Seller 70

dear reviewers & blogshop owners,
i'm so sorry to disturb but i really desperately need your help.
there has been this girl which hacked into my blogshops, my facebook and my own personal blog, even my msn.
you can see it from http://pastel-stripes.blogspot.com & http://midnightcarnivale.blogspot.com
she claims that the sites have been sold but IT HAS NOT.
please please please help me out by posting on your blog, where i know there's lots of ppl reading, that
ANY MAILS, ANY REPLIES COMING FROM THAT SITE, IS NOT FROM ME.
PLEASE HELP ME. :(
i just found out about this today and am trying my best to settle this over at my end.
also, i would appreciate a forward of mails to all blogshop owners regarding this matter.
we're all in this circle of blogosphere together.
i will in return help out if anyone here had any problems like this.
so, please, help me out dear blogshop owners and reviewers. :(
i've lost all contacts, all customers details as well.
i've created a blog regarding this matter here, http://myhackedaccounts.blogspot.com
everyone can read the whole story there.

here's my new blogshop instead.

http://lacedcorset.blogspot.com
thank you and sorry for everything.

-val from MC and PS-

Seller 68

Hey dear all shopblog's owner,
Im still new in bussiness as im still young and i'm just a normal secondary school student which im not that familiar with certain things.

So far,i have no problem by tolerate with all my customers.Somehow,there is sometimes the customer making so angry by saying something that make me feel bad or im a bad seller.I dont mind about it but i think the customer should understand us.This is because myself ,i am a buyers too.There are some cases which is very uncomfortable for me as im explaining to them and they claimed that it is my fault.

Case 1:
This few customer asked my restock and i did with their promising of no back-outs.They agreed.I've got all their details,i mailed them and tried to contact them but i have no idea why i couldn't get them.

Case 2:
Customers asked me to restock more than 4 items.Yeap, i did because due to their enquiries but when i got the stocks for them, they seems ask to give free postage.I told them that it is impossible because we dont have this special privilages.They asked again for free postage,and i repeat my words.I said then,you should inform us earlier if you are unable to pay for the heavy items postage.Then,she said "so,it was her fault not telling me earlier" .I really lost of my words.In the end ,i have to give her free postage for all the items and i got no profit at all.I feel very uncomfortable for treating me like this.

p/s: Some customers are very kind and nice but sometimes certain buyers must understand our condition.Also and what should i do when i face this problems again!Thanks :)

Seller 67

hey FT!

i know, all of us as sellers (including me) have experienced customers who are difficult.
but there are some customers that really make life so much easier for us, and they definitely make up for the difficult customers!

recently we had our second batch, and due to some problems with our suppliers, they didn't ship out the shoes until 12 days after i had placed the order!

so my customers received their shoes a whopping 23 days after batch 2 was closed!

technically, it does state under the t&c that shoes may take up to 4 weeks to arrive, so customers must be prepared.
but, in our first batch and the batches of other blogshops also selling US pre-order shoes, it only took about 2 weeks or so.
so naturally, customers should feel like 23 days is WAY longer than they'd like to wait.

and yet, instead of facing angry or impatient customers, i faced the best possible customers i could have asked for!

they all re-assured me that "shit happens" and it wasn't my fault, but the fault of the suppliers, so theres nothing i could have done about it..
not a single customer complained about the long wait, and were all chirpy upon receiving the news that the shoes had finally reached KL..

but one customer really blew me away!
firstly, she was rushing to get her shoes for her graduation ceremony (thankfully they came in the nick of time!)
so thus she was busy with preparations and rehearsals and all that...
secondly, i don't drive and my mum's driving is limited to certain places that she's familiar with...

and this customer took time out of her busy schedule and actually drove to a place that was convenient for me but totally unfamiliar for her!
and since she arrived early at the meeting place, she waited around half an hour for me.
when i arrived, she didn't even complain and she was chatty and all smiles, saying that she didnt mind the wait!

even after making her go through the long wait and all the trouble running around for her shoes, she actually told me she'd be shopping from me again!

that seriously made my day (:

i would say im blessed to have customers like them!

xoxo,
tsc.

Seller 66

hey there FT,

as seller 61-64 said, it's true.

there are many experiences i've encountered with the buyers.

among the serious ones are,

case 1:

buyer was delaying payment and once payment was made, she demanded it to be posted out on that day itself.

ever thought that we had other commitments?

when i said i couldn't, she got all chaotic and started saying she's disappointed and stuff.

how irrelevant is that?

then she said, "customers are always right."

case 2:

buyer wanted to COD DURING MY EXAMS WEEK.

she demanded me to get to her car, so i went finding although i was studying for my exams, she called and said she was behind me. her being so demanding, and hung up the phone on me when i was talking so nicely, despite all that, i still put on a smile on my face and COD with her.

she looked moody, so i thought it was something that happened before she came to meet me.

i didn wanna get involved.

so, i COD and just left. suddenly, she texted me saying i'm rude, i'm demanding and that she's paying for the stuff she bought from me. i need to be a better seller.

wth?? i smiled although she was rude and said i was rude and SHOULDN'T OPEN A BLOGSHOP WHEN I HAVE EXAMS. SO IRRELEVANT.

when i asked what's her problem, she said, "customers are always right."

case 3:

buyer begged for discount and i finally gave in.

when posted, she claimed the item is ruined etc etc and wanted me to be responsible. saying cos she asked for a discount then i decided to send her a ruined item. who on earth would be so stupid to ruin their own reputation by posting something ruined?

once again, she said, "customers are always right."

many more cases that happened and one post would never be enough.

