Stories from Readers 25

First off, I have to commend the effort of setting up this blog. I think it will be an immeasurably useful tool when it comes to online shopping. After all, with blogshops sprouting like mushrooms all over the net these days, we can never be sure of which ones are reliable and which are not. I am relatively new to online shopping and though I enjoy doing it considerably, I think in the short time I've been buying online I have already met with more 'less than satisfactory' shops/owners/services than necessary.
Blame it on lack of research, impulse buys, or just plain ignorance, but I think there are some issues which blogshop owners need to know and take seriously.

First I'd like to talk about quality of the clothes which are being sold and the honesty of blogshop owners when it comes to this issue. I'm sure many of us have been scammed when it comes to the issue of quality. And because most blogshops are selling clothes which are obviously generic or without a brand, you can expect some stuff to be less than up to the standards you expect them to be. However, what really irks me is when these owners deliberately lie by describing their clothes as "very good quality" when it is anything but. It is even more irksome when their photos so clearly show that the clothes you are selling are of less than desirable quality (in fact, blogs like these hardly ever receive a second visit from me). Such blatant lies don't leave very good first impressions on the customers. And like I said, buying these clothes at budget prices, I admit that we cannot expect them all to always be of top notch material, but if your clothes are not of "very very very good quality", and you insist on selling them anyway, have the decency to be as honest as you possibly can. And if you can't then just don't mention anything about the quality instead of lying about it.

This leads to the second and if I'm not wrong, probably the biggest issue about online shopping. The price. It's really ridiculous the way some blogshops mark up their prices for goods that do not even come close to the kind of money you're paying for. And even if there are no complains about the clothes, at least price them appropriately instead of trying to rip off your customers. Yes, we all want to make a profit, but please do make sure you're ethical about it. Relating to one experience I've had, I bought a dress from one of the many blogshops out there (out of politeness, I shall refrain from naming this particular blogshop), but the dress is one of those batik/grecian maxi types that are all the rage now. And though I admit that this particular shop was the first one I saw to come out with this dress, imagine my horror when a month or so later I see the same dress in different shops selling for half the price. I bought the dress for RM89, and it's now selling at most blogshops for around RM50 or so. The cheapest I've seen is RM 49. Imagine... it's not a RM10 difference, or even RM15, but it's almost RM50 more expensive. And not only did the owner price her dresses so ridiculously, but she had COD charges and was almost an hour late for the meet up. To be honest, I very unashamedly asked for a discount because being an hour late to me, is totally inexcusable and she had the audacity to tell me she had "no change". To give her the benefit of doubt, maybe she really didn't. Anyway I didn't tell her straight what I thought at that time, but I already made up my mind to never buy from her again even before she arrived with my dress. So all in all, I paid almost RM100 for the dress and shoddy services and when I checked it, I found stray threads here and there which was enough to tell me I had made a very expensive mistake.

My experience is one which I do take the blame for partially. Because I admit I didn't do enough research and no one forced me to pay such a ridiculous sum for a dress. But based on my experience, I'm hoping to highlight the fact that just because there are some ignorant buyers out there, doesn't mean it's ethical for owners to price their wares so ridiculously and try to rip off customers. Because while customers may start off ignorant, they learn too. People are not stupid and maybe you can get away with it once, but once people realise they have been cheated, then you're never going to get that customer back. And I think as a person running a business, it'd be very unwise of you to not consider the future of your relationship with your customer. Customers can be very loyal and can help you make a lot of profit if they decide they like you enough. And so the same goes if they decide they really do not like you, they're never going to go back to you. So please, to all blogshop owners who are yet unaware of the importance of customer service and building a good relationship with your customers, do take note of this.

And on a short note in relation to customer service, I really have to give props to the owner of Clothesbucket for being the best and the smartest that I have come across so far. I believe she is a shining example of someone who knows the importance of building a relationship with your customers and maintaining them.

I hope I have not offended anyone with my opinions as I know some things might come across as pretty harsh. But I also believe I am not the only one out there who feels that way. Yes, we customers are to be responsible buyers, and have to learn to be smarter and do more research and we do buy at our own risk, but at the same time, a business relationship is a two way thing, and I believe that there are many blogshop owners who can do much more to make buying a more pleasant experience for us customers.