Unrealistic Expectations?

[fusedflora]

Team, I wanted to open a discussion, as I'm at odds with a situation and wanted to get the community's thoughts on it.

Recently someone was very upset that we didn't respond to facebook message within 48 hrs. They asked for a refund due to our lack of response as we didn't answer their order questions in a timely manner. Despite being able to log onto our site and see the order at any time, they preferred to communicate on FB and only on FB.

First, we try very hard to be responsive. We're here, on reddit, and on mewe daily. We respond to emails almost every hour. I concede we are not as visible on Facebook, but that's not where our customers are, it's a deliberate decision. Regardless, Facebook does not give us access to order numbers, details, etc, that sending us an email would (we only use emails for orders not Facebook/Mewe/MM etc..).

Second, I think this is unrealistic expectations for a small business. In context, has anyone messaged amazon on facebook expecting a quick response? Though we're obviously not as big, I wouldn't reach out to nike/amazon/walmart or anywhere else across a social media platform and expect immediacy. Are we wrong to think this way? I admit, I'm a bit older and the technological shift may be happening to expect that.... Are we there?

I think "unofficial," communication should not relied upon for small business like this. we mean, I have no way to determine usernames to emails/addresses for tracking purposes, etc... without "official" notification from the right person.

What do you think? Have you found yourself expecting this of your vendors?

[Renob]

Very unrealistic…

The customer that you’re speaking of acted in a completely ridiculous manner as far as I’m concerned. If you have order details and any sort of “contact us” links on your website then there’s absolutely no excuse for said person to be angry about anything. It’s their fault for being dumb and attempting to use Facebook. It’s probably just some butthole trying to take you over. Explain kindly to them that they should have contacted you via your site or email (the normal methods of communication for any business with a website).

[BookofEnoch1914]

100% unrealistic. FB is such a limiting, predatory platform when it comes to Kratom, to expect communication solely through that platform is ludicrous. Who doesn't email? Like WTF.

[Renob]

100% unrealistic. FB is such a limiting, predatory platform when it comes to Kratom, to expect communication solely through that platform is ludicrous. Who doesn't email? Like WTF.

Exactly my thoughts. This customer is a butthole. He/she probably kicks puppies and kittens.

[Lokey]

I agree it's totally unacceptable for them to expect you to respond through FB unless FB was the original point of contact and place of ordering! If they had questions why didn't they ask prior to ordering or through email, the same way of communicating in the first place? I don't know if it's worth dealing with someone like that but if they're receiving their kratom and it's too late to cancel they do not deserve a refund

[BallzDeep9]

Despite being able to log onto our site and see the order at any time, they preferred to communicate on FB and only on FB.

The Facebook crowd is different for sure. But anyone could plainly see, IF there's daily activity on any Group - or not?

And the FB regulars know, or should know - that vending on FB gets you banned on FB. So they talk Tea, and Kra8om... lol - even very active vendor groups, May or may Not, use the FB Messenger thing to "Chat" about Business... which seems like an easy way to get banned ? Only a complete idiot, would Not be aware about FB's Rules on vending there.

Of course the majority of vendors - Do Not touch FB for obvious reasons. As soon as your Group gets active - it fills up with Medical Claims. - I see RVA and others, "Pin a Notice" about, Please Do Not discuss Medical... but of course ALL people wanna talk about, is what strain is good for My Pain et cetera

[IjustFeltLikeRunnin’]

I wouldn’t say it’s COMPLETELY unrealistic. Frustrating, I’m sure. But…you have a Facebook page. And there are many vendors and customers that are very active on Facebook.

I’ve tried to communicate with vendors before directly through the ‘Contact us’ form on their web page, and never heard back at times.

While I might say this sounds like a bit of an over reaction on the customer’s part, it’s hard to make that decision without both sides of the story, or the particulars of the interaction.

From my days of selling on e-bay, I’ve learned that when you run any kind of business, you’re going to be dealing with all types of customers. Not every single one of them will be ‘hard to please’, but for the ones that are, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and cater to them a bit. Both parties being bull-headed isn’t going to get anybody anywhere.

Maybe this has exposed an overlooked area of your business. Could you now also make it a point to check Facebook at least once a day?

[Badgame85]

One can only imagine what the order confirmation e-mail said as far as how to contact the company regarding your order.

Pretty sure if you buy/order something online and have questions, or need additional assistance you immediately return to your order confirmation page to review contact options if needed. That's pretty textbook... maybe not for everyone though?!

[Roofdog]

Completely unrealistic due to everything said above. Just had to say it again. Lol

[BookofEnoch1914]

100% unrealistic. FB is such a limiting, predatory platform when it comes to Kratom, to expect communication solely through that platform is ludicrous. Who doesn't email? Like WTF.

Exactly my thoughts. This customer is a butthole. He/she probably kicks puppies and kittens.

For Real...my wife and I have 2 Kittens. We don't allow them anywhere near Facebook because of people like that!