HOWEVER,

the conclusion i concluded is that ppl always say, "customers are always right."

i totally diagree.

think about it, us sellers, are trying our best to make your shopping experience the best, as we know how it is like to be a buyer as well. waiting for your purchase to come, OF COURSE, is normal. however, over anxiety causes stress and impatience. then, release it on the sellers.

and when the sellers defend themselves, they start saying that we're not good sellers cos we're rude and shouldn't open a shop.

what is going on here??

we're humans as well and we have other commitments and responsibilities to attend to. just cos you're paying, doesn't make you all right. fyi, one right doesn't make up wrongs. we're buyers as well. just ask nicely and your deed will be returned, some way or another.

we go to the extend of getting stocks for you girls, under the hot sun, fuel money, time, effort.

going to the post office to post/COD, and what do we get in return?

a slap across the face accusing this and that.

are we not appreciated as sellers?

that we should just keep quiet and let you buyers step all over us?

think about it.

ponder.

we're all human after all.

on the contrary, there are certain customers which i enjoy dealing and going the extra mile for.

because they are friendly, patient and well-mannered.

these are the ppl which i appreciate and will get appreciation in return as well.

being rude/demanding won't get you anywhere.

thanks for reading.

Seller 65

Dear Fashion truth,

I'm not sure if Seller 61 & Seller 62 have faced the same pain as I do but I have had one customer who ordered a bottle of OPI top coat from me and just vanished into thin air. I nudged her through MSN (though not many times cuz my MSN is spoilt), emailed her a few times and also SMS her but she did nothing to confirm anything from me. We agreed to COD either 2 or 3months ago at BSC but our time could never fit so she kept delaying it until today. And I can't even locate her.

So far, I've only have one MIA buyer like this and I'm really frustrated because now that she ordered an additional top coat worth RM40, I need to cover the cost price myself. Note that all my products do not have as high profit margin as other items cuz we're trying to keep the price low. The extra top coat is still sitting on my table waiting for its owner to come and collect it.

Please ask buyers to be fair on us. We equally demand for high quality services and goods but at the same time, please make sure that you have already fulfilled your own responsibility. Note that we sellers are not full-time sellers and most of us are actually students who have assignments and tests just like you buyers have. Please be considerate and mature enough to don't take online purchasing as some online game instead.

To FT,

I've always wanted to post comment on your blog on praising vendors & sellors etc yet I've never had the chance. Though today is just to share a quite bad experience of mine, I still hope you guys would keep up the good work and let online shopping be nothing but fun and pleasure. :)

Thanks very much.

Seller 64

Dear FT,

I agree with Seller 61 and Seller 62 100%. I don't mean to carry this on (commenting on buyer's do's and dont's) but i feel like i have to say this as i've read it many times on your cbox. I see lots of buyers, when they are unsatisfied with the seller who send out late shipping due to class/exams and such, they'll say things like "if u're so busy then close your blogshop la' or 'if no time to do business then why open in the first place?". Honestly, it is kind of harsh.

Most of the sellers i know are students and obviously we got classes, assignments, exams and such. But we are NOT busy all the time, maybe the buyer caught the seller during a bad moment, say during exam week or the week to submit assignments, presentations and all so i'm begging buyers to please understand this. So their comments asking us to close our blogshops is really ridiculous. We might be free last week but we can also be super busy the next week. Not everyone in the world has the same class schedule.

Of course we sellers will try our best to post the item asap but if we're too busy we might have to postpone the shipping. I'm sure most sellers will notify the buyer of the delay so please, respect the seller.

I had this customer who took such a long time to pay that when the payment is finally made, my schedule is hectic and i was super busy. I explained to her and she said the exact same thing to me, told me to not open a blogshop if i'm too busy.

Excuse me, i'm only busy for three days not for three months so please dont go saying things without thinking. Why is it okay for buyers to take a long time to pay up but it is not okay if the seller cant make the shipping on time? Because customers are always right? Sorry, i think that can only be said to a certain extent. Buyers aren't always right in every situation. I just get really upset that buyers dont seem to understand that sellers have things to do in their life too, just like them. And most importantly, sellers that are still students have to put their education first. So don't blame them for delaying the shipping. Unless they dont say anything then ok, but most sellers will sure inform theire buyers.

