Wagglepop 2: Deja Vu as Auction Site That Left Sellers Stranded Reopens

[Anita]

"I dare you to post one of Ray Romeo's eBay board posts on the WP boards.  The reaction could provide us with hours of amusement.  Ray's 3rd post in this list would be the best to copy and paste to WP: http://forums.ebay.com/se...omeo361&numResults=15"

Sooooo tempting...

[Alskling]

Well, after doing a little bit of editing and even more sanitizing, I posted my farewell to WP about 5 minutes ago:

Here it is:


I have no doubt this post will be deleted within a nano-second of me hitting the submit button, since it is the truth and the truth violates board policy.

I’m closing my WP store for REASONS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION, so I will expound on a couple that are easiest to explain.

Contrary to “the spirit of WP”, the way I have been treated by some members here has been anything but “courteous and respectful”. A few examples of many: I must be listing “junk” otherwise my items would sell (or at least get hits); I must be in debt up to my eyeballs, be a poor business woman in need of serious credit counseling, too impatient, or just plain lazy. On one occasion, (the spotlighted seller in the current WP newsletter) was fully allowed to attack my character and business ethics on this open forum and more than insinuated I am a liar and a cheat while the “friendly” community cheered him on and Karen ignored it. I was then chastised for being insulted, and when requesting a public apology (as he did this in open forum) it was only THEN that Karen stepped in to twice remind ME of the board policy and reprimand ME for misbehavior. I call this favoritism fueled by selective and totally arbitrary policy enforcement. I’m still waiting for an apology.

Moving on to buyers? I recently sold several items to a buyer on one of my non-ebay stores. The buyer was obviously anxious about dealing outside big “E” which he knew and trusted. I answered his questions and made him feel comfortable by finding more about HIM and HIS wants and needs. The buyer, an elderly man with Parkinson’s disease, was simply accustomed to doing business face-to-face with a nod and a hand-shake. NO wonder he was so anxious. Soon realizing I did not have what he really wanted already listed, I scoured my inventory and listed several items for his consideration. He chose wisely and payment was delivered WITHIN MINUTES.

Immediately upon arrival of his purchase, he leaves feedback.
Oct. 11, 2006 10:12 - This seller is the best I have ever dealt with on the internet . . .  goes the extra mile . . . answers all questions promptly. Patient, good communication, ships fast. . . was my personal shopper . . . items more beautiful than I imagined. I appreciate the great service – won’t go anywhere else, buy with confidence. 

This buyer later confided that he originally came to WP as recommended by a friend whose computer and ID he was using (he has no computer or PayPal account). He read the boards, perused the stores and asked lots of questions. He claims he was treated rudely, his questions went unanswered and he felt unwelcome and unappreciated. The site was hard to navigate and with all the seller promo on the home page it seemed obvious all WP cares about is recruitment of sellers to open stores. Because the site was recommended, he felt an obligation to come to the boards, express his dismay and explain why did not want to patronize WP. Apparently management here didn’t like it. Without warning the account was suspended, and thus he was unable to read the courteous, respectful, friendly comments made about him: “what a trouble maker”, “a not for real buyer”, “probably an eBay troll”,  “one of those sent over to stir up the pot”, and on and on. If one buyer is treated this way and has the good conscience to come back on the boards here to say it, then you can bet your booty there are probably countless others who feel the same who have simply moved on.


It’s all about sellers. Sellers, sellers, sellers. Smiley faces, breakfast clubs, bunnies and balloons. Look at the boards! Do you see any questions or comments from buyers ANYWHERE? I don’t. What makes a seller? A buyer, of course. So how many sellers really are there here? With $10/mo plus commission and upgrade fees coming out of sellers’ pockets and no advertising to bring in buyers in return, who are the sellers really supporting?

On several occasions I have asked, but my post is always pulled: "What incentive do buyers have to shop WP instead of E or any place else they know and trust?" First off, most buyers have never heard of WP, and considering its history, that’s probably a good thing. It matters not if the shelves are dripping with Tickle Me Elmo XTs, if buyers don’t know you exist, they can’t find you. Secondly, if buyers are treated like this one, they will stuff their hands in their pockets, walk on by and never, ever look back.

Cyber-hugs, smiley faces, coffee chats, and bunnies dancing across my monitor like ping-pong balls do not make my business. Buyers do.

I’ve tried to sanitize this post the best I could, and deleted much of what I could have said, but didn’t. Trust me, it could have been much more colorful.

I know there are some good members here. I can’t call them sellers, because many of them have yet to sell an item, or, if they’re lucky, one or two from other members. If you don’t believe me, do your own research and trace the “sales”. Sales are up, but what's being sold? With 14.37% of the total listings concentrated in the very similar category of books, sports cards, magazine ads and post cards, I think the answer is clear. Sad to say, most here ignore reality. They’ll stick their fingers in their ears and patiently wait for Godot. But as of today, there will be one less GOOD SELLER. 

