Never Thought I'd Have To Say This…
Hi, Andy Jenkins here.
I've never had to write a post like this before – and it's
one of the hardest things I've ever had to do at StomperNet.
Back in September, we launched our print journal, The Net
Effect, and offered you a chance to receive our top-of-theline
SEO training program, Stomping the Search Engines 2.0, for no
more than the cost of shipping. Nearly 18,000 of you took us up
on that offer, and although the vast majority of our customers
received the products they ordered without incident, some of
you did not. For that, I apologize.
At this point, we have reshipped thousands of products and every
problem that we are aware of has been resolved.
We've heard some folks out there on the forums are saying that
our customer service team didn't respond to them. While it's
possible that a few emails slipped through the cracks, our team
has responded to several thousand cases since September.
If you are still experiencing any problems at all, you can
reach our support team by email (escalate@stompernet.com) or
call our new 24×7 telephone support line at (404-348-4401). All
issues will be handled promptly.
1. The Short Story
At the end of this email, you'll find a download link for a PDF
file that contains the full story, in agonizing detail, of
everything we did wrong, everything we did right, and what
we've learned from this experience.
My hope is that by sharing this information, we can help some
of you avoid the kind of problems we experienced. In the
meantime, here's the short story. In August, before we made
our offer public, I placed advance orders for 5000 copies of
the Stomping the Search Engines 1 & 2 DVDs, and 5000
copies of Issue 1 of The Net Effect.
We hired what we thought was the best fulfillment house
available, based on recommendations from a lot of other folks
in the online marketing space. We tested the shopping cart. We
had inventory on hand. When we opened our doors for business on
September 5th, we honestly, sincerely believed that we were
ready.
2. How It's Supposed to Work
The process was supposed to be super simple. Our customers
would place orders, the fulfillment house would ship their
orders, and we'd produce additional inventory as needed if we
had underestimated the demand.
Our worst-case scenario was that it might take a couple weeks
to ship orders out, even if we sold out our original inventory
on the first day.
After giving our customers 35-40 days to evaluate The Net
Effect and cancel if they chose to do so, we would begin
shipping issue #2 to our subscribers in mid-October. (* Note:
Although our sales copy described it as a 30-day trial, we
allowed an additional 5 days for domestic and 10 days for
international shipping.)
3. How It Went Wrong
As I said, for the vast majority of our customers (well over
90%), everything did go more or less as it was supposed to.
But when you're dealing with 18,000 people, that's not nearly
good enough.
We could blame it all on the fulfillment house letting us down,
but that doesn't do a darned thing for our customers, and
besides – I'm the genius who hired them. When you do hire the
wrong fulfillment house, that bad decision gets magnified big
time.
You see, when you're shipping physical products, it takes about
3 weeks to even have the slightest inkling of a problem,
because for the first 2-3 weeks, your products are supposed to
be on their way to the customer. By the time you find out that
a whole lot of products were *not* shipped on time, or not
shipped at all… well, the damage is done.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
4. I'm Sorry
I could go on all day explaining everything that went wrong,
but that wouldn't be fair to those readers who just wanted to
hear me say "I'm sorry." I am. Profoundly so. But I'd like to
tell you the rest of the story – and I think I can make it
worth your while to listen.
So, here's what I've got for you: a 23-page report (PDF) with
the entire blow-by-blow story. Everything that went wrong. How
our team responded. What we learned. The steps we've taken to
make sure that this *never* happens to our customers again.
I'll explain how *you* can avoid making the same mistakes,
and a few things that just might help you do truly amazing
things for your customers.
There are some real gems in this report for anyone who does
business online – including an amazing solution to speed up
international shipments.
You can download that report here – no opt-in, no nothing,
just download it and read.
Thanks for your interest in StomperNet and The Net Effect!
Andy Jenkins
CEO, StomperNet
P.S. For anyone who thought we were going to just disappear…
Not a chance. Issue #3 is shipping now, and we'll be ready to
take on new subscribers in a couple days.
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you leave a comment below with a question
or comment about your specific order, it may or may not
be approved for publication. However, all such comments will be
forwarded to the support address above. This is to make
sure Customer Advocacy is aware of your issues, as this
blog isn't the best place to get in touch with them.
We don't want you to think you're being ignored, but rather we're
taking the proper steps to ensure you're taken care of. Thanks!
I'm north of the 49th, and it took a bit longer to get to me than I expected, but I had communication from you in the interim.
