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 ;)
Update - PTI had a little hissy fit yesterday and banned a whole bunch of people for posting to a thread about customer service. Banned people included me, Donna C, and guatelicia. I'm sure there were others.
In my case, Nichole had posted a response to someone's question about another person being banned with something about how they had the right to ban people or delete messages if disrespectful things were posted. I simply said, "it's hard to judge whether disrespectful things are being said when posts are deleted so quickly". Less than one minute later, I was banned. That was my one and only post yesterday.
On the previous thread, someone decided that I needed to be called a name because I told people on FB to join the forum and ask their questions there. Never mind that other people had said the same thing and even PTI posted it on their own page.
To 21:45 on the last post: Read the last sentence on their post before you hide behind being anonymous and call me names and ask for people to start smacking me!!!
Here is PTI's post on their own FB page:
Papertrey Ink.com As has been mentioned on our forum and our newsletter, Customer Service is experiencing significant delays due to volume. Your patience is appreciated while we get to each person's questions/issues. Please understand that we view Customer Service too important to allow Facebook to be a substitute.
Carmen, I could be wrong but I honestly believe the person didn't know that you are you and thought it was some PTI putz blowing sunshine on their FB page.
Didn't know if I would ever be able to trust PTI enough to order again. I did have a glimmer of hope but that is ALLL gone now. I am so sorry for the ones who have been "pruned". Where in the world did he come up with that word? The fact that the website is such a MESS should not come as a surprise to anyone. Look at the fantastic job Rick did on his pic!!
And then the thread disappeared but the PTB blamed all the customers for being disrespectful when it was Rick who was the jerk. Not one person in the thread was disrepectful.
"All parties participating in your previous thread were not adhering to these rules"
and this:
"When a thread has several posts within it that do not adhere to the TOS..."
It's apparent her first comment meant ... not all parties are adhering to these rules..."
She's just a lousy writer as we've seen over the years on her blog.
I'd be the last person on the planet to defend her and I'm not doing that -- just saying that she doesn't know how to put a sentence together.
You have to remember who you're dealing with here - most of the people here, and on their forum, and their customers in general are likely a lot brighter than she is.
"All parties participating in your previous thread were not adhering to these rules" ================= When NH wrote this I took it as a veiled "Rick was wrong too"...as in 'all parties' consisting of the customers and pti. It wasn't an apology by her, of course, but I sensed that she wasn't too happy with Rick. Rick was clearly wrong and had no purpose in posting what he did. That pti put it all on the customers is what disgusts me.
^^^To clarify, I think NH said exactly what she was thinking. You have to remember that in PTI's mind it is a mentality of US (pti) against THEM (customers)....as evidenced by Rick's posts. I don't think NH *meant* to say that some, but not others, were not following the TOS. I think she said what she meant and is a sun shining example of her point of view.
1. Does anyone else find it suspicious that Nichole wrote a blog post last week about a charity near and dear to her heart? Doesn't this smack of Stacy Julian's military photo during her "so there" scandal?
2. Is it just a coincidence that Angie Lucas picked PTI's Jane Austin set as her pick of the week on the Paperclipping Roundtable last week? Friends supporting friends, maybe?
Yikes! For those of you who can no longer view the forum, Joan B. posted on the "Where's My Thread" thread, and her avatar is a train that's gone off the track, as in train wreck.
Well, maybe that's what Joan thinks of what's going on over here, but yesterday her FB showed that photo and she said it described the day she had. Don't think it's related.
6:02 I think you are right. I really believe they think it is a small band of evildoers and that everyone else is full of sunshine and roses.
I also think Jenn kept a lot of the complaints to herself rather than letting the PTB know there are serious CS issues. I think she told her bosses that everything was fine, she's got it under control, and it's just a few nasty board members causing all the problems.
Yea I thought Nichole's charity thing was strange too. She's never posted anything like that, at least that I can recall. And the timing was suspicious, especially with the DT's whole sunshine and unicorn campaign.
And the comments on NH's blog have been deleted now, as expected. Reminds me of a bunch of kids sticking their fingers in their ears, singing, "la la la, I can't hear you." So sad.
I've had a CS issue since before the Feb release. I've purposefully not posted anything about it on the forum. It was a test of sorts mostly to prove to myself whether they merited my continued business.
Here's a shocker...they don't.
I jumped through all of the hoops. Resubmitted my email after the mass delete, etc. My order was on Feb 12, still no refund.
I'm not interested in escalating through paypal as it was quite a small amount. But my situation does tell me that if the shitty CS isn't public, they really don't care and won't do anything about it. The precious sunshine & rainbows image really IS all they care about.
Meh, there's plenty of other, better companies who will be more than happy to accept my money and give me adequate, if not excellent products AND customer service in return. PTI has proven that they are not worth my time or money. Too bad, so sad.
Note to PTI: It really does matter how you behave when the lights aren't shining on you as well. How many more customers like me are there who haven't been blasting you publicly, and only silently letting you prove your unreliability.
Ignore the women who have no vested interest in any customer service issues and forum postings, other than to make a bunch of noise and try to rally others in their perpetual quest to hurt PTI.
FYI, I don't think they were banned for posting to a thread about customer service. I think they were banned for repeatedly stirring up a bunch of nonsense on the board in hopes of making themselves feel more important and justified in their quest. Intentionally posting nice things in order to get past a post count so they could try inflict harm to the company.
You can't say "let's do what we can to hurt them" and in the same breath say "I am only interested in seeing a resolution to customer service issues"....
Only one of those things can be true...and for most of you it has become quite obvious what your intentions are.
So 6:48, you want those who are actively trying to help others get resolution on the forum to shut up b/c some people are there just to "harm PTI"?
Wth point are you trying to make that we adults aren't already aware of? Please come back when you have something valuable to add, as opposed to just a finger to wave.
I have been a customer since 2010, and have been ordering from PTI until quite recently. I have spent plenty of money on their products because I loved their style. I have been posting on the forum for at least a year. I had a vested interest in the performance of their company.
So please do not paint me simply as a shit disturber. I refused to be a bystander as this train wreck unfolded and I am proud of that. I have acted with integrity and feel that there is nothing that I write here that I need to post anonymously. PTI has shown us all their true colours; if you are too blind to see them, the problem is yours.
I'm 6:47. But those who repeatedly bump those issues to the top DO get things resolved for the people with problems in those threads. ----------------------------
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?
And since when did those same users decide that their mission was not to help others, but to cause an issue for PTI? It seems to be more about revenge for some perceived slight, than it is about helping others.
Intentionally stirring up crap for the sake of stirring it up doesn't help anyone.
As far as I can tell, the forum is owned by PTI, and as such they can decide what does and does not get posted on the forum. I don't think it is to create any sort of illusion...I think it's just to keep the forum a place to get and share information, and lately to get issues resolved.
It is not a place to bash PTI (regardless of how it is wrapped)....that is what THIS board is for...
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?
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Since PTI does fuck all to fix problems on their own.
I mean the amount owed me is very small, but if I was owed one of the significant amounts that some were, you can bet I'd be glad for someone lighting a fire under PTI's collective ass to fix it.
PTI won't fix anything unless they are publicly shamed. Then they fix it so they can sweep it all under the rug again.
Obviously it's their forum and they can delete whoever & whatever they want. Doesn't mean they don't look like a bunch of dicks when they do so.
Anonymous said... I just want my order. My order that I placed cashing out my rewards. And then I am going to post something that'll get me banned. Guns blazin', bitches! 26 March 2012 15:04
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A fine example of some poor customer who just wants to help others get their issues resolved...
Ever heard the expression "you reap what you sow"?
Well, PTI's crop is coming in right now. And guess what they planted in that field? Years of poor customer service, blaming customers for PTI's shortfalls, expecting customers to fix PTI's errors.
Are some over-reacting? Maybe. I'm not going to finger-wag though. They are rightfully pissed.
PTI is solely to blame for PTI's problems. They don't like the reactions? Well maybe they should fix things properly.
I also feel that new customers should be able to make an informed decision which they can't do unless they see the bad with the good.
Papertrey would not have solved any of these cs issues without the loud voices on the forum. They wouldn't even know how to based on the dumping of cs emails and not posting any kind of disclaimer on the website.
No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
Ever heard the expression "you reap what you sow"?
Well, PTI's crop is coming in right now. And guess what they planted in that field? Years of poor customer service, blaming customers for PTI's shortfalls, expecting customers to fix PTI's errors.
Are some over-reacting? Maybe. I'm not going to finger-wag though. They are rightfully pissed.
PTI is solely to blame for PTI's problems. They don't like the reactions? Well maybe they should fix things properly. ------------------- Amen!!!
Beating A Dead Horse said... No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
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I would tend to agree. I think they have a LONG LONG way to go to get all of these issues, and customer service in general, worked out.
I just don't think their motives are as sinister as most folks on here would like to believe.
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?...
27 March 2012 07:16
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You think those people bumping threads actually WANT to have to do that shit?!
How dense are you? They're doing it because it's the ONLY way people who come to the forum have been getting results. For the people whose threads get buried, the same can be said for their unresolved issues with PTI.
It SHOULDN'T be anyone's responsibility to make sure a customer service issue is being resolved but PTI's. But since they CLEARLY haven't been doing much of a fine job at it, there are some on the forum who are sticking their necks out to help.
And if you're that concerned about it, why don't you ask someone who has been helped at the hands (or voice) of a fellow forum member how grateful they are for their thread being bumped before you come in here like the f*cking PTI police.
said... Beating A Dead Horse said... No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
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I would tend to agree. I think they have a LONG LONG way to go to get all of these issues, and customer service in general, worked out.
I just don't think their motives are as sinister as most folks on here would like to believe --------------------------- I keep hoping that the last statement is true, but PTI proves me wrong everytime.
For one example, the binder debacle. Just for the record, I had not ordered one. Why, why, why did PTI leave these people sitting waiting on their order without letting them know that they were holding it until the other binders came in. If you can answer that one to my satisfaction maybe there is hope yet.
Actually, I never asked over and over about my order. All I did was state that it was hard to tell if disrespectful comments were being made on the forum when posts got deleted so quickly. I have never been one to bump posts, though I completely understand the reasoning. It's hard to deny that the forum has become just about the only way to get an issue elevated to the level of getting action, rather than just boilerplate emails that don't solve anything.
I have never, ever stated that I was out to hurt PTI. That has never been and still is not my goal. But I will not leave the impression that I just left when in fact, I was kicked out. People need to know that.
It puzzles me how the people who were owed anniversary sets for OVER A YEAR kept having to resubmit their information because PTI either couldn't or wouldn't make the connection between their orders and their email address, and yet they had absolutely no problem keeping tabs on big-time trouble makers like me who have spent a ton of money, brought them loads of new customers, advertised for them for free, and have purposely stayed out of the so-called "shit stirring" threads. Go to my blog and see if there's a single post in the past four years or more that doesn't use at least one PTI product. Ask any of my real-life stamping friends if I sang PTI's praises at every opportunity.
If PTI would devote 1/10 the energy to customer service that they do to policing critics, their problems would be fixed in no time.
I am not 6:48, but I do agree. I think some of the people banned yesterday are painting themselves to be much more innocent than they are. As to Chris, I think that may have been a little extreme. But she didn't just question the deletion of a few threads. She questioned PTI's judgement. Like it or not, it is their forum. They have sole discretion when it comes to deleting posts or banning members. When you say something to the effect of "it is hard to judge whether comments are inappropriate or not when they get deleted so quickly", you are questioning their judgement. It is not for us, as members, to decide if a post is appropriate or not. That is for PTI and only PTI. OMG repeatedly asked for clarification in regards to her warning. News flash- if they wanted your comment on the boards, they wouldn't have deleted it. Asking them to clarify exactly what you wrote that was in violation of the TOS is argumentative at best. She was told more than once that they were not going to repeat it, why keep asking if not to stir up trouble? Carmen- after the "ugly American" comment, it is hard to NOT read disdain and snark into every comment you post. You can't honestly tell me that your comment about passing info to the other banned member wasn't meant to be a dig at PTI? Really?!? I think the phrase you reap what you sow goes both ways. If you consistently make snarky comments about a company that you openly (even proudly) admit you will never buy from again, on their own forum, you can't really be surprised when they ban you!
---The ugly American comment made by Guatelicia was only misunderstood by "Americans" with a very narrow mind. IMHO, they didn't like "an immigrant voice" say such things about americans (yes, in lower-case) since Carmen is not American born. It was very clear that, whoever puts PTI on their place, will be banned.
8:07- I was one of those "helped" by the bumping. I actually posted here last week asking OMG to kindly stop "helping" me. I will say again, the help was initially appreciated. But I think in time some people's motives became less about helping those that needed help, and more about helping to make PTI look as bad as possible. PTI has issues, lots of them. They have made steps in the right direction the past 2 weeks, with the exception of Rick's comments yesterday, which I still don't think were nearly as nasty as some make them out to be. I am happy to report that I have received my anniversary sets. But I also received a missing item from my order, without the "help" of forum members. In fact, until the anniversary set fiasco, any CS issues I have had in the past have always been handled very quickly and to my satisfaction without forum intervention. So not every problem goes unresolved without forum members "helping" people out.
No one WANTS to have to do that. 99% of us want PTI to do that shit correctly, so we don't have to do it for them.
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But, you don't have to do it for them. You choose to get involved. Believe it or not, most of these issues would get resolved without your "help"..not all....but most.
Try to abstain from bumping, chiming in, or otherwise contributing to the thread and see if the end-result isn't the same.
And the other 1%, BTW, are the most vocal and disruptive.
Send an email to the admin of the forum and state your TRUE intentions, and I am sure he would welcome you back to the forum if your desire was simply to help and contribute...
There are plenty waiting in the wings to get their logins back just so they can start more shit..
When the admin sees postings like "hope I get banned for saying this"...I would guess he takes that to mean they mean to cause more harm than good..
Ah yes, I was part of the great binder fiasco, and to top it all off my binder was damaged when I finally got it! Two creamed corners. It's still sitting in my closet I couldn't bear to enter the CS circle of unending emails to get it replaced.
8:49- So calling someone an "ugly American" is not meant to be an insult? So if I called someone an "ugly Aussie" or "ugly Puerto Rican" that would be ok? I would never in my wildest dreams consider calling anyone that. How is that NOT an insult?
Seems like a lot of people on here are just interested in name-calling, personal attacks, and mis-information. These are a lot of the same people, btw, that are posting on the forum pretending to be concerned and interested in solving problems.
Muttation said... Seems like a lot of people on here are just interested in name-calling, personal attacks, and mis-information. These are a lot of the same people, btw, that are posting on the forum pretending to be concerned and interested in solving problems. ------------------------- Maybe a lot of them are, thats why this blog is here. Muttation must be from PTI, ignored my whole binder comment! AGAIN.............. Why, why, why did PTI leave customers waiting on their order without letting them know that they were holding it until the other binders came in. If you can answer that one to my satisfaction maybe there is hope yet.
I have no issues with PTI. But I've only ordered about 3 or 4 times. All items came as expected and I didn't pay attention to shipping times so I cannot comment on whether the shipping was fast or slow or as expected. Nothing came damaged or missing, etc. I don't have rewards points or gift cards to redeem. I haven't earned any anniversary sets.
I really want to buy more things based on my own personal experiences, but I can't help have reservation based on what others have experienced.
Rick, what should I do? Oh, and if you are checking IPs, I'm not a regular forum poster, haven't complained about anything, and haven't said anything to stir up trouble.
About will we still use PTI products. I will, of course. I have too much $ invested. And I have a lot of product left and time to plan/figure out what product I will be using after that.
To answer 8:56, yes, I will still use the PTI products that I have. I do love the products and they are a significant part of my stash. I will not provide any links to the company's site or name their name on my blog, though. I'm finished advertising for them.
Well, Rick/PTI defender or whoever you are: I never posted on PTI forum, I decided to visit here to know about reward points and if I should risk my money to order now (traveling overseas). So people posting here may not be the same posting on the forum. You probably think there are only 5 people posting over and over but you may be really surprised to find more than dozens vocally/silently not buying anymore.
