PTI stands for Papertrey Ink. This is a collective smack blog and Papertrey Ink review page. Papertrey Ink's continuously poor customer service has lead to a page dedicated to discussion of this stamp company and recommendations for alternative stamp companies. Minimal censorship here- I prefer to leave it up to posters' discretion.
The opinions posted on this blog belong to our visitors and we are not paid for our honest reviews ;)
19.39 Their anniversary give-away hoo-hahs are quite impressive tho and I am sure this will bring back many customers, and get in new ones as well. Not me tho - I just want to use my rewards points, not that many, and get out of there!!
the anniversary giveaways would be impressive but I've heard enough stories of people never receiving them, or receiving them really late not to care. Especially now that elephant woman is in charge.
So far I am pretty unimpressed by the announcements. Great giveaways if you ever get them. PTI logo shirts? Please!! The cheapest item would cost $18 plus change with shipping. And that would give me a chance to win a $24set that would take months to get to me. Um, no thanks. Seems like the packaging change is hit or miss. I like the "no more rolled labels" part of it but really wanted them to do away with the excess packaging and put sets in a cello bag. I like the patterned paper. The stamp set peeks, meh.
Nadine & Sheri, you naughty little smackers! LOL. Just kidding. I knew you guys were visiting here anyway from the POC thread.
Sheri, you are one of the PTI forum members on my "hot girls" list! You go girl!
Okay, my take on the anniversary shennanigans:
~ loving the patterned paper packs and the ability to get just 1 pattern if you want.
~ the stamps are not really impressing me...been there done that (Um, doesn't PTI already have a you color my world stamp? how many stamps do you need that say the same exact thing???)
~ packaging - don't really care. I've only ever bought 2 stamp sets from them.
~ giveaways - hell yes I'm entering. i don't care if it takes forever to get it in the mail either, since i'm not a stamp collector.
~ upcoming dies - I'm curious about these.
~ cafe press tshirts...laughable. I checked them out and thought "I'll pretty much NEVER see anyone IRL wearing a PTI tshirt." and no way am I buying on just to have a chance at winning a free set. that is ludicrous. and the 'take a pic of you wearing your shirt next to some monument' is asshattery.
~ cknutti - give it a rest you closet smacker. you are such a hypocritical bitch. me thinks you got busted on the piece of cake thread and to throw everyone off the scent you back peddled and became Queen Shit of PTI's Turd Mountain. Get over yourself. no one cares.
Kind of meh on the anniversary release so far. Nothing is a must have. Nice to see people trying to organize their own get togethers though. I've met some really lovely people through the boards IRL. Does anyone know if MFT has an alphabet die set?
Oh and 07:16 that's kinda creepy that she PMs you.
no you are not. She has sent me some very un-chirstian PMs.... i'd love to copy and paste them on the general forum so others can she what she is really all about.
Or you could threaten HERE to expose her and since we all know that heiffer reads here, maybe she will stop for fear that you actually will share her private snarkiness.
You don't have to worry about outing yourself since she apparently sends nasty grams to bunches of people, she'll never know which one is ready to give up the goods.
I haven't been on the boards in AGES but why the hell had Ted changed his photo to ashley judd? he's really getting sneaky and making it hard for me to ignore his posts when he keeps changing his stupid picture!
Our new website will be launching within the next 24 hours. Please note that we anticipate potential issues and we will continue working to get it ship-shape! Should any problems arise, please contact Customer Service and we will be happy to work with you to resolve it.
With the new website, we regret to inform you that we will be raising the threshold for free domestic shipping. Due to recent price increases by carriers (USPS and UPS), we will now be offering free domestic shipping at the $70 level.
6:16 You made me giggle. Take my word for it. Old? Yes. Hot. No. BTW, I found out about the PTI smack blog when I was having a customer service issue of my own.After not getting the right answers from PTI CS, I went to the PTI board to see if anyone else was having any issues and I sort of felt like I was not only totally alone, but crazy for suggesting there could even be a problem with CS. Since that time, it has irked me to see others shamed on the PTI Board. Boy, have things changed though. If PTI had stepped up and handled the problem correctly for myself and so many other people too ,I would still be in dark...and there may not even be a PTI Smack blog ..at all.
Oh hell no. free shipping after $70?! that is fucking ridiculous. my friend just discovered PTI and wants to order even though i tried to warn her about their CS. i bet when she sees this shit she will think twice and go elsewhere. what a bunch of greedy ass whores.