Maybe it is the buyers who are the ones who should not shop online if u're to impatient and have no respect for other people. U demand things to be sent on certain days and yes, we do try to oblige but if we're too busy/something suddenly happens (accident or anything we cant forecast) and we explain to you, PLEASE understand the situation. Some buyers who make prompt payment are super nice when i told them that i have to delay postage due to certain reasons but some are just hell to deal with. So to buyers out there, i do hope u can change your mentality and accept that sellers have a life too, they're not born to serve your every needs and whims.

Seller 63

Hi Fashion Truth..

It's regarding the Seller 61 and Seller 62 stories.

First of all. I would like to show my heartfelt thanks to two of them for raising up their voice upon all the "aggravated" us,the seller.
Now it's my turn to tell the stories of my side.

I have had an COD experience with a buyer previously.
She placed an order to us and we met at one place to arrange the deal.
When we meet that time, she said she doesn't want the item anymore without any explanation.
I had purposely gone to the place to deliver the items for her but then she said she didn't need that anymore.
That's really annoying.

Anyway.
Another experience of mine is much more annoying.
I have had a buyer who purposely requested me to look for her the similar shirt which had appeared "SOLD OUT" in my blog.
It happened in the mid of April.
I tried very hard to help her to find it and at last I managed to get it.
She was happy with that and agreed to buy it so I purposely placed order and restock it for her.
Then she changed her mind on the colour she requested.
First she requested for blue then changed her mind to red.
It's ok so I just told the supplier to change the colour too.
After the item arrived, I text her to pay us the amount.
She told us she was busy and asked us to reserve her till 15th of May.
I said ok I'll reserve for her (she requested for 1 month) and waited for her payment.
Then when the day came (15th of May), I asked her about the paymant again.
She said she was still busy and had no time to make the payment.
Then she said she want to cancel the item.
I was speechless....
Hey ... you mean the item you wanted us to purposely restock for you.
After the one month long reservation, you told me that you want to cancel your order?
Isn't it unfair to us? The seller who had tried very hard to look around high and low for the clothes you specifically requested for?
Why can't she inform us earlier if she didn't need that clothes anymore?


For the seller 62, I totally agreed that it's pointless to blacklist them as they would have changed their email or name.
Therefore, it just depends on our luck I guess.

Seller 62

Firstly, to Seller 61, I really have to say that I admire your courage to speak out for all of us and thank you so much. :)
Reading the comments, i see that a few other blogshop owners have come across customers like that and no doubt, I've been there too and maybe still there. But really, Seller 61 has covered a fair bit of what's happening.

In my opinion, I find those 'set the deal, MIA and back out' customers the most annoying. What I mean is that, they e-mail and say I want this item, is it still available? I would like cod/ postage please. So okay, after a few e-mails, deal is done; and we're just waiting for the cod date/ payment. Suddenly, they don't reply e-mails, and/or text messages, then at the last minute they back out and say "oh i don't think I want it anymore, so sorry". Are you really sorry? If you have a sense of guilt, you would do more, such as a valid explanation maybe? So please, please think about it before you even make your order. Confirm you really want it and are able to get it. Inquiry and asking questions about it is fine, even I would ask too, but at the end of that, please confirm whether you want them or not. And if you have confirmed, do not be so fickle minded to back out after that for no good reason (excuse?). We've reserved the item(s) for you, but if this is how you want to treat us in the end, sorry, you're implicitly blacklisted.

Sure, you can always think, "...but customers are always right!" No dear, it doesn't work this way. Perhaps try to put yourself into a seller's shoes. Visualize quite a number of people backing out after going missing for like, a week!; or being superrrr late for COD without earlier notice, cancelling COD last minute when you're already there/heading there, the issues go on and on. You would get frustrated too! Tell me if I'm wrong that you won't get frustrated.

Plus, we all have a life. Which is why COD is arranged based on both sides' convenience. If I'm not mistaken, quite a few of the blogshop owners are students, including myself. We all have classes, tutorials, assignments and exams. Some of us study further from our homes and some are tied up with many other responsibilities. Everyone is busy with their own affairs, right.

Shall we just try to understand, give and take and co-operate and make online shopping easier for all of us?

Thank you, FT, for posting this up and thanks to you, who read this.

Seller 61

hey there FT

i'm not sure how this works but i'm gonna write something that i think all sellers have been through at least a couple of times trying to survive, run a legit business and keep one's sanity at the same time.

i'm not good at being politically correct all the time but please bear with me as i've been reading the stories that buyers wrote to you about and in turn i'm tyring to write about some of the hardships that buyers put us through (though obviously not everyone, but trust me,
this happens)


1) MIA buyers
as much as i believe its your right as a buyer to get as much information as you can before deciding on a purchase, i've come across buyers who ask you a billion questions about a garment and then went MIA with no particular reason what so over. please, we dont mind if you change your mind about something, but please, out of common courtesy, inform the seller if you're no longer interested and have decided to move on with your lives so that we can do the same too. if you could type 10 emails on everything imaginable about the garment, whats another email saying that its not what you're looking for.

