It has now been more than 2 months since StomperNet’s launch for The Net Effect, their new print publication. It was officially released on September 4th 2008 and you probably recall that I was very enthusiastic about this product, and the accompanying offers.
Over the last couple of months I had become frustrated, and ultimately disappointed by this promotion. I decided it was finally time to sit down and draft up a blog post on the topic. As a courtesy, I sent a copy of the draft to Andy Jenkins and Tom Ham before publishing.
A meeting was called immediately, and I was personally invited to the 'war room' at StomperNet headquarters to address the issues. Genuinely interested in resolution, I kept the post in draft and traveled the 6+ hours round trip to join the SN team in Atlanta...
I walked in to find 8 of StomperNet's finest around the table. And when I say finest I dont mean a random group of behind the scenes folks. This hand-selected group of 8 practically stepped right off the cover of The Net Effect, with Andy Jenkins at the head of the table.
I walked into that room representing my market, and also fellow JV partners and affiliates. I had an objective - and so did they.
To be fair, StomperNet was not the sole source of my frustration. There have been a number of sour launches in our industry over the past year or so, and I'm less than pleased with the toll it's taken on the market.
I am very cautious about getting behind people or products these days, and go out of my way to check them out thoroughly for myself before recommending them to my readers. With StomperNet for example, I attended two of their live events (on my own dime) and reviewed the product & offer for this launch with great detail.
There was good reason for my enthusiasm about their product, and for my involvement with their launch. It wasnt just about affiliate commissions, which some may assume. The content was incredible, and the offer was a real no-brainer. This was something I definitely wanted my readers to have.
The launch was for The Net Effect, which is StomperNet's new print publication. The offer was simple: you got the premier issue of The Net Effect plus Stomping the Search Engines 2.0 (StSE2) both for free. The only cost was shipping & handling. Obviously the goal was to encourage people to try the publication, and to build a subscriber base of happy readers.
There were several one-time offers too, which were also a great deal. This was the first time in over 4 years that StomperNet had offered any stand-alone product, outside of their $800/month membership option. It was a great opportunity to get your choice of their products for a one-time affordable price.
The launch was a huge success. They had over 17,000 orders.
You're probably familiar with what happened next. There were some issues with order fulfillment, with people getting their packages in a timely manner, with reaching customer service, etc. Complaints starting showing up everywhere.
StomperNet dropped everything to deal with these issues. They postponed everything else on the calendar, and had everyone on staff working full-time on resolution. Some of their primary product developers were pulled down to personally handle customer service issues on the micro level even.
As one of their top JV partners on the launch, I considered it my personal responsibility to help out in any way that I could. I had highly recommended the product, and was prepared to stand behind it to the end.
I kept a constant FAQ open via both my blog and on Twitter throughout the launch and the weeks following. I also kept a running list of shipping issues from my own referrals, and sent those in as a batch request to my contact at StomperNet - which was of course the affiliate manager.
Fast forward two months: I was still handling a small but consistent trickle of StomperNet issues by email, complaints on my blog, and I still had referrals who hadnt received their package yet. I also received my first affiliate check from the launch, which raised a lot of questions on its own.
It was the final straw for me. I was ready to pull out altogether and just call it a loss. As I mentioned earlier, this wasnt my first bout of frustration with product launches and I'd finally reached my limit.
Mind you, it still wasnt about affiliate commissions. For me it was about my reputation, about time invested in someone else's product and brand, and about my community and their experience with the company I recommended.
But while I was ready to call this particular promotion a loss, I also recognized the potential damage this could do to my business in the long run. Would my readers be gun-shy about ordering the next product I recommended? Sure, and with good reason. I was even gun-shy about getting on board with another promotion myself.
Ultimately it came down to serving my market, and sweeping this under the rug just wasnt the right thing to do. I decided to address it head-on.
I'll confess there was some emotion involved when I sat down to write up the blog post. I was writing it from my personal perspective and experience, and I was none too happy.