^^^ ITA. I was interested in the new things coming out for the anniversary but their blatant greed is killing me. guess i will continue not buying from pti. they are making it easier and easier to turn away without looking back.
They are not lying about the increases, unfortunately. And shipping is something you can't control.
I dont begrudge them for upping their free shipping limit. Lots of places have theirs at $100.. and to me, they are paying shipping out-of-pocket once its free. and cardstock is HEAVY.
I'd post snarky pm's on here in a HEARTBEAT. But then, I;m a nobody, seldom hit the boards, and basically, don't give a shit anymore.But hell yeah, I'd out her bitchy ass.
PLEASE out that cknutter. It's PTISmacker3 here and I will post it specially on the front page if you want. Then everyone can see what she wrote to you :)
I have no desire to go and bow at the feet of NH and the DT. I don't want a picture taken with them. I don't want their autographs. The hero worship of these people by some of the sheeple is just beyond me.
I'm glad SAF is online. I like the idea of a kit I can purchase and follow along with as I desire. I have no interest in meeting Nichole or any of the other sheeple in person.
Not crazy about any of the stamp sets this month but I really like the card sketches and paper packs. The pinterest boards are also helpful, hopefully will work much better than their stupid gallery.
So the liar Nichole strikes again. The new medallion set is $18 because it's bigger. However, on her blog she stated that prices will stay the same at $15 or $24.
I was pretty surprised when I saw today's post. I didn't see a single project that was a wow, and I thought it was odd that there were so many posts from what I'm coming to think of as the B team. At least there was nothing from Beth, for which I am truly grateful.
The new medallion set isn't just bigger. It is 33% bigger. But the price is only 20% higher. That doesn't sound f'd up in my opinion. People have been asking for longer background stamps for a while now. You can't expect to get 33% more stamps for the same price. That would be f'd up!
I've heard people complain about Tiffany Pastor's work being really sucky and I just checked out her blog. Boy oh boy...smackers aren't lying. Maybe she's busy or whatever (like who isn't busy) but she doesn't even try to get the ink all over the stamp before she puts stamp to paper. Sloppy!
And I'm no fan of Lizzy Jones. Graphic designer or not, her cards aren't clean and simple, they are plain and snoozeworthy. And her attitude on the forums is snarky and bitchy. Maybe she should be the new CS girl. She's got the perfect demeanor.
And I'm no fan of Lizzy Jones. Graphic designer or not, her cards aren't clean and simple, they are plain and snoozeworthy. And her attitude on the forums is snarky and bitchy. Maybe she should be the new CS girl. She's got the perfect demeanor.
10 February 2012 07:58
=========================
That's exactly what I thought when I first saw her website today. I had to come here to see if anyone else felt the same way.
Holy Cow!!! She wouldn't make it past the front porch with her latest cards on any other site!!!
I don't even know the girl, but if you're gonna criticize her cards, and the call to question her stamp designing abilities, that's comparing apples and oranges, IMO. I'm sure she wasn't "hired" for her amazing card making skills, but rather her ability to design stamp sets that Nichole & co think will sell. And since they seem to have a bit of a successful streak when it comes to selling stamps, I'm betting they knew what they were doing by scooping her up. We've seen all of what, 2 sets she's designed? One of which is all sentiments and will probably sell really well with PTI's int'l community.
I guess I'm saying it doesn't always take a good card maker to design stamps that will sell.
Wasn't the new website supposed to be up by now? I swear, PTI can't do anything right. Why didn't they just release the website w/out all the hype... e-mails & posts in the message board. They said "24 hours" and it's been almost two days...
Re: the shipping charge changes. Why didn't they come out and say "here's our new shipping charges. For domestic. For international"
Re: the pricing changes for stamp sets. Why didn't they come out and say "here's our new stamp set pricing. For small sets. For large sets. For new background sized sets".
Jenn, if you're checking here, put your new job title to work and get the complete info out at one time. Not in freakin' bits and pieces as it occurs to your little PTI minds or in answer to questions on the forum. Put a little freakin' thought into your communications.
Last year that had a new forum up for a total of 2 days and people went BONKERS because they hated it so much. I cringe to see what is going to happen tomorrow!
Create for Less just re-launched their website (not really an improvement, though; their search function still sucks HUGE balls) and sent an email advising customers that it was up and running.
It's almost like they planned to release their website with as little disruption to customers as possible.