2) Inconsiderate COD buyers
i have not come across any blogshop that didnt carry a clause stating which areas they cover for COD. most of them will also state that its subject to their scheduling / availabilities and some of them just dont have COD service by choice. so please read the terms carefully and whatever you do, dont do what my recent buyer did to me. first and foremost, my areas for COD are ss15 subang, the curve and tesco shah alam. this particular buyer started off by asking me to send it to her in PJ. as her good luck would have it (and not mine), i was going to be in PJ for an official business on that said day so i thought 'what the heck. if this is what's gonna keep my buyers happy, i will certainly do it'. at first she said in Old Town PJ, then it changed into her office, then she changed the timing twice, then she said she's not working on that day, then i suggested we meet in Old Town's McD (nearest to her house). first she said okay, then she asked me to
send it to her house, and i replied i dont do house calls (WHO DOES?) then she said okay on McD. On the delivery day, she said since she's not working, she might be going out with friends, knowing full well that i've told her that i will be texting during lunch hour as thats the time i will be free to get out of what i was doing, and when i did text her, she's already in Midvalley and asked me to send it to her there! all this while being aware that

a) PJ is not my COD area as stated in the blog to begin with but i agreed anyways.
b) being fickle about timing and stuff as if she's the only one with a life
c) disregard completely that this is a FREE service and disrespect the fact that CODs also very much depends on my availability and schedule.
d) postage option has been communicated to her since the start seeing how difficult it is to set a fix time to COD in the first place.

c'mon lah. this is INTERNET business where the main mode of delivery is by postage. we aint Dominos.

c) I want it now! buyers
if anyone is like me, its typical to give a margin of about 3 days for a transaction to be done. one day to confirm order, the next day for payment, and the day after, mail. but there's billion buyers out there who are under this impression that once they confirm to us that they're buying, they think its ok to take 2 to 4 days to give us the silent treatment, pay on the 4th or 5th day and demand to know why it takes another 2 days for their purchase to arrive. logic = one day pay, next day mail, next day arrive. translation, if you pay on Monday, you'll most likely to get it on Wednesday. but if you pay on Monday at 11.59 and seller's already asleep, and they get/read your payment confirmation on Tuesday, then most probably they'll mail it on Wednesday and you'll get it on Thursday. good God, if you cant possibly wait another day for delivery, why the hell you pay 4 days after order confirmation??

its so easy to point fingers and blame sellers on everything that you're unsatisfied about. but please take a moment to think about the human factor. with all that being said, i've also had so many buyers who are prompt, lovely to deal with and it reflects one's personality to begin with. by the end of the day, if you cant make payment, or you think you'll be late, just notify us because (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT) we are doing business. once we've taken the item off the menu for everyone else and put it aside for you, please honor that commitment by knowing that there might be other buyers out there that we have to say 'sorry,out of stock lah' when they are more than ready to make payment there and then.

its a two way street and i'm not speaking on behalf on everyone, but i bet i struck a cord.

"Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you."

thanks FT (and sorry for the long email). As Spock would say: 'live long and prosper'. heheh.

Seller 60

Dear buyers
i'm writing this on a behalf as a seller.

please dont be so demanding. although u may think that "customer is always right", it totally doesn't apply all the time. Get a life, buyers. dont think that since u're the one buying and paying, u have every right to demand for everything. buyers especially take ages to pay up. after taking ages and a few pushes from us to pay up (since they have already confirmed the order), they then demand us sellers to send out the item TODAY itself. Come on!! we sellers have a life too. First u take so long to pay up, once u pay up, u expect sellers to send out the item on the day itself.! that's very irrational.

another thing is, not all sellers sleep late/wake up early and check their emails every single hour. we dont carry our laptops every single hour or stay in places that has internet connection all the time. for example, this buyer paid up at about 8am in the morning and she demanded her item to be posted out on the same day itself. dont we need time to pack it??

buyers do understand. please be more considerate too. dont demand and think that u're always right. because u're not. we sellers are human being too and certainly deserve some respect.

thank u.

Seller 59

[edited 18/4/09]

Hi dear,

I usually don't have any comments about blogshops out there even though i'm an avid reader of ur blog. After reading a "hot topic" about the coco goddess = footy bag = so on (not sure since it's just in the chatbox) so i decided to go check out myself. And there's also a debate on Coco Goddess taking Ablincs photos to post it up.

I can't believe my eyes when i finally saw Footy Bag actually selling an AAA Replica LV Galliera for RM590 with the pics taken from my blogshop! Of course the bag is of high quality because i took from a 100% GENUINE bag bought from Louis Vuitton shop. The price is actually too high for a Replica. I wonder how is the quality when the bag is received.

I can accept if she's using my photo (maybe she forgot to asked my permission or quote me) but it's unethical by using a Genuine bag to sell a replica. We all know that Genuine bags are way much higher in quality. What got me mad was that she actually erased my blogshop's name at the bottom.

So just a friendly reminder to all of you out there, please be aware when dealing with blogshops like that. Just becareful because i hope this thing doesn't happen anymore!