As I sat there with my mouse hovering over the publish button, I started having mixed feelings. The offer was awesome. StomperNet had been good to me, and I still held a strong belief that they were "the good guys". The product is absolutely fabulous (I am a paying subscriber myself). And ultimately, my concession would not properly serve my market. As a leader in this industry, accepting the status quo was... unacceptable.
Within half an hour of sending the email, I received a phone call from one of StomperNet's top partners: Dan Thies. Dan is someone that I have grown to trust and respect highly over the last year, and we had a very candid conversation about my issues with The Net Effect launch.
I told Dan that I was least concerned about any current or future commissions, and just wanted my customers well taken care of so I could just put the whole thing to rest once and for all.
Mind you, I only had 2 or 3 referrals left (out of hundreds) who hadnt received their package from StomperNet yet, and plenty of happy customers who absolutely loved the product, but its those few complaints that stand out - and make all of us look bad.
The War Room
For the record, StomperNet was not playing favorites with me nor was I there to brown-nose. We are each an icon in the industry, and each have a strong passion for making a difference. My issues were used as a case study to explore the affiliate experience, take a real look at number samples, and to make improvements across the board.
They were equally as interested in what I had to say as I was them.
The war room was actually set up in a conference room at the Atlanta Hilton. The entire team of 30+ was there to train on their new software systems. Systems which cost them more than 6 figures, and were specifically put in place to resolve the very issues we met to discuss.
At the top of the whiteboard was my name "Lynn Terry" and what followed was an outline of the issues with very specific customer data and a breakdown of all the details.
We talked about specific customers who hadnt received product, about the delivery issues, customer support, billing & cancellations, frequency of publication, inaccuracies in the affiliate stats, etc.
We went over my list of known customer issues as well, and they shared micro-level data with me on every single one. They even showed me the entire history of correspondence and action with every individual person I mentioned.
The list of 17,000 records was broken down to people like Janice, Dan and Roland. We talked detail. It was overwhelmingly obvious that StomperNet wanted nothing more than to resolve each and every case.
They set up a new email address on the spot to escalate any and all customer support issues from my group. This was meant to relieve me of personally handling StomperNet issues, and also as a way for me to personally track resolution.
They walked me through all of their new software systems and solutions, explaining in detail what went wrong and what they are doing to resolve it. I'll be sharing this same information I learned with you soon, as Andy Jenkins is documenting it all and will make that available publicly in the next few weeks.
Specific details that were discussed include:
- Customer Support
Every single customer issue has been responded to at least once. If for some reason you tried to reach customer service regarding your Net Effect order and havent received their reply, email me with your StomperNet receipt and I will personally help you get resolution on that.
StomperNet also has a new toll free number manned by 40 customer service reps, where you'll be able to get someone on the phone live for anything you need related to this offer. I believe the announcement for that is coming in the next week. - Product Delivery Issues
Every package has been shipped at least once. Many of them have been shipped twice, and some 3 times. Their main mission at this point is to make sure everyone has received the product. For those customers that experienced unusually long delays due to a problem with the original fulfillment company, StomperNet has been overcompensating with additional products and offers. - Customer Billing
Billing dates were adjusted according to shipping dates, to reflect a true return date & cancellation period. You werent billed for The Net Effect subscription 30 days after you submitted your order, but rather 35 days after your order was shipped. - Affiliate Stats & Payments
Due to the delay in billing for the first month, referring affiliates would not receive commissions that first month - or until the first actual billing date had passed.
The customer data sheet that was sent out with the first commision check had some inaccuraces. If you didnt recognize the customer records on that sheet, dont fret. Log in to your affiliate account for accurate spreadsheets, and watch for a note from the affiliate manager on that as well.
There was also question about the number of cancellations displayed in those records, which has now been updated to reflect the true numbers. Its not as bad as you thought - your referred customers are actually very happy with the product 😉 - Product Availability
The Net Effect just keeps getting better with every single issue, and you can expect this publication to be around for years to come. The cart is currently closed for new orders while they make sure their current customers are well taken care of, but will re-open before the end of the year.