It's almost like professionalism and foresight save headaches on the retailer and consumer end....
I just added a 'pretend' order to the website and it looks the same - only the forum has crashed. My 'pretend' order didn't show any alternatives for shipping either - maybe I should be a little more patient and see if there are going to be any changes to shipping (especially for internationals). Probably shouldn't hold my breath tho.
The new web site appears to be up. Broken links and old images everywhere, but that's not totally unexpected or unusual so soon after a launch. And it should be resolved over the weekend. Frustrating, but not bad.
The bad is the design itself. Most sites make big improvements in customer experience when they redesign and relaunch, but PTI didn't seem to make any strides there. In fact, it takes me 2-3 more clicks to get to most products. If I can find them at all. That's not going to help them break sales records, no matter how many rewards they offer.
It's definitely up, but I can't add anything to the cart - you'd think they might have tested that small feature before making it live! I can understand a few missing links - but, not being able to buy anything. Pretty big fail IMO. Not surprised in the slightest...
@21:41 - Wow...I definitely don't see that. That does look like a new website.
It's odd that they are limited in how to tell us that the new website it up. The forum doesn't work and some of us only see the old website (note that I'm located in the midwest). Nichole could post it, I suppose, but I guess she can't until it's live everywhere.
I'm not seeing the new website at all... I still get the old website w/ a bunch of broken links. I don't get it. They have been working on the new website for what? Two years? And they can't manage to launch the damn thing? DIDN'T THEY TEST IT FIRST?!?! Holy crap... I'm not upset... just baffled.
In California here and can see it now. It seems more complicated to navigate. Between all the different sections of "featured", "best sellers", and the bottom choices...it's a cluster. Too complicated.
Just like the new packaging - why bother changing something if you're not going to improve it. Still no wish list feature, no change in shipping options, more complicated to navigate. Like the "Shop by color" feature, but you'd think it would include the paper packs! Are these people just lacking in any common sense or what??? Total waste of time and money.....
oh boy the whole cart thing is so fucked up. i just see basic coding errors that would have been caught with some simple user testing.
in general I think the layout looks better but they didn't make any fundamental changes to navigation to improve the flow of things.
I don't see why it took so long. Nothing that special about this new website.
Although the shopping cart does offer your choice of ups, usps, free or "standard" shipping for $6.50. However, there is no shipping calculator so you have no idea what the actual price is until you get to the last page of checkout.
are they getting rid of the forums completely? There isn't even a link on the new website
And I know there are bugs to work out, but I'd love to hear them walk us through all the "improvements" that took so many years, because they are not evident to me.
I just tried to make an order, and it doesn't like my phone number which is the same one I have used when ordering for the last couple of years. Stupid. Won't let me get to the next step of checkout - I was curious to see if one stamp pad is still going to cost $33.50 to ship internationally.
It looks like the rewards are showing the total spent. I'm starting to worry if there will be security issues with the new site.
I wonder if this is the same web development company that had the rewards database messed up because it didn't account for the purchase of 2 of the same item on the same order. The sign up to access rewards didn't use any verification. Now, the rewards are not showing properly.
None of these things are groundbreaking functions. Shouldn't most any web development company be able to get these kind of things right?
How do you see your rewards on the new site? ----------------------------- I found it by clicking "customer service", which took me to a page where I could log in, see rewards, etc. It isn't really obvious how to get there.
As for the rewards amount, there is definitely something wrong. I added up all of my orders since 2/15/11, and the amount showing as rewards is much higher than is should be, but much lower than total purchases. It is *almost* 40% of my total purchases, which makes me wonder if someone put in the wrong multiplier, e.g., x0.4 instead of x0.04??
Just visited the new website. Its okay, I guess. If you don't know PTI by heart I could see having a lot of problems finding items. I did a mock cart and when I looked at it I had accidentally added five totally random items just by trying to navigate the website. I could see this being a problem for someone caught up in release night frenzy.
It would seem the fricking seed packet die is back in stock but listed as low. So proud of myself I still didn't order even though I've been waiting on that stupid thing forever.
I don't understand why it took almost two years to develop... it's exactly like the old website! And I put one item in my cart, clear boxes, and my zip code to calculate shipping... still $6.50. So people who want to order a couple of flat dies, two spools of ribbon, or other small items are still going to pay way too much for shipping.
I don't see too many improvements, and my rewards total is way higher than it should be. I hope Nichole walks us through how to access and use rewards points BEFORE release night... or else it will be a mess of really frustrated customers, especially if the forum is down.