As others have said, it was well worth the wait- immediate, actionable content. Thanks for an excellent resource.
It is exciting to see that your customer service really cares. The volume that you send out is a task in itself. We are very please with the content of the material. Very useful as we continue to grow our business online.
Nice work man..keep it up.
Hey Andy, just to let you know you are still loved!
Yes my stuff was all over the place but eventually it has settled down and the bottom line is that the info in the DVDs and the Net Effect is just spot on as usual. I, like one of the other commenters here have pretty well unsubscribed from the noise and just go with the Stomper stuff now.
Why? Cos' I tested it!
I love Stompernet and won't let this issue keep me from buying this stuff. Keep up the good work.
Patience is a great virtue to have…. Andy you guys and a few others ( you know who you are) have enabled us to run a 7 figure company online and now open one of Australia's best SEO companies with some of the things we learnt even from STSE 1.0
SEO isn't going away…. It takes time to learn and if a few weeks make the difference then your in the wrong business.
Of course the alternative is that people just get so damned excited about the product
Eitherway despite the issues I was proud to promote STSE 2.0 and gave it my full recommendation.
Even with the issues. its still well worth the wait.
Thanks for the post, I'll be reading your story shortly in the event we can hopefully avoid anything like this should we be in this situation.
Kind Regards
Marc Lindsay
It sounds like I'm part of the minority that received their copies in the advertised time frame. In fact, I just received issue #3 today. I've been satisfied with the subscription, and even though I haven't had to interact with your customer service, I'm definitely impressed with the lengths you've gone to get things right and make things right with your customers. Well done!
Thanks for the explanation even though I did not have any problems. The Net effect and STSE2 are Excellent!!!!
Andy – You guys have been amazing through these problems that happened! I have to say that I am really impressed – and also grateful, for your giving all of us a chance to learn from the mishaps that occurred. That is so real and genuine of ya'll. And of course, The Net Effect and STSE totally ROCKED!!
Hey Andy,
There was a little delay getting my package, but no tears were shed. I intended to cancel the Net Effect after the first issue, but there was just too much good stuff in it that I could put to use right away.
Now instead of combing through all the free newsletters from every guru out there I've pretty much unsubscribed to all of them (all but a few anyway) and rely almost solely on the Net Effect to aggregate all the information for me.
My only problem is with the Canadian dollar going in the tank the price has increased by 20%…but unless you've got any solutions for the Canadian economy, I'll just bite my lip and shell out the premium. It's great stuff.
You guys are great and have really helped me put our businesses on the right track.
Sorry to hear about the fulfillment problems and glad to hear they have been resolved. We got our Net Effect magazines pretty late but the wait was absolutely worth it. Fantastic material!!
I received my magazine and DVD just great but my dear friend who I made to feel "had to have" this magazine…did not. He still has not received anything.
I know to some $39.+ a month isn't much but to some it is. This for him was a decision to purchase this and go without something else. The lack of customer service made StomperNet, The Net Effect and me look like a less then professional operation.
I appreciate your owning up to your mistakes and the confession. I hope to learn from them, myself. I hope you will also send out an email with this explanation to all your past and current clients as not everyone will be reading this blog or be subscribed to your Twitter.
blessings,
Wendy
Twitter: WendyMerritt
From Andy Jenkins – Wendy, every customer who reported any sort of problem was sent this communication. We've just started to release it, and are making sure that all things are working according to our spec. As we have more feedback, we'll send this communication out to the general public.
Thanks,
AJ
P.S. Feel free to send your friend this information with our phone number and emall address. IF there's still a problem, we'll jump on it immediately.
It's refreshing to see someone share a failure. Thanks Andy. While my DVD cases were damaged during shipping I didn't complain because they still played and the information was so valuable.
Hey Andy,
No worries, Sh%t happens. We still love stompernet.
Great report tho. I just read the first page, let me go and gobble it up. Peace
By the way, can we call that number if we had some problems with some of the bonuses that we received back in April? Thanks
Hey Andy,
No worries, Sh%t happens. We still love stompernet.
Great report tho. I just read the first page, let me go and gobble it up. Peace
I hope the people this apology is intended for appreciate your efforts. I want to say thanks. My magazine arrived in a very timely manner. Along with the DVD'S.
Thanks for all your efforts to educate us that are slow to keep up with all that matters.
Gary McElwain