The second issue of The Net Effect is already arriving on doorsteps, and once all customer issues are properly handled they will be back on a consistent monthly publishing schedule. You are not billed automatically on a monthly basis, but rather when the next issue ships - so any concerns about the space of time between the first two issues can be put to rest.
I walked away from this meeting with concrete resolution, and with renewed faith in the industry as a whole. And my gut instinct about StomperNet was spot-on all along: this is a company that cares, and that is willing to go out of their way to make a positive difference at the micro-level.
I got to see firsthand what caused the problems, and how they are personally working night and day to resolve them...
They have fired the original (personally recommended) fulfillment company and hired another more reliable company. They have purchased high end software systems and are training all of their faculty & staff members to properly operate them. They have spent no less than 6 figures repairing the inner mechanics of their business model, and have put everything else on hold to bring all team members into solution mode.
They are in the hole on this product release, but feel confident that their solutions plus the quality of content in the product will turn this into a success in the long run. That forward thinking is one of the things that impressed me the most. This is not a company that was out to have a "million dollar payday" and then disappear on you.
The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of happy customers subscribed to The Net Effect. The complaints represented a very small percentage of the overall orders. Thousands of packages arrived in a timely manner, and thousands of people are devouring the high quality content.
For the individual customers that I referred who had issues, I hand-delivered those records to the appropriate person and was guaranteed resolution within 24 hours.
Andy Jenkins asked me if I would like for him to personally call those customers, or if I would like for him to join me on one of my live webinars to address the issues. While I appreciated the generous offer, and thanked him for that, I let him know that your faith in me on this matter would be sufficient.
For those of you that are subscribed to The Net Effect, keep an eye out for the 3rd Issue which will be mailing out later this month. I'm featured in it - and yes, really this time (lol).
I submitted the article to them a couple of months ago, which was accepted and scheduled to appear in this 3rd issue well before any negative press or this particular 'war room meeting' was set up. Watch for it. I am stoked to have my content appear in this incredible publication.
I hope this clears up any questions or concerns about StomperNet, or their release of The Net Effect. It did for me. If you have an outstanding issue with your order, feel free to contact me personally for resolution. My email address is Lynn-AT-ClickNewz-DOT-com.
By the way, the only regret that I have over investing 12+ hours of my time into this yesterday... is that I didnt take any photos or video to capture the intensity of this meeting for you. It was hands-down the most powerful roundtable I have ever sat in on.
StomperNet cares. They care about their customers. About their affiliates and JV partners. About Janice in Canada that is patiently awaiting her package from them. About me, and about you.
Best,
p.s. When the cart re-opens next month, you can bet that I'll be promoting The Net Effect again. It will re-open permanently once all of the delivery issues are resolved, and be available publicly - without scarcity or shady marketing tactics. You can expect this product to become an icon in the industry...
If you're looking for Internet Marketing tips & news you can trust, make sure you're subscribed to Lynn Terry's primary mailing list at Self-Starters Weekly Tips. Lynn offers free weekly webinars and an active discussion forum at that site in addition to the informative newsletter.
About Lynn Terry
Janice - you were so eloquent in describing your experience with Lynn. My experience was very similar. I still have my SNet Net Effect vol 1 and I consider it a wonderful, high quality reference for a total newbie such as myself.
P.S. I 'm still trying to get over the power and intensity of Lynn's post!
One thing that comes through in this post is that purchasing products through Lynn offers the extra assurance of having a highly regarded advocate / trouble shooter on the case should things go awry. That is the best "launch bonus" imaginable.
Thanks, Lynn.
Stompernet Rocks, I am a full member and it has been Great info since day 1. Thanks for supporting this great organzation.
I second Kay Ballards comment on Lynn Terry. We are lucky to have such a dedicated person who understands and believes in going the extra mile.
Wow...what a great post Lynn! Seriously.