To the one asking about the ugly American comment: Have you traveled outside of the US?(or have you even been out of town?) I have visited Europe and South America and wherever I go, the concept of the "ugly American" only applies to Americans who think they can't never be wrong or they know everything. When Guatelicia used that expression, she didn't mean to label all American pti users, it was Steph's comment which actually deserved it because she was throwing her "Im in med school-I know everything." Ok, next!
I don't think I ever thought PTI was being SINISTER as Muttation says up above. I don't believe it still.
However, as I felt 2 years ago, when the first issues started happening, that the owners needed help, outside professional, competent help. It is clear they haven't learned through the YEARS that their approach is not working. The way they deal with product recalls, problems, with customer service issues... It is INCOMPETENCE and not SINISTER.
Muttation, if you are Rick, this is a plea from someone who is outside of all of this and is a happy little stamper and crafter who loves (or used to love) PTI. Make changes: focus on creating a usable website, make it an EASY experience for your customer to BUY GOODS, FOCUS on the goal.
No one is out to get you. There is no SINISTER out there. What there is is frustrated and unhappy customers who feel the need to be heard.
Once you acknowledge that you are hearing the frustrations, I think you are off on the right path.
Whoever wrote this last night on the previous thread:
"This blog is obviously being read by a lot of folks, some of whom probably walk into a room with Darth Vader music following them." (26 March 2012 23:49)
Thank you so much for the laugh that gave me today. I really needed that.
^^^ ITA. Sometimes a company - even though they feel they've done nothing wrong (which I think is the case here) has to swallow their pride for the greater good.
And to add, there are A LOT of us silent people, but most of us (me included) rather let the brave ones speak for us.
I do think that they have forced PTI to make positive changes. You may not like the methods, but there are results.
I think this because of something called CAUSE and EFFECT.
If you have been working on positive changes behind the scenes, then we don't know about it since PTI refuses to be honest and transparent. I think they ARE heading towards the right direction, but I have not seen PTI take the initiative on positive changes BY THEMSELVES. I always see it due to customer reaction...
...Believe it or not, most of these issues would get resolved without your "help"..not all....but most.
UMMM. I'M GONNA CALL BULL SHIT ON THAT ONE.
Try to abstain from bumping, chiming in, or otherwise contributing to the thread and see if the end-result isn't the same.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS BEING DONE FOR YEARS BEFORE THE WHOLE FORUM BLOW-UP HAPPENED? WHY DO YOU THINK PPL ARE SO FED UP NOW? B/C THE END RESULT WAS NOT THE SAME.
And the other 1%, BTW, are the most vocal and disruptive.
HOW DO YOU KNOW? THAT'S AN ASSUMPTION, AT BEST.
Send an email to the admin of the forum and state your TRUE intentions, and I am sure he would welcome you back to the forum if your desire was simply to help and contribute...
OMATH DID THIS PUBLICLY BEFORE SHE WAS BANNED AND WAS STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER AND SHOWN THE EXIT.
9:21, I don't care who used the term or in what context. If you post the phrase "ugly american" in a predominantly American forum, you had better be woman enough to handle the backlash you WILL get. Yes, some Americans have nasty attitudes, as do some French, some Brits, some German, some South American, some blacks, some whites, etc.
If someone is being rude and nasty, maybe it isn't because they are *insert race or nationality here*...maybe it's just because they are a rude nasty PERSON.
I'd appreciate not being generalized as an ugly American just because you've run into some unsavory people.
---ITA, most of us here (at least I do) want PTI to improve their CS, so we can confidently buy more from them, knowing that, if an issue arises, it will be taken care of. Bad CS, disdaining valid customer complaints and banning the ones who only have the forum to be heard (after emailing cs many times) made this blog to be born. Once pti fully recovers from this (?), I could keep buying as I used to in the past. I love their products and I also buy a lot from other online sellers.
Muttation, if you are Rick, this is a plea from someone who is outside of all of this and is a happy little stamper and crafter who loves (or used to love) PTI. Make changes: focus on creating a usable website, make it an EASY experience for your customer to BUY GOODS, FOCUS on the goal.
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This would of course assume that Rick had ANYTHING at all to do with Customer Service, Julie, the new website, etc.... Not necessarily a valid assumption...
9:34, I was not offended by the term because I'm not (or ever be called) an ugly American. If you were disgusted/upset by that, sorry, the stone was not for you.
I get the motivation of the pinterest "don't buy from PTI" image, but why would any of us want to link it to PTI and send traffic that direction?? That makes zero sense to me.
Donna, yes, pls post a draft so we can provide some input if necessary...a polite and well written post should state the facts/experiences from all of us. Thanks!
Mutation, One could say the same thing about the DT. They're not freaking CS Reps and yet some how them hearing the cries of those on the forum is getting the word passed along.
Rick trying to have his cake and eat it, too. Either you represent PTI, or you don't.
When she posts stuff like this I wanna respond with... "Thanks? I mean maybe possibly thank you."
Re: Any Resolution For Using Multiple GCs in One Order? by nichole » Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:52 am
It looks as though tomorrow or Thursday, we may possibly be able to enable this feature. I will update this thread when I get final word. Thanks again for your patience as we work through this.
Rick, you are so narrow minded and absurb if you truly believe what you write. The customer service at your company SUCKS. Issues are not handled in a timely manner. Customers are treated with disrespect. Quality assurance is the pits (bad ink, grammatical errors, bad translations, etc). The website is not just poorly designed it is technically flawed. Nichole is very good at hyping products for 15 days, but customers are let down when the website malfunctions. Stock management is terrible.
And yet instead of taking real ownership of these problems you blame some imaginary "band" of customers who are only want to bring PTI down. Not true! I have spent a shitload of money with your company and I'd be happy to spend a shitload more if you all can get your act together.
Nichole posted on the "using multiple gift certs" thread -I have an email into the head tech to get a progress report and see if he feels he will have it all resolved today. Thanks for your patience regarding this hiccup. I know it is extremely frustrating to not be able to do what you would like to do within the functionality of the site. I know that he has been working diligently to get the programming fixed for this and I will provide you an update once I have heard back.
LOL! Rick is probably the ONLY tech guy so calling him the HEAD tech guy is a joke!
9:41 - by having the link go to papertreyink it means that anyone who pins something else from the papertrey website will notice the "Stay Calm" sign on the left hand side and hopefully check it out. Many pinners have included a note about PTI smack in the comments.
For the record, I am 8:50, not 9:34, although we have the same "narrow minded" opinion. Not an ugly American- most of the forum members that were banned yesterday were not customers with specific issues turning to the forum only after emailing CS many times. OMG and Carmen have said many times they will not buy anything from PTI. I would feel bad for them if they were current customers with current issues trying to get resolution. But they are not. They simply feel the need to stand up for current customers (OMG) or banned forum members (Carmen). I didn't ask anyone to stand up for me. I am perfectly capable of standing up for myself. I find it ironic that I was the one trying to get an issue resolved, and yet the person "helping" me was the one that got banned. I don't think bringing an issue to light on the forum is what got anyone banned, since I was not banned, but rather HOW you bring that issue to light. A little respect, whether you think it is deserved or not, goes a long way!
I really want to buy stuff. Thank goodness the website is such a hassle to navigate. Oops, sorry Rick. Did I just personally attack you by stating that the website is not user friendly? My apologies. Maybe I'll save you the trouble and ban myself from the smack blog.
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!
One example of Papertrey not doing the right thing was posting the customer service announcement on the website.
Do youreally and truly think that they would have posted if it hadn't been for the outcry on the forum?
They could have posted a message on their own when the problems first occurred but instead they decided to try to get through mountains of emails and then it got so bad that they just deleted the whole lot.
Do you really think that they would have informed ALL customers about what was going on with a nudge?
When given 2 choices, they always pick the one that is the least logical first and then begrudgingly do the right thing.
In the past month I have heard multiple people say that they have been getting customer service emails that blame the customer for missing or defective product and make them jump through hops just to get issues resolved. So many people have said "I thought it was just me misreading Julie's condescending attitude" but it's not. People are finally speaking out.
Please give me one example from over a month ago when Papertrey did the right thing without being prodded. I say from over a month ago because in this past month, people are finally being heard.
I am the poster from the last thread who mentioned Carmen posting on the FB page on every post "join the forum and ask your question"
5:07 was correct. I apologize, I did not know Carmen was Guatelicia. I misread the tone of Carmen's FB posts. I thought they were from a PTI unicorn who didn't want anyone to post anything but rainbows on the FB page. And was trying to silence people who genuinely wanted resolutions to their problems.
Thank you, Truth is hostage. I was going to ask which 9:57 you were agreeing with, until I realized that you were the other 9:57. I do not think PTI is innocent in all this, but I also believe the people banned were not as innocent and "polite" as they portray themselves to be.
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!
littlebirchtree, is that you? Wasn't your very first order a month ago? How could you possibly know about the problems that have been going on for years?
I don't believe that Papertrey is sinister. They just don't understand how to do the right thing. Even when the helpful posters have made helpful suggestions, they just ignore them and do what is easiest. They are trying to fix the short term problems.
A penny wise but a pound short.
It's too bad that they make so many of their own problems.
10:06- This is a perfect example of what I believe happened yesterday. We all read "tone" into what we read on the forum. Some people read a snarky tone into what Rick posted yesterday. I did not. Whether you thought it was snarky or not, none of us really know what tone he meant. It is so easy to jump to conclusions and vilify someone for the wrong reasons.
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together! _________________________________ PTI didn't deliver on what they promised me. So opening my own stamp co and doing it myself, is exactly what I intend to do!
I am receiving many e-mails asking about the graphic mentioning PTI that I posted yesterday on this blog, from customers who are not part of the PTI Forum and have no idea what has been happening there for the last year. This post will be my attempt to post the facts as well as my personal opinion about how it is being handled.
Firstly, you should know that I have been a loyal Papertrey supporter from the very beginning. I was a fan of Nichole Heady’s work before she started the Papertrey Company as their brilliant and talented designer. I have also been a fan of many of the Design Team over the years. I LOVE PTI product. I love their designs. I own more PTI product than anything else and I have been stamping for about 18 years now. I am an avid stamper and love good product. I also think they offer excellent product for a reasonable price. I have not found cardstock as wonderful anywhere else. I love their coordinating stamps and addition sets. I feel they have been the most innovative stamp company that has existed in the last 5 years.
A couple of years ago PTI produced ink pads that were clearly defective and that seemed to be the initial problem. I sent pads back per their instructions and it took 4 emails and about 6-8 months to get a refund. They only refunded for certain products and some never got a satisfying resolution. Additionally, returns were made at the customer’s expense when it came to shipping, which has been the way they do things for defective items, even at excessive cost and time for international customers.
The decline of this company, particularly in customer service has been obvious for over a year now. The sheer number of people who report they never got packages, or got them only after repeated hounding of customer service is appalling. Dozens and dozens of people have reported that they never got prizes they were owed for months and months after repeatedly contacting customer service. The 2011 Anniversary sets as of a couple of months ago were not received by what seemed to be hundreds of customers. As of a few days ago, one woman posted that she has still not received her 2010 set.
Things kind of reached a pinnacle when Karen (can someone give me a quick paragraph about the details of Karen’s problem)-----------
Customers at that point became very vocal and many came out of the woodwork not only to state they had had lengthy frustrations, but some also revealed actual emails where they had been told by an owner that if they were not happy with the customer service (despite issues still unresolved) that they should probably just shop elsewhere.
Only when customers became extremely vocal did the placating begin with little visible fixes here and there. Sadly, it seemed to be window dressing as the big issues were still continuing as the customer service representative became increasingly abrupt with customers on the public forum. We then received notice that since Customer Service was thousands deep in emails they could not answer, they were deleting (yes, you heard that right) all the emails and people could just resend them their issues. Unfortunately, this was all on the forum so thousands of customers/potential customers had no idea that their emails had been deleted and so they waiting, with some probably still waiting.
Other issues have been a new forum, which debuted on the 5th Anniversary Release. Once before they introduced a new forum which was a disaster and customers were afraid this would be another debacle. And—it was. People could not use reward points, people could not complete orders, some credit cards were unjustly rejected and some of us, including me, could not get PayPal to work.
As things went from bad to worse, 4 former Design Team members began to reveal their histories with PTI and the frustrations that led to them leaving PTI. These 4 had previous remained very quiet. It is my guess that they knew that this would all come to a head without them having to tell their experiences.
There have been so many problems that I cannot go into the details of all of them. People have been sent the wrong items, sent sets with problems, had their orders held without their knowledge known as the “binder debacle”. Customers have had to fight for every little detail to be fixed often at their own expense. The company actually made customers provide a year’s invoices before they would believe that the customer “deserved” an anniversary set.
Customers have been treated like liars and some have posted emails from owners that were seriously disrespectful. These are not rare instances, but common occurances.
I have, for years, purchased, recommended, and did HUGE amounts of free advertising for this company and I want to publically make it clear that do absolutely do not support their business practices any longer.
Yesterday, one of the Papertrey representatives “hand slapped” on a legitimate thread concerning customer service that had been stated in a fair and calm way. He continued to get more rude as the thread went on. The thread then disappeared. One regular asked for a clarification on a question and from that moment several customers were banned, one after another from the forum. NONE of them broke the TOS and yet they were banned without warning. There was NO apology from the rude administrator and instead the customers were blamed for the problem, as is PTI’s recent way of dealing with problems brought up by customers.
Will I still use their product? Yes, absolutely. There is nothing wrong with the stamps and products that I own and I have put a lot of money into my collection. I still love PTI design. I will still buy used items from individuals to add to my collection. I may still participate in shares with other customers so that I can replenish certain items or complete collections of designer papers, etc.
I will no longer direct anyone to their company. If Nichole Heady were to leave PTI and design elsewhere I would give that a chance. In the meantime I will be purchasing from Waltzingmouse, Hero Arts, Lawn Fawn, Impress Stamps, Ellen Hutson, Wplus9, Simon Says, and other companies with good service and integrity. I will only purchase from companies that show through their actions that they value their customers.
It must be hard to be so perfect and do the right thing every single time, only to have the rest of the humans fail you... that is the impression I get from your post... maybe I am off-base...
Mistakes seem to be made...but once again, I don't think there is a plot behind them... just honest mistakes..
Have you never been snarky or rude when you were in an uncomfortable or panic situation? One that could potentially effect thousands of people? Have you never over or under-reacted to a situation?
I believe that all of this could be resolved (and the company could do better) if everyone worked together instead of attacking each other... but WTH do I know...I am just a Muttation...
@Donna C. The person missing the 2010 Anniversary set, is not correct. She was missing a 2011 Anniversary set for purchases made in 2010. It is confusing because you are rewarded for previous years sets.
I guess I don't understand why we are proofing a blog post? Just say what you want on your blog. Other people have. You don't need anyone's approval to speak your mind. You won't get banned from your own blog.
You said, "It must be hard to be so perfect and do the right thing every single time..." Really, with regard to PTI, we are expecting to be treated like valued customers. This has never happened to me at PTI. Any issues with orders take a whole lot of effort to be resolved, there is the whole deleting of emails issue with I personally find completely unacceptable and would regardless of who the company is.
I personally feel like I have been deceived with the promises of products that have never come to fruition, the paints and the pigment inks and there was the time when we were told that new colors would be released two per month, then all of a sudden it went to one every over month and there ended up being two new colors for all of 2011.
I am a long time customer, like many here, buying all of the new color collection, every ribbon, etc. It is frustrating to be responded to so poorly and so clearly not valued.
For the record, this is my first time posting on this blog, but I have been reading for some time. I didn't learn anything here that I didn't already know, but I guess somehow it helps to know that I am not alone with my feelings. There is no one here who created the problems for PTI, there is no one to blame but PTI for what the company has become.
I just wanted to add that I have been another silent reader of this blog. The "vocal" forum members aren't the only ones unhappy with PTI. Unless I see real long-term and sustained change in the way they treat their customers, I won't be shopping there again. Every company makes mistakes, it is how they handle them that shows their true colors....
"Mistakes seem to be made...but once again, I don't think there is a plot behind them... just honest mistakes.."
