer first AJ, because very few are.  That's why yer getting such good feedback about it.
 
The one thing I've found out along the way - your character shows through when you sell anything online.  If yer a jerk or if you pull shady shit people are going to post about it, and if it's a pattern for you then the judgment of the internet will quickly spread.  
 
 
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The Internet is the wild west for everything these days.  Reputable vendors are assumed domestically, but online, who knows.  If someone regularly buy stuff online from oversees, they should not be surprised at an occasional snafu.  With domestic and/or local vendors in this market, I would sincerely hope any anomalies would be rectified in an adverse situation.  I have had similar things happen with suppliers for other unrelated projects, but dealing with US-based vendors, they addressed it.  Has not been easy for many domestic manufacturers in other areas. I cannot speak to this industry on recent performance of vendors, but simply want to say I have faith things here will improve...rising tides raises all boats, kind of thing..but I hope your circumstance gets rectified.  We're in your corner.
 
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The other weird one I get often are emails asking if we are still in business or if it is another abandoned site.  The first time I got one of these I though oh damn must have missed an order somehow.  Nope, they want to make sure we still exist before they place an order.  I guess there are lots of sites still taking money that no longer ship product, so you have to go threw your credit card provider to get a refund.
 
Wife is all the time warning me about sketchy sellers on Ebay, especially the ones from China.  She has had more trouble from Etsy folk than I have from Chinese Ebay sellers. 
 
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SmokenFire said:
 
This.  Think on it - the whole 'pics or it didn't happen' thing is really the standard now.  This is the world as we and technology have shaped it.
 
So anyone looking to make a claim online is all about the pics.  I have ordered/received things from online vendors that have been damaged in shipping and those vendors asked for photos.
 
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I ordered a Metallica Master of Puppets t-shirt one time off of Amazon, well apparently they posted a picture of the real shirt but are sending out cheap Chinese knock offs clearly no a licensed product or anything like you would find at Spencer's or Hot topic. I requested a refund and to return the product but they demanded pictures, I wasn't dealing with their crap so ended it there. So even the scammers know to ask for photos  :rofl:
 
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It's just the internet. To be honest, I'm surprised more people don't try to take advantage of your laid back attitude, AJ. When I used to sell stuff pretty heavily on eBay (vintage toys, collectibles, junk from the attic, antiques etc). One time I had someone who wanted to return a pretty low priced object, so I obliged and all they sent back was an empty box. Turns out all eBay needs to validate the return is that the tracking number says delivered, then the funds are automatically transferred. Since so many sellers used to scam on eBay, there was nothing I could do because the system is rigged towards buyer protection. 
 
I haven't sold on eBay since. 
 
To be fair though, peppers probably aren't attracting those weird niche  collector types like the stuff I was selling. Pepper people are typically pretty chill. 
 
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+1; it is pretty much an internet thing or, more accurately, it´s how most of the world is since we´ve entered the internet age... 
AJ Drew said:
The other weird one I get often are emails asking if we are still in business or if it is another abandoned site.  The first time I got one of these I though oh damn must have missed an order somehow.  Nope, they want to make sure we still exist before they place an order.  I guess there are lots of sites still taking money that no longer ship product, so you have to go threw your credit card provider to get a refund.
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I´ve sent emails like that to online retailers, especially if they haven´t updated their site in a minute.  The other scenario is when i´m looking for a product that was discontinued a few years back, and only the one rinky-dink site still shows them in stock.  I DEFINITELY email first in a case like that, b/c usually, they ain´t got it.
 
In regards to your PBM site, as a customer and a stalker, i know you update it frequently b/c you update your current levels of inventory regularly.  But, all due respect, the site has kind of a ¨retro¨ vibe to it.  Personally, i think that´s got a lot of charm going for it; like i said, i´m a repeat customer and a fan.  But i could forgive a more casual customer if they browsed your site and thought it had a bit of a 2009 feel to it, know what i´m saying?
 
peppamang said:
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To be fair though, peppers probably aren't attracting those weird niche  collector types like the stuff I was selling. Pepper people are typically pretty chill. 
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I absolutely agree; pepper ppl are the best.
 
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Are pod sellers hostile?  Well, I think there was one...at one time....already called out......
 
 
 
....but there are MANY other top notch pod sellers that totally take care of their customers.  Don't worry about the riffraff, just do your thing and when people ask if you are still in business, reply with an-
 
"ABSOLUTELY!  and we have some Fresh XYZ pods and some JKL seeds!.  Here's today's special....  :D  "
 
 
Here's one for you-
I had been selling on Amazon for about a year, and only 2 other sites offered Pure Evil for sale.  The other sites had prices slightly higher than the Amazon list price.  Someone purchased a 1.5mil Pure Evil through Amz then requested a refund (before the order shipped) saying they found it for cheaper on eBay.
 
Uuuummmm...I'm the maker of Pure Evil, I know there are only 2 other internet sellers of Pure Evil and their retail prices are slightly higher than mine...and I know they are not selling them on ebay......so if someone is selling on ebay for cheaper than my list price they had to have purchased from me and are selling it as a loss...
 
....or the customer just changed their mind and didn't want to admit it.
 
I refunded the order and posted back the above as much to the customer.   Didn't get a reply~~~  
:lol: 
 
One other bad shipment I had was sending a selection of sauces to Scott Roberts for reviews in the winter.  He posted to me the box of about 8 bottles was delivered by USPS in a garbage sack because all the bottles were broken and leaking all over.  We've all had these stories, it's just kind of the price of business.  I don't ship a lot of sauces, none any more...  in the hundreds of bottles of Pure Evil that shipped last year, there was 1 bottle that the customer reported as broken on delivery.  I immediately shipped a replacement.
 
Just do your thing, work your website and reply to customers.  Sometime all it takes is the reply to an email from a Real Person for people to know that You Do Exist!!!  Just like the M&M dudes!   
 
SL
 
 
 
and those M&M dudes really do exist!  Just watch the commercials, even Santa believes!!!
 
 
 
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Salsalady, none of it bothers me or even gives me much pause.  Its just odd that when things go wrong, some folk get really defensive.  Had one patron just about explode in his first email because his box looked like someone played football with it.  Of course I replaced the box and he is now a great patron.  But ya gotta wonder why someone would be so defensive in the first place.  Gotta be getting mistreated somewhere on the internet to automatically expect to be mistreated again.

I do a great deal of crafting.  Order the strangest things from all over the world.  Lots of coins and weird woods.  Roman arrowheads for the metal.  Things usually common elsewhere but not in the US.  Very rarely have I had a problem with a merchant.  Almost everyone seems to want me to come back again.
 
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Walchit said:
Let's see these weird woods and Roman arrowheads!
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I fold the arrow heads into other steel to form pattern welded steels, nothing to show when done other than pattern steel.  I do it so I can claim the thing was made with two thousand year old steel.  Its off season, but if I can find my wifes bodice dagger I will post it for you so you can see what I mean about weird woods.  I dont even remember what her hilt is made from, but it is frigging orange with swirls threw it.  Strangest wood I have ever seen.

The one that is really fun is bog oak.  Like the arrow heads when a knife is made of either I can claim it is older then Jesus Christ.  Stopped doing that because people got angry, but it was still fun when I did.  And true.
 
 
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