[quote author=Designers Bargains link=topic=3775.msg58611#msg58611 date=1183219741]
Present store count: 197. Store count in October 939.
As of today, WP has lost over 4/5 of its stores, and even more of its sellers, since many of the remaining Poopers have multiple stores, and a good chunk of the remaining stores are proven ghosts.
I don't know about anybody else here, but if I lost over 4/5 of my business in the last 8 months I would think:
a) I made a major mistake somewhere
b) Something terribly wrong with my business model
c) This is not the business for me
Instead, Ray thinks:
a) Damn those non-payers
b) I did everything right, and if it weren't for all those naysayers and miscreants, everything would be wonderful
c) I'm still the next best thing since sliced bread and a real alternative to eBay
Now, lurkers, PS, MBB, User and all youÂ
drugged drones, which assessment seems to be the most sane and logical to you?
[/quote]
Well, according to a PM I received, your 'Ray thinks' letter B is the correct pick! (bolded mine)
If people don't stop criticizing WP management and customer care, then soon there will be nothing more to complain about... or something like that.
Word of Mouth Advertising is as old as the hills. Each business makes of it what they can. No matter where you go in life, if you're treated well, you tell everyone; same goes for if you're treated poorly.
Just because the TT forum for this subject is widely known about and read, does anyone think this is the only place to find discontent concerning WP: the site, the management or the customer care? Really? Do you think it's all just here?
Yes, word of mouth advertising can be beneficial or harmful to any business - that's why, when you're a real business, you do your very darnedest to make sure your customers are happy.
WP the site, IMO, blocks potential buyers from buying, hides itself from the outside world and is one big, online auction joke.
WP management, IMO, lies constantly to it's sellers (it's customers), hides behind it's sellers and does nothing for them in return for their investment. WP management, IMO, has driven their 'business' into the ground all by itself.
WP customer care, IMO, is a joke beyond any normal joke! For a 'new' rep to come in and blame the sellers there, the customers, for the old rep's departure? For being negative? Hahahahaa! Who in their right mind goes into customer care believing it's a job of sunshine and flowers? Customer care reps handle the moans, groans and complaints and should never, ever let the customer see them sweating over any of it. That's what customer care is.
So, IMO, folks are going to believe what they want to believe. They can believe the real business people who post on this forum are just trying to complain enough to ruin an innocent business... that's anyone's choice to believe. I choose not to believe that. I choose to believe that word of mouth advertising is what it is - a business does good, for the most part good will be said about them... likewise, if a business does some lying, some cheating, some ripping-off... word of mouth advertising isn't going to bode well for them at all.
No one's to blame but the business, it's management and customer care. No one but 'them'.