I absolutely agree. Everyone makes mistake.It's how they are handled that will show good or bad customer service.
Papertrey has grown so fast but they have remained with the same 4 or 5 key people running the place. Julie may be good at running a business but her attitude towards customers is mind boggling.
I have received emails from Gina K and Waltzingmouse detailing issues that might effect orders getting out in a timely manner. These emails went out as soon as a problem was discovered. Papertrey likes to brush issues under the carpet and not address them until they turn into a huge cluster.
I don't think that people can't make mistakes. I do think that they should be able to learn from them and not make the same mistakes over and over again.
If you are PTI then that's really funny. I don't want to work together. I want you to get your company in order and make it a viable business so that I can buy confidently and trust that buyer and seller relationship.
I have enough on my plate that I should have to figure out how to run your business. You want me to figure out that you shouldn't be rude to your customers, that you should fix defective materials not at the expense of your customers, and so on and so forth.
Actually, the vocal ones ARE working with you to figure out how to fix your mistakes. You should actually thank them.
I think you make some very valid points... I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything you have said.
There seems to have been some real fiascoes. I just don't agree that they have been intentional, with malice or greed as the cause.
Ultimately I THINK (read my opinion) a lot of them had to do with growing pains, outside vendor issues (website), and technology problems. All certainly the ultimate responsibility of PTI.
Hopefully they will get these issues resolved as quick as they can and they will be able to meet the needs of their customers better.
Take a moment to read some of the very hateful personal comments on this board if you would like to get a more balanced idea of what some of the posters are really all about.
And this gem by Nichole when the ink price was wrong on the website- I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed in the way things were handled with the incorrect manner in which the ink buy buttons uploaded tonight. It wasn't something that was done on purpose and there was definitely no intention of anyone feeling slighted or cheated. It was simply a matter of a glitch during the uploading process that recycled the old ink buttons rather than the new ones we had created. We try our very best with everything we do and I'm truly sorry that you feel we fell short.
As far as not offering a discounted rate, we actually permanently marked the full-size ink pads down by a full dollar, the retail price is supposed to be $6 because of the unique shape of the pad and the extra cost it entailed. We are absorbing the dollar lost on each sale as a gesture to our dedicated customers.
I have extended an apology and if you have any further comments about the situation that you would like to communicate to us, you are more than welcome to contact customer service to my attention and I would be more than happy to respond personally.
Thanks for the reminder. I still can't believe they lose things in their own warehouse. I mean an entire pallet goes unnoticed? Do they not have a computer system for inventory purposes? Or does Julie walk around with a yellow notepad tallying as things are sold? Idiots.
Donna - I think you've done a great job in trying to pin down the issues. Like you said - there are so many! Not sure if you wanted to mentioned the "lost pallet of orders" issue, or the "SASE" issue. Totally your choice. Those just came to mind.
And I agree that proofing it, with help, is a great idea. So much misunderstanding has already made things worse. Keep up the good effort!
Donna, I would be careful when saying "NONE" of the banned members violated the TOS. In your opinion, they did not violate the TOS. But it is up to PTI to interpret the TOS and determine if they have been violated. You may not agree that they were violated, but the decision is not yours. It is PTI's.
If PTI could hear one thing I would love for it to be this:
What you lack is humility. A Little humility will go a long way in solving all of your issues. You can be a great company still. No matter WHAT or WHO is the root of the problems there... things are not working. Things are not getting better. PTI needs help. A little humility please, and ASK for that help. Whether it's a professional web person, more CS reps, a PR person ... you need to ask for that help. Humility.
We can argue all day long for the next five years. He said, she said. MIs-read intentions. The bottom line is that PTI needs help. Only PTI can change that. Please do. We would all support you in that.
There are a lot of hateful posts here however, a lot of them come out of sheer frustration.
For me the whole mishandling of customer service issues really started with Karen posting the email from Julie on the forum. It was entitled "Attention Nichole" because Karen felt that if Nichole saw how she had been treated by Julie, she would be tripping over herself to apologize. I expected that too. Remember, Karen only posted on the forum because she couldn't reach Nichole personally.
Instead, Nichole agreed with Julie and pretty much said "I'm sorry that YOU misunderstood the policy". It wasn't until Karen posted the email from Jenn stating that Karen should send her defective item via HER EQUIVALENT of first class mail (which she did) that Jenn stepped up and offered the $20 credit. It was Jenn's mistake but it was handled horribly by Julie and Nichole.
THAT thread was deleted, Karen started a new one and then PTI closed the whole "Ask the Papertrey Team" forum.
Sorry for those on their phones who hate scrolling! Here is part of the pallet thread for those that can't access the forum.
Attention Julie and Nichole Postby barbara32ca I appreciate that you may not have time to read a 7 page thread that covers more than one topic so I wanted to write a single post with a specific issue that should be addressed.
There have been a number of orders that were made on November 15th that sat in the warehouse for 12+ days before being shipped. WHY ?
I am posting here because this type of issue has been discussed here and there is speculation ranging from financial trouble to fraud to refusal to hire extra staff.
Since people haven't heard otherwise , the rumours are circulating. This cannot be good for Papertrey!
When issues like this occurs, YOU NEED TO FIX the PROBLEM, and COMMUNICATE as soon as it is brought to your attention. All affected orders should be checked and the customers notified. If the issue has already been brought to the forum, it should also be addressed on the forum.
This is why you NEED to have customer service at the warehouse.
Please don't wait for the new website to launch to address this issue. You are continually losing customers that you aren't going to get back.
To other members of the forum, I would respectfully ask that we keep this particular thread about this one issue. I don't want to further confuse things by adding a myriad of other customer service/shipping/OOS concerns. Btt's are welcome in order to keep the thread where Julie and Nichole will see it. :-)
Postby nichole » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:29 am It was just recently brought to our attention that a pallet of approximately 60 packages from orders placed on the 15th was not picked up on time due to some construction materials in our warehouse obstructing their view. With the Thanksgiving holiday, the packages were shipped out 3 days after the outlined shipping policy of 7 business days for order turnaround during release time.
This is completely our fault and we take complete responsibility for they delay of those packages in question. I sincerely apologize for this oversight, but I fully realize that our apology doesn't alleviate the frustration we have caused you. You are definitely justified in your frustration and you are completely correct in the fact that better communication should have been made. It is our responsibility to uphold the published shipping policy and we realize that we did not execute our promise in this area. Certain procedures and checklists have been created to prevent this situation from occurring in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to share your criticisms with us. We are listening and take everything you say to heart. We look forward to the opportunity to earn back your confidence in our company over the next few months.
Postby barbara32ca » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:20 am Thank you Nichole. I really appreciate the tone in which your answered my post.
nichole wrote:It was just recently brought to our attention that a pallet of approximately 60 packages from orders placed on the 15th was not picked up on time due to some construction materials in our warehouse obstructing their view. With the Thanksgiving holiday, the packages were shipped out 3 days after the outlined shipping policy of 7 business days for order turnaround during release time.
I would like to respectfully ask, as soon as the orders were discovered, were the affected customers notified ? This is something that a person in the warehouse would need to address. You are not in the warehouse and neither is Jenn so that leaves Julie to fix this problem.
I understand that mistakes happen. Even after the orders were discovered, this is still a good example of where customer service could really shine. Every customer should have been emailed with an apology. Perhaps even a token credit for good will. As you said, approximately 60 orders were affected. Even if you offered $10 , that's $600 which I hazard to guess is still far less than the amount that amount that you have lost due to loyal customers not ordering.
Situations like these could have such a different outcome if they didn't have to be brought to the forums to be solved.
I do hope that Julie is reading this as she seems to be closest to the situation.
Again, Nichole, thank you for your gracious tone and I would love to feel confident enough to place an order. Thank you, Barbara
Muttation - I agree that the issues are not intentional. It is the fact that they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Just when things start to look good, another issue pops up and people get upset all over again.
It looks like they were starting to get on the right track with mailing the wrong dies out without having to be hounded but then Rick comes onto the forum and starts banning people and deleting posts. That , IMO, will just make the angries even angrier! That's when they start posting all over the internet to anyone that will listen.
even the mailing of the correct die had have teeth pulled to make that right someone emailed Dave earlier in the day, and was told the old way of doing it (ship it back and we'll ship you another one)
Even after nichole had posted the resolution people were still being told that, and then having to re-email customer service
So they NEVER make any decision in the customers favour unless we have a tantrum on the forum. It's the only way (the SImply you replacement debacle ??!!)
Donna, in your 10:32 post you mention "the Papertrey Company," which should be Papertrey Ink (no "the"). It might be worth mentioning in that sentence that she started the company with two other women, or include Julie and Jane's names.
I forgot about the fact that people had to mention the die replacement on the forum.
Also, I forgot about the SASE solution to the Simply You sentiment stamp.
Now that you mention it I do remember Ted asking on the forum if people should include their order number or address or some other weird chit that essentially just made the problem so much more complicated than it needed to be.
Also, wasn't Ted the one that got all up in arms on the off topic forum demanding that Papertrey fix the slider die issue? He didn't even give them a couple of seconds to formulate a plan. Maybe Ted is the real problem! LOL!
11:31- Your version of the Karen situation is not totally accurate. The mistake Jenn made was not clarifying just what US first class mail is. First class mail in the US is an envelope with a couple stamps. Karen asked her postmaster for the Australian equivalent of US first class. Her postmaster sold her insured, registered, trackable, all the bells and whistles postage which is NOT the equivalent of US first class postage. Aside from Jenn not being specific enough, that was the first mistake. Was it Karen's mistake? Not really. But I don't think it was PTI's either. If I was asked to ship something back, and the postage cost more than the item was worth to begin with, I think I would check with the company first. If she had emailed Jenn to let her know how much the shipping was, Jenn could have given her more specific instructions and saved everyone a lot of frustration! Was Julie's response appropriate? No. She could (should) have been more helpful, understanding, polite... Take your pick. Maybe Julie didn't realize Karen was in Australia. I don't know. I'm not making any excuses for Julie. She did not handle the situation very well. As far as Nichole's response, it was obviously not the response Karen wanted. But remember Nichole is only part owner, with Julie being one of the other co-owners. In my house, if I tell my kids something, I expect my husband to support me. If he doesn't agree with me, we can discuss it in private. If he goes behind my back to undermine me, he is in the doghouse big time!! Parents need to present a united front to their children. As do co-owners of a company with their customers. As a company, they could and should have handled it better. Absolutely! But I really think it started out as a simple misunderstanding, which could have been avoided with better communication by both parties.
Rick comes onto the forum and starts banning people and deleting posts.
-----------
Rick did neither. It seemed like Rick made a comment/asked a question about the relevance of some of the posts and how they would be helpful....snarky? probably. no....definitely.
but as you have pointed out, these attitudes can sometimes arise out of frustration...particularly with the folks who seemed to chime in with their two cents at EVERY opportunity..regardless of the issue or whether or not it will be truly helpful.
What then followed was a barrage of posts by some folks trying to keep the thing going (out of solidarity perhaps)....in completely unrelated posts. Those same folks were on this board trying to figure out how to circumvent the forum IP bans so they could get back on there and cause more trouble (and teach Rick a lesson)...read the posts on here over the last couple of days...
over-reaction on both sides if you ask me....but who is asking... :)
No no thats exactly what happened with Karen Julie (not Jenn) told her first class mail-used those woes spcifically So when Karen took it to he post office, it clearly meant something else-but she had been told SPECIFICALLY to send it first class mail
Whether Julie did not understand the difference is irrelevant That is what she said -she should have apologized and refunded the sipping
I do think though that the harder Papertrey pushes (like the banning and deleting of posts) the harder the "angries" will push to be heard. They will start to be vocal wherever they can because they feel frustrated and cut off at the knees.
The point is that a lot of the people here are wanting the issues to be fixed and now they have just been silenced.
YES, there are a few people on the forum and here that are rude and extreme.
I would like to say that the majority of vocal people on the forum were really just pushing for change and trying to be respectful while doing it.
Jenn specifically said "your equivalent" of First Class mail. Karen took the die to the post office and the postal worker told her what the equivalent was. So if you want to get nitpicky, it was the postal workers fault.
Papertrey should have had a clear and concise policy in place.
This whole thing might have been avoided (with the exception of Julie's snotty mad cs skills) if somebody at Papertrey added the words "we will reimburse postage UP TO $3" or whatever price they set. Instaed they have vague policies that are open to to much interpretation on both sides.
"There seems to have been some real fiascoes. I just don't agree that they have been intentional, with malice or greed as the cause."
I don't believe the problems are intentional. I DO believe greed is the reason the problems aren't getting fixed.
I've heard of other companies delaying or postponing a monthly release so they could get their website/inventory issues/whatever in order before dumping a whole new months worth of issues on top.
I've heard of other companies reducing the amount of product they release each month when 30+ items becomes overwhelming.
Why won't PTI ever do this?
Why won't they do anything to make the website less sucky? Do you know how difficult it is to find the colored cardstock? I had to sort through about 5 pages of not what I was looking for before the color match cardstock started showing up.
Take that back to your handlers and see what they say.
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out.
12:16 here. That was my point. It started out as a clear misunderstanding. It was Jenn that apologized for not being more specific in her instructions, not Julie. The postmaster sold Karen the wrong postage. Karen said she asked for the equivalent of US first class and the postmaster looked it up. Whatever he found when he "looked it up", was wrong. PTI has changed the wording in their return instructions. They have added a dollar amount to their emails to avoid another Karen fiasco. I have personally received an email with a dollar amount stated. So they did make changes to help prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.
I agree with 12:16 about the Karen incident. Karen admitted at the time that what she did "made no sense." I remember those words of hers, because I immediately thought to myself, "Then why did you do it?" When her postmaster told her it was going to be 20-whatever dollars, she should have known not to do it. The die was worth only a fraction of that. Even if I thought PTI had told me to do that, I would have gotten confirmation that they would in fact reimburse me for that much. And I do want to clarify that I do not fault international customers for paying high postage to buy the products (though I am sorry it is so expensive for you). When you are paying postage to buy products, you are getting good, useful products that you will get much enjoyment and use out of, so it is worth it. But mailing back a defective die is completely different--it has no worth beyond the couple of dollars PTI would be reimbursed by the manufacturer. So Karen should have had the sense to figure that out. That said, Julie completely mishandled the situation. She should have refunded the postage and clarified their international return policy. It would have been a $20 lesson learned instead of a multi-thousands (in lost sales) lesson learned.
Does someone have an axe to grind against Michelle P?
She has a ton of $$ tied up in PTI shit (she's mentioned that much herself on the forums) and doesn't need to justify her feelings about PTI to any smackers or unicorns disguised as smackers. And being nice sunshiney and rainbow-y about CS issues just gets you ignored.
Sorry Michelle, I know you don't need anyone to defend you but hand slappers who don't kwow what the hell they are talking about piss me off.
12:42 here. My comment above was in response to 12:31 above. Should have specified that.
12:32- In response to PTI reducing the amount of new product each month, every time that idea is brought up on the forum, it gets shot down by customers. At one point they were releasing 2 new colors a month. They decided to cut that back to 1, then 1 every other month when there were quality control issues, among other things. Someone in this very string of commenters said she felt deceived by this. So while cutting back may seem like a good thing, I'm certain just as many people would complain if they did cut back.
Not sure what to make of Debbie Olson's post....JoanB has work to do and therefore is unaware of the "drama" us job-less troublemakers have stirred up?
every time that idea is brought up on the forum, it gets shot down by customers.
I'll admit, I'm a forum lurker but I have NEVER read anyone from PTI suggest fewer items be released. Never. And since when does a company let customers be the judge of what the company can efficiently and effectively handle while providing excellent customer service? That is ludicrous. So if you take a poll and some dummy suggests you release 285 items, I guess you go ahead and do it?? That makes zero sense.
12:47 I am confused by your comment. I haven't seen anyone bad mouth Michele P. Someone said she seemed to be the ringleader, but based on her forum avatar, I don't think she would take offense to that. In the last post, someone said "someone should post..." and then minutes later Michele posted that very thing in the forum. A smacker posted Michele was in the house, but I didn't take that as an attack either. Where did you get someone has an axe to grind with Michele
Donna - just to clarify, they launched a new website during the release, not a new forum. The forum is the same as it's been since 2008, with the exception of a few hours in May 2010 when they tried to launch the previously failed new website.