Dave
Lynn,
In my opinion everything about this post and how you handled this situation is a perfect example of why you are such a success and so well-trusted in the IM world. It's clear you care about your people and are excellent at customer service yourself, but it's more than that.
You also clearly handle sticky situations well and communicate effectively with not only your customers, but also the folks who you are an affiliate for as well.
We all like to know what's *really* going on behind the scenes and your description of the "war room" and the activities involved read like a page-turning novel. Good thing you type 100 WPM 🙂
Thanks for being a shining star & example for everyone to model about the RIGHT way to run an online business.
Warmly,
Felicia
@FeliciaSlattery on Twitter 🙂
Lynn,
Wow what a great post! It just once again makes me grateful I found you and your community! Thanks for being you!
Jean
Merci Roland .
And I share with you , and all who read this magnificient "cri du coeur " ( translation : heartfell ) post, the emotions aroused by it's reading.
I often hear and read " Google, give me Love "..
No need to pray Google ...just listen to Lynn and act upon what she says.
Cheers to the one and only , Lynn Terry , and to all , to your success !
Bonsoir et Bonne Nuit
A demain 😉
Lynn,
I really enjoyed the first issue of the Net Effect and have just received the 2nd one on Tuesday (I'll be going through that soon).
Understandably, many people were upset and were thrown off by the issues that arose during this launch, but you are correct - the Stomper team really cares and have been working their tails off to resolve ALL issues.
Hats off to the Stomper team for that!
I'm looking forward for the program to open again next month and for their new program "Stomper Formula Five" in January.
God bless.
Patrick Whitson
Nice post, Lynn, and the entire experience, though, is what I
emailed you over some weeks ago - never mind, water under the
bridge.
I'd like to ask a very pointed, specific question:
Did they address what I believe was their biggest failing
in this entire episode... the LACK of a prompt, personal apology
to those affected?
They are still behaving like 'Big Business' used to - in a
hands-off, distant, we-talk-AT-you style that's no longer apt
or appropriate in today's marketplace with micro-level connections.
What I saw in the buzz over the bad experience was that customers
were not being heard, acknowledged, recognized - and that's at
the core of our own individual 'human-ness'.
A technology glitch is easy to accept. A provider gone bad
or not meeting expectations is not hard to excuse. A product
delivered in poor shape only seeks replacement promptly.
But the rather harsh reaction that's been what I, as a non-buyer,
have seen across public forums reflects a sense of buyers
being 'ignored' or 'brushed aside' by a huge organization.
It has branded the company as being less than what I personally
know Andy to be... a warm, caring, customer-centric guy.
Brad, I only have heard of, but Andy and I have exchanged many
emails over years, and I have genuine admiration and respect for
his style of functioning - yet that didn't come through in
public communications of his company.
Hire a PR firm?
Or work with a tribe of loyal fans, like you?
Have a damage control process and hotline to address it?
All are possible solutions.
I posted a 'suggested' note of apology on the Warrior forum
in the middle of a pretty hostile thread - and no one from
the company even acknowledged it... not that they had to, but
it would have been nice 🙂
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/13995-stompernet-package-trouble-2.html
Bottom line, it was an experience where many lessons could be
learned - and many attitudes need to be changed. Sheer
bigness alone doesn't insulate ANYONE from damaged reputations,
or even survival (look at Lehmann or AIG).
Seth Godin says this about tribes... "We are privileged to
lead one, for some time. And then, the tribe moves on."
That privilege needs to be respected, cherished and earned.
Those who manage it will be winners for a long, long time.
I sincerely wish Andy's company will be one of them.
All success
Dr.Mani
P.S. - GREAT job of blogging your experience, and the steps
you took to resolve issues. You're becoming quite the STAR
of the IM consumer with your willingness to get involved,
and investigate the truth. More power to you, and may
your tribe increase 🙂
Great post Lynn - it is good to see this level of openness and transparency in this industry - I think perhaps Stompernet should have taken a leaf out of your book . I also suffered the usual problems in my subscription - I finally received my STSE2 / Net Effct issue one and upsells this week ( in the UK) (issue 2 the previous week) - way over two months from order. Communication was also abysmal - in this web 2.0 world bad news travels fast, Stompernet would have been better served by a complete and open disclosure of the issues as soon as they knew they had a big problem.