I like the new site. I used what I thought I had in reward points and placed an order. It said I had 748.00 in rewards points. I just totaled my purchases up and divided by 25 (Crossing my fingers)
Don't even see a place to access the forum? What I do like is that the dies seem easier to find now and not just a pile of PTI dies in the order they were released. Going to check the shop by color feature...can't believe it if the cardstock isn't included in this option???
Going to check the shop by color feature...can't believe it if the cardstock isn't included in this option??? ------------------------------
Cardstock IS included in the shop by color feature. I'm not sure what the poster above meant... maybe the new patterned paper color packs, but they aren't out yet (hopefully they WILL be included under "shop by color" too).
I think low stock must really mean out of stock. I just noticed that the rustic wood vintage buttons are listed on the new web site. They haven't been available for a long, long time. I added them to the cart and saw the low stock warning.
I didn't try to actually place an order to see what would happen at that point.
I think low stock also means out of stock because some of the inks that haven't been released yet like Sweet Blush are listed as low stock. People are going to be really mad if they place an order only to be told they aren't in stock yet. That is, if you can even place an order today.
I am the above poster re: no paper in the Shop by Color. I had checked Spring Moss - no paper in that color option. Have just checked a couple of other colors & see it shows up. So my mistake...
I wouldn't be surprised if they just did away with the forum all together. Then again, they just promoted Jenn to (non) Communications Manager. What point would there be to that if there were no forum?
I just checked out the new site. I love that it has all my past orders, dates, contents, etc. Maybe that has always been available but I've never checked it so it's new to me. What is the accumulation rate for reward points? I'd like to verify if my points are correct.
I like that it allows you to link several email addresses to your account so those people who order under different addys can still accumulate points to the same account. I haven't done any other digging.
105 comments:
First! Im undecided about the anniversary hoo-hah…just waiting for the announcement of when I can use my reward points!
19.39
Their anniversary give-away hoo-hahs are quite impressive tho and I am sure this will bring back many customers, and get in new ones as well.
Not me tho - I just want to use my rewards points, not that many, and get out of there!!
the anniversary giveaways would be impressive but I've heard enough stories of people never receiving them, or receiving them really late not to care. Especially now that elephant woman is in charge.
so many of their "announcements" and big changes have never seen the light of day that I don't give a hoot anymore.
So far I am pretty unimpressed by the announcements. Great giveaways if you ever get them. PTI logo shirts? Please!! The cheapest item would cost $18 plus change with shipping. And that would give me a chance to win a $24set that would take months to get to me. Um, no thanks. Seems like the packaging change is hit or miss. I like the "no more rolled labels" part of it but really wanted them to do away with the excess packaging and put sets in a cello bag. I like the patterned paper. The stamp set peeks, meh.
Nadine & Sheri, you naughty little smackers! LOL. Just kidding. I knew you guys were visiting here anyway from the POC thread.
Sheri, you are one of the PTI forum members on my "hot girls" list! You go girl!
Okay, my take on the anniversary shennanigans:
~ loving the patterned paper packs and the ability to get just 1 pattern if you want.
~ the stamps are not really impressing me...been there done that (Um, doesn't PTI already have a you color my world stamp? how many stamps do you need that say the same exact thing???)
~ packaging - don't really care. I've only ever bought 2 stamp sets from them.
~ giveaways - hell yes I'm entering. i don't care if it takes forever to get it in the mail either, since i'm not a stamp collector.
~ upcoming dies - I'm curious about these.
~ cafe press tshirts...laughable. I checked them out and thought "I'll pretty much NEVER see anyone IRL wearing a PTI tshirt." and no way am I buying on just to have a chance at winning a free set. that is ludicrous. and the 'take a pic of you wearing your shirt next to some monument' is asshattery.
~ cknutti - give it a rest you closet smacker. you are such a hypocritical bitch. me thinks you got busted on the piece of cake thread and to throw everyone off the scent you back peddled and became Queen Shit of PTI's Turd Mountain. Get over yourself. no one cares.
Am I the only person that twatwaffle CKnutjob is hounding with private message? She is bordering on stalker!
Kind of meh on the anniversary release so far. Nothing is a must have. Nice to see people trying to organize their own get togethers though. I've met some really lovely people through the boards IRL. Does anyone know if MFT has an alphabet die set?
Oh and 07:16 that's kinda creepy that she PMs you.