Truth is Hostage, it has been brought up by several different forum members on several different occasions that PTI should cut back, and each time the idea is shot down by customers. More customers voice their opinion against cutting back than those that support the idea. So PTI is giving their customers what the majority of them want. At least the majority of the ones that voice their opinion.
I don't think Debbie O meant to insult anyone. I think she just didn't want Joan to get attacked, and cjkerr had already posted Wow. Just Won in response to Joan. I admit I really didn't know how to take Joan's post. Ironic about CS or more like, keep it off the forum? I generally like Joan. This all just goes to show how hard it is to gather tone from posts, and how different people interpret things differently, based on their own views and temperament.
"Someone in this very string of commenters said she felt deceived by this."
This was in reference to me. It's a very different thing when you say, "Hey we are releasing 2 colors each month." and then just not doing it to saying, "Hey, we have some things we need to resolve here. We are going to have a scaled down (or no) release this month." When a business says things are going to happen, I expect it to be the case, but I do understand that circumstances change but then be honest about it. Have we ever heard anything again about the paints? Or the new pigment inks? Or when we might expect new colors? IMO yes, I feel deceived having been told these things and then have them not happen.
DonnaC, it's a good blog post but is missing some history that gives perspective. Were you not reading here a couple of weeks ago when someone posted an old 2008 SCS thread about CS issues with PTI? About Anni Sets? It was a multi pager and it was weird reading almost exactly the same issues as we are hearing today, but from exactly four years ago. I mean literally, same shit, different day. About Anni sets (and other issues) no less.
I think one of the major issues people have with this company is that they simply refuse to change and respond to the same CS issues over and over and over again. I mean, four fucking years ago? I really think that hisorical perspective should have been part of your post but I wasn't on here when you posted earlier. Sorry.
As for the karen thing, don't let the unicorns try to tell you it was in any way Karen's fault. Neither was it the postal services fault. I followed that whole issue and it was most certainly entirely a CS issue that is a literal case study in how NOT to do CS.
Here's the thing to cut through the details and the crap over the Karen thing, ask yourself how other companies would have treated this CS issue over a defective $5 die that an Australian customer ended up with? You all know the answer. They would have shipped her out a new die and told her to chuck the shitty one. The old excuse of needing it back for Quality Control is just another BS aspect of PTIs lame approach to CS. Customers don't need to be inconvenienced or a part of your QC process. If you need it back that bad, send an effing return label in your customer's packages.
Every BS little company in the US provides return labels these days, I was using them YEARS ago to better serve my customers. There are just no excuses for why, since at LEAST 2008 this company has done virtually nothing to improve CS, except as a result of direct pressure from vocal customers. And customers, if you read that board regularly, are doing MORE CS than PTI themselves.
Some troll posted: "You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!"
And then someone else responded with: Anonymous said... littlebirchtree, is that you? Wasn't your very first order a month ago? How could you possibly know about the problems that have been going on for years? 27 March 2012 10:08
Then someone (I'm assuming the troll) posted in response to the littlebirchtree accusation:
Anonymous said... @10:08 nope. wrong. not littlebirchtree. Michele P. Is that you? You seem to be the ringleader in this group. 27 March 2012 10:17
And I took that as a troll trying to call someone out over here. I don't think MP is the ring leader. I think she's a disgruntled (and rightly so) customer.
Thanks, 13:14. I have only discovered this blog very recently thanks to a PM from a regular on the forum. I was not aware that the problems had gone on so extensively for so long.
As more information comes in, I may do an addendum to my blog post.
I remember when Nichole used to promise all kinds of things that wouldn't materialize. The date that she promised would pass and then there was NO word from her.
I used to always feel slighted when she would do this too.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out. -------------------------- I personally know of four different cases, all feeling like they were banned w/o reason, where the customers have emailed and have not received a response. This was not from yesterdays pruning, but the previous round a couple of weeks ago.
1:11 (the first one) the paint was explained a long time ago. There was a stability issue between the paint and the paint cans they were using. So they sold off the paint cans and scrapped the idea. The pigment ink is in the works. They never promised a date for those. Since they haven't even finished releasing all the colors in the dye(hybrid) ink, I wouldn't expect them to release the pigment yet. I would expect them to work on and release one ink formula at a time. This just proves my point. If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long.
Oh yeah, 13:19, I remember the incident you are talking about. That's when Rick first spoke of the 'pruning' to facilitate a faster forum experience during release time. Hehehehe. Yeah....faster sweeping of the turd under the rug was more like it.
Re: Where's my thread?? by cjkerr » Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:19 am
Joan B wrote: may be it would be better to just send a note to customer service.
Wow! Just wow. ------
Re: Where's my thread?? by Debbie Olson » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:25 am
To be fair, JoanB hasn't been around for all of the drama. She has work to do. . . So I am asking that no one start jumping on her for mentioning e-mailing customer service, please. Not accusing anyone of having done that yet, but I could see it heading there. And JoanB doesn't deserve that for trying to be helpful. Thanks much! Debbie Olson PTI Design Team Blog: http://www.debbiedesigns.typepad.com -------
Re: Where's my thread?? by barbara32ca » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:48 am
Debbie Olson wrote: To be fair, JoanB hasn't been around for all of the drama. She has work to do. . . So I am asking that no one start jumping on her for mentioning e-mailing customer service, please. Not accusing anyone of having done that yet, but I could see it heading there. And JoanB doesn't deserve that for trying to be helpful. Thanks much!
Thanks Debbie,
I took Joan's post as a lighthearted, fun poke at customer service.
I guess that just goes to show you that you really can't read intent on a message board and that we are all going to see certain posts through our own filters. That's likely where some of the problems have come up.
Barbara ---------
Re: Where's my thread?? by Debbie Olson » Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:12 am
Jeepers, Barara--knowing JoanB, YOU are probably right! I was just afraid that we might get going again on someone, and I was trying to avoid that. Please forgive my hypersensitivity on the forum.
Thanks,
Debbie Debbie Olson PTI Design Team Blog: http://www.debbiedesigns.typepad.com
The problem USED to be that Nichole would mention a date on the forum - like the next release for example. Andthen the release would come and go without any mention from Nichole about why the items were missing.
She should have posted right on her blog "Due to quality control issues we won't be releasing the paint" or whatever.
Instead, she remained silent until people started asking about it on the forums and then she got snippy and defensive.
The problem is how she handled it. She is not the victim that she likes to play. Many of these issues could have been avoided altogether.
In all fairness, she does seem to be learning if you look at the Kraft felt as an example. It was dealt with properly.
If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long.
An example of how to answer the demanding posts-
"We know how excited you are about the release of the pigment inks and so are we. Quality control is our top priority and we will release the new inks as soon as they are ready. Thank you for sharing our excitement."
Debbie is really sweet. I've always liked her. I don't think she's phoney and if she is, she's got me fooled. She's pretty much the only one of the lot that I can stand anymore. Although - what's happened with Betsy? Has she been posting through all this DT en force nonsense?
...To the one asking about the ugly American comment: Have you traveled outside of the US?(or have you even been out of town?) I have visited Europe and South America and wherever I go, the concept of the "ugly American" only applies to Americans who think they can't never be wrong or they know everything. When Guatelicia used that expression, she didn't mean to label all American pti users, it was Steph's comment which actually deserved it because she was throwing her "Im in med school-I know everything." Ok, next! 27 March 2012 09:21
______________________________________________
I could not have explained it any better. Thank you NAUA!
----------------------------------------------
I'd appreciate not being generalized as an ugly American just because you've run into some unsavory people.
________________________________________________
Unless you are the person giving Lou a really rude response and bringing up your "education", the comment was not meant for you...
...OMG and Carmen have said many times they will not buy anything from PTI.
___________________________________________________ Please, do not put words in my mouth. I stated that I would not buy until the issues were resolved. That they had lost a customer for now. My hope had always been to go back some day... now, it's not looking so good anymore, but I will not say never.
I am the poster from the last thread who mentioned Carmen posting on the FB page on every post "join the forum and ask your question"
5:07 was correct. I apologize, I did not know Carmen was Guatelicia. I misread the tone of Carmen's FB posts. I thought they were from a PTI unicorn who didn't want anyone to post anything but rainbows on the FB page. And was trying to silence people who genuinely wanted resolutions to their problems. 27 March 2012 10:06
______________________________________________
Apology accepted. And please, let me also apologize for jumping to a conclusion. I guess, I also misread the tone of your post.
You said, "If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long."
Maybe they should consider not saying that a product will be released, especially on a certain date if it hasn't been tested thoroughly enough to even know if it is going to work. If I recall, the paints were announced in anniversary festivities two years ago and when two weeks later release time came around and then they weren't ready. You mean to tell me that they were not even tested to the point of viability when the gave a release date? I sure hope the pigment inks were tested before they released die pads that would snap into the maybe never to be released pigment pads. In both of these cases, like many, many, many others, communication is key, which PTI seems to ignore. Well, along with quality assurance.
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out. 27 March 2012 12:33
Seriously??? Do you know that the email address for the forum administrator is customerservice@paper... So, chances are that after reading the email and laughing, they would just delete it.
My experience getting a warning was this:
PM from Nichole saying that I did a personal attack. It included a link to the post in where the "offense" was comited.
So, I can't see the post, because it is deleted and it is not included in the PM. I can't explain myself, because Nichole doesn't allow PM's.
In my opinion, this is unfair since I can't respond to what I think is a FALSE ACCUSATION. And, I get the feeling that PTI doesn't really give a hoot.
So, why do you think anything would be different after being banned?
I AM an American. And I would never insult a foreigner because they don't know everything there is to know about this country. I was pointing out that this person fit an stereotype and unfortunately that can reflect badly on all of us.
I am also Hispanic and I don't like the way some of us are "painted", but to be honest, I can accept that some fit the stereotype and I am not one of them.
I'm not going to go begging for access to the forum. PTI made it perfectly clear that they don't want me to talk on the forum. I'm happy to oblige by speaking outside instead.
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
There are very few of us vocal folks left that feel comfortable posting anything about customer service or product issues. Yes we are still there but now I feel one step away from being banned just for speaking up period. And I like to think that I am always respectful.
Seriously...you change over your ENTIRE storage system to DVD cases. When did you actually order your cases..the month before ?? If they did not meet your quality control, only you can be faulted for not ordering them soon enough to make sure they will be fine.
Its the same time and time again. When did you check the binders...AFTER customers started ordering them
Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
In case it gets deleted.....they don't seem to like it when folks mention that people are getting banned.
Debbie Olson wrote:Jeepers, Barbara--knowing JoanB, YOU are probably right! I was just afraid that we might get going again on someone, and I was trying to avoid that. Please forgive my hypersensitivity on the forum. ;) Thanks, Debbie
I like the way that you handled this Debbie. :-) A good preventative measure.
I don't think that we need to worry quite so much about threads getting in an uproar now that so many people have been banned from the forum.
Does nobody agree that the intent was not to help but to "get back" at PTI for at least some of the folks on here... some of the folks that got banned?? Was nobody around yesterday during the flurry of posts and comments on here and the forum while that was happening?
Am I just completely misguided and full of it when I see malice on at least the part of some people?
Or possibly the intent was to let other forum members know that people didn't just leave of their own free will. Maybe they don't care that the forum is now a happy place not because the issues have been solved but because people have been banned. Who knows. I saw no malice. I guess it just depends on your own filter and how you feel about the poster.
246 comments:
1 – 200 of 246 Newer› Newest»First?? Moi???!!!!
YES!!! YOU!!!!
Can someone just update me.... I had my head buried in Croatia..
Update - PTI had a little hissy fit yesterday and banned a whole bunch of people for posting to a thread about customer service. Banned people included me, Donna C, and guatelicia. I'm sure there were others.
In my case, Nichole had posted a response to someone's question about another person being banned with something about how they had the right to ban people or delete messages if disrespectful things were posted. I simply said, "it's hard to judge whether disrespectful things are being said when posts are deleted so quickly". Less than one minute later, I was banned. That was my one and only post yesterday.
Oh, omathgoddess also was banned.
Rick the admin posted a very snarky comment on the "where is my anniversary set?" thread and people were bumping it up...
Rick said something like "How exactly does bumping this help her?" Wasn't hard to read the sarcasm and contempt in between the lines. Prick.
On the previous thread, someone decided that I needed to be called a name because I told people on FB to join the forum and ask their questions there. Never mind that other people had said the same thing and even PTI posted it on their own page.
To 21:45 on the last post: Read the last sentence on their post before you hide behind being anonymous and call me names and ask for people to start smacking me!!!
Here is PTI's post on their own FB page:
Papertrey Ink.com
As has been mentioned on our forum and our newsletter, Customer Service is experiencing significant delays due to volume. Your patience is appreciated while we get to each person's questions/issues. Please understand that we view Customer Service too important to allow Facebook to be a substitute.
Like · · Share · February 29 at 1:43pm ·
Carmen, I could be wrong but I honestly believe the person didn't know that you are you and thought it was some PTI putz blowing sunshine on their FB page.
Just my take on it when I read it originally.
Thank you Lion Through Their Teeth. I hope you are right...
Didn't know if I would ever be able to trust PTI enough to order again. I did have a glimmer of hope but that is ALLL gone now. I am so sorry for the ones who have been "pruned". Where in the world did he come up with that word? The fact that the website is such a MESS should not come as a surprise to anyone. Look at the fantastic job Rick did on his pic!!
And then the thread disappeared but the PTB blamed all the customers for being disrespectful when it was Rick who was the jerk. Not one person in the thread was disrepectful.
And NH posted this:
"All parties participating in your previous thread were not adhering to these rules"
and this:
"When a thread has several posts within it that do not adhere to the TOS..."
It's apparent her first comment meant ... not all parties are adhering to these rules..."
She's just a lousy writer as we've seen over the years on her blog.
I'd be the last person on the planet to defend her and I'm not doing that -- just saying that she doesn't know how to put a sentence together.
You have to remember who you're dealing with here - most of the people here, and on their forum, and their customers in general are likely a lot brighter than she is.
It's par for the course. What a bunch of idiots.
Sorry I have a stray " in that last entry. Wish we could edit our posts here!
You get what you give...
"All parties participating in your previous thread were not adhering to these rules"
=================
When NH wrote this I took it as a veiled "Rick was wrong too"...as in 'all parties' consisting of the customers and pti. It wasn't an apology by her, of course, but I sensed that she wasn't too happy with Rick. Rick was clearly wrong and had no purpose in posting what he did. That pti put it all on the customers is what disgusts me.
^^^To clarify, I think NH said exactly what she was thinking. You have to remember that in PTI's mind it is a mentality of US (pti) against THEM (customers)....as evidenced by Rick's posts. I don't think NH *meant* to say that some, but not others, were not following the TOS. I think she said what she meant and is a sun shining example of her point of view.
Have these issues been mentioned yet:
1. Does anyone else find it suspicious that Nichole wrote a blog post last week about a charity near and dear to her heart? Doesn't this smack of Stacy Julian's military photo during her "so there" scandal?
2. Is it just a coincidence that Angie Lucas picked PTI's Jane Austin set as her pick of the week on the Paperclipping Roundtable last week? Friends supporting friends, maybe?
Yikes! For those of you who can no longer view the forum, Joan B. posted on the "Where's My Thread" thread, and her avatar is a train that's gone off the track, as in train wreck.
Well, maybe that's what Joan thinks of what's going on over here, but yesterday her FB showed that photo and she said it described the day she had. Don't think it's related.
@6:14 yes I thought that too about the Jane Austen set pick on Paperclipping Roundtable
6:02 I think you are right. I really believe they think it is a small band of evildoers and that everyone else is full of sunshine and roses.
I also think Jenn kept a lot of the complaints to herself rather than letting the PTB know there are serious CS issues. I think she told her bosses that everything was fine, she's got it under control, and it's just a few nasty board members causing all the problems.