Having said all that, the Net Effect is great as you say and I'm now happy I bought!
I see this an opportunity for a fulfillment house that has its act together to get out there and start pitching to those that do big launches. Also, I think it's a blatant heads up to the gurus that are contemplating big launches that crappy customer service will come back to bite them in the butt. Customers won't be happy, affiliates that fed them the customers won't be happy and will be looking for someone else to promote. Eventually, the market dictates or should dictate the behavior of the best companies. Hopefully those companies will also be the ones with the best products as well, but sometimes that's not always the case.
Thanks so much for the insight behind the scenes.
I agree with DR.Mani. It seems that this is going on all around. Even offline. You have to take care of the people that got you to where you are now.
That was ignored. I thought the "net effect" was great when I received it. I couldn't wait for the next issue.
When it didn't arrive as scheduled I canceled. I don't care how big or small the business is. People matter! I would expect the same thing if I did that to my customers.
I am impressed with the intelligence of online marketers and their sense of right or wrong.
This was a major debacle and they are and will pay for it for a long time to come.
The product seems promising, but the price is a bit higher than the average, however, I think it worth trying it sometime soon! Thanx Lynn!
Hi Lynn,
Like magic my $6 and some cents appeared today!
With the Happy Announcement...
Congratulations on your purchase from StomperNet!
In my view it is pitiful that people who tell us so very grandly how much they can teach us, are unable to implement the most basic systems.
A refund note can easily be provided with words other than the inane ones above.
I am truly unimpressed.
Until yesterday, I thought they it was only myself who had had problems with fulfillment and customer attention.
I think therefore that it is even more important that they take Dr Mani's words to heart from his comment above and offer a
"prompt, personal apology
to those affected"
In his post he wondered whether they even recognised how that lack affects people.
From my experience over the last 10 weeks it seems that they have not!
Once again,
Best Wishes,
George
Time will tell...
Update: If you replied here with an issue, StomperNet has read your comments. I just sent them a list of names & email addresses from the comments left here (to expedite resolution), so you should hear from them on that soon 😉
Way to go Lynn!
You are a fresh and honest voice amidst the litany of IM launches that are nothing more than clever wallet biopsies of slick promoters.
Keep em honest girl!
I got my package very late too. Actually had no choice but to cancel the subscription since the package was taking too long to arrive so there was no where I could judge the content.
After receiving it though, I can see the product is really good. I'll resubscribe if the problems are resolved.
My package also took too long to reach me. Got not much choice at the time but to cancel subscription as there is no way for my to evaluate the content.
Once I received though and went through, I can see the great value. I'll resubscribe if the problems are resolved.
Dear Lynn
FYI I have sent back everything I received via registered post to SN Returns today, Nov 22nd 2008.
You would have received a cc of my email to SN.
Outstanding questions I have posed to SN without reply is now considered closed by the delivery of the package.
I wish them continued success in their endeavors.
Once again, I thank you for looking out for us.
If there's anymore of these exercises on your part for us in the future, I'm going to have to call you "Mom" 🙂
Phil.
No problems or complaints here. Got my product very fast, have the second issue in hand. First class, highly useable info. Very satisfied. Thanks Lynn for the recommendation on this product. I will continue with it, and put it to good use.
Got my package late but was very satisfied what I received. However, I have yet to receive the second issue of the Net Effect. I have emailed them several time and have yet to receive a response. I have also called their toll free number only to get refered to their website. Apparently they really don't have any customer service. Hope to receive either the issues or a refund.
