Not Happy!!!

[Gardner808]

The problem with all of that is the hole you can drive a truck through.

For instance, if you stipulate at point of purchase that you will ship within 60 days you are stating when it will ship and the 30 day rule doesn't necessarily apply.

Also, if there are terms of use on the website which stipulate when the charge will occur then this is not a violation of the guidelines set forth by Visa or Mastercard.

***To clarify, this the language present in the Bloog Terms & Conditions***
"If you place an order for merchandise on BloogPlanet.com, you agree to pay for the order by authorizing a corresponding charge to a valid credit card acceptable to us. We reserve the right to accept or decline your order at any time and for any reason."

As you can see, it is a two part establishment of process. By placing an order you agree to pay by the authorization of your credit card. Bloog then reserves the right to accept your order at any time. The processing of your card represents acceptance by Bloog. When you place your order on Bloog you are required to check the box indicating that you have read and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Thereby, you have effectively entered into a contract with Bloog. As you are probably aware, you can contract away just about any right you have.

And the above language is common and expected in e-commerce where the "card is not present" and fraud on the part of the order placer is very common.

************

Additionally, the FTC has almost no enforcement authority with a huge, long settlement process that renders the odds of you getting your money back or the "bad" company being punished in any case.

 

[Frick]

This is where the credit card companies will back you up, though. If you place an order, and the vendor immediately charges your card but hasn't shipped in (what you and the CC company agree to be) a reasonable amount of time, the CC company will issue a chargeback, and pull the funds from the vendor and credit them to you. As the vendor, it's very hard to get a chargeback reversed, but as a consumer, it's very easy to initiate one (this has happened at my company, and no, I wasn't withholding product).

This is why you should never use a debit card for online purchases, because such protections aren't offered by the banks issuing them.

 

[Gardner808]

Very true Frick. And some companies have a policy that if you receive the bill before the merchandise you can apply for an immediate charge back. I think American Express works that way. Visa is actually the provider that is more likely to side with the merchant over their customer.

 

[beachpuff]

Please add fixing the shipping options for AK & HI, if you don't mind

Thanks for taking the initiative Slim!

You may not agree with all the items, so only discuss with him the areas that are of concern to you. Also, feel free to add to the list, as I know I haven't included all the issues, and I would appreciate being reminded of the other concerns I could discuss with Mike.

1) How they are currently handling it when people order out-of-stock items is really NOT working. They either need to find a way to not allow out-of-stock items to be ordered, or they need to have someone from CS call the very next business day after the order is placed to inform the customer of the out-of stock situation, and to ask the customer what they want Bloog to do about the rest of the order.

2) They need to send order confirmations the very next business day after an order is placed.

3) Shipping should occur within a clearly defined period of time after an order is placed, and shipping confirmation e-mails should be sent the same day order is shipped.

4) The new website must have these features: The system needs to send an automatic order confirmation e-mail instantaneously. And the system should not allow out-of-stock items to be ordered (this will also cut down on the work the CS staff has to do).

5) Why is it taking so long to get the new website up and running? What can they do to speed it up.? If they are trying to do it on the cheap, don't. Do what needs to be done to get the new site completed and operational within the next 2 weeks.

6) Bloog must have someone live to answer the CS phone lines during business hours, and enough CS staff to answer all calls and e-mails within 24 hours of receipt.

7) Get more staff on the sub-forum. There really needs to be a consistent owner presence on the sub-forum. Red and Leaford cannot do it all.

8) Get current errors corrected on website ASAP (green battery picture needs to replace current blue batt picture; pass-thru battery needs to be added to the site as a separate item. (there are probably other things I haven’t noticed.)

9) Kit prices needs to be adjusted so that kit prices are lower than if you purchase the individual items separately. And this needs to be done without raising the current prices of the individual items.

Well, that's my suggestion. I hope many of you will join me, and call Mike to discuss the issues you are most concerned about. Thank you.

 

[starsong]

Gardner, beside being a superhero by night, are you a lawyer by day? Or in that field? You seem very knowledgeable about these things.

 

[redempti0N]

Gardner, beside being a superhero by night, are you a lawyer by day? Or in that field? You seem very knowledgeable about these things.

No that was Daredevil.

 

[Gardner808]

Daredevil is my second favorite all-time super hero.

As a profession I deal in e-commerce, including ensuring that all laws relevant to internet transactions and the collection and use of personal information are followed. Additionally, my wife is an attorney.

 

[redempti0N]

Daredevil is my second favorite all-time super hero.

As a profession I deal in e-commerce, including ensuring that all laws relevant to internet transactions and the collection and use of personal information are followed. Additionally, my wife is an attorney.

Remind me to stay on your good side.

 

[Gardner808]

I should, however, admit that next to all three Punisher movies, the Daredevil movie was the worst super hero movie of all time.

 

[starsong]

I am going to suggest a Bloog calling campaign to get the attention of Bloog's owners, so hopefully they will begin to address the many issues we have been discussing on this sub-forum. I'm not sure how aware the owners are of these issues, because they aren't active on this sub-forum, which is a problem in itself.

There isn't anything in your list I would disagree with, and they are all reasonable requests & expectations. But I would feel uncomfortable calling someone's personal cellphone unless he or one of their reps specifically asked me to. But if we were given his work email, not just the generic CS one, I'd be happy to write him about it.

It would be nice to know if they even read about the issues here on the forum... we know they don't post, but do they see them?

 

[redempti0N]

I should, however, admit that next to all three Punisher movies, the Daredevil movie was the worst super hero movie of all time.

Thats because they had to go with Ben Afleck. I cant wait for Thor and Captain America. and a real Silver Surfer movie.