[Kelleytoons]

We keep the cats away from FB as well - for one thing, what they type doesn't make much sense (things like "ij40utt1jnnnvf").

All seriousness aside, clearly the customer had unrealistic expectations. But I do wonder why you have an FB presence at all as others have hinted about. There are businesses who benefit from such, but kratom selling isn't one of them. Too many downsides. If I were running such a business I most likely would post ONLY the website info and keep anyone from even posting or messaging through it (I do believe you can do that, although I honestly don't know enough about FB to care much - we keep in touch with the grandkids through it because that's really what it's designed for <g>).

As others have pointed out - you respond through the ordering process. But, also, as a business you just have to be aware you can't please everyone nor should you try. Move on and don't worry about it (even in brick and mortar worlds there are way too many Karens not to develop a thick skin).

[OriginalLHB]

I expect the vendors I deal with to provide a quality product, and to ship out orders quickly if they say they will do so. Everything else is gravy. In my experience with FF, I have found that they do these things every time.

I have also found an obnoxious "entitled" mentality among a small set of users, especially those who post on Reddit. They DEMAND free samples, ongoing communication regarding individually tailored advice, and a level of general concierge level handholding that might be appropriate if you were a Bespoke tailor, but not in the case of a small business selling a more or less homogeneous commodity.

Not to mention that Facebook is a dying platform that embodies the worst of Big Tech manipulation of content, and towering condescension toward users.

I would abandon the platform and the customer if it were my business, just as I would abandon your business if you publicly proclaimed that all your customers were lucky to even get their orders, given all your extensive social obligations, or that if they would have read the fine print on the terms of service, they would know that you were selling their phone numbers to hundreds of telephone spammers.

[SeventhHeaven]

...
Not to mention that Facebook is a dying platform that embodies the worst of Big Tech manipulation of content, and towering condescension toward users.

I would abandon the platform and the customer if it were my business, just as I would abandon your business if you publicly proclaimed that all your customers were lucky to even get their orders, given all your extensive social obligations, or that if they would have read the fine print on the terms of service, they would know that you were selling their phone numbers to hundreds of telephone spammers.

100% absolutely this.

Kill your Fakebook and Twatter. You'll never regret it.

And FF - I agree with everybody else, that's a customer you don't need; totally unrealistic expectations, and being an assclown about it as well.

[Jking]

I hate most social media which I think I’ve actually stated before in previous post. They take away so much. I mean I’m 24 with a birthday in January so not old but I remember the days before iPhones. I did not get a phone til I was almost 13, and it as a flip phone which was the latest at the time. I was so excited but my point is I miss when you could have a conversation without someone being completely absorbed in the phones. I find it hard to just enjoy peoples company when they are more interested in Facebook then a conversation. I think as long the product is good then yeah they are unrealistic they bought it so unless you state you refund for not communicating after purchase then I would say they can’t expect anything, and shouldn’t.

[CatfatherB]

Run run run far away from Zuckerbook, Shaun.

[onespeedstop]

I don't know anything about social media, if I want to contact someone I got through their website or use their email if it is available. And even then, 24-48 hours is not unreasonable to wait for a reply. Heck, I'd even go 72 if it's a weekend. Until I'm a regular customer, then I might start to expect faster replies, but even then, is not always realistic. Especially for a rather cheap product like kratom, this isn't jet engines, a million bucks isn't on the line here, not with my one split kilo order ha-ha.

[uspatriot995]

They threw a hissy fit on FB eh? Recommending dumping that platform. I finally did. Takes hours to untangle yourself from it.

Recently got on Mewe, which is strange and counterintuitive but anyone who researches kratom eventually finds that Mewe is the social media platform of choice.

FB is a siphon. An evil siphon sucking in everything and everyone. Yep. Bye FB.

By the way FF I found my way to your Mewe page. Your product is very good and just a thought you may want to dump FB in the future.

[fusedflora]

We appreciate everyone's responses. We recognize that your expectations of us are largely why we make our decisions. We appreciate your candid sharing of expectations of vendors. I don't want to assume that someone necessarily wrong by having unconventional expectations or a bad person etc..., we're just curious about community norms that you guys see. Unsure what they're going through and don't want to assume. I wanted to discuss if our vendor expectations of customers is unreasonable and again, we appreciate the insight of the community. Never disappoint.

We're not angry or having thin skin, just more concerned that our bias as a gen x may be getting the better of us when addressing millennial audiences. We agree, we should work harder on equal presence regardless.

Though, unfortunately, for vendors, there's not a one stop shop for target audiences. I'd love to be able to drop FB and a few other platforms, but unfortunately, some of our customers exclusively get their updates there. Just like double M, that's not the only audience, it's important to have a presence, even if just a bit. You guys are right though, our posts are often erased and filtered significantly on FB. Obviously we don't vend there, which is why we typically don't respond outside of "FB prohibits us from vending and answering questions here, please email at XXXX."

