Sometimes, I get something from a guy out there that makes me stop and wonder why I even try to keep this thing going.
I was busy filling orders this morning when I received the following email (I have redacted all of the customers information, so he cannot be identified by anything I do here).
OK, I admit it: have been in a bad mood for a long time, so maybe I over-reacted when I answered him. But, to me, there is no reason to send an email like this except to complain about something to a person who is not responsible for the problem, nor has the power to do anything about it. The only purpose I can see for sending something like this is to insult me. So, in the heat of the moment, I sent the following reply:
So why email me? Do you think I set the price of shipping? Or did you just want to complain to me about something I can’t control? Seriously, why did you send me this email?
In return, I received the following reply:
I got this email :
| TIGER MODEL DESIGNS |
| Seems like you have left some items in your shopping cart. |
| These items are not reserved and may sell out quickly, so be sure to place your order soon! |
Which i believe is sent because i did not complete the order.
I could not see postage price on the site, just wanted to let you know
If you don’t care, fine
Folks,first, this is an automatic prompt from the shopping cart. We all get them, all the time. It is designed to help drive sales which, ultimately, is how I keep TMD going. Most of us realize this and we usually ignore these messages — at least, the grown-ups among us do. But not this guy. This guy just had to make my day better by insulting me, then following it up by lying to me and implying that I’m the one who has wronged him. How do I know this is the truth? Simple:
Before this guy ever emailed me (who is not even a customer at this point) had hit the button to go to the check-out page (like most of us should know to do by now), he would have seen the shipping costs. But I think he did see the shipping. In fact, he admitted he had seen the shipping costs. How do I know this is true? After all, in his reply, he claims he didn’t see the cost of shipping on my web store. Well, if that is the truth, then why did he send the first, original email telling me my shipping is too high??? Hmmm….??? If he didn’t see the cost of shipping before he sent the first email, then why would he even send the first email telling me shipping is too high? But, nooo, rather than be a grown-up, this guy then replies and lies to me by saying he sent the first complaint because he couldn’t find the cost of shipping on my web store and that I must not care about him.
NEWS FLASH! At this point, he is finally correct: I don’t care about him — not anymore.
FOR THE RECORD
1 — I do not set the postal rates.
2 — I do everything I can to keep the cost of shipping down for my customers.
3 — I actually lose money on any product going overseas that weighs more than 7 oz.
4 — In some cases, I lose money on any product shipping overseas (Australia, Pacific Rim, etc)
5 — Finally, if I didn’t care, I would set the shipping fees to cover every gram of the shipping cost and then some — to make up for the shipping materials I have to buy to ship your items.
— I wouldn’t keep trying to find ways to make your hobby more affordable, or to make my products more of a value.
— I wouldn’t keep trying to produce newer and better, more useful items to help you enjoy your hobby even more.
— And I bloody well wouldn’t keep putting up with this sort of crap like I received today.
Also, for the record: I have not replied to this guy again, and I’m not going to do so. Honestly, I don’t care if he never buys a single thing from me. However, I am going to post this on all of TMD’s pages — so that any of you who might see him bad-mouthing me or TMD will know what really happened. How I treat each of you honestly does matter to me, but I am also reaching a point where I can no longer deal with the ugliness in our hobby. Sadly, I think the internet is the worst thing that ever happened to modeling. In fact, I think it may be one of the worst things that ever happened to Man.
Joe
P.S. If I ever just up and disappear from the modeling world, it will probably be because I received one too manyy emails like the one above and I just decided it was time to quit — not in anger or out of frustration, but for the sake of protecting myself from becoming any more like this guy than I already am.
Easier said than done but let that shit roll off. As you said, “grown ups” and I’m convinced that in today’s world those are few and far between.
True, but you know what I noticed while I was growing up? There was a point when the adults of my parents age left me alone to suffer the consequences of my choices. In short, they washed their hands of trying to teach me when I refused to be taught. I think they did it for similar reasons: not because they didn’t care, but because they cared deeply and the only way to keep from doing more harm than good was to walk away. 🙁