Thanks Fashion Truth.

- Elegant Poise

----------------------------

from Footy Bag

we're at peace now :)

Footy Bag have emailed Elegant Poise about the matter.


The bag selling at Footy bag is not a fake, and it's a second hand. (as claimed in an email sent by Foot Bag)

Seller 58

Dearest Fashion Truth,

I'm an online blog owner and I'd like to share with you regarding an encounter with this client of mine.Thinking of it makes me really frustrated. Well, here goes:

It was a couple of days ago, where I had to meet up with this client(whose identity we shall not reveal due to ethical reasons...but blogshop owners who are interested to know who it is can ask me and i can e mail you the persons name privately). Anyway, so we met up in the specified location as planned.However about an hour before the time that we arranged, she text messaged me to ask if we could meet earlier. So we had to adjust our timing to hers since customer service is one of our priority. She requested for a pair of tights and was also contemplating on a pvc leggings. Hence we brought that extra pvc leggings just in case. At the time of the meet, I asked her again if she wanted the pvc leggings and she said no. Well, here's where the story really begins. I made a silly mistake by accidently leaving the pvc tights in there. So we departed the scene and moments later, it hit me that i had made a folly. Bugger. I know.. I know.. I'm partly responsible for this.. and i won't push my responsibilities aside. But what i'm trying to get at here is to highlight a question of conscience with customers that u might encounter. So I texted her immediately, asking her if I could get the pvc leggings back from her since we only just departed.I waited...and waited.. no reply. So okay, I thought maybe she's busy with something. This went on towards the night and i tried calling again. No answer. I texted her a couple of times, for the next few days, and well, i guess I dont have to say where that ended. Anyway, that got me thinking....who in their right mind would actually throw away their morality for a mere Rm28 worth of item? Does that mean you could actually buy someone's morality for just that small amount? Right now the only consolement is the paradox of it all, who between us really loses the most?

We'd like to hear opinions from other blogshop owners and their takes on this issue. Thanx for posting this up FT...really appreciate it =)

xoxo

Seller 57 & Bazaar Organizer

Dear all,

Would like to comment on the SOHO KL Bazaar on 28 March in Solaris Mon't Kiara.

I was one of the vendors there, and would like to express our Disappoinment at the organizers of this bazaar.

Firsly, I would like to start with the location of our booth which is located way back behind the restaurants (They name is BLOCK B). The map that they email us is different from what we get in the location. When I confronted the guy in charge, he said that was the exact same map given by Solaris. They will do their best by tring to put signs and arrows to direct ppl to walk our lanes in Block B. Though it is exact map given by Solaris, all they could do is to explain truthfully to us that we will be block by a whole building of restaurants, but they fail to do so.

When we arrive at the Organizers booth, We deal with a lady named Marlena, she attend to our mails too. When she gave us a booth, there was NO greeting nor Smile. Ita alright because we know she must be busy the whole day. I than ask her for the full map that she email us because I wan to show her a prove that what she mail me is dif from what we get here. All she said was "No, I did not print the map" and look away to attend to other ppl. Is this how she treat someone when we already paid for the booth and she can ignore us just like that?

The Bazaar is suppose to start at 12 pm , and we vendors were supposed to go set up at 10.30 am. But when we reacH at 11 am, they told us nothing is ready yet and we ll have to come back in a while. Doesn't it sound ironic? In their leaflets and brochures, modelling, belly dancing and a big crowd were promised. The modelling start at 4 and last about 20 minutes and that is all. The worst thing is that there was no one to watch modelling, how sad. All the promised belly dancing and big crowd did not exist at all.

Never mind to that, after setting up our booth under the HOT SUN, from 1 pm to 4pm, not more than 10 person walk pass our lane or booth. So do I blame it on Luck that no one walk to Block B, or do I blame on the organizers for putting us somewhere that no one can see? (Honestly, if i were a customer myself who goes to Solaris for a flea market, I do not even know that there are booths behind and would not even waste my time walking there)

About close to 5 pm, rain start to fall and the wind was so strong that we have to move our things to a dif place, and we were shifted to somewhere near the lift (Inside the Solaris Building), also not visible at all. Minutes later, guards came and told us off for being there and start to take picture of our booth to file a complaint against. Whose fault is this again? Us or them?

Finally when the rain stops about 7 pm, we manage to move to a dif location which is so much better. Thats when our business start but isn't too late? And we have to shift around like DVD sellers.

At 7 pm, the organizers only starting putting arrows and signs for ppl to follow the directions but what is the point? Shouldn't this all be done at morning before the Bazaar starts and not when its gonna end?

I expected Solaris to be a good place to attract ppl, but too bad this organizers fail to do so.

Lastly, I want to Compliment this particular Malay guy who was in charge of the Bazaar. WE and a few other booths went up to him a few times to create a complaint and fuss but he still attend to us with a smiling face. He was very tolerant with us though some of the vendors rudely told him off and ask for refund. All he did was smile and attend to what we want, and he did try his best to accomodate. KUDOs and Cheers to him.