 

[Gardner808]

Yeah, Ben Afleck is the first actor I have actively disliked for a movie he starred in.

Both Thor and Captain America look really awesome. And I can't wait for the eventual Avenger movie that will follow.

 

[ccm2000]

I feel for you Bloogers. I'd like to buy a mini pcc starter kit but it's useless to me without some blank cartos.

 

[Frick]

I feel for you Bloogers. I'd like to buy a mini pcc starter kit but it's useless to me without some blank cartos.

I know this sounds like an excuse, but just buy any flavor and reverse-spin the juice out of it. Add your juice of choice, and within a couple minutes you'll be tasting it fully.

 

[slim66]

There isn't anything in your list I would disagree with, and they are all reasonable requests & expectations. But I would feel uncomfortable calling someone's personal cellphone unless he or one of their reps specifically asked me to. But if we were given his work email, not just the generic CS one, I'd be happy to write him about it.

It would be nice to know if they even read about the issues here on the forum... we know they don't post, but do they see them?

Thank you starsong for responding. I understand the hesitancy, but just to clairfy, nycsublimegirl posted Mike's e-mail address and his work and cell phone numbers on this sub-forum when directing customers to contact Mike when they were having problems (see below). For those that don't know, nycsublimegirl is Toni, another one of the owner's of Bloog.

please email mike m@bloogplanet.com and a cc to me a@bloogplanet.com

We are not open Sat and Sunday...please feel free to call mike tomorrow morning at 9am Phone: (732) 888-2999 x711
Mobile: (732) 492-1122

I call tell you that when I spoke with Mike a couple of weeks ago, he was not aware of anything going on in this sub-forum. He said he was going to contact Toni to find out what was up. A few hours later this was posted by Toni:

Hi all,

Sorry I have not been around this past week. My Mother Had a hysterectomy...she is on the road to a full recovery! I have had limited access to the forum on my iphone.

We are working on all the CS issues...including email notifications and response times. I know everyone wanted this fixed yesterday....but we are doing our best to getting onto a smooth road for all!

Mainly the things that went unanswered by me were the technical issues that LEAFORD is now tackling... He has all the engineering specs and product knowledge. I know it was frustrating for all with his PC issues, but they have now been resolved...and he is back to actively addressing your concerns.

Chris (head of CS) is now up to speed enough to begin to try and post in the forum as well.

Mike is also throwing his hat in the ring and will be posting as "thebaldeagle".

Their presence here will be great as I have stated i am unfortunately not in the Bloog offices day to day.

The main problem has been stock and CS.... and we are anxiously awaiting stock as well as website fixes and I promise to notify you all as soon as there is news.

So you can see from the sentences I bolded above, both Chris and Mike were planning to join this sub-forum at that point. But they haven't. It's great that Red has started moderating this forum, but I think we need more Bloog staff on here (it's too much for just Leaford and Red), and it is customary to have an owner presence in a vendor sub-forum. We know of at least one sub-forum where practically every employee of the company is active on the sub-forum on a daily basis, and a customer's concerns are usually addressed within minutes by an employee. I don't think Red and Leaford should be expected to do that by themselves.

Of course, people should not feel obligated to do anything. I just thought a group effort might help get the owner's attention, as I don't think Mike is aware of how upset even Bloog's regular customers are getting. But that's just my thinking. Others probably feel differently about it.

 

[leaford]

I should, however, admit that next to all three Punisher movies, the Daredevil movie was the worst super hero movie of all time.

Oh, hardly!

Have you forgotten Steel? Or the JLA TV pilot? The 80's (IIRC) Captain America? What about the Indian Superman?

I could go on and on and on and on...

 

[slim66]

Please add fixing the shipping options for AK & HI, if you don't mind

Thanks for taking the initiative Slim!

Thanks beachpuff, I'll add that to my list.....maybe you will consider telling Mike about it too? If only one person calls, it's easy to pass it off as just one disgruntled customer. The more calls he gets, the more seriously he may consider the feedback. Just a thought.

 

[starsong]

I know this sounds like an excuse, but just buy any flavor and reverse-spin the juice out of it. Add your juice of choice, and within a couple minutes you'll be tasting it fully.

Doesn't even need to 'buy' the cartos, they come with the kit. Could use them, hopefully enjoy them, then refill. Or not, just an idea.

 

[analog]

I forgot about baldeagle! (I just checked, he never even registered, much less got active).

I hate to say this, because it is pure speculation, but does anybody know anything about the owners? I'm wondering if they really care? I've run my own business since my 3rd job ever, and I know you other business owners think owners have to care, but many successful business owners actually don't, and good enough is more than good enough. Especially folks with several businesses, and partners etc. Got some money, cool. Some folks ain't happy? Placate them if we can, but really, so what, got some more money. Sure it's not tenable, but they often aren't personally invested in their businesses other than monetarily which is pretty easy to make back, so if one folds they buy a bar, mini-storage, or car wash and move on. Hell, two friends of mine had to buy our favorite bar because the owner absolutely didn't care one bit. The bar's business is up a lot under new management, but the old owner was fine with making anything, especially since he only showed up once a month or so. And not that I see causation, but the old bar owner's name was Mike!

So do we have any idea that the owners actually care, or were they just thinking they'd cash in on this ecig thing when they stumbled across Leaford (and red!) and happened to end up with a banging product without leadership to match? I hope I'm way off base here, I too want bloog to succeed. (honestly I don't want to ever change my avatar!)

 

[starsong]

That's a thought that crossed my mind too, that they may be more like investors than having a day to day involvement.

On another note: I just now tried to do your avatar, and I can't get my finger to do that first O.