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!