FB does not like our beloved plant and community but seems a necessary evil; we look at it largely as a billboard, it that it drives passive, passer-byes, and accounts for almost free marketing. Facebook and meta have significant SEO, and it's important to have a page to keep the larger vendors from using our SEO against us....

For instance, do a quick google search for SOSA Speciosa, the 4th, 7th, and 9th of the top 10 results are from other vendors.... Without the online presence across multiple platforms, other companies unfortunately beat even our website on search engines, leaving the wrong impression that customers are buying our products from other vendors. And yes, we have gotten complaints from people thinking they bought from us, but somehow the bags had labels with names that sound like funk and Maya....... A bit funny in a way

Again, we'd love to just run one engagement area, but until the bigger guns stop poaching I don't think it'll be possible. Though we do appreciate the recommendations and dialogue.

Thanks double m community!

[parky]

I expect the vendors I deal with to provide a quality product, and to ship out orders quickly if they say they will do so. Everything else is gravy. In my experience with FF, I have found that they do these things every time.

I agree. After days researching I placed orders with multiple vendors recommended here (btw thank you for some of your comments I took a lot of your advice) FF being one of them. Ordered 20th and I opened my package from them along with two others a few minutes ago. Haven’t tried it yet but ordering was simple, shipping was extremely fast, and I got samples which they have no idea how thankful I am for considering what I’m going through right now. I feel like a vendor (or any business really) can do everything right and go above and beyond and in the end, SOMEONE will be unhappy.

Facebook, I suspect this would only apply to people who have been around long enough, it didn’t even occur to me to even look for vendors on FB. Back in the day you searched Kratom and countless pages and groups popped up. Then they tried to erase us from FB and Google and a ton of other places for that matter. I just assumed FB would be the last place any vendor would be active.

[Kratatomic]

Yes, unrealistic. You have a website and an email.

I'm older myself and not on the socials so not the audience you’re concerned about here, haha, but still I wouldn't contact a vendor through PM’s here regarding an order. I've always received quick helpful responses the few times I've emailed you. 48 hours is just impatient. Agree you don’t know what they’re going through, but that works both ways, especially for a small business. IMO, you are a good person for having this concern and asking the community about it.

One of my cats agrees, the other is indifferent.

[Transformato]

Team, I wanted to open a discussion, as I'm at odds with a situation and wanted to get the community's thoughts on it.

Recently someone was very upset that we didn't respond to facebook message within 48 hrs. They asked for a refund due to our lack of response as we didn't answer their order questions in a timely manner.

What do you think? Have you found yourself expecting this of your vendors?

No. If it's official business I go to where that happens. Did they order through the website? If so, that's the interface like the store front. Provided there is a way to communicate- and there is.. that's what I'd use and expect is appropriate.

If they ordered through the FB page, then I can understand the confusion. OR if they tried contacting through the ws and the FB page and got not response on either but - and I haven't used FB in a long time now so I might not fully understand what's going on in that sphere, it sounds more like over emotional under thinking, with uncertainty and insecurity based on something you can't anticipate making the floor unstable.

[INSENSE3]

Great REMINDER topic! I’ve seen this a good few times over the years. People announce births, deaths and all of the stuff I prefer NOT be posted publicly, especially and including details about health conditions and live-time locations of kids. All of that stuff is on Facebook, unfortunately.

Since kratom is not allowed, we don’t have a live - time presence on Facebook but it’s not a problem if the audience is there.

Great thread for reaching out to our peers here for market-check.

Unfortunately Facebook IS now the primary source of information for BIRTHS and DEATHS in between cat videos and misinformation campaigns (lol humor) !


INSENSE3

[Greenleaf2022]

I would never even thought to order on fb!? Haha 🫣

But really I’m so sorry. I don’t think many people understand how hard it really is to satisfy everyone and the one time you make a mistake (reply too late) the come for you and come for you hard. God forbid you get sick or have a serious family crisis Thank god most of the customers are so sweet and understanding. Just remember the majority of people don’t act that way and don’t let the ones that do get to you too much. Keep doing right for the community and they will do right for you ! I think everyone agrees that some people are just never satisfied.
And remember to take care of yourself too!

[janismm88]

it will be always like that to every communication method people expect you answer fast, if you cant answer in Facebook dont put Facebook as communication method

[brassy]

Geezus -- I know this is an old thread, but I could not be more pissed off to hear Fused was treated that way.
Shaun answers my emails faster than my immediate family does. I have way more confidence in him and his wife than I do any of my healthcare providers.
Thing is, you can't work in any kind of retail without having to deal with the occasional whiner on a power trip -- the only time that type ever gets to exercise their autonomy is when they are spending consumer dollars. They get more self-worth out of making complaints and filing bogus returns than they do out of completing the purchase.
None of us wants or needs customers that badly. Good riddens!