So I would like to make this post to make a couple of suggestions to improve the VV website and to make the customer experience even better. So here's the situation that prompted me to make this post.
Approximate a week ago I made an order from VV that included a custom flavor (Mountain Dew for those interested...amazing btw). I also order a bunch of hardware as I was running low on the cartomizers that I normally use. Specifically I ordered one of the new Mini ViVi Novas. Along with it I ordered a set of 2.8 ohm replacement heads and a silver replacement tube (as the above mentioned Mountain Dew flavor is rather acidic and I didn't want the plastic cracking). Both of these items were listed on the website as in stock when I ordered. In fact the only reason I ordered the 2.8 ohm heads was because the 1.8 and 2.4 were both listed as out of stock. Also the black replacement tube was listed as out of stock but that wasn't so much of a problem as I actually wanted the silver.
The problem comes today when I received an email stating that both the 2.8 replacement heads and the silver replacement tubes are now out of stock (even though they were in stock according to the website when I ordered). This was a slight boon on the heads as I actually wanted the 2.4 originally but was OK since I have a Variable Voltage battery. The replacement tube on the other hand is somewhat annoying. I have the dark blue kGos and a silver eGo-C VV. The only color offered that really goes with the batteries I have at all is the silver (as there is no blue tube...and no teal doesn't count). Honestly had I known the tubes were going to be out I would have ordered one with my next order instead of having to choose from colors that I have no desire to really own (but will use regardless).
Now for the suggestions part. I have two suggestions and either or both would help to alleviate this kind of problem in the future:
1. When an order comes through set aside the hardware for the order and then add the e-liquid to the order when that is finished being made. I understand that this could be difficult depending on the amount of space one has available and would require additional levels of organization in your location than required without it. This way, though, when a customer orders something they can be contacted immediately if their desired piece is out of stock, or their part won't go out of stock between ordering and shipping (which can be a not insignificant amount of time in the case of custom orders). It is possible that someone who has a higher order number will get the last piece of an item when it is also on the order of someone with a lower order number.
2. This suggestion would be harder to implement (from a technical perspective) but ultimately would likely mean less work in the long run for everyone involved in the website (and could actually negate much of the usefullness of suggestion 1). The main suggestion would be to have an inventory control system whose database is connected directly to your website. This would provide many advantages. You could have the website automatically list items as out of stock, or options on items as out of stock without having to manually update the website when these situations occur (as I suspect you currently do). You could even program in special messages in the descriptions of items that only appear if certain options are out of stock, or if an Item is unavailable it could have an expected restock date that can be updated as events unfold (I'm thinking of the KCM issue a few months back). Also when someone places an order, the website could automatically decrement your current stock thus ensuring that (assuming your inventory logs are correct) if I can order and item, I will get the exact item I ordered as if I order the last one, the next person will be unable to regardless of custom flavor or not.
My apologies for the wall o' text but I wanted to be clear. Also please note that this is not an angry post, I am still quite satisfied with the customer service and simply amazing quality of Virgin Vapor. I just had some ideas that I think will make your business even more successful, cut down on the amount of time spent by customer service personnel in having to deal with emailing customers about out of stock items, etc. As your business continues to grow (and as I hope it does even moreso in the future) I think some of these suggestions will help with what I'm sure are some not inconsiderable growing pains.
Regards,
Nardonius
EDIT: I just looked and thought it worth noting that the black and silver are still listed as available on the VV website and there are no replacement heads available on the VV website currently despite being told less than 6 hours ago that two types of replacement heads were available and that black and silver tubes are sold out.
Approximate a week ago I made an order from VV that included a custom flavor (Mountain Dew for those interested...amazing btw). I also order a bunch of hardware as I was running low on the cartomizers that I normally use. Specifically I ordered one of the new Mini ViVi Novas. Along with it I ordered a set of 2.8 ohm replacement heads and a silver replacement tube (as the above mentioned Mountain Dew flavor is rather acidic and I didn't want the plastic cracking). Both of these items were listed on the website as in stock when I ordered. In fact the only reason I ordered the 2.8 ohm heads was because the 1.8 and 2.4 were both listed as out of stock. Also the black replacement tube was listed as out of stock but that wasn't so much of a problem as I actually wanted the silver.
The problem comes today when I received an email stating that both the 2.8 replacement heads and the silver replacement tubes are now out of stock (even though they were in stock according to the website when I ordered). This was a slight boon on the heads as I actually wanted the 2.4 originally but was OK since I have a Variable Voltage battery. The replacement tube on the other hand is somewhat annoying. I have the dark blue kGos and a silver eGo-C VV. The only color offered that really goes with the batteries I have at all is the silver (as there is no blue tube...and no teal doesn't count). Honestly had I known the tubes were going to be out I would have ordered one with my next order instead of having to choose from colors that I have no desire to really own (but will use regardless).
Now for the suggestions part. I have two suggestions and either or both would help to alleviate this kind of problem in the future:
1. When an order comes through set aside the hardware for the order and then add the e-liquid to the order when that is finished being made. I understand that this could be difficult depending on the amount of space one has available and would require additional levels of organization in your location than required without it. This way, though, when a customer orders something they can be contacted immediately if their desired piece is out of stock, or their part won't go out of stock between ordering and shipping (which can be a not insignificant amount of time in the case of custom orders). It is possible that someone who has a higher order number will get the last piece of an item when it is also on the order of someone with a lower order number.
2. This suggestion would be harder to implement (from a technical perspective) but ultimately would likely mean less work in the long run for everyone involved in the website (and could actually negate much of the usefullness of suggestion 1). The main suggestion would be to have an inventory control system whose database is connected directly to your website. This would provide many advantages. You could have the website automatically list items as out of stock, or options on items as out of stock without having to manually update the website when these situations occur (as I suspect you currently do). You could even program in special messages in the descriptions of items that only appear if certain options are out of stock, or if an Item is unavailable it could have an expected restock date that can be updated as events unfold (I'm thinking of the KCM issue a few months back). Also when someone places an order, the website could automatically decrement your current stock thus ensuring that (assuming your inventory logs are correct) if I can order and item, I will get the exact item I ordered as if I order the last one, the next person will be unable to regardless of custom flavor or not.
My apologies for the wall o' text but I wanted to be clear. Also please note that this is not an angry post, I am still quite satisfied with the customer service and simply amazing quality of Virgin Vapor. I just had some ideas that I think will make your business even more successful, cut down on the amount of time spent by customer service personnel in having to deal with emailing customers about out of stock items, etc. As your business continues to grow (and as I hope it does even moreso in the future) I think some of these suggestions will help with what I'm sure are some not inconsiderable growing pains.
Regards,
Nardonius
EDIT: I just looked and thought it worth noting that the black and silver are still listed as available on the VV website and there are no replacement heads available on the VV website currently despite being told less than 6 hours ago that two types of replacement heads were available and that black and silver tubes are sold out.
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