Finally I will not reveal my name because I will give this organizers a chance and participate in their next bazaar. (Reason: Thanks to the Malay guy, I believe he did try his best, but maybe things really did not work for him in Solaris) AS for Marlena, she should learn about basic manners before sitting at the front booth to irritate her customers. Hopefully, in the next one it wont be as terrible as this.

Thanks all,

XOXO,

Unhappy Vendor

---------------------------
from A Fair Weekend


Thank you for the email. I am the Malay guy stated in the email and I'll be more than glad to clarify the whole situation from the email and complaint that you have sent in.

Yes, we did sent out the exact map that was given exactly to us according to the building specification and all we did was to cut in different Zones and put tables in the layout. We did not do anything that would in any form manipulate the layout or any of our vendors.

We have again and again coordinate with restaurants to not block any of our pathway and even until now, if you were to go to any of the restaurant in Zone B, you will receive the same response from them saying that not in any way they have blocked the pathway.

It's highly known as well that Marlena has good relationship with a lot of vendors and I would think a lot of vendors out there can testify to that. Even outside of work or event, most of the vendors still have chit chats and drinks with her and she is known for the attachment made with people. I would definitely think that, you would have said or done something that could have upset her or anyone for that matter. Organizers are also human and not perfect in any way, the sense of courtesy should be mutual. We're not punching bag and we do respond to certain extent. Yes you have paid, but money doesn't tolerate with rudeness.

According to the timing, we were slightly late due to logistic problems but you have to appreciate that the organizers actually carried 80 six feet times three feet tables with their bare hands because of the contractors caught up with lorry problems. AGAIN, have the courtesy to ask or understand as everyone is not perfect. Although we recognized that some of the vendors had a good time during our bazaar we openly express our disappointment which we couldn't reached our expected crowd. However, please do bear in mind, we have tried our best to do marketing to accommodate the need of the event. Yes, the modelling lasted about 20 minutes because only 8 vendors participated in giving their clothes. We wouldn't force anyone else to join if they didn't want to.

I personally take the blame if I failed to redirect the crowd and my personnel to put the signboard ASAP. The logistic problem faced in the morning brought a bit too many after problems and I personally is to blame. Only me and my fellow colleagues was weight lifters, then we would've carried the tables faster and could've done more. The reason we made the bazaar at 12 onwards as the sun will rise on top of the building and Zone B will be cooler at 1 onwards.

When the rain fell, we coordinate people to move in, not only your business halt but most did as well. We do not control the weather and the security did report about the pictures to us and this was cause by some irresponsible person who did not follow our instruction and moved the table where they should'n't such as in front of the lift. We told her not to but she did anyway because she said other bazaar organizers let her stay at such places according to what they want. Blame us for putting some rules and we do take the blame with the security and we never blamed you did we??

My smile was merely of many years of experience working in a very active and challenging corporate companies but I myself feel that we have done everything that we can do for the vendors. I have been based in Middle East where shouting and yelling and stress/pressure is normal. For me shouting at each other is normal but even Middle Eastern do not tolerate with rudeness. I realized you did NOT mention about the name tags, the signage, the table cloth, FREE FOOD that we provided and I feel that making something happen is still mutual between vendors and organizers. If we have tried our best there's nothing more satisfying to see people being thankful and appreciate our effort and if it's not mutual, i would recommend that you don't join us AT ALL as we don't share the same vision. I openly confess that not in any way this is something one sided and whatever we might have face, we definitely will continue supporting those who truly believe in us and have supported us in many ways such as Bunny Noo, So Haute, Lollipulp, Art Junkish, Raskal, Pastelshack, House of Allure, Sexxay Stuff @ Sexxay Price, Tidani Collection, Lush Serendipity, Jiju Cakes to Share, Eye Candy, The Aura and many many others, we will continue to provide the BEST of our abilities. Only people who believe that we can be the best will we make them the greatest.

That's all I can say for now as we're busy preparing for the upcoming bazaar in SOHO on the 25th and 26th April which will provide and offer what we can truly do. All other bazaars by A:fair will be put into rest and cancelled to accommodate this glorious A:fair Weekend Biggest Bazaar @ SOHO KL on the 25th and 26th April 2009. We will have a lunching ceremony to mark the A:fair Initiative to help Entrepreneurs, traders, retrenched workers and unemployed graduates. We want to grow to be the greatest with everyone.

Thank you.

A:fair Team joining hand in hand with all A:fair family

Seller 56

hi
i'm a seller and i read that alot of sellers gave full refund or resend the same item to the buyer if the items didn't reach the buyer.

i know it's out of kindness for doing so.

but would a seller be considered as inconsiderate, rude, selfish if she doesn't do so?