@ 7:16
no you are not. She has sent me some very un-chirstian PMs.... i'd love to copy and paste them on the general forum so others can she what she is really all about.
I would love to see some of those PMs cknutti sent.
Yes, I'd like to see those pms... wondering if we will have another
oops, I tried to say I wonder if we will have another stalker drama...
There was stalker drama before?? Do tell...
@8:21... http://www.mftstamps.com/die-namics/by-the-letters-die-namics
Thanks 09:29!
Yes, please share the cknuttjob PMs.
Or you could threaten HERE to expose her and since we all know that heiffer reads here, maybe she will stop for fear that you actually will share her private snarkiness.
You don't have to worry about outing yourself since she apparently sends nasty grams to bunches of people, she'll never know which one is ready to give up the goods.
I haven't been on the boards in AGES but why the hell had Ted changed his photo to ashley judd? he's really getting sneaky and making it hard for me to ignore his posts when he keeps changing his stupid picture!
Oh FFS! Now this from Jenn:
Our new website will be launching within the next 24 hours. Please note that we anticipate potential issues and we will continue working to get it ship-shape! Should any problems arise, please contact Customer Service and we will be happy to work with you to resolve it.
With the new website, we regret to inform you that we will be raising the threshold for free domestic shipping. Due to recent price increases by carriers (USPS and UPS), we will now be offering free domestic shipping at the $70 level.
$70! Are they insane!
6:16 You made me giggle.
Take my word for it. Old? Yes. Hot. No.
BTW, I found out about the PTI smack blog when I was having a customer service issue of my own.After not getting the right answers from PTI CS, I went to the PTI board to see if anyone else was having any issues and I sort of felt like I was not only totally alone, but crazy for suggesting there could even be a problem with CS. Since that time, it has irked me to see others shamed on the PTI Board. Boy, have things changed though. If PTI had stepped up and handled the problem correctly for myself and so many other people too ,I would still be in dark...and there may not even be a PTI Smack blog ..at all.
Oh hell no. free shipping after $70?! that is fucking ridiculous. my friend just discovered PTI and wants to order even though i tried to warn her about their CS. i bet when she sees this shit she will think twice and go elsewhere. what a bunch of greedy ass whores.
^^^ ITA. I was interested in the new things coming out for the anniversary but their blatant greed is killing me. guess i will continue not buying from pti. they are making it easier and easier to turn away without looking back.
I wasn't aware UPS or the postal service had recently increased prices. Did they?
@13:13--uh, yeah. As of January 22.
https://www.usps.com/new-prices.htm
I don't think they're lying about the shipping increases.
They are not lying about the increases, unfortunately. And shipping is something you can't control.
I dont begrudge them for upping their free shipping limit. Lots of places have theirs at $100.. and to me, they are paying shipping out-of-pocket once its free. and cardstock is HEAVY.
What kind of things is she PMing? Like you dont have to be specific - but what is she saying?
She has to know that the people that run the board can SEE what she says - it might be private to us but not to PTI. WOW. talk about cyber bullying!
I'd post snarky pm's on here in a HEARTBEAT. But then, I;m a nobody, seldom hit the boards, and basically, don't give a shit anymore.But hell yeah, I'd out her bitchy ass.
Me, too, 15:56.
cknutter is one of those Christians who loves their image more than they love the actual principles of the religion they claim to follow so closely.
She's such a self-righteous hand-slapper. I'd like to give her a slap of my own ;)
@15:56
PLEASE out that cknutter. It's PTISmacker3 here and I will post it specially on the front page if you want. Then everyone can see what she wrote to you :)
Post it! Please?
So what does everyone think about SAF being online this year?
I have no desire to go and bow at the feet of NH and the DT. I don't want a picture taken with them. I don't want their autographs. The hero worship of these people by some of the sheeple is just beyond me.
I'm glad SAF is online. I like the idea of a kit I can purchase and follow along with as I desire. I have no interest in meeting Nichole or any of the other sheeple in person.
Not crazy about any of the stamp sets this month but I really like the card sketches and paper packs. The pinterest boards are also helpful, hopefully will work much better than their stupid gallery.
Since I'm at work I can't see it to check, but any sign of the new website that was promised within the next 24 hours?
^^^That would be a resounding NO.
In fact, the old site is still up and screwed up as ever. :)
So the liar Nichole strikes again. The new medallion set is $18 because it's bigger. However, on her blog she stated that prices will stay the same at $15 or $24.
