Trade Me - Why is their customer service so appalling?

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Geektastic

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#195840 7-May-2016 22:08

I have found myself in some sort of Dante-esque circle of hells with Trade Me.

My wife asked me to buy some shoes for her which were listed thereon. I did so. The seller wanted to ask me a question and apparently the email bounced so she contacted me via the Q&A on a sale listing of mine.

Next thing I know, TM have suspended my account claiming I need to supply complete information. I check account information - all correct, Address Verified and Pay Now account verified.

I point out to TM that I have questions being asked about live listings which I cannot answer.

They send me lovely emails full of trite language, phrased as if they were addressing a mentally defective two year old, informing me that they answer their emails in "24-48 hours" and that if I wish to I am free to call them any time if I am happy to be rorted $2.20/minute to sort out some problem they have not specified and which AFAIK does not even exist.

They offer to call me "sometime soon in the hours you gave us" and end with this gem:

"Thanks for getting back to me with your details and I’ve forwarded them off to our lovely daytime (or evening) support crew, who will endeavour to get a hold of you at the time you indicated.

I really do wish you all the best of luck and should you need us again, please feel free to get back to us anytime. You can do this by simply replying to this email or by phone any time on 0900 87233 (calls cost $1.99 + GST a minute)"

Maybe it is just me, but as a paying customer of theirs, I am not seeing any form of Customer Service in this - they create some problem that does not exist, then take (so far) 2 days to do nothing other than offer me an opportunity to pay them AGAIN to sort it out!

What madness is this?

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#1548073 7-May-2016 22:08

Hmmmm. Here we go.

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michaelmurfy

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#1548102 7-May-2016 22:38

PeterReader:

Hmmmm. Here we go.

I take it PeterReader has had some bad customer service with Trademe too. I don't understand their 0900 number, sure this keeps the n00bs from calling asking "where is my shoes" or "this person left me bad feedback" but to me this provides an impossible means to contact them if email doesn't work.

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mattwnz

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#1548109 7-May-2016 23:29

I have always found trademes support to be good. I would however suggest you use twitter to 'prod' them along to get it answered promptly. No need to phone/pay them, for support, it can all be done at no cost via email.

Geektastic

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#1548110 7-May-2016 23:34

michaelmurfy:

PeterReader:

Hmmmm. Here we go.

I take it PeterReader has had some bad customer service with Trademe too. I don't understand their 0900 number, sure this keeps the n00bs from calling asking "where is my shoes" or "this person left me bad feedback" but to me this provides an impossible means to contact them if email doesn't work.

Agreed. Imagine if, say, Meridian Energy were to announce that they would answer your email in 48 hours but if you wanted to speak to them, they would charge you $2.20/minute (and probably put you on hold for a while whilst the bill racks up!)

We pay Trade Me - too much - and yet they won't even provide you with the most basic of contact services unless you pay them again.

I'm sure there would be a system where they can email you and say "call us on the 0900 number and then enter the code 123455 and it will be normal call costs" where the codes are random generation numbers.

Else they could have Live Chat on the Support site or the system Apple use (as an example) where you can leave a number and they call you right back.

Geektastic

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#1548111 7-May-2016 23:35

mattwnz:

I have always found trademes support to be good. I would however suggest you use twitter to 'prod' them along to get it answered promptly. No need to phone/pay them, for support, it can all be done at no cost via email.

At their speed. I have live auctions running with outstanding questions from buyers that I cannot deal with. It just makes me look like I am ignoring the buyers when I am in fact waiting for TM....

mattwnz

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#1548112 7-May-2016 23:44

Geektastic:

mattwnz:

I have always found trademes support to be good. I would however suggest you use twitter to 'prod' them along to get it answered promptly. No need to phone/pay them, for support, it can all be done at no cost via email.

At their speed. I have live auctions running with outstanding questions from buyers that I cannot deal with. It just makes me look like I am ignoring the buyers when I am in fact waiting for TM....

I admit it does sound like poor form in terms of customer service just suspending an account. However it is probably covered in their terms if something isn't filled in fully, they can do it, but you would need them to tell you exactly what was missing in your details etc. If you think they have made a balls up, once you have got it reactivated you should certainly get them to escalate it to management to investigate. Maybe they will give you a credit to your account for the muckup. I wouldn't worry too much about questions, as sometime it can take days to get answers to questions even on an active account, especially during the weekend. But if it is going to affect you selling an item quickly during the weekend, and they have mucked up by wrongly suspending your account, then their management will certainly need to know.