Seller 55

dear FT, i am a seller and i would like to know where i stand in this case. a buyer bought something from me and paid me on saturday which means i can only go to the post office next week. but on monday i have class 9am to 730pm and was only told that tuesday until friday i will have to conduct site survey everyday, 9am to 5pm. it was so hectic, packed and quite hard to get internet access, let alone go to the post office. so when i only managed to tell the buyer i cant send it she was quite upset which i understand and of course i apologized. the next week on monday, something terrible happened which involved multiple deaths. to make things worse, i was supposed to submit my final thesis and presentation on wednesday so i know that there is no way i can send out the item to her. so monday night, i emailed her, telling her i wanted to refund her back and i apologized as i am also a buyer so i know how she feels. tuesday she replied, saying she was disappointed etc which i read tuesday night. i tried transferring money but it stated there General Transaction Error for 3 times. (it was around 1am). so i decided to stop trying. and only today i managed to check my email again and she demanded her money. i dont mind that, but what really hurt me was the fact that she said "plz reply back about d refund progress and not ur problems to me." i didnt specifically told her what happened. i just said that i cant runaway from the problem and that if it happened to her, she would feel like its the end of the world. (i thought she would understand that it means i'm going thru a hard time/major problem) which means i cant do things (such as, online) as usual and as fast as before. so i'd like to know, am i wrong? i know i delayed the postage too long and yes a buyer she has the right to be angry but i just hope she'll be a bit understanding. i'm only a small time seller, i only sell preloved items (i dont go to suppliers looking for clothes to sell) so at most times, my studies (like the site survey i had to do, or else i'll fail) and other things comes first. i did tell the buyer, not be rude as i was really hurt by the way she replied. its not like i did this on purpose. i just hope she'll understand. can i konw, am i wrong in this case? i will apologize again if i am as i believe in admitting my mistakes eventho i've apologized before.

Seller 54

Dear Fashion Truth,

We from Piperlips have recently sold an item 'CrissCross Ruffles' in white to a buyer. A few days after sending out the item, the buyer replied us sounding very upset. It seems like the top we sent her was full of yellow stains. But the thing is that the three of us went to the post office together to send out the item, and we can swear that it was pure white in our hands.

Anyways, she sent us photos of the stains which she says she took under the sunlight, and it looked like as though someone had poured coffee all over it. Attached here are the photos, FT please post them up for all to see. [view picture above]

We were really shocked upon seeing the item's condition because we worn it on once for modelling [view picture above]. and then we sealed it back in the plastic bag. It was untouched, until the day we sent it out. And as you can see, the photo on our blog is in high resolution and the top is stainless. Could we have been that blind not to notice the huge obvious stains? After all, the top is white. The buyer claims that the stains can only be seen under the sunlight, and as we did our modelling indoors under white lights, i dont know if it was actually pre-stained or not.

At first, we offered a 50% refund to her and told her that she can keep the top as the stain was not directly our fault. But after much debating (via email) she insisted strongly on a full refund and sent us the photos, so we decided that it's only fair to her that we give her the full refund she wanted. Though we may incur some losses, but that's just how business is.

Im not writing in to point fingers at buyers or sellers, but i just want to inform buyers that they should be extra careful when checking their stocks. Before this case, we never knew that there are such stains which appear ONLY under sunlight. Now that we know, we definitely will be extra careful when checking our stocks. Also, we believe the top could have been damaged during delivery, but we have no way of proving that. We're just glad that out of our many items, we have only came across this sort of problem once.

To the buyer:

We're really sorry for this inconvenience caused, it was not intentional and we would definitely not send you a defected item on purpose to cause problems for ourselves. As you are a blogshop owner yourself, im sure you can understand that sometimes this sort of things happens without us intending for it to happen.

We would really appreciate it if you can reply us politely in future, for every email you sent to us is really harsh and rude. I know you're angry, but there is no need for rudeness and theats to complain about us on FT. It is business after all, and we dont want to get on anyone's bad side, and we hope you wouldnt get on ours. A little respect towards others wont hurt dear, angry words and rude comments are unnecessary.

No apology needed though, we dont blame you for being angry. For every thing, this case had motivated us to be of better service to you and other buyers out there. :)

Cheers.

Seller 53

the first 2 paragraph is meant for her,
coz she asked what kind of info i didnt want to disclose
so there u go

the later part of my e-mail, yes meant generally to all bazaar organizers

tq

-----------------------------
Kay dear,

i asked a simple question upon asking for refund:
1) How can you guys (the Organizer) put all all of us (60over vendors) in such a small hall? Coz it become very stuffy and comfortable for both seller & buyer

**and u answered - " i dont have any idea how come there's over 60over vendors, when the actual no. should be 40plus"

i mean, HELLO!!! u dont have any idea??? look at the floorplan u guys have done, so dont tell me u dont know about it!! and u added up: the stalls positioning werent supposed to be this (the mess). i guess if u or any of the organizing committee were there to inspect and help the vendors out upon setting up their stalls, this issue wont occur. Next time babe, be there to help us okay.. set up your own registration
table.. and stay there to monitor your event!!!!!

i mean,what kind of organizer is this, u can't give that answer to us (the vendors)?coz u guys have the power ro control the place right? i dont care if you are just helping out your friend, but as far as i'm concern you are the only "organizer" there. and tell your friend, if she has no guts to solve this problem face-to-face with the vendors, dont bother trying to become one.

only that part of our conversation that pisses me off..other than that, i appreciate the refund..but as far as i am concern, i am so over the nightmare of 3k bazaar!

btw, kudos to A.fair Weekend organizer!!! Very well organized, from the point i e-mailed them asking for space, right till closing. For the 1st time ever (after joining countless bazaars under different organizer for nearly 2 years), they've make an effort to print signage for each vendors. And they even provide food for us!! Keep up the good work!!