What a fucked up company!
I was pretty surprised when I saw today's post. I didn't see a single project that was a wow, and I thought it was odd that there were so many posts from what I'm coming to think of as the B team. At least there was nothing from Beth, for which I am truly grateful.
The new medallion set isn't just bigger. It is 33% bigger. But the price is only 20% higher. That doesn't sound f'd up in my opinion. People have been asking for longer background stamps for a while now. You can't expect to get 33% more stamps for the same price. That would be f'd up!
Hi Nichole!
I've heard people complain about Tiffany Pastor's work being really sucky and I just checked out her blog. Boy oh boy...smackers aren't lying. Maybe she's busy or whatever (like who isn't busy) but she doesn't even try to get the ink all over the stamp before she puts stamp to paper. Sloppy!
And I'm no fan of Lizzy Jones. Graphic designer or not, her cards aren't clean and simple, they are plain and snoozeworthy. And her attitude on the forums is snarky and bitchy. Maybe she should be the new CS girl. She's got the perfect demeanor.
Uh, no. Not Nichole. You don't have to be Nichole to read and do simple math!
I dont think Nichole lied - I think she meant the EXISTING stamps will not be increasing. That is how I read it.
Lizzie Jones' new set is YUCKY, the fonts are FUGLY as hell! I always knew she stunk!
Damn... they're not that bad, 8:27. I'll be buying some for my int'l relatives & friends.
Taheerah Atchia - is that the same Taheerah on the PTI forum?
It is, why??
And I'm no fan of Lizzy Jones. Graphic designer or not, her cards aren't clean and simple, they are plain and snoozeworthy. And her attitude on the forums is snarky and bitchy. Maybe she should be the new CS girl. She's got the perfect demeanor.
10 February 2012 07:58
=========================
That's exactly what I thought when I first saw her website today. I had to come here to see if anyone else felt the same way.
Holy Cow!!! She wouldn't make it past the front porch with her latest cards on any other site!!!
Good thing she's a stamp designer and not a DT member for PTI.
^^^^This Lizzie calls herself a "graphic designer"? I call bullsh*t.
I think she flunked that course!
Did you see the bunny card? Here is how it goes and you don't even need to see the picture!
-plain pink cardstock, fold in half
-stamp bunny in center.
-color in heart stamped on bunny's ass
-throw in garbage.....NO WAIT, Nichole requires at least 3 samples.
I don't even know the girl, but if you're gonna criticize her cards, and the call to question her stamp designing abilities, that's comparing apples and oranges, IMO. I'm sure she wasn't "hired" for her amazing card making skills, but rather her ability to design stamp sets that Nichole & co think will sell. And since they seem to have a bit of a successful streak when it comes to selling stamps, I'm betting they knew what they were doing by scooping her up. We've seen all of what, 2 sets she's designed? One of which is all sentiments and will probably sell really well with PTI's int'l community.
I guess I'm saying it doesn't always take a good card maker to design stamps that will sell.
Is she a hooker IRL?
https://www.facebook.com/taheerah.atchia
Wasn't the new website supposed to be up by now? I swear, PTI can't do anything right. Why didn't they just release the website w/out all the hype... e-mails & posts in the message board. They said "24 hours" and it's been almost two days...
^^^That and they weren't going to make any changes to the forum and it's been down for a couple hours.
Once again, PTI fails at communication.
Re: the shipping charge changes. Why didn't they come out and say "here's our new shipping charges. For domestic. For international"
Re: the pricing changes for stamp sets. Why didn't they come out and say "here's our new stamp set pricing. For small sets. For large sets. For new background sized sets".
Jenn, if you're checking here, put your new job title to work and get the complete info out at one time. Not in freakin' bits and pieces as it occurs to your little PTI minds or in answer to questions on the forum. Put a little freakin' thought into your communications.
^^^^
This
Stop being so friggen reactive
Be Pro-active
That is all
Last year that had a new forum up for a total of 2 days and people went BONKERS because they hated it so much. I cringe to see what is going to happen tomorrow!
so what happened that Ted is kissing PTI ass again? Did he get another goat from Nichole?
This from an email I received (re new website) -
"Please note that we anticipate potential issues and we will continue working to get it ship-shape!"
Sounds like they are not even confident that their new site will work.
I don't get it - companies all over the planet get new websites working/changed etc so don't know why PTI cannot manage it.