Lynn-
Thanks so much for sharing this. I've been a product manager for multi million dollar product lines for over 10 years. Some of the frustration you and the stompernet team had described nicely in your post may have a few remedies. Namely, you could hire a professional consultant who has supply chain and distribution experience. They will know who to outsource your product fulfillment, supply chain and customer service. Additionally they will understand work flows. Sometimes we try to re-invent the wheel and recreate a process that many companies have done for over 100 years quite successfully. Doesn't matter if it's it Web or brick and mortar. The workflows are similiar. Next time you get 17,000 paying customers (whoohaaayyaa) hire someone to manage the execution of orders. There's plenty of smart help out there. Try linkedin for professionals looking for consulting gigs with this background. Can't wait to see the next launches. cheers, Lisa
Lynn,
Thanks for a fantastic post. Very good insight.
I was unfortunate to suffer from delayed postage but my follow up was responded to quickly and I was compensated.
The fact I was compensated was a surprise as I didn't feel it necessary (at the time).
I could tell the guys cared and I sense that they understand that without their customers - they don't have much of a business.
Just going by my personal experience - I feel they responded fantastically and I for one am going to continue using their products and services.
All the above is far from what I can say with my experience of other support (I won't hijack the post by naming names) But I am far from pleased about the after care by these guys. Am I likely to use them again? I doubt it.
Thanks again for a great read.
Jack.
Lisa lays it out like it should have been done, especially if as alleged there 17,000 purchasers as 10% problems are 1700 who put there money on the line with Stompernet. and faced avoidable problems.
Thanks Lynn, you know I never got mine either and I was taking the same attitude you had before and that's just to take it as a loss. But I may just go and dig for my receipt now so I can get it. It does sound like a great publication.
Hi again Lynn,
I think that I should tell you that I received a call to my cellphone here in Spain from a Stompernet person with an apology and also to let me know that I am to receive a complimentary copy of what I originally purchased.
I told him that I appreciated both his call and the complimentary copy.
To you I must say Thankyou, as I feel that it has been your energy and attention that created this shift.
I felt for him as I think I was not the only person that he was calling...
Anyway I will be interested to see what is in what I get when I get it!
Thankyou again,
George
A followup on my situation - a little over 2 weeks ago someone called about getting me out the missing first order(i received the second one - not the first) but not received anything yet. they may not have worked things out quite yet - still.
Lynn -
Very nice post and lots of great comments. I've read most and skimmed the others. It all still comes down to customer service and a lot (not all) of the "names" just don't get it.
Too many errors from delay to fullfillment. In this day people expect fast delivery and responsive customer service.
Delivery time is in the hands of the carrier so once it ships there isn't much they can do regarding the door to door time.
Unhappy customers, now that is a huge red flag. It is a known fact that happy customers don't provide a ton of word of mouth comments. You don't just tell your coworkers about this great course you just received and how it arrived without a glitch. BUT, when the company drops the ball everyone is going to hear about it. Not only verbally but written and blogged, as we all know.
Even worse is that unhappy buyers had to go to you to get what never should have happened, FIXED. And if they bought from someone else???
Lynn you deserve a huge THANK YOU from all those you went aout of your way to help. But, never ever should have had to.
As for me, it arrived after a couple of weeks and #2 arrived on schedule but, the sky high shipping charges made me decide to kill it ASAP. Seriously, a magazine and DVD with shipping charges of close to $50. Not the product, just the shipping charges. I don't think you can do that on eBay.
Al
ps, another example of bad customer service... my cpu fan was dying so I decided to upgrade the cpu. Ordered online and it arrived dead. sent it back and still can't get an answer from the company. That is my main pc and since i used my old cpu to upgrade my son's pc i'm without mine for almost 2 weeks now. I'm losing my patience and for them, StarMicro, that's not good.
Hello again,
Well, after three months of waiting, my order finally arrived - only it had the wrong issue of The Net Effect and the wrong Monthly DVD! Both of these were issue 2, which had arrived in the meantime. I still don't have issue 1 of either.
