New lesson learnt in eCommerce. Courtesy eBay.
You can find the deal. Same deal with different vendors/supplies in eBay will appear as different deals. You have to go through description of each deal as description are managed by supplier to be sure of what you are buying, check rating of the seller and then cross your fingers and place your order. Did you uncross your fingers?! Please cross them again. Because if by any chance, you feel that you made a mistake, there is no way you can undo or cancel your transaction. eBay allows for replacement/refund but no cancellation of order. If your supplier is considerate, he/she will do this favor to you. But otherwise... Welcome to customer is king part II :P
I placed an order yesterday night and realized that I needed to do it differently. Searched through entire ebay facilities but could not find anything to cancel my transaction.
Lesson #1: Usability of eBay UI is very tough. Whether intentional/unintentional, that's not known yet.
Tried to call up the call centre number given on the product description page. It turned out to be Tata Retail (Croma, I suppose). I could not figure out what to do with the automated menu as there was nothing about ebay in it. Ended up disconnecting call.
Lesson #2: Phone number(s) given on product page could be misleading.
Went through email to get to the check order button, which opened up ebay's page. In that as hover button/link, phone number and email id of vendor was listed.
Lesson #3: Do not be in rush to delete/trash your mails. Things you are searching may not be readily available from website but unintentionally available from your email.
Called up eBay call centre. They took 28 minutes to connect with their support guy. Gave my requirements to support guy about cancelling the current transation. He said "Yes sir. But I need to confirm your phone number etc". Then he started confirming my name, my phone number, my date of birth, my address. And after becoming sure that yes, it was Peeyush only calling him but not a prank caller who waited for 28 minutes to get connected, he eventually decided to give answer. "No Sir, you cannot cancel the transaction. Please talk to the supplier. Request him. He only can cancel your transaction." Argued with him for another 10 minutes. Then gave up and disconnected.
Lesson #4: Forget Customer Relationship Management but as a Customer, you have to manage Supplier Relationship Management. Because, in case of eBay, he/she is the only one who can help you out. Luckily for me, my supplier was considerate enough to cancel my transaction.
Having said this, quite often you will find deals which are way too competitive for any other ecommerce player to beat. Found one such deal. If it materializes well, I will let you know in upcoming posts. As it happens with eBay, many friends have ended up returning their purchases back to supplier. I surely hope I don't have to go through that misery. Because if this deal is correct and true, then this would be one of the awesome deals I have had in this year :D (Second ranked after cycle one, of course!). But that's not all. You also need to double check third party sites who give information on the coupons/deals/cashbacks that are applicable on eBay. You, surprisingly, may be able to save further.
Lesson #5: Do not rush into placing order. Once you are doubly sure that no further deal/discount/coupons are applicable/possible for the product you are buying, only then you place the order.
I placed an order yesterday night and realized that I needed to do it differently. Searched through entire ebay facilities but could not find anything to cancel my transaction.
Lesson #1: Usability of eBay UI is very tough. Whether intentional/unintentional, that's not known yet.
Tried to call up the call centre number given on the product description page. It turned out to be Tata Retail (Croma, I suppose). I could not figure out what to do with the automated menu as there was nothing about ebay in it. Ended up disconnecting call.
Lesson #2: Phone number(s) given on product page could be misleading.
Went through email to get to the check order button, which opened up ebay's page. In that as hover button/link, phone number and email id of vendor was listed.
Lesson #3: Do not be in rush to delete/trash your mails. Things you are searching may not be readily available from website but unintentionally available from your email.
Called up eBay call centre. They took 28 minutes to connect with their support guy. Gave my requirements to support guy about cancelling the current transation. He said "Yes sir. But I need to confirm your phone number etc". Then he started confirming my name, my phone number, my date of birth, my address. And after becoming sure that yes, it was Peeyush only calling him but not a prank caller who waited for 28 minutes to get connected, he eventually decided to give answer. "No Sir, you cannot cancel the transaction. Please talk to the supplier. Request him. He only can cancel your transaction." Argued with him for another 10 minutes. Then gave up and disconnected.
Lesson #4: Forget Customer Relationship Management but as a Customer, you have to manage Supplier Relationship Management. Because, in case of eBay, he/she is the only one who can help you out. Luckily for me, my supplier was considerate enough to cancel my transaction.
Having said this, quite often you will find deals which are way too competitive for any other ecommerce player to beat. Found one such deal. If it materializes well, I will let you know in upcoming posts. As it happens with eBay, many friends have ended up returning their purchases back to supplier. I surely hope I don't have to go through that misery. Because if this deal is correct and true, then this would be one of the awesome deals I have had in this year :D (Second ranked after cycle one, of course!). But that's not all. You also need to double check third party sites who give information on the coupons/deals/cashbacks that are applicable on eBay. You, surprisingly, may be able to save further.
Lesson #5: Do not rush into placing order. Once you are doubly sure that no further deal/discount/coupons are applicable/possible for the product you are buying, only then you place the order.