^^It's more than a little mind-boggling.
Create for Less just re-launched their website (not really an improvement, though; their search function still sucks HUGE balls) and sent an email advising customers that it was up and running.
It's almost like they planned to release their website with as little disruption to customers as possible.
It's almost like professionalism and foresight save headaches on the retailer and consumer end....
I just added a 'pretend' order to the website and it looks the same - only the forum has crashed.
My 'pretend' order didn't show any alternatives for shipping either - maybe I should be a little more patient and see if there are going to be any changes to shipping (especially for internationals).
Probably shouldn't hold my breath tho.
What I see when I try to access the forum:
General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]
Table './phpbb5/phpbb_sessions' is marked as crashed and should be repaired [145]
An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.
The forum is still down ...
The new web site appears to be up. Broken links and old images everywhere, but that's not totally unexpected or unusual so soon after a launch. And it should be resolved over the weekend. Frustrating, but not bad.
The bad is the design itself. Most sites make big improvements in customer experience when they redesign and relaunch, but PTI didn't seem to make any strides there. In fact, it takes me 2-3 more clicks to get to most products. If I can find them at all. That's not going to help them break sales records, no matter how many rewards they offer.
^^^ I don't get it. The new website is up and it looks exactly like the old one? What am I missing?
21.25
I don't think this is the new web site yet - the shipping still states 'free shipping for orders over $60'. Think we might need to wait awhile.
Oh, it's definitely up, even if all of the DNS servers haven't picked up the change so everyone around the world can see it.
http://awesomescreenshot.com/0c2u4nb5c
It's definitely up, but I can't add anything to the cart - you'd think they might have tested that small feature before making it live! I can understand a few missing links - but, not being able to buy anything. Pretty big fail IMO. Not surprised in the slightest...
@21:41 - Wow...I definitely don't see that. That does look like a new website.
It's odd that they are limited in how to tell us that the new website it up. The forum doesn't work and some of us only see the old website (note that I'm located in the midwest). Nichole could post it, I suppose, but I guess she can't until it's live everywhere.
Can't access the forum and the website looks wrong. Awesome.
I'm not seeing the new website at all... I still get the old website w/ a bunch of broken links. I don't get it. They have been working on the new website for what? Two years? And they can't manage to launch the damn thing? DIDN'T THEY TEST IT FIRST?!?! Holy crap... I'm not upset... just baffled.
I'm in California and I'm getting the fucked up old website.
Idiots.
In California here and can see it now. It seems more complicated to navigate. Between all the different sections of "featured", "best sellers", and the bottom choices...it's a cluster. Too complicated.
Just like the new packaging - why bother changing something if you're not going to improve it. Still no wish list feature, no change in shipping options, more complicated to navigate. Like the "Shop by color" feature, but you'd think it would include the paper packs! Are these people just lacking in any common sense or what??? Total waste of time and money.....
Weird...I'm still getting the old site.
Well, what a strange new website - so funny. I almost prefer the old one, with the addition of more shipping options, and the wish list feature.
Still can't see it. I'm disappointed by the comments above that it's no better than before. Not surprised, however.
oh boy the whole cart thing is so fucked up. i just see basic coding errors that would have been caught with some simple user testing.
in general I think the layout looks better but they didn't make any fundamental changes to navigation to improve the flow of things.
I don't see why it took so long. Nothing that special about this new website.
Although the shopping cart does offer your choice of ups, usps, free or "standard" shipping for $6.50. However, there is no shipping calculator so you have no idea what the actual price is until you get to the last page of checkout.
The rewards are screwed up too.
are they getting rid of the forums completely? There isn't even a link on the new website
And I know there are bugs to work out, but I'd love to hear them walk us through all the "improvements" that took so many years, because they are not evident to me.
I just tried to make an order, and it doesn't like my phone number which is the same one I have used when ordering for the last couple of years. Stupid.
Won't let me get to the next step of checkout - I was curious to see if one stamp pad is still going to cost $33.50 to ship internationally.
Whoa! The new website says that I have over $700 in reward points! Im tempted to place a HUGE order right now...
It looks like the rewards are showing the total spent. I'm starting to worry if there will be security issues with the new site.
I wonder if this is the same web development company that had the rewards database messed up because it didn't account for the purchase of 2 of the same item on the same order. The sign up to access rewards didn't use any verification. Now, the rewards are not showing properly.
None of these things are groundbreaking functions. Shouldn't most any web development company be able to get these kind of things right?