Yea I thought Nichole's charity thing was strange too. She's never posted anything like that, at least that I can recall. And the timing was suspicious, especially with the DT's whole sunshine and unicorn campaign.
And the comments on NH's blog have been deleted now, as expected. Reminds me of a bunch of kids sticking their fingers in their ears, singing, "la la la, I can't hear you." So sad.
Yup, that's their strategy. Delete, prune, delete, repeat. Lalalalala if we can't see you then the problems don't really exist!
I've had a CS issue since before the Feb release. I've purposefully not posted anything about it on the forum. It was a test of sorts mostly to prove to myself whether they merited my continued business.
Here's a shocker...they don't.
I jumped through all of the hoops. Resubmitted my email after the mass delete, etc. My order was on Feb 12, still no refund.
I'm not interested in escalating through paypal as it was quite a small amount. But my situation does tell me that if the shitty CS isn't public, they really don't care and won't do anything about it. The precious sunshine & rainbows image really IS all they care about.
Meh, there's plenty of other, better companies who will be more than happy to accept my money and give me adequate, if not excellent products AND customer service in return. PTI has proven that they are not worth my time or money. Too bad, so sad.
Note to PTI: It really does matter how you behave when the lights aren't shining on you as well. How many more customers like me are there who haven't been blasting you publicly, and only silently letting you prove your unreliability.
Or maybe their strategy is:
Ignore the women who have no vested interest in any customer service issues and forum postings, other than to make a bunch of noise and try to rally others in their perpetual quest to hurt PTI.
FYI, I don't think they were banned for posting to a thread about customer service. I think they were banned for repeatedly stirring up a bunch of nonsense on the board in hopes of making themselves feel more important and justified in their quest. Intentionally posting nice things in order to get past a post count so they could try inflict harm to the company.
You can't say "let's do what we can to hurt them" and in the same breath say "I am only interested in seeing a resolution to customer service issues"....
Only one of those things can be true...and for most of you it has become quite obvious what your intentions are.
@ 6:48
I'm 6:47. But those who repeatedly bump those issues to the top DO get things resolved for the people with problems in those threads.
Quite simply if there is no noise, PTI doesn't give a fuck about your problems as they have demonstrated in my situation.
So 6:48, you want those who are actively trying to help others get resolution on the forum to shut up b/c some people are there just to "harm PTI"?
Wth point are you trying to make that we adults aren't already aware of? Please come back when you have something valuable to add, as opposed to just a finger to wave.
@6:48
I was one of the customers "pruned" yesterday.
I have been a customer since 2010, and have been ordering from PTI until quite recently. I have spent plenty of money on their products because I loved their style. I have been posting on the forum for at least a year. I had a vested interest in the performance of their company.
So please do not paint me simply as a shit disturber. I refused to be a bystander as this train wreck unfolded and I am proud of that. I have acted with integrity and feel that there is nothing that I write here that I need to post anonymously. PTI has shown us all their true colours; if you are too blind to see them, the problem is yours.
I'm 6:47. But those who repeatedly bump those issues to the top DO get things resolved for the people with problems in those threads.
----------------------------
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?
And since when did those same users decide that their mission was not to help others, but to cause an issue for PTI? It seems to be more about revenge for some perceived slight, than it is about helping others.
Intentionally stirring up crap for the sake of stirring it up doesn't help anyone.
As far as I can tell, the forum is owned by PTI, and as such they can decide what does and does not get posted on the forum. I don't think it is to create any sort of illusion...I think it's just to keep the forum a place to get and share information, and lately to get issues resolved.
It is not a place to bash PTI (regardless of how it is wrapped)....that is what THIS board is for...
Dear PTI:
Only 10% of an iceberg is visible.
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?
-----------------------
Since PTI does fuck all to fix problems on their own.
I mean the amount owed me is very small, but if I was owed one of the significant amounts that some were, you can bet I'd be glad for someone lighting a fire under PTI's collective ass to fix it.
PTI won't fix anything unless they are publicly shamed. Then they fix it so they can sweep it all under the rug again.
Obviously it's their forum and they can delete whoever & whatever they want. Doesn't mean they don't look like a bunch of dicks when they do so.
Anonymous said...
I just want my order. My order that I placed cashing out my rewards. And then I am going to post something that'll get me banned. Guns blazin', bitches!
26 March 2012 15:04
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A fine example of some poor customer who just wants to help others get their issues resolved...
You know yesterday when we did The Hunger Games scenario and someone said Rick would be a Muttation? Are the Muttation posts here really Rick?!?!
Obviously it is a male, can't you just read dumb ass women in between the lines!!!
Ever heard the expression "you reap what you sow"?
Well, PTI's crop is coming in right now. And guess what they planted in that field? Years of poor customer service, blaming customers for PTI's shortfalls, expecting customers to fix PTI's errors.
Are some over-reacting? Maybe. I'm not going to finger-wag though. They are rightfully pissed.
PTI is solely to blame for PTI's problems. They don't like the reactions? Well maybe they should fix things properly.
I also feel that new customers should be able to make an informed decision which they can't do unless they see the bad with the good.
Papertrey would not have solved any of these cs issues without the loud voices on the forum. They wouldn't even know how to based on the dumping of cs emails and not posting any kind of disclaimer on the website.
No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
Ever heard the expression "you reap what you sow"?
Well, PTI's crop is coming in right now. And guess what they planted in that field? Years of poor customer service, blaming customers for PTI's shortfalls, expecting customers to fix PTI's errors.
Are some over-reacting? Maybe. I'm not going to finger-wag though. They are rightfully pissed.
PTI is solely to blame for PTI's problems. They don't like the reactions? Well maybe they should fix things properly.
-------------------
Amen!!!
Mutation, you can paint everyone here however you like, you've obviously Made up your mind on what you think we are here for
Ask yourself though why this place exits??? Cause ptI's service and practices have warranted it
Chris' only crime was repeatedly asking where her order was-she's banned
The people you are supporting are shady and thir guerilla tactics unethical
And when we all quietly take out toys and go home like you want us to...how much of a company will be left for you to purchase from?
Beating A Dead Horse said...
No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
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I would tend to agree. I think they have a LONG LONG way to go to get all of these issues, and customer service in general, worked out.
I just don't think their motives are as sinister as most folks on here would like to believe.
Muttation said...
Since when did it become the responsibility of a certain few forum users to make sure customer service issues get resolved?...
27 March 2012 07:16
======================================
You think those people bumping threads actually WANT to have to do that shit?!
How dense are you? They're doing it because it's the ONLY way people who come to the forum have been getting results. For the people whose threads get buried, the same can be said for their unresolved issues with PTI.
It SHOULDN'T be anyone's responsibility to make sure a customer service issue is being resolved but PTI's. But since they CLEARLY haven't been doing much of a fine job at it, there are some on the forum who are sticking their necks out to help.
And if you're that concerned about it, why don't you ask someone who has been helped at the hands (or voice) of a fellow forum member how grateful they are for their thread being bumped before you come in here like the f*cking PTI police.
Go to hell Rick. The lousy attitude of you and the owners of Papertrey are ruining this company.
You think those people bumping threads actually WANT to have to do that shit?!
------------------------
Yes. They certainly do...
said...
Beating A Dead Horse said...
No matter who Muttation is, there is no one on this earth that can dispute the fact that PTI sucks at customer service and for the most part nothing is done unless a big stink is made on the forum.
------------------
I would tend to agree. I think they have a LONG LONG way to go to get all of these issues, and customer service in general, worked out.
I just don't think their motives are as sinister as most folks on here would like to believe
---------------------------
I keep hoping that the last statement is true, but PTI proves me wrong everytime.
For one example, the binder debacle. Just for the record, I had not ordered one. Why, why, why did PTI leave these people sitting waiting on their order without letting them know that they were holding it until the other binders came in. If you can answer that one to my satisfaction maybe there is hope yet.
Actually, I never asked over and over about my order. All I did was state that it was hard to tell if disrespectful comments were being made on the forum when posts got deleted so quickly. I have never been one to bump posts, though I completely understand the reasoning. It's hard to deny that the forum has become just about the only way to get an issue elevated to the level of getting action, rather than just boilerplate emails that don't solve anything.
I have never, ever stated that I was out to hurt PTI. That has never been and still is not my goal. But I will not leave the impression that I just left when in fact, I was kicked out. People need to know that.
It puzzles me how the people who were owed anniversary sets for OVER A YEAR kept having to resubmit their information because PTI either couldn't or wouldn't make the connection between their orders and their email address, and yet they had absolutely no problem keeping tabs on big-time trouble makers like me who have spent a ton of money, brought them loads of new customers, advertised for them for free, and have purposely stayed out of the so-called "shit stirring" threads. Go to my blog and see if there's a single post in the past four years or more that doesn't use at least one PTI product. Ask any of my real-life stamping friends if I sang PTI's praises at every opportunity.
If PTI would devote 1/10 the energy to customer service that they do to policing critics, their problems would be fixed in no time.
I am not 6:48, but I do agree. I think some of the people banned yesterday are painting themselves to be much more innocent than they are. As to Chris, I think that may have been a little extreme. But she didn't just question the deletion of a few threads. She questioned PTI's judgement. Like it or not, it is their forum. They have sole discretion when it comes to deleting posts or banning members. When you say something to the effect of "it is hard to judge whether comments are inappropriate or not when they get deleted so quickly", you are questioning their judgement. It is not for us, as members, to decide if a post is appropriate or not. That is for PTI and only PTI.
OMG repeatedly asked for clarification in regards to her warning. News flash- if they wanted your comment on the boards, they wouldn't have deleted it. Asking them to clarify exactly what you wrote that was in violation of the TOS is argumentative at best. She was told more than once that they were not going to repeat it, why keep asking if not to stir up trouble?
Carmen- after the "ugly American" comment, it is hard to NOT read disdain and snark into every comment you post. You can't honestly tell me that your comment about passing info to the other banned member wasn't meant to be a dig at PTI? Really?!?
I think the phrase you reap what you sow goes both ways. If you consistently make snarky comments about a company that you openly (even proudly) admit you will never buy from again, on their own forum, you can't really be surprised when they ban you!
Muttation said...
You think those people bumping threads actually WANT to have to do that shit?!
------------------------
Yes. They certainly do...
27 March 2012 08:15
-------------------------
Well I can't argue with delusional. I guess we just disagree there.
No one WANTS to have to do that. 99% of us want PTI to do that shit correctly, so we don't have to do it for them.
---The ugly American comment made by Guatelicia was only misunderstood by "Americans" with a very narrow mind. IMHO, they didn't like "an immigrant voice" say such things about americans (yes, in lower-case) since Carmen is not American born. It was very clear that, whoever puts PTI on their place, will be banned.
8:07- I was one of those "helped" by the bumping. I actually posted here last week asking OMG to kindly stop "helping" me. I will say again, the help was initially appreciated. But I think in time some people's motives became less about helping those that needed help, and more about helping to make PTI look as bad as possible. PTI has issues, lots of them. They have made steps in the right direction the past 2 weeks, with the exception of Rick's comments yesterday, which I still don't think were nearly as nasty as some make them out to be. I am happy to report that I have received my anniversary sets. But I also received a missing item from my order, without the "help" of forum members. In fact, until the anniversary set fiasco, any CS issues I have had in the past have always been handled very quickly and to my satisfaction without forum intervention. So not every problem goes unresolved without forum members "helping" people out.
No one WANTS to have to do that. 99% of us want PTI to do that shit correctly, so we don't have to do it for them.
----------------------------
But, you don't have to do it for them. You choose to get involved. Believe it or not, most of these issues would get resolved without your "help"..not all....but most.
Try to abstain from bumping, chiming in, or otherwise contributing to the thread and see if the end-result isn't the same.
And the other 1%, BTW, are the most vocal and disruptive.
Send an email to the admin of the forum and state your TRUE intentions, and I am sure he would welcome you back to the forum if your desire was simply to help and contribute...
There are plenty waiting in the wings to get their logins back just so they can start more shit..
When the admin sees postings like "hope I get banned for saying this"...I would guess he takes that to mean they mean to cause more harm than good..
Ah yes, I was part of the great binder fiasco, and to top it all off my binder was damaged when I finally got it! Two creamed corners. It's still sitting in my closet I couldn't bear to enter the CS circle of unending emails to get it replaced.
Question for those walking away. Will you still use your PTI products?
8:49- So calling someone an "ugly American" is not meant to be an insult? So if I called someone an "ugly Aussie" or "ugly Puerto Rican" that would be ok? I would never in my wildest dreams consider calling anyone that. How is that NOT an insult?
Believe it or not, most of these issues would get resolved without your "help"..not all....but most.
--------------
This is a false statement. PTI has proven over the last 3 years that they will NOT resolve problems on their own in a timely manner.
If you can't see this then you are blind!
Seems like a lot of people on here are just interested in name-calling, personal attacks, and mis-information. These are a lot of the same people, btw, that are posting on the forum pretending to be concerned and interested in solving problems.
Muttation said...
Seems like a lot of people on here are just interested in name-calling, personal attacks, and mis-information. These are a lot of the same people, btw, that are posting on the forum pretending to be concerned and interested in solving problems.
-------------------------
Maybe a lot of them are, thats why this blog is here. Muttation must be from PTI, ignored my whole binder comment! AGAIN..............
Why, why, why did PTI leave customers waiting on their order without letting them know that they were holding it until the other binders came in. If you can answer that one to my satisfaction maybe there is hope yet.
I have no issues with PTI. But I've only ordered about 3 or 4 times. All items came as expected and I didn't pay attention to shipping times so I cannot comment on whether the shipping was fast or slow or as expected. Nothing came damaged or missing, etc. I don't have rewards points or gift cards to redeem. I haven't earned any anniversary sets.
I really want to buy more things based on my own personal experiences, but I can't help have reservation based on what others have experienced.
Rick, what should I do? Oh, and if you are checking IPs, I'm not a regular forum poster, haven't complained about anything, and haven't said anything to stir up trouble.
About will we still use PTI products. I will, of course. I have too much $ invested. And I have a lot of product left and time to plan/figure out what product I will be using after that.
To answer 8:56, yes, I will still use the PTI products that I have. I do love the products and they are a significant part of my stash. I will not provide any links to the company's site or name their name on my blog, though. I'm finished advertising for them.
Well, Rick/PTI defender or whoever you are: I never posted on PTI forum, I decided to visit here to know about reward points and if I should risk my money to order now (traveling overseas). So people posting here may not be the same posting on the forum. You probably think there are only 5 people posting over and over but you may be really surprised to find more than dozens vocally/silently not buying anymore.
To the one asking about the ugly American comment: Have you traveled outside of the US?(or have you even been out of town?) I have visited Europe and South America and wherever I go, the concept of the "ugly American" only applies to Americans who think they can't never be wrong or they know everything. When Guatelicia used that expression, she didn't mean to label all American pti users, it was Steph's comment which actually deserved it because she was throwing her "Im in med school-I know everything."
Ok, next!
I don't think I ever thought PTI was being SINISTER as Muttation says up above. I don't believe it still.
However, as I felt 2 years ago, when the first issues started happening, that the owners needed help, outside professional, competent help. It is clear they haven't learned through the YEARS that their approach is not working. The way they deal with product recalls, problems, with customer service issues... It is INCOMPETENCE and not SINISTER.
Muttation, if you are Rick, this is a plea from someone who is outside of all of this and is a happy little stamper and crafter who loves (or used to love) PTI. Make changes: focus on creating a usable website, make it an EASY experience for your customer to BUY GOODS, FOCUS on the goal.
No one is out to get you. There is no SINISTER out there. What there is is frustrated and unhappy customers who feel the need to be heard.
Once you acknowledge that you are hearing the frustrations, I think you are off on the right path.
Whoever wrote this last night on the previous thread:
"This blog is obviously being read by a lot of folks, some of whom probably walk into a room with Darth Vader music following them."
(26 March 2012 23:49)
Thank you so much for the laugh that gave me today. I really needed that.
^^^ ITA. Sometimes a company - even though they feel they've done nothing wrong (which I think is the case here) has to swallow their pride for the greater good.
And to add, there are A LOT of us silent people, but most of us (me included) rather let the brave ones speak for us.