Geektastic

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#1548113 8-May-2016 00:09

mattwnz:

Geektastic:

mattwnz:

I have always found trademes support to be good. I would however suggest you use twitter to 'prod' them along to get it answered promptly. No need to phone/pay them, for support, it can all be done at no cost via email.

At their speed. I have live auctions running with outstanding questions from buyers that I cannot deal with. It just makes me look like I am ignoring the buyers when I am in fact waiting for TM....

I admit it does sound like poor form in terms of customer service just suspending an account. However it is probably covered in their terms if something isn't filled in fully, they can do it, but you would need them to tell you exactly what was missing in your details etc. If you think they have made a balls up, once you have got it reactivated you should certainly get them to escalate it to management to investigate. Maybe they will give you a credit to your account for the muckup. I wouldn't worry too much about questions, as sometime it can take days to get answers to questions even on an active account, especially during the weekend. But if it is going to affect you selling an item quickly during the weekend, and they have mucked up by wrongly suspending your account, then their management will certainly need to know.

The things I can't work out

1) They did not bother contacting me to tell me what was at issue and I still do not know

2) The account has been Address Verified and run for 10 years. Nothing has changed.

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UHD

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#1548115 8-May-2016 00:18

They charge for phone support because the absolute scum of the universe make up the vast majority of their customer base. Can you imagine trying to run a call centre to manage that mess given some of the comments you see on auctions? I'm happy with e-mail only support, nothing takes very long to be sorted out. The stated time frames are assuming they are working at maximum capacity.

mattwnz

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#1548116 8-May-2016 00:20

It is odd. Maybe they tried to phone you, and it had an old phone number? Or they emailed you too and it bounced? Don't really understand though why they would suspend the account, if they hadn't actually had a complaint about you as a trader.

Geektastic

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#1548161 8-May-2016 07:56

UHD:
They charge for phone support because the absolute scum of the universe make up the vast majority of their customer base. Can you imagine trying to run a call centre to manage that mess given some of the comments you see on auctions? I'm happy with e-mail only support, nothing takes very long to be sorted out. The stated time frames are assuming they are working at maximum capacity.

And yet the same people are the customers of many organisations that DO run phone support....

timmmay

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#1548170 8-May-2016 08:17

I've started using Neighbourly a lot more, free to sell things and people just drop in to collect things. Trademe is getting more expensive and the lack of service is annoying.

Geese

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#1548171 8-May-2016 08:17

I tried to become address verified a month ago, when I went through the procedure to get the letter sent it seemed to work fine, then the following day I got this excellent email from their customer support...

I'm just getting in touch with you regarding your recent Address Verification application. I wasn't able to put your application through this time round as the full name on the membership isn't accurate.

[snip section on how to update my details]

Once you've updated your details, you are more than welcome to apply for the address verification status again.

Thanks for your understanding and co-operation with this matter.

Hmmmm... I think I know my full name better than trademe. It's the one on my birth certificate, drivers licence, mortgage, bank cards... but I guess they would rather I change it to Derp Derpington so I can become address verified?

UHD

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#1548209 8-May-2016 10:39

Geektastic:
UHD:

They charge for phone support because the absolute scum of the universe make up the vast majority of their customer base. Can you imagine trying to run a call centre to manage that mess given some of the comments you see on auctions? I'm happy with e-mail only support, nothing takes very long to be sorted out. The stated time frames are assuming they are working at maximum capacity.

And yet the same people are the customers of many organisations that DO run phone support....

Banks and insurance companies make a lot more money than TradeMe does.

Geektastic

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#1548242 8-May-2016 11:13

UHD:

Geektastic:
UHD:

They charge for phone support because the absolute scum of the universe make up the vast majority of their customer base. Can you imagine trying to run a call centre to manage that mess given some of the comments you see on auctions? I'm happy with e-mail only support, nothing takes very long to be sorted out. The stated time frames are assuming they are working at maximum capacity.

And yet the same people are the customers of many organisations that DO run phone support....

Banks and insurance companies make a lot more money than TradeMe does.

A company that makes $40 million a year can answer the phone to paying customers. I do and I earn nowhere near that.

Sam91

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#1548251 8-May-2016 11:56

Give the site policing team a call on 0800 334 332 and see how you go.

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