How do you see your rewards on the new site?
How do you see your rewards on the new site?
-----------------------------
I found it by clicking "customer service", which took me to a page where I could log in, see rewards, etc. It isn't really obvious how to get there.
As for the rewards amount, there is definitely something wrong. I added up all of my orders since 2/15/11, and the amount showing as rewards is much higher than is should be, but much lower than total purchases. It is *almost* 40% of my total purchases, which makes me wonder if someone put in the wrong multiplier, e.g., x0.4 instead of x0.04??
Just visited the new website. Its okay, I guess. If you don't know PTI by heart I could see having a lot of problems finding items. I did a mock cart and when I looked at it I had accidentally added five totally random items just by trying to navigate the website. I could see this being a problem for someone caught up in release night frenzy.
It would seem the fricking seed packet die is back in stock but listed as low. So proud of myself I still didn't order even though I've been waiting on that stupid thing forever.
I don't understand why it took almost two years to develop... it's exactly like the old website! And I put one item in my cart, clear boxes, and my zip code to calculate shipping... still $6.50. So people who want to order a couple of flat dies, two spools of ribbon, or other small items are still going to pay way too much for shipping.
I don't see too many improvements, and my rewards total is way higher than it should be. I hope Nichole walks us through how to access and use rewards points BEFORE release night... or else it will be a mess of really frustrated customers, especially if the forum is down.
Gallery is gone so no links to any projects done with the stamps. The forum is gone or at least not linked. The rewards are wrong.
Great job, PTI. I still mainltain you put this website together with a $59.95 website development program. Nothing special here.
I await the crash at release time.
I saw that the Linen/Canvas IP plate showed as in stock but 'low stock'
I didn't make it all the way to the end of checkout but I call BS.
So I have 10x the rewards points I should have. Wonder what will happen if I try to use them.
I like the new site. I used what I thought I had in reward points and placed an order. It said I had 748.00 in rewards points. I just totaled my purchases up and divided by 25 (Crossing my fingers)
you guys are lucky. i can't even access my account, it says it doesn't recognize my email address (which i have only used 1 in all these years).
why am i surprised?
Don't even see a place to access the forum? What I do like is that the dies seem easier to find now and not just a pile of PTI dies in the order they were released. Going to check the shop by color feature...can't believe it if the cardstock isn't included in this option???
Going to check the shop by color feature...can't believe it if the cardstock isn't included in this option???
------------------------------
Cardstock IS included in the shop by color feature. I'm not sure what the poster above meant... maybe the new patterned paper color packs, but they aren't out yet (hopefully they WILL be included under "shop by color" too).
I think low stock must really mean out of stock. I just noticed that the rustic wood vintage buttons are listed on the new web site. They haven't been available for a long, long time. I added them to the cart and saw the low stock warning.
I didn't try to actually place an order to see what would happen at that point.
I think low stock also means out of stock because some of the inks that haven't been released yet like Sweet Blush are listed as low stock. People are going to be really mad if they place an order only to be told they aren't in stock yet. That is, if you can even place an order today.
I am the above poster re: no paper in the Shop by Color. I had checked Spring Moss - no paper in that color option. Have just checked a couple of other colors & see it shows up. So my mistake...
Their new website is so unfriendly to navigate. What a joke!
Does anyone else get a security warning with every page they access? Any idea how I can make this go away?
I wouldn't be surprised if they just did away with the forum all together. Then again, they just promoted Jenn to (non) Communications Manager. What point would there be to that if there were no forum?
With how long the forum has been down now you'd think there would be some announcement or updates on the blog to tell everyone what is going on.
There is an announcement on their Facebook page talking about how the forum is 'misbehaving'.
Does anyone even know how to access the forum? I don't see any buttons on the new website? It's not along the bottom, either?
Yes, the paper does show up when you Shop by Color. Select the "view 50 per page" drop down. Paper category is at the bottom.
Another one here who can't log into my account. Getting password errors. Then tried to have it emailed to me and my email address is unknown.
Wonder how long their glitches will last?
another one here with a totally inflated rewards amount.
I just checked out the new site. I love that it has all my past orders, dates, contents, etc. Maybe that has always been available but I've never checked it so it's new to me. What is the accumulation rate for reward points? I'd like to verify if my points are correct.
I like that it allows you to link several email addresses to your account so those people who order under different addys can still accumulate points to the same account. I haven't done any other digging.
Post a Comment