I do think that they have forced PTI to make positive changes. You may not like the methods, but there are results.
I think this because of something called CAUSE and EFFECT.
If you have been working on positive changes behind the scenes, then we don't know about it since PTI refuses to be honest and transparent. I think they ARE heading towards the right direction, but I have not seen PTI take the initiative on positive changes BY THEMSELVES. I always see it due to customer reaction...
Muttation said...
...Believe it or not, most of these issues would get resolved without your "help"..not all....but most.
UMMM. I'M GONNA CALL BULL SHIT ON THAT ONE.
Try to abstain from bumping, chiming in, or otherwise contributing to the thread and see if the end-result isn't the same.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS BEING DONE FOR YEARS BEFORE THE WHOLE FORUM BLOW-UP HAPPENED? WHY DO YOU THINK PPL ARE SO FED UP NOW? B/C THE END RESULT WAS NOT THE SAME.
And the other 1%, BTW, are the most vocal and disruptive.
HOW DO YOU KNOW? THAT'S AN ASSUMPTION, AT BEST.
Send an email to the admin of the forum and state your TRUE intentions, and I am sure he would welcome you back to the forum if your desire was simply to help and contribute...
OMATH DID THIS PUBLICLY BEFORE SHE WAS BANNED AND WAS STILL GIVEN THE COLD SHOULDER AND SHOWN THE EXIT.
27 March 2012 08:53
9:21, I don't care who used the term or in what context. If you post the phrase "ugly american" in a predominantly American forum, you had better be woman enough to handle the backlash you WILL get. Yes, some Americans have nasty attitudes, as do some French, some Brits, some German, some South American, some blacks, some whites, etc.
If someone is being rude and nasty, maybe it isn't because they are *insert race or nationality here*...maybe it's just because they are a rude nasty PERSON.
I'd appreciate not being generalized as an ugly American just because you've run into some unsavory people.
---ITA, most of us here (at least I do) want PTI to improve their CS, so we can confidently buy more from them, knowing that, if an issue arises, it will be taken care of.
Bad CS, disdaining valid customer complaints and banning the ones who only have the forum to be heard (after emailing cs many times) made this blog to be born. Once pti fully recovers from this (?), I could keep buying as I used to in the past. I love their products and I also buy a lot from other online sellers.
Muttation, if you are Rick, this is a plea from someone who is outside of all of this and is a happy little stamper and crafter who loves (or used to love) PTI. Make changes: focus on creating a usable website, make it an EASY experience for your customer to BUY GOODS, FOCUS on the goal.
----------------------------
This would of course assume that Rick had ANYTHING at all to do with Customer Service, Julie, the new website, etc.... Not necessarily a valid assumption...
I am sure your comments will get passed along...
I am planning to do a LONG blog post and would like some help. If we did it together, everyone who wanted to could post it on their blogs.
I am getting at least 10 emails per day from my blog by customers who have never read the forum, what is going on with PTI.
I would like to do an informative post that shows the history of this problem along with specific actual examples.
I don't think I can get sued since every bit of it will be factual?
Anyone have suggestions or an outline so I don't forget anything? Should I post a rough draft somewhere so people can have input?
9:34, I was not offended by the term because I'm not (or ever be called) an ugly American. If you were disgusted/upset by that, sorry, the stone was not for you.
I get the motivation of the pinterest "don't buy from PTI" image, but why would any of us want to link it to PTI and send traffic that direction?? That makes zero sense to me.
Donna, yes, pls post a draft so we can provide some input if necessary...a polite and well written post should state the facts/experiences from all of us. Thanks!
Mutation, One could say the same thing about the DT. They're not freaking CS Reps and yet some how them hearing the cries of those on the forum is getting the word passed along.
Rick trying to have his cake and eat it, too. Either you represent PTI, or you don't.
When she posts stuff like this I wanna respond with... "Thanks? I mean maybe possibly thank you."
Re: Any Resolution For Using Multiple GCs in One Order?
by nichole » Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:52 am
It looks as though tomorrow or Thursday, we may possibly be able to enable this feature. I will update this thread when I get final word. Thanks again for your patience as we work through this.
Rick, you are so narrow minded and absurb if you truly believe what you write. The customer service at your company SUCKS. Issues are not handled in a timely manner. Customers are treated with disrespect. Quality assurance is the pits (bad ink, grammatical errors, bad translations, etc). The website is not just poorly designed it is technically flawed. Nichole is very good at hyping products for 15 days, but customers are let down when the website malfunctions. Stock management is terrible.
And yet instead of taking real ownership of these problems you blame some imaginary "band" of customers who are only want to bring PTI down. Not true! I have spent a shitload of money with your company and I'd be happy to spend a shitload more if you all can get your act together.
"asking what is going on"
It seems that every time someone at PTI opens their mouth they just make it more obvious how incredibly incompetent they are.
Nichole posted on the "using multiple gift certs" thread -I have an email into the head tech to get a progress report and see if he feels he will have it all resolved today. Thanks for your patience regarding this hiccup. I know it is extremely frustrating to not be able to do what you would like to do within the functionality of the site. I know that he has been working diligently to get the programming fixed for this and I will provide you an update once I have heard back.
LOL! Rick is probably the ONLY tech guy so calling him the HEAD tech guy is a joke!
9:41 - by having the link go to papertreyink it means that anyone who pins something else from the papertrey website will notice the "Stay Calm" sign on the left hand side and hopefully check it out. Many pinners have included a note about PTI smack in the comments.
For the record, I am 8:50, not 9:34, although we have the same "narrow minded" opinion.
Not an ugly American- most of the forum members that were banned yesterday were not customers with specific issues turning to the forum only after emailing CS many times. OMG and Carmen have said many times they will not buy anything from PTI. I would feel bad for them if they were current customers with current issues trying to get resolution. But they are not. They simply feel the need to stand up for current customers (OMG) or banned forum members (Carmen). I didn't ask anyone to stand up for me. I am perfectly capable of standing up for myself. I find it ironic that I was the one trying to get an issue resolved, and yet the person "helping" me was the one that got banned. I don't think bringing an issue to light on the forum is what got anyone banned, since I was not banned, but rather HOW you bring that issue to light. A little respect, whether you think it is deserved or not, goes a long way!
I really want to buy stuff. Thank goodness the website is such a hassle to navigate. Oops, sorry Rick. Did I just personally attack you by stating that the website is not user friendly? My apologies. Maybe I'll save you the trouble and ban myself from the smack blog.
I cannot believe I'm going to say this but I actually agree with 9:57.
Does the Stay Calm and Don't Buy PTI actually link back to PTI???
I agree, that should be changed immediately.
LINK IT TO THIS BLOG INSTEAD!!
Not an ugly american, can you clarify your name?
Do you mean that you aren't an american at all and that in your opinion all americans are ugly
or do you mean you aren't an 'ugly' american and that you are just a regular fabulous american?
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!
Dear Muttation,
One example of Papertrey not doing the right thing was posting the customer service announcement on the website.
Do youreally and truly think that they would have posted if it hadn't been for the outcry on the forum?
They could have posted a message on their own when the problems first occurred but instead they decided to try to get through mountains of emails and then it got so bad that they just deleted the whole lot.
Do you really think that they would have informed ALL customers about what was going on with a nudge?
When given 2 choices, they always pick the one that is the least logical first and then begrudgingly do the right thing.
In the past month I have heard multiple people say that they have been getting customer service emails that blame the customer for missing or defective product and make them jump through hops just to get issues resolved. So many people have said "I thought it was just me misreading Julie's condescending attitude" but it's not. People are finally speaking out.
Please give me one example from over a month ago when Papertrey did the right thing without being prodded. I say from over a month ago because in this past month, people are finally being heard.
I am the poster from the last thread who mentioned Carmen posting on the FB page on every post "join the forum and ask your question"
5:07 was correct. I apologize, I did not know Carmen was Guatelicia. I misread the tone of Carmen's FB posts. I thought they were from a PTI unicorn who didn't want anyone to post anything but rainbows on the FB page. And was trying to silence people who genuinely wanted resolutions to their problems.
Sorry, I meant -
Do you really think that they would have informed ALL customers about what was going on withOUT a nudge?
Thank you, Truth is hostage. I was going to ask which 9:57 you were agreeing with, until I realized that you were the other 9:57. I do not think PTI is innocent in all this, but I also believe the people banned were not as innocent and "polite" as they portray themselves to be.
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!
littlebirchtree, is that you? Wasn't your very first order a month ago?
How could you possibly know about the problems that have been going on for years?
I don't believe that Papertrey is sinister. They just don't understand how to do the right thing. Even when the helpful posters have made helpful suggestions, they just ignore them and do what is easiest. They are trying to fix the short term problems.
A penny wise but a pound short.
It's too bad that they make so many of their own problems.
10:08...hahahahaha! I love that.
There is nothing more hilarious than newbs trying to hand slap.
@10:08 nope. wrong. not littlebirchtree. Michele P. Is that you? You seem to be the ringleader in this group.
10:06- This is a perfect example of what I believe happened yesterday. We all read "tone" into what we read on the forum. Some people read a snarky tone into what Rick posted yesterday. I did not. Whether you thought it was snarky or not, none of us really know what tone he meant. It is so easy to jump to conclusions and vilify someone for the wrong reasons.
You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!
_________________________________
PTI didn't deliver on what they promised me. So opening my own stamp co and doing it myself, is exactly what I intend to do!
Help me with this please:
~~~~~~~~~~
You Sew What You Reap—the PTI Train Wreck
I am receiving many e-mails asking about the graphic mentioning PTI that I posted yesterday on this blog, from customers who are not part of the PTI Forum and have no idea what has been happening there for the last year. This post will be my attempt to post the facts as well as my personal opinion about how it is being handled.
Firstly, you should know that I have been a loyal Papertrey supporter from the very beginning. I was a fan of Nichole Heady’s work before she started the Papertrey Company as their brilliant and talented designer. I have also been a fan of many of the Design Team over the years. I LOVE PTI product. I love their designs. I own more PTI product than anything else and I have been stamping for about 18 years now. I am an avid stamper and love good product. I also think they offer excellent product for a reasonable price. I have not found cardstock as wonderful anywhere else. I love their coordinating stamps and addition sets. I feel they have been the most innovative stamp company that has existed in the last 5 years.
A couple of years ago PTI produced ink pads that were clearly defective and that seemed to be the initial problem. I sent pads back per their instructions and it took 4 emails and about 6-8 months to get a refund. They only refunded for certain products and some never got a satisfying resolution. Additionally, returns were made at the customer’s expense when it came to shipping, which has been the way they do things for defective items, even at excessive cost and time for international customers.
The decline of this company, particularly in customer service has been obvious for over a year now. The sheer number of people who report they never got packages, or got them only after repeated hounding of customer service is appalling. Dozens and dozens of people have reported that they never got prizes they were owed for months and months after repeatedly contacting customer service. The 2011 Anniversary sets as of a couple of months ago were not received by what seemed to be hundreds of customers. As of a few days ago, one woman posted that she has still not received her 2010 set.
Things kind of reached a pinnacle when Karen (can someone give me a quick paragraph about the details of Karen’s problem)-----------
Customers at that point became very vocal and many came out of the woodwork not only to state they had had lengthy frustrations, but some also revealed actual emails where they had been told by an owner that if they were not happy with the customer service (despite issues still unresolved) that they should probably just shop elsewhere.
Only when customers became extremely vocal did the placating begin with little visible fixes here and there. Sadly, it seemed to be window dressing as the big issues were still continuing as the customer service representative became increasingly abrupt with customers on the public forum. We then received notice that since Customer Service was thousands deep in emails they could not answer, they were deleting (yes, you heard that right) all the emails and people could just resend them their issues. Unfortunately, this was all on the forum so thousands of customers/potential customers had no idea that their emails had been deleted and so they waiting, with some probably still waiting.
Shouting from the rooftops about getting your February order? I would say a polite thank you at best. Glad it got resolved for you though.
Part 2
Other issues have been a new forum, which debuted on the 5th Anniversary Release. Once before they introduced a new forum which was a disaster and customers were afraid this would be another debacle. And—it was. People could not use reward points, people could not complete orders, some credit cards were unjustly rejected and some of us, including me, could not get PayPal to work.
As things went from bad to worse, 4 former Design Team members began to reveal their histories with PTI and the frustrations that led to them leaving PTI. These 4 had previous remained very quiet. It is my guess that they knew that this would all come to a head without them having to tell their experiences.
There have been so many problems that I cannot go into the details of all of them. People have been sent the wrong items, sent sets with problems, had their orders held without their knowledge known as the “binder debacle”. Customers have had to fight for every little detail to be fixed often at their own expense. The company actually made customers provide a year’s invoices before they would believe that the customer “deserved” an anniversary set.
Customers have been treated like liars and some have posted emails from owners that were seriously disrespectful. These are not rare instances, but common occurances.
I have, for years, purchased, recommended, and did HUGE amounts of free advertising for this company and I want to publically make it clear that do absolutely do not support their business practices any longer.
Part 3
Yesterday, one of the Papertrey representatives “hand slapped” on a legitimate thread concerning customer service that had been stated in a fair and calm way. He continued to get more rude as the thread went on. The thread then disappeared. One regular asked for a clarification on a question and from that moment several customers were banned, one after another from the forum. NONE of them broke the TOS and yet they were banned without warning. There was NO apology from the rude administrator and instead the customers were blamed for the problem, as is PTI’s recent way of dealing with problems brought up by customers.
Will I still use their product? Yes, absolutely. There is nothing wrong with the stamps and products that I own and I have put a lot of money into my collection. I still love PTI design. I will still buy used items from individuals to add to my collection. I may still participate in shares with other customers so that I can replenish certain items or complete collections of designer papers, etc.
I will no longer direct anyone to their company. If Nichole Heady were to leave PTI and design elsewhere I would give that a chance. In the meantime I will be purchasing from Waltzingmouse, Hero Arts, Lawn Fawn, Impress Stamps, Ellen Hutson, Wplus9, Simon Says, and other companies with good service and integrity. I will only purchase from companies that show through their actions that they value their customers.
@10:05
It must be hard to be so perfect and do the right thing every single time, only to have the rest of the humans fail you... that is the impression I get from your post... maybe I am off-base...
Mistakes seem to be made...but once again, I don't think there is a plot behind them... just honest mistakes..
Have you never been snarky or rude when you were in an uncomfortable or panic situation? One that could potentially effect thousands of people? Have you never over or under-reacted to a situation?
I believe that all of this could be resolved (and the company could do better) if everyone worked together instead of attacking each other... but WTH do I know...I am just a Muttation...
Feel free to add suggestions, correct my grammar and spelling, clarify, change as needed. I will NOT be offended. I welcome the help.
@Donna C. The person missing the 2010 Anniversary set, is not correct. She was missing a 2011 Anniversary set for purchases made in 2010. It is confusing because you are rewarded for previous years sets.
Well Donna, first of all, in your title, it is "sow" and not "sew". Don't want you to lose credibility over a silly typo. :-)
Donna, make sure you clarify that it was a new website that was rolled out.
I guess I don't understand why we are proofing a blog post? Just say what you want on your blog. Other people have. You don't need anyone's approval to speak your mind. You won't get banned from your own blog.
Donna - It was a new e-commerce website, not a forum...
Thanks on the "sow" lol and I will fix the 2010 thing.
And I think the title should be "You Reap What You Sow" - basically you harvest what you plant.
Can someone help me with the details on the "Karen thing". I want to get that correct.
10:46 thanks--exactly why I needed you. I typed that all out in about 10 minutes.
Muttation:
The link says CUSTOMER FORUM.
Mutt re: 10:05
You said, "It must be hard to be so perfect and do the right thing every single time..." Really, with regard to PTI, we are expecting to be treated like valued customers. This has never happened to me at PTI. Any issues with orders take a whole lot of effort to be resolved, there is the whole deleting of emails issue with I personally find completely unacceptable and would regardless of who the company is.
I personally feel like I have been deceived with the promises of products that have never come to fruition, the paints and the pigment inks and there was the time when we were told that new colors would be released two per month, then all of a sudden it went to one every over month and there ended up being two new colors for all of 2011.