I followed the second hand on my watch. In exactly 40 seconds of pressing "submit", the post was pulled. Exactly 20 seconds later I receive this email in my in-box:

Hello,

For failure to comply with a direct request from staff, we are terminating your Wagglepop user account effective immediately.

Please contact Customer Care about settling your remaining balance.

Karen - WP Customer Care

[cranky_hippie]

I followed the second hand on my watch. In exactly 40 seconds of pressing "submit", the post was pulled. Exactly 20 seconds later I receive this email in my in-box:

Hello,

For failure to comply with a direct request from staff, we are terminating your Wagglepop user account effective immediately.

Please contact Customer Care about settling your remaining balance.

Karen - WP Customer Care

Ray probably lurks here and was just lying in wait so that he could banish you permanently.

Hey, Ray! Why don't you drop in and tell us why you would treat sellers like this? C'mon, big boy! Defend yourself, if you dare.   mileyazwipe:

[stardust]

It needs to be on the stores board, either as a new post or embedded in a kumbaya post already there.

[Jen]

Anybody else see the oxymoron in "comply" and "request"?

The language I've seen used in these notes from customer service is so militant sounding.

As in "you will be assimiliated".  I thought there was a borg smiley here, but apparently not.

Nice you got out of the tribe/cult/etc. culture over there.

[Alskling]

[quote author=Alskling link=topic=3775.msg27728#msg27728 date=1160927037]

For failure to comply with a direct request from staff, we are terminating your Wagglepop user account effective immediately.

Please contact Customer Care about settling your remaining balance.

Karen - WP Customer Care[/i]



[/quote]I just received a follow-up email to help me pay the existing invoice of $9.95, which was sent Oct. 10 and covers the period of Oct. 19 - Nov. 19. Since I registered on July 19, and paid monthly in advance, my account is paid up to Oct. 19. They've already gotten me to donate $30 to the cult -- I owe them nothing and refuse to pay this invoice. I suppose I'll get some threatening emails on this, but I owe nothing and they will not get one penny more from me, "business is not always about money", as one cultist said, unless of course, your name is Ray. Again, how do you spell the word H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E?

[rho]

Alskling, you know, there are quite a few seller water coolers...sharing your experience and well thought out commentary across many forums would be a great help to those considering diversifying. Plus, it would get catalouged in search engines very quickly. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL READ IT THIS WEEK. Word of mouth advertising, is a good thing.

AuctionBytes has a forum, owta, too. There's goodtopics, powersellersunite, theauctionboard, and more. Some have hundreds and some have thousands of members.

Cockroaches hate the light. I hope you're lurking, Ray. You remember me. It's me, Rhonda, the person who hooked you up with Swartz over at USA Today for the article in 2005. You wasted my time and effort. Worse, you wasted space that could have been used by a decent human being to help advance the marketplace for sellers. Go suck a donkey d!ck, a$$wipe.

[xppman]

You know anyone who knows me here knows how much I hate this stupid thread.
But I must admit. It's getting a bit interesting to see this whole cluster fuck unfold.

Wow rho...
You are the one who hooked Ray up with that USA Today article?

Man what a bummer.
Hey maybe you can get Swartz to do another piece on
how this guy if fleecing unsuspecting sheep like sellers.
You know how Tom Borkaw or who ever,
used to have the nightly news segment about
the Fleecing of America.

This guy Ray seems like a real jerk for sure.  :

[stardust]

When it comes to something like WP, folks will be fleeced only if they WANT to be fleeced....  It's not $100 per month, it's only $10.

Same thing with ebay core listings -- or stores listings that aren't going to be *seen*.  If the seller chooses to continually throw his money to the wind out there, knowing that there is only a slim chance for a sale, he/she is doing so with the full knowledge that there's a fleece job going on, and that they will probably lose it all.

Sorta like gambling now, really.  Everybody knows the slot machines are rigged for near-nonexistant payoff, and that the house wins 99.999% of the time.  But they'll still throw their money away trying and trying to be that one .001 that wins.  Lottery players who buy $10 - $100 tickets a week are even worse.

With WP, wiser folks with other viable options will get out fairly rapidly.  Weak sheep who see no other options will stay the long haul and choose to suffer the abuse. 

[thentavius]

Regis said:

Why the past tense?  He's still telling the same lie to his new recruits.

OHHHHH!!!!!!!! I stand corrected. He's STILL lying to people about having a crack "team" of "programmers." I wonder if they're still employees in "his department."

*cough* ...umm, I suppose the crack team might be the software customer service people, or the software technical support.  ;D

"Business is not always about making money."

I'm sorry if I might seem to lose my cool here, but this is the DUMBEST thing I've ever heard.

I mean completely moronic--especially in context.

If they want to run a "business" that is in it for esoteric gratification, they should open a non-profit religious organization. Any money made can be used to support the members.

WTF?