As part of my job, I answer a lot of customer emails everyday about non-technical issues like billing, shipping, orders, etc. Most of the people that email are very nice and appreciative of the help. However, there are a few...well...let's just say not very nice people.
This email I got today frustrated me so much that I had to post it to vent.
OK, so here's the customer's original question:
As their is no UK sales YET!
would you (Stardock) be willing to ship 10 copies of the game and boxes etc at a cheap shipping cost?
if you sent 10 of the collectors edition for instance which is what $40 x10 Total $400, how much would you charge for shipping?
this way i can then get them to freinds ect reducing the silly shipping charges.
Here's my response:
Hello,
Our online store will automatically charge the $20 USD shipping cost per order, regardless of quantity. So please feel free to place your order and you should see the shipping cost remain at $20 USD.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
His response back:
What the hell!
on the startdock forums the ppl are helpful.. whats this rubbish , do you really think i didnt know that! and do you think I would email you for a non constuctive responce.
the fact is hardly anyone outside of USA will get the game unless you get retailers in different countries, i have a few mates who want the game but are not willing to pay postage and quite rightly so ( who pays double what they should)
so I am asking for you to speak to a sales executive or a director to see what they will do to ship 10 copies to save on the postage as you havent got a UK distributor.
pass this on to someone who can help if you cant please.
At this point I'm thinking, did I miss something? I went back and reread my response and it seems to be pretty clear...the store calculates shipping per order, not per item. I had actually copied that response from an email I sent to a fellow in Australia. He seemed to understand perfectly as he ordered 20 copies shortly after sending a happy "Thank You" email back to me.
I was very frustrated and had to hold back on my response to keep it professional, yet stern:
Hello,
I am not quite sure if you understood the information I passed on. Rather than paying $20 shipping per copy, you will pay $20 shipping for the entire order. So, you will get 10 copies for $20 shipping, instead of $200 shipping.
Please reread my response, it is quite clear.
As of yet, I haven't gotten a reply back from this guy. Maybe he realized how asinine he was being, turned off his computer, and walked away with his tail between his legs.
I might make this rant a semi-daily thing, because I feel much better now!