I am a long time customer, like many here, buying all of the new color collection, every ribbon, etc. It is frustrating to be responded to so poorly and so clearly not valued.
For the record, this is my first time posting on this blog, but I have been reading for some time. I didn't learn anything here that I didn't already know, but I guess somehow it helps to know that I am not alone with my feelings. There is no one here who created the problems for PTI, there is no one to blame but PTI for what the company has become.
I just wanted to add that I have been another silent reader of this blog. The "vocal" forum members aren't the only ones unhappy with PTI. Unless I see real long-term and sustained change in the way they treat their customers, I won't be shopping there again. Every company makes mistakes, it is how they handle them that shows their true colors....
"Mistakes seem to be made...but once again, I don't think there is a plot behind them... just honest mistakes.."
I absolutely agree. Everyone makes mistake.It's how they are handled that will show good or bad customer service.
Papertrey has grown so fast but they have remained with the same 4 or 5 key people running the place. Julie may be good at running a business but her attitude towards customers is mind boggling.
I have received emails from Gina K and Waltzingmouse detailing issues that might effect orders getting out in a timely manner. These emails went out as soon as a problem was discovered. Papertrey likes to brush issues under the carpet and not address them until they turn into a huge cluster.
I don't think that people can't make mistakes. I do think that they should be able to learn from them and not make the same mistakes over and over again.
@Muttation 10:37.
If you are PTI then that's really funny. I don't want to work together. I want you to get your company in order and make it a viable business so that I can buy confidently and trust that buyer and seller relationship.
I have enough on my plate that I should have to figure out how to run your business. You want me to figure out that you shouldn't be rude to your customers, that you should fix defective materials not at the expense of your customers, and so on and so forth.
Actually, the vocal ones ARE working with you to figure out how to fix your mistakes. You should actually thank them.
@10:58
I think you make some very valid points... I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything you have said.
There seems to have been some real fiascoes. I just don't agree that they have been intentional, with malice or greed as the cause.
Ultimately I THINK (read my opinion) a lot of them had to do with growing pains, outside vendor issues (website), and technology problems. All certainly the ultimate responsibility of PTI.
Hopefully they will get these issues resolved as quick as they can and they will be able to meet the needs of their customers better.
Take a moment to read some of the very hateful personal comments on this board if you would like to get a more balanced idea of what some of the posters are really all about.
Donna - that sounds good.
Another issue was the pallet of stamps that sat in the warehouse only to be sent out without so much as a word to the customers that were affected.
http://forum.papertreyink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26151&p=334335#p334335
And this gem by Nichole when the ink price was wrong on the website- I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed in the way things were handled with the incorrect manner in which the ink buy buttons uploaded tonight. It wasn't something that was done on purpose and there was definitely no intention of anyone feeling slighted or cheated. It was simply a matter of a glitch during the uploading process that recycled the old ink buttons rather than the new ones we had created. We try our very best with everything we do and I'm truly sorry that you feel we fell short.
As far as not offering a discounted rate, we actually permanently marked the full-size ink pads down by a full dollar, the retail price is supposed to be $6 because of the unique shape of the pad and the extra cost it entailed. We are absorbing the dollar lost on each sale as a gesture to our dedicated customers.
I have extended an apology and if you have any further comments about the situation that you would like to communicate to us, you are more than welcome to contact customer service to my attention and I would be more than happy to respond personally.
Thanks for the reminder. I still can't believe they lose things in their own warehouse. I mean an entire pallet goes unnoticed? Do they not have a computer system for inventory purposes? Or does Julie walk around with a yellow notepad tallying as things are sold? Idiots.
Donna - I think you've done a great job in trying to pin down the issues. Like you said - there are so many! Not sure if you wanted to mentioned the "lost pallet of orders" issue, or the "SASE" issue. Totally your choice. Those just came to mind.
And I agree that proofing it, with help, is a great idea. So much misunderstanding has already made things worse. Keep up the good effort!
Thanks. Will add that about the lost stamps.
Donna, I would be careful when saying "NONE" of the banned members violated the TOS. In your opinion, they did not violate the TOS. But it is up to PTI to interpret the TOS and determine if they have been violated. You may not agree that they were violated, but the decision is not yours. It is PTI's.
When I get the Karen details, I will move forward with this. Anyone who wants to post it is welcome to share it.
If PTI could hear one thing I would love for it to be this:
What you lack is humility. A Little humility will go a long way in solving all of your issues. You can be a great company still. No matter WHAT or WHO is the root of the problems there... things are not working. Things are not getting better. PTI needs help. A little humility please, and ASK for that help. Whether it's a professional web person, more CS reps, a PR person ... you need to ask for that help. Humility.
We can argue all day long for the next five years. He said, she said. MIs-read intentions. The bottom line is that PTI needs help. Only PTI can change that. Please do. We would all support you in that.
Anonymous, thanks. I will qualify that.
There are a lot of hateful posts here however, a lot of them come out of sheer frustration.
For me the whole mishandling of customer service issues really started with Karen posting the email from Julie on the forum. It was entitled "Attention Nichole" because Karen felt that if Nichole saw how she had been treated by Julie, she would be tripping over herself to apologize. I expected that too. Remember, Karen only posted on the forum because she couldn't reach Nichole personally.
Instead, Nichole agreed with Julie and pretty much said "I'm sorry that YOU misunderstood the policy". It wasn't until Karen posted the email from Jenn stating that Karen should send her defective item via HER EQUIVALENT of first class mail (which she did) that Jenn stepped up and offered the $20 credit. It was Jenn's mistake but it was handled horribly by Julie and Nichole.
THAT thread was deleted, Karen started a new one and then PTI closed the whole "Ask the Papertrey Team" forum.
Thanks for the details on the Karen thing.
Sorry for those on their phones who hate scrolling!
Here is part of the pallet thread for those that can't access the forum.
Attention Julie and Nichole
Postby barbara32ca
I appreciate that you may not have time to read a 7 page thread that covers more than one topic so I wanted to write a single post with a specific issue that should be addressed.
There have been a number of orders that were made on November 15th that sat in the warehouse for 12+ days before being shipped. WHY ?
I am posting here because this type of issue has been discussed here and there is speculation ranging from financial trouble to fraud to refusal to hire extra staff.
Since people haven't heard otherwise , the rumours are circulating. This cannot be good for Papertrey!
When issues like this occurs, YOU NEED TO FIX the PROBLEM, and COMMUNICATE as soon as it is brought to your attention. All affected orders should be checked and the customers notified. If the issue has already been brought to the forum, it should also be addressed on the forum.
This is why you NEED to have customer service at the warehouse.
Please don't wait for the new website to launch to address this issue. You are continually losing customers that you aren't going to get back.
To other members of the forum, I would respectfully ask that we keep this particular thread about this one issue. I don't want to further confuse things by adding a myriad of other customer service/shipping/OOS concerns. Btt's are welcome in order to keep the thread where Julie and Nichole will see it. :-)
pt 2
Re: Attention Julie and Nichole
Postby nichole » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:29 am
It was just recently brought to our attention that a pallet of approximately 60 packages from orders placed on the 15th was not picked up on time due to some construction materials in our warehouse obstructing their view. With the Thanksgiving holiday, the packages were shipped out 3 days after the outlined shipping policy of 7 business days for order turnaround during release time.
This is completely our fault and we take complete responsibility for they delay of those packages in question. I sincerely apologize for this oversight, but I fully realize that our apology doesn't alleviate the frustration we have caused you. You are definitely justified in your frustration and you are completely correct in the fact that better communication should have been made. It is our responsibility to uphold the published shipping policy and we realize that we did not execute our promise in this area. Certain procedures and checklists have been created to prevent this situation from occurring in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to share your criticisms with us. We are listening and take everything you say to heart. We look forward to the opportunity to earn back your confidence in our company over the next few months.
pt 3
Re: Attention Julie and Nichole
Postby barbara32ca » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:20 am
Thank you Nichole. I really appreciate the tone in which your answered my post.
nichole wrote:It was just recently brought to our attention that a pallet of approximately 60 packages from orders placed on the 15th was not picked up on time due to some construction materials in our warehouse obstructing their view. With the Thanksgiving holiday, the packages were shipped out 3 days after the outlined shipping policy of 7 business days for order turnaround during release time.
I would like to respectfully ask, as soon as the orders were discovered, were the affected customers notified ? This is something that a person in the warehouse would need to address. You are not in the warehouse and neither is Jenn so that leaves Julie to fix this problem.
I understand that mistakes happen. Even after the orders were discovered, this is still a good example of where customer service could really shine. Every customer should have been emailed with an apology. Perhaps even a token credit for good will. As you said, approximately 60 orders were affected. Even if you offered $10 , that's $600 which I hazard to guess is still far less than the amount that amount that you have lost due to loyal customers not ordering.
Situations like these could have such a different outcome if they didn't have to be brought to the forums to be solved.
I do hope that Julie is reading this as she seems to be closest to the situation.
Again, Nichole, thank you for your gracious tone and I would love to feel confident enough to place an order.
Thank you,
Barbara
Muttation - I agree that the issues are not intentional. It is the fact that they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Just when things start to look good, another issue pops up and people get upset all over again.
It looks like they were starting to get on the right track with mailing the wrong dies out without having to be hounded but then Rick comes onto the forum and starts banning people and deleting posts. That , IMO, will just make the angries even angrier! That's when they start posting all over the internet to anyone that will listen.
even the mailing of the correct die had have teeth pulled to make that right
someone emailed Dave earlier in the day, and was told the old way of doing it (ship it back and we'll ship you another one)
Even after nichole had posted the resolution people were still being told that, and then having to re-email customer service
So they NEVER make any decision in the customers favour unless we have a tantrum on the forum. It's the only way (the SImply you replacement debacle ??!!)
Donna, in your 10:32 post you mention "the Papertrey Company," which should be Papertrey Ink (no "the"). It might be worth mentioning in that sentence that she started the company with two other women, or include Julie and Jane's names.
Thanks 12:07
Their last name is spelled Heskamp?
I forgot about the fact that people had to mention the die replacement on the forum.
Also, I forgot about the SASE solution to the Simply You sentiment stamp.
Now that you mention it I do remember Ted asking on the forum if people should include their order number or address or some other weird chit that essentially just made the problem so much more complicated than it needed to be.
Also, wasn't Ted the one that got all up in arms on the off topic forum demanding that Papertrey fix the slider die issue? He didn't even give them a couple of seconds to formulate a plan. Maybe Ted is the real problem! LOL!
11:31- Your version of the Karen situation is not totally accurate. The mistake Jenn made was not clarifying just what US first class mail is. First class mail in the US is an envelope with a couple stamps. Karen asked her postmaster for the Australian equivalent of US first class. Her postmaster sold her insured, registered, trackable, all the bells and whistles postage which is NOT the equivalent of US first class postage. Aside from Jenn not being specific enough, that was the first mistake. Was it Karen's mistake? Not really. But I don't think it was PTI's either. If I was asked to ship something back, and the postage cost more than the item was worth to begin with, I think I would check with the company first. If she had emailed Jenn to let her know how much the shipping was, Jenn could have given her more specific instructions and saved everyone a lot of frustration! Was Julie's response appropriate? No. She could (should) have been more helpful, understanding, polite... Take your pick. Maybe Julie didn't realize Karen was in Australia. I don't know. I'm not making any excuses for Julie. She did not handle the situation very well.
As far as Nichole's response, it was obviously not the response Karen wanted. But remember Nichole is only part owner, with Julie being one of the other co-owners. In my house, if I tell my kids something, I expect my husband to support me. If he doesn't agree with me, we can discuss it in private. If he goes behind my back to undermine me, he is in the doghouse big time!! Parents need to present a united front to their children. As do co-owners of a company with their customers. As a company, they could and should have handled it better. Absolutely! But I really think it started out as a simple misunderstanding, which could have been avoided with better communication by both parties.
Rick comes onto the forum and starts banning people and deleting posts.
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Rick did neither. It seemed like Rick made a comment/asked a question about the relevance of some of the posts and how they would be helpful....snarky? probably. no....definitely.
but as you have pointed out, these attitudes can sometimes arise out of frustration...particularly with the folks who seemed to chime in with their two cents at EVERY opportunity..regardless of the issue or whether or not it will be truly helpful.
What then followed was a barrage of posts by some folks trying to keep the thing going (out of solidarity perhaps)....in completely unrelated posts. Those same folks were on this board trying to figure out how to circumvent the forum IP bans so they could get back on there and cause more trouble (and teach Rick a lesson)...read the posts on here over the last couple of days...
over-reaction on both sides if you ask me....but who is asking... :)
No no thats exactly what happened with Karen
Julie (not Jenn) told her first class mail-used those woes spcifically
So when Karen took it to he post office, it clearly meant something else-but she had been told SPECIFICALLY to send it first class mail
Whether Julie did not understand the difference is irrelevant
That is what she said -she should have apologized and refunded the sipping
I agree about the overreaction on both sides.
I do think though that the harder Papertrey pushes (like the banning and deleting of posts) the harder the "angries" will push to be heard. They will start to be vocal wherever they can because they feel frustrated and cut off at the knees.
The point is that a lot of the people here are wanting the issues to be fixed and now they have just been silenced.
YES, there are a few people on the forum and here that are rude and extreme.
I would like to say that the majority of vocal people on the forum were really just pushing for change and trying to be respectful while doing it.
Jenn specifically said "your equivalent" of First Class mail. Karen took the die to the post office and the postal worker told her what the equivalent was. So if you want to get nitpicky, it was the postal workers fault.
Papertrey should have had a clear and concise policy in place.
This whole thing might have been avoided (with the exception of Julie's snotty mad cs skills) if somebody at Papertrey added the words "we will reimburse postage UP TO $3" or whatever price they set. Instaed they have vague policies that are open to to much interpretation on both sides.
Mutt said:
"There seems to have been some real fiascoes. I just don't agree that they have been intentional, with malice or greed as the cause."
I don't believe the problems are intentional. I DO believe greed is the reason the problems aren't getting fixed.
I've heard of other companies delaying or postponing a monthly release so they could get their website/inventory issues/whatever in order before dumping a whole new months worth of issues on top.
I've heard of other companies reducing the amount of product they release each month when 30+ items becomes overwhelming.
Why won't PTI ever do this?
Why won't they do anything to make the website less sucky? Do you know how difficult it is to find the colored cardstock? I had to sort through about 5 pages of not what I was looking for before the color match cardstock started showing up.
Take that back to your handlers and see what they say.
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out.
Sorry, you were right. Nichole owned up to deleting the posts. Rick just came across as an ass TO ME and a few other people.
Take that back to your handlers and see what they say.
------------------------
wow....
Hi Ted!
Muttation is starting to really sound like Ted to me.
12:16 here. That was my point. It started out as a clear misunderstanding. It was Jenn that apologized for not being more specific in her instructions, not Julie. The postmaster sold Karen the wrong postage. Karen said she asked for the equivalent of US first class and the postmaster looked it up. Whatever he found when he "looked it up", was wrong.
PTI has changed the wording in their return instructions. They have added a dollar amount to their emails to avoid another Karen fiasco. I have personally received an email with a dollar amount stated. So they did make changes to help prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.
Who were the 4 DT members and what was that story? I missed that - can somebody give me a link to where that is talked about/explained?
Why is Debbie Olson trying to stir up shit? No one was jumping on Joan B and how could she tell that was about to happen? I rather like Joan.
I agree with 12:16 about the Karen incident. Karen admitted at the time that what she did "made no sense." I remember those words of hers, because I immediately thought to myself, "Then why did you do it?" When her postmaster told her it was going to be 20-whatever dollars, she should have known not to do it. The die was worth only a fraction of that. Even if I thought PTI had told me to do that, I would have gotten confirmation that they would in fact reimburse me for that much. And I do want to clarify that I do not fault international customers for paying high postage to buy the products (though I am sorry it is so expensive for you). When you are paying postage to buy products, you are getting good, useful products that you will get much enjoyment and use out of, so it is worth it. But mailing back a defective die is completely different--it has no worth beyond the couple of dollars PTI would be reimbursed by the manufacturer. So Karen should have had the sense to figure that out. That said, Julie completely mishandled the situation. She should have refunded the postage and clarified their international return policy. It would have been a $20 lesson learned instead of a multi-thousands (in lost sales) lesson learned.
