I just wanted to relate an experience I had recently with this company. The service they provide puts a lot of people selling guns in touch with buyers and vice-versa. It's a great thing and enabled me to sell my AR-15. The problems I experienced were after the sale, and were limited only to one employee's handling of some of my e-mails.
After sending payment to GA to cover the listing/selling fee, I continued to receive requests to pay for that transaction. Later I received an automated e-mail which was meant to enable me to clear my account. I suppose I should have recognized the e-mail for what it was, but I thought, "what could it hurt just to make sure?".Then I e-mailed them just to clarify what I should do and to ask them to please stop sending the payment requests.
The reply from GA:
I would read that account summary and then if you feel you need to email
us, do so. It specifically asks you to resolve the problem yourself. There
is any number of reasons, our fault and yours, why a payment would not be
credited. You were given the link (link)
that can clear any invoice and you could have saved us both a lot of
energy.
This doesn't exactly clear things up, and I felt the tone was a little brusque and rude. I don't expend a lot of energy writing an e-mail. I definitely don't expend more energy composing a courteous one than a rude one. I then e-mailed GA back to let them know I thought that their reply should have been more professional and let them know that I wouldn't be able to use them if that's how I'd be treated in the future.
The reply:
Do you know any "ebusiness" that allows you to sell something to tens of
thousands of people daily for 1%of the cost? We've been in "ebusiness"
since before "ebusiness" existed. If you don't want to sell here, bye.
I should have known better, but I contacted this particular employee one more time to encourage him to be courteous to customers whether they were right or not and to treat them professionally.
Response:
I think the problem is that you misunderstand the intent. Our focus
isn't whether you're right or wrong, it's to get you to stop emailing us
because it adds to overhead. This endangers our ability to keep prices low
for the average American gun owner. GA is not for people who want hand
holding. If you're in business you know that nothing is more expensive
than manpower with skills, skills to answer quesitons that if the person
read the directions, wouldn't be asked.
Overall, my point is not that I neccessarily disagree with the points made in the replies from GA. It is the WAY in which the replies were worded that is the problem. Again, I don't know how expensive it is or how much skill it takes to answer an e-mail. I do know it costs no more or takes no more skill to answer them in a courteous manner. Of course I could just be picking nits, but I guess I'm just spoiled from dealing via e-mail with people like Gary Smith, George Smith, Virgil Tripp, and many others who are courteous no matter how "silly" the question. I will continue to give them my business because I know that any e-mail I send them will never be considered simlpy an "addition to overhead" requiring "hand holding".
BTW:I am not discouraging the use of GA per se. I still think it's a great way to buy/sell firearms. Just do not be surprised if this kind of thing is what you experience when you do and have a question or concern you need addressed by the folks there.
[This message has been edited by hhsmiley (edited 11-08-2001).]
After sending payment to GA to cover the listing/selling fee, I continued to receive requests to pay for that transaction. Later I received an automated e-mail which was meant to enable me to clear my account. I suppose I should have recognized the e-mail for what it was, but I thought, "what could it hurt just to make sure?".Then I e-mailed them just to clarify what I should do and to ask them to please stop sending the payment requests.
The reply from GA:
I would read that account summary and then if you feel you need to email
us, do so. It specifically asks you to resolve the problem yourself. There
is any number of reasons, our fault and yours, why a payment would not be
credited. You were given the link (link)
that can clear any invoice and you could have saved us both a lot of
energy.
This doesn't exactly clear things up, and I felt the tone was a little brusque and rude. I don't expend a lot of energy writing an e-mail. I definitely don't expend more energy composing a courteous one than a rude one. I then e-mailed GA back to let them know I thought that their reply should have been more professional and let them know that I wouldn't be able to use them if that's how I'd be treated in the future.
The reply:
Do you know any "ebusiness" that allows you to sell something to tens of
thousands of people daily for 1%of the cost? We've been in "ebusiness"
since before "ebusiness" existed. If you don't want to sell here, bye.
I should have known better, but I contacted this particular employee one more time to encourage him to be courteous to customers whether they were right or not and to treat them professionally.
Response:
I think the problem is that you misunderstand the intent. Our focus
isn't whether you're right or wrong, it's to get you to stop emailing us
because it adds to overhead. This endangers our ability to keep prices low
for the average American gun owner. GA is not for people who want hand
holding. If you're in business you know that nothing is more expensive
than manpower with skills, skills to answer quesitons that if the person
read the directions, wouldn't be asked.
Overall, my point is not that I neccessarily disagree with the points made in the replies from GA. It is the WAY in which the replies were worded that is the problem. Again, I don't know how expensive it is or how much skill it takes to answer an e-mail. I do know it costs no more or takes no more skill to answer them in a courteous manner. Of course I could just be picking nits, but I guess I'm just spoiled from dealing via e-mail with people like Gary Smith, George Smith, Virgil Tripp, and many others who are courteous no matter how "silly" the question. I will continue to give them my business because I know that any e-mail I send them will never be considered simlpy an "addition to overhead" requiring "hand holding".
BTW:I am not discouraging the use of GA per se. I still think it's a great way to buy/sell firearms. Just do not be surprised if this kind of thing is what you experience when you do and have a question or concern you need addressed by the folks there.
[This message has been edited by hhsmiley (edited 11-08-2001).]