I have e-mailed StomperNet over and over again asking for a refund of all or part of my payment for this awful customer service, and they carefully ignored every single request. They replied to the e-mails, but commented on something else in the e-mail and ignored the refund request.
So, I'm still very unhappy with them. Lynn, do you have any persuasive powers to get me a refund? I think that this would be the least they could do as compensation.
Thanks again for your help,
Alan
Hi Alan,
If you havent already, send an email directly to lterry-AT-stompernet-DOT-com - that should get you in touch with Al Chan directly.
Any of you that are still having issues are welcome to use my 2nd tier support address.
Keep me posted - I'd love to hear if things are resolved for you, or if you're still having issues with The Net Effect orders...
Thanks Lynn, I e-mailed you/Al and asked for a refund. Let's see what happens.
Ta ra
Alan
P.S. What did you mean by "2nd tier address" ? Was that the one you quoted?
Right, its an escalated support system for my readers 😉
As usual - well done Lynn. I'll tell you, I've NEVER found any other internet marketer who does it like you do. I wish more would follow in your footsteps. You've certainly gone way above and beyond your call of duty and then some.
This of course could start a whole new problem here but if I were Andy, I'd have to give you a nice big bonus in your next affiliate check. (Okay, maybe after they get out of this hole they dug.)
I myself received my order in a pretty decent amount of time - maybe a wee bit late but if it was - it really wasn't enough for me to notice.
I honestly believe that I wouldn't have gotten so much up in arms about it if I had been one of the ones that it took so long to receive. Yes, a bit disturbed but it's like a lot of people jumped on the "we've been scammed" "get stompernet" bandwagon way too soon and took things way too far.
Yes, this was a huge foul up - huge. There's no denying that. But, we have to remember how long these people really have been in business. What kind of numbers we're talking about. What they've delivered in the past ...
I feel quite sure that NONE of this was done on purpose. Not in the least. And I think the mountain of issues here just kept getting bigger and bigger.
Okay - so they're human - they made a mistake. Be patient and ride it out. If once the dust settles and things are supposedly all fixed ... and you're still not taken care of ... then get down to business.
But if they had a problem with that many people and every single one of those problems emailed support several times, called support several times. Dug through every website any one of the team were even remotely involved with to dig up some kind of contact information to consistently bombard them day after day after ... that just made the problem ten times worse.
Now they have to take care of the problem issue to begin with, try to get in touch with every single one of them ... get the order fixed and compensate with some extras ... but now they have to distinguish which case of 5 emails has been taken care of an which one hasnt ...
Long way around of what I'm trying to say and I hope it makes sense but I honestly think a lot of the customers that had problems really made the problem worse by bombarding support many times over. Know what I mean?
And don't get me wrong ... I don't begrudge anyone who gets angry because they feel as though they were wronged. I can't even say that I begrudge anyone for contacting and complaining. However, complain once ... sit back and relax a bit. Don't contact support 10 times - while everyone else is doing the same thing and expect an immediate solution.
Just my two cents anyway ...
Lynn, I'm sure you already knew this but I never lost faith in you through all of this. You took a lot of crap over this and I felt really bad for you for a bit. So, if you would have hit publish, I couldn't have blamed you one bit. Just glad you didn't 😉 So glad you were given a solution you were happy with. And you haven't lost faith in Stompernet. Your opinion means a lot to me.
If you're satisfied then I am too.
They may have lost a lot of customers out of this but over-delivering to those to try to compensate will certainly help and I bet after seeing the products first hand myself ... it won't take long to get back in the black with this project.
Kudos to you and the Stompernet team for really truly caring about the internet marketing industry. Would be nice to see more of it!
As a follow up on my order, I am still awaiting The Net Effect #1 and DVD of the month Vol #1.
3 times on the phone they certified me that they were shipping it .
And yesterday received DVD of the month #3 with case broken but DVD functional, and ..no Net Effect Issue 3 included.
Grrrr....
Pffff...