Does someone have an axe to grind against Michelle P?
She has a ton of $$ tied up in PTI shit (she's mentioned that much herself on the forums) and doesn't need to justify her feelings about PTI to any smackers or unicorns disguised as smackers. And being nice sunshiney and rainbow-y about CS issues just gets you ignored.
Sorry Michelle, I know you don't need anyone to defend you but hand slappers who don't kwow what the hell they are talking about piss me off.
12:42 here. My comment above was in response to 12:31 above. Should have specified that.
12:32- In response to PTI reducing the amount of new product each month, every time that idea is brought up on the forum, it gets shot down by customers. At one point they were releasing 2 new colors a month. They decided to cut that back to 1, then 1 every other month when there were quality control issues, among other things. Someone in this very string of commenters said she felt deceived by this. So while cutting back may seem like a good thing, I'm certain just as many people would complain if they did cut back.
Not sure what to make of Debbie Olson's post....JoanB has work to do and therefore is unaware of the "drama" us job-less troublemakers have stirred up?
Maybe that's just me reading into things again...
Here it is:
http://rubystamper.blogspot.com/2012/03/reap-what-you-sow-pti-train-wreck.html
every time that idea is brought up on the forum, it gets shot down by customers.
I'll admit, I'm a forum lurker but I have NEVER read anyone from PTI suggest fewer items be released. Never. And since when does a company let customers be the judge of what the company can efficiently and effectively handle while providing excellent customer service? That is ludicrous. So if you take a poll and some dummy suggests you release 285 items, I guess you go ahead and do it?? That makes zero sense.
Thanks Debbie. Normally I like you but I think I can handle working my full time job AND popping in every now and then on the forums.
12:47 I am confused by your comment. I haven't seen anyone bad mouth Michele P. Someone said she seemed to be the ringleader, but based on her forum avatar, I don't think she would take offense to that. In the last post, someone said "someone should post..." and then minutes later Michele posted that very thing in the forum. A smacker posted Michele was in the house, but I didn't take that as an attack either. Where did you get someone has an axe to grind with Michele
Donna - just to clarify, they launched a new website during the release, not a new forum. The forum is the same as it's been since 2008, with the exception of a few hours in May 2010 when they tried to launch the previously failed new website.
Muttation is not Ted. Ted uses a lot of long winded and irrelevant words.
I can understand what muttation is saying.
Truth is Hostage, it has been brought up by several different forum members on several different occasions that PTI should cut back, and each time the idea is shot down by customers. More customers voice their opinion against cutting back than those that support the idea. So PTI is giving their customers what the majority of them want. At least the majority of the ones that voice their opinion.
I don't think Debbie O meant to insult anyone. I think she just didn't want Joan to get attacked, and cjkerr had already posted Wow. Just Won in response to Joan. I admit I really didn't know how to take Joan's post. Ironic about CS or more like, keep it off the forum? I generally like Joan. This all just goes to show how hard it is to gather tone from posts, and how different people interpret things differently, based on their own views and temperament.
Thanks, anon. I just corrected that and changed "forum" to "website".
AFter Joan B's comment the OP said Wow. Just wow. And that could mean just about anything!
12:54
"Someone in this very string of commenters said she felt deceived by this."
This was in reference to me. It's a very different thing when you say, "Hey we are releasing 2 colors each month." and then just not doing it to saying, "Hey, we have some things we need to resolve here. We are going to have a scaled down (or no) release this month." When a business says things are going to happen, I expect it to be the case, but I do understand that circumstances change but then be honest about it. Have we ever heard anything again about the paints? Or the new pigment inks? Or when we might expect new colors? IMO yes, I feel deceived having been told these things and then have them not happen.
Can someone post Joan's comment for those of us who are no longer allowed to EVEN read the forum?
"Someone in this very string of commenters said she felt deceived by this."
What does this mean?
DonnaC, it's a good blog post but is missing some history that gives perspective. Were you not reading here a couple of weeks ago when someone posted an old 2008 SCS thread about CS issues with PTI? About Anni Sets? It was a multi pager and it was weird reading almost exactly the same issues as we are hearing today, but from exactly four years ago. I mean literally, same shit, different day. About Anni sets (and other issues) no less.
I think one of the major issues people have with this company is that they simply refuse to change and respond to the same CS issues over and over and over again. I mean, four fucking years ago? I really think that hisorical perspective should have been part of your post but I wasn't on here when you posted earlier. Sorry.
As for the karen thing, don't let the unicorns try to tell you it was in any way Karen's fault. Neither was it the postal services fault. I followed that whole issue and it was most certainly entirely a CS issue that is a literal case study in how NOT to do CS.
Here's the thing to cut through the details and the crap over the Karen thing, ask yourself how other companies would have treated this CS issue over a defective $5 die that an Australian customer ended up with? You all know the answer. They would have shipped her out a new die and told her to chuck the shitty one. The old excuse of needing it back for Quality Control is just another BS aspect of PTIs lame approach to CS. Customers don't need to be inconvenienced or a part of your QC process. If you need it back that bad, send an effing return label in your customer's packages.
Every BS little company in the US provides return labels these days, I was using them YEARS ago to better serve my customers. There are just no excuses for why, since at LEAST 2008 this company has done virtually nothing to improve CS, except as a result of direct pressure from vocal customers. And customers, if you read that board regularly, are doing MORE CS than PTI themselves.
Joan said maybe it would be better to send a note to customer service.
Some troll posted:
"You all seem to think you know how to run a company a whole lot better than PTI. Why don't you spend your time and effort into opening up a stamp company together!"
And then someone else responded with:
Anonymous said...
littlebirchtree, is that you? Wasn't your very first order a month ago?
How could you possibly know about the problems that have been going on for years?
27 March 2012 10:08
Then someone (I'm assuming the troll) posted in response to the littlebirchtree accusation:
Anonymous said...
@10:08 nope. wrong. not littlebirchtree. Michele P. Is that you? You seem to be the ringleader in this group.
27 March 2012 10:17
And I took that as a troll trying to call someone out over here. I don't think MP is the ring leader. I think she's a disgruntled (and rightly so) customer.
Thanks, 13:14. I have only discovered this blog very recently thanks to a PM from a regular on the forum. I was not aware that the problems had gone on so extensively for so long.
As more information comes in, I may do an addendum to my blog post.
Thanks for clarifying about feeling deceived.
I remember when Nichole used to promise all kinds of things that wouldn't materialize. The date that she promised would pass and then there was NO word from her.
I used to always feel slighted when she would do this too.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out.
--------------------------
I personally know of four different cases, all feeling like they were banned w/o reason, where the customers have emailed and have not received a response. This was not from yesterdays pruning, but the previous round a couple of weeks ago.
1:11 (the first one) the paint was explained a long time ago. There was a stability issue between the paint and the paint cans they were using. So they sold off the paint cans and scrapped the idea. The pigment ink is in the works. They never promised a date for those. Since they haven't even finished releasing all the colors in the dye(hybrid) ink, I wouldn't expect them to release the pigment yet. I would expect them to work on and release one ink formula at a time. This just proves my point. If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long.
Oh yeah, 13:19, I remember the incident you are talking about. That's when Rick first spoke of the 'pruning' to facilitate a faster forum experience during release time. Hehehehe. Yeah....faster sweeping of the turd under the rug was more like it.
Re: Where's my thread??
by cjkerr » Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:19 am
Joan B wrote:
may be it would be better to just send a note to customer service.
Wow! Just wow.
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Re: Where's my thread??
by Debbie Olson » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:25 am
To be fair, JoanB hasn't been around for all of the drama. She has work to do. . . So I am asking that no one start jumping on her for mentioning e-mailing customer service, please. Not accusing anyone of having done that yet, but I could see it heading there. And JoanB doesn't deserve that for trying to be helpful. Thanks much!
Debbie Olson
PTI Design Team
Blog: http://www.debbiedesigns.typepad.com
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Re: Where's my thread??
by barbara32ca » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:48 am
Debbie Olson wrote:
To be fair, JoanB hasn't been around for all of the drama. She has work to do. . . So I am asking that no one start jumping on her for mentioning e-mailing customer service, please. Not accusing anyone of having done that yet, but I could see it heading there. And JoanB doesn't deserve that for trying to be helpful. Thanks much!
Thanks Debbie,
I took Joan's post as a lighthearted, fun poke at customer service.
I guess that just goes to show you that you really can't read intent on a message board and that we are all going to see certain posts through our own filters. That's likely where some of the problems have come up.
Barbara
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Re: Where's my thread??
by Debbie Olson » Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:12 am
Jeepers, Barara--knowing JoanB, YOU are probably right! I was just afraid that we might get going again on someone, and I was trying to avoid that. Please forgive my hypersensitivity on the forum.
Thanks,
Debbie
Debbie Olson
PTI Design Team
Blog: http://www.debbiedesigns.typepad.com
I knew I liked Debbie.
The problem USED to be that Nichole would mention a date on the forum - like the next release for example. Andthen the release would come and go without any mention from Nichole about why the items were missing.
She should have posted right on her blog "Due to quality control issues we won't be releasing the paint" or whatever.
Instead, she remained silent until people started asking about it on the forums and then she got snippy and defensive.
The problem is how she handled it. She is not the victim that she likes to play. Many of these issues could have been avoided altogether.
In all fairness, she does seem to be learning if you look at the Kraft felt as an example. It was dealt with properly.
Thank you, and knowing Joan fairly well, I am pretty sure that was a tongue-in-cheek sort of smart ass reply.
If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long.
An example of how to answer the demanding posts-
"We know how excited you are about the release of the pigment inks and so are we. Quality control is our top priority and we will release the new inks as soon as they are ready. Thank you for sharing our excitement."
There. Not so hard.
Debbie is really sweet. I've always liked her. I don't think she's phoney and if she is, she's got me fooled. She's pretty much the only one of the lot that I can stand anymore. Although - what's happened with Betsy? Has she been posting through all this DT en force nonsense?
I love Debbie Olsen and am glad you guys are not smacking her. She is one classy lady.
P.S. I have met Debbie and she is an amazing person. No attitude at all. Down to earth and sweet.
Not an ugly American said...
...To the one asking about the ugly American comment: Have you traveled outside of the US?(or have you even been out of town?) I have visited Europe and South America and wherever I go, the concept of the "ugly American" only applies to Americans who think they can't never be wrong or they know everything. When Guatelicia used that expression, she didn't mean to label all American pti users, it was Steph's comment which actually deserved it because she was throwing her "Im in med school-I know everything."
Ok, next!
27 March 2012 09:21
______________________________________________
I could not have explained it any better. Thank you NAUA!
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I'd appreciate not being generalized as an ugly American just because you've run into some unsavory people.
________________________________________________
Unless you are the person giving Lou a really rude response and bringing up your "education", the comment was not meant for you...
9:57, you said:
...OMG and Carmen have said many times they will not buy anything from PTI.
___________________________________________________
Please, do not put words in my mouth. I stated that I would not buy until the issues were resolved. That they had lost a customer for now. My hope had always been to go back some day... now, it's not looking so good anymore, but I will not say never.
But Guatelicia, I don't think you realize how offensive that phrase is to Americans, even if it is not directed at us personally
Anonymous said...
I am the poster from the last thread who mentioned Carmen posting on the FB page on every post "join the forum and ask your question"
5:07 was correct. I apologize, I did not know Carmen was Guatelicia. I misread the tone of Carmen's FB posts. I thought they were from a PTI unicorn who didn't want anyone to post anything but rainbows on the FB page. And was trying to silence people who genuinely wanted resolutions to their problems.
27 March 2012 10:06
______________________________________________
Apology accepted. And please, let me also apologize for jumping to a conclusion. I guess, I also misread the tone of your post.
1:11
You said, "If PTI rushes the production of something to meet customer demand, they are criticized if there are any problems. But if they take their time to try to really get it right they are criticized as well, because it took so long."
Maybe they should consider not saying that a product will be released, especially on a certain date if it hasn't been tested thoroughly enough to even know if it is going to work. If I recall, the paints were announced in anniversary festivities two years ago and when two weeks later release time came around and then they weren't ready. You mean to tell me that they were not even tested to the point of viability when the gave a release date? I sure hope the pigment inks were tested before they released die pads that would snap into the maybe never to be released pigment pads. In both of these cases, like many, many, many others, communication is key, which PTI seems to ignore. Well, along with quality assurance.
Muttation said...
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
If anyone feels like they got banned for no reason, and were completely innocent of malice, I would think they could write to the forum admin and get it straightened out.
27 March 2012 12:33
___________________________________________________
Seriously??? Do you know that the email address for the forum administrator is customerservice@paper...
So, chances are that after reading the email and laughing, they would just delete it.
My experience getting a warning was this:
PM from Nichole saying that I did a personal attack. It included a link to the post in where the "offense" was comited.
So, I can't see the post, because it is deleted and it is not included in the PM. I can't explain myself, because Nichole doesn't allow PM's.
In my opinion, this is unfair since I can't respond to what I think is a FALSE ACCUSATION. And, I get the feeling that PTI doesn't really give a hoot.
So, why do you think anything would be different after being banned?
I haven't finished catching up but cannot help but comment on "Mutt's" use of the phrase "growing pains."
I thought we put that idiotic phrase to rest a long long time ago. MAYBE legit 3 or 4 years ago but no longer applies. It's a crappy lame excuse.
So, why do you think anything would be different after being banned?
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maybe try sending an email to the forum administrator.... rick.geymonat@gmail.com
Anonymous said...
But Guatelicia, I don't think you realize how offensive that phrase is to Americans, even if it is not directed at us personally
27 March 2012 13:41
_______________________________________________________
I AM an American. And I would never insult a foreigner because they don't know everything there is to know about this country. I was pointing out that this person fit an stereotype and unfortunately that can reflect badly on all of us.
I am also Hispanic and I don't like the way some of us are "painted", but to be honest, I can accept that some fit the stereotype and I am not one of them.
I'm not going to go begging for access to the forum. PTI made it perfectly clear that they don't want me to talk on the forum. I'm happy to oblige by speaking outside instead.
Muttation said...
I may be wrong but I think there were only three or four folks that got banned yesterday.... There are still quite a few "vocal" folks on the forum expressing their thoughts...without malice and ill-intent.
There are very few of us vocal folks left that feel comfortable posting anything about customer service or product issues. Yes we are still there but now I feel one step away from being banned just for speaking up period. And I like to think that I am always respectful.
If I had posted what Joan B posted about contacting customer service, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been banned.
ANd it not the only situation
Seriously...you change over your ENTIRE storage system to DVD cases. When did you actually order your cases..the month before ?? If they did not meet your quality control, only you can be faulted for not ordering them soon enough to make sure they will be fine.
Its the same time and time again. When did you check the binders...AFTER customers started ordering them
Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
In case it gets deleted.....they don't seem to like it when folks mention that people are getting banned.
Debbie Olson wrote:Jeepers, Barbara--knowing JoanB, YOU are probably right! I was just afraid that we might get going again on someone, and I was trying to avoid that. Please forgive my hypersensitivity on the forum. ;)
Thanks,
Debbie
I like the way that you handled this Debbie. :-) A good preventative measure.
I don't think that we need to worry quite so much about threads getting in an uproar now that so many people have been banned from the forum.
Barbara
Does nobody agree that the intent was not to help but to "get back" at PTI for at least some of the folks on here... some of the folks that got banned?? Was nobody around yesterday during the flurry of posts and comments on here and the forum while that was happening?
Am I just completely misguided and full of it when I see malice on at least the part of some people?
^^^I absolutely agree and see it! It was a complete pissing match!
Mutt - Yes, you are completely misguided and full of it.
Or possibly the intent was to let other forum members know that people didn't just leave of their own free will. Maybe they don't care that the forum is now a happy place not because the issues have been solved but because people have been banned. Who knows. I saw no malice. I guess it just depends on your own filter and how you feel about the poster.
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