Reader 197 & Seller 52

hey dear,

im just a observer but i think wat this blog do is just don't seems right.i was browsing from a blog to another when i discover tis.there's a blog,vintage n new blog,http://redsyalove.blogspot.com/. she's selling shawl as well.but,the picture tat she's using is not taken by her . it was somebody else pictures..a fren of mine,N.she stoled the picture form N's page.N is also a shawl seller.n she sell at cheaper price.wasn't tat blog ashame with her action?even if she's selling the same thing,can't she even capture her own picture?so blog owner,please be responsibble n remove the pic from ur blog.


----------------------------------
from
Redsyalove

helo . im redsya owner http://redsyalove.blogspot.com/.nwy,the picture of shawl tu mmg i taken frm my fren.she giv me permission to sell her shawl n gune picture tu.n i dah mintak permission jugak untuk ambil untung which i naik kan harga sikit utk shawl tu.n n,shawl yg ade dlm pic xde stock dgn i,sume pada kawan i tu.so,i nak tye..salah ke i buat macam tu?nwy,its depends for ppl who want to buy the shawl from me or not.i xkesah.i buat yg speatutnye.about handbags,tops..and other stuff..thats mine stuff.thanks.if this answer xckup memuaskan.just ask me.n thanks sbb tegur i.
:)

Seller 50

Dear FT,

I run an oline blogshop selling accessories since December. Everything was quite ok and customer were nice. But recently I have been told by 2 customer their parcel went missing. One at TTDI area another one at Metro A Zon 5 area somewhere around KL Centre.

I don't know is it the postmen fault or somebody steal their parcel from their mailbox cos they were using Pos Express which doesn't need any recipient signature.

I was wondering, Should I fully refund to customer which their parcel went missing? But literally they're paying free money receiving nothing...

If I should refund, how many % from the total amount should be refund?

T&C were stated in most blogshop saying they're not responsible for the lost or damage of parcel during the delivery process, but once the buyer ask for refund, it's kinda hard to resist because we don't wanna lost our customer right?

Really hope to hear opinion from both buyer and seller. Maybe together we can figure it out a perfect solution for both side when parcel missing incident happen to any one of us.

Another thing, I hope buyers can be more responsible after they have made any order at any blogshop. After you asked and ordered the items, if you don't wish to purchase the item then at least you can let the seller know by telling them so that seller won't be hanging there don't know what to do. Especially hot selling items. Some people enquired the same item, but due to the irresponsibility behaviour of previous person went MIA after ordered, we seller actually don't know should we or shouldn't we sell the item to other person.

Please buyers, check your mailbox see is there any unreply emails to the seller. At least make seller confirm the cancellation of your purchase. This will help us to clean up our mailbox ALOT. ^^

Thank you FT for publishing this letter.

Hope buyers and sellers can both have fun trading in the e-shopping world!

Seller L

Seller 49

From House of Allure

dear FT,
read all d comments in your blog regarding to 3k bazaar held recently. i was there of course.
yes, it was horrible and weakly managed. i have been joining countless bazaar, and to date this is the worst organizer i've ever encountered.

but that's not the reason i'm writing to you. i'm just not happy with seller 48 allegations, she mentioned my brand (house of allure) for taking up larger space than what has been provided. Did she know that i have to share my space with lawa-lawa? funny when people just want to make noise without knowing the fact. and lawa-lawa and i had to compromise with roundbean owner (if i'm not mistaken, that's d stall name) to place our table and combine with their table, so we could place our name cards , plastic bags etc.

that was why i asked from Kay (the messenger) for refund and told her i am not interested to join on sunday. come to think about this i should have asked for my space rent on saturday too!! buut nevermind la, my sales already cover the space rent.

upon complaining, Kay gave such unreasonable, unacceptable and immatured expanations to me, which i don't want to expose in here. To me this is going to be my first and last time joining them. Perhaps, they should just concentrate on their studies first. Rather than making life of others in such miserable conditions.i mean that place was not comfortable for both sellers and buyers. Just word of advice, please brush up your rapport skills because all the vendors are their customers. Any organizers should have come to each vendors and check on them, asked if we were having any problems, a simple hi would do!!

so, seller 48, get your info right before dragging other person in your problem, just because you are not happy with any particular party. just remember, i am a victim too!!