I will have to contact them AGAIN. 🙁
I haven't received the third issue. Nor have I been billed for the last two months. I was only billed the first time, and then once after that, as far as I can tell.
Has anyone received the 3rd issue? Isn't that the one that was going to publish your article, Lynn?
Anita,
Well, as one whose order was seriously delayed, and still hasn't been sorted out, I have to disagree with you.
Before you get the wrong impression, I should point out that I e-mailed them once to find out what was happening, then sat back and waited. Once I saw the mess they were in with the failed fulfillment house, I didn't keep e-mailing them as I knew they would have all on to get it sorted.
However, once the dust had settled, and they were on top of the problem, I e-mailed again... and again, and, well you get the picture.
Being let down by a fulfillment house can happen to anyone, I don't blame them for that. Being snowed under with issues to sort out as a result is understandable, but their total lack of customer care and support is inexcusable.
I have e-mailed many times, with a respectable delay between each, trying to find out what happened to my order. I have had only one reply, and that told me my order would be sent in the next day or so. It wasn't.
I have tried over and over again to get a refund, they completely ignore my e-mails. Sorry, but I don't have any respect for a company who has such a poor attitude to their customers.
Kudos to Lynn, no question. As for Stompernet, no way! As far as I am concerned, they stink and I would never buy anything from them again.
I'm still waiting to get even an acknowledgement of my refund request, never mind the refund itself. They have no excuse now, it's just a total lack of customer care.
With respect,
Alan
Lynn,
As I mentioned, I e-mail Al Chan straight away. It's now been three days since then, and he hasn't even acknowledged my e-mail.
Is there any way of chasing this up? I'm totally fed up with these crooks and just want my money back. Can you help?
Thanks,
Alan
I'll see what I can do Alan... I really hate you're having this experience. I'm sending an email to my contact right now.
Jerry - yes, I have a feature article in Issue #3. Elite Members can download that in PDF format in the private forum, by the way.
And Anita - Thank you. Your kind words are very much appreciated. Doing my best on this end, I assure you all 😉
Lynn...( could use your help now...)
I have been dealing with a similar issue with stompernet and the order I placed with them after seeing your review and went through your link, my issue is going now on 5 months placed the order in september 2008, I thought I would handle the issue myself and save you the headaches, so never contacted you or informed you of my issues with them, until now...
In your defense as a member of your forum for over 3 years, I know in my heart you would not recommend any crappy stuff to your members...period, #1 it would not be in your best interest, #2 you have provided good solid advice to me in the past and others as well...
So I am not upset with you, yes frustrated with my order but not at you, you had no control over stompernet fullfillment center but only recommended what you thought is a good product.....:-)
Merchant : StomperNet / NET EFFECT JOURNAL
Date/Time : 11-Sep-2008 08:43:00 PM
Transaction ID : 1983866340
****************************************
From: "edwin"
To: "Pat Smith"
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 3:06:20 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: SORRY FOR BEING A PAIN : [ ref:00D57jve.50055YvTS:ref ]
Never got the home study course nor the mega pack...was told I would get it by dec. 25th 2008 but have not received it, at this point a refund is all I want...thanks for any assistance with this matter sorry I had to resort to asking for your help, did try on my own,but now going on 5 months with this issue!
I have also complained and got a response of a promise that it would be shipped right out. However the promise was never fore filled and the follow up emails are not being answered. They also continue to take my monthly subscription fee but don't always send the subscription either. I think they have had sufficient time now to cure all these issues and get our packages to us.
Since they are the same people that put out Formula Five I am hesitate in ordering it. It looks like it is a great product and would help me with my business, but I don't want to pay for something and not get it again.
Hi Lynn,
Listened to your integrity on on IMTW 9 on promoting Formula 5.
Were I to be in the same position , I also would not be promoting the offer.
As you know all my refund issues were finally resolved, (I believe solely due to this post), however 6 WEEKS LATER I have still not received the complimentary issue that was promised.
I guess I am a star example of an 'unlucky' customer!!
Seriously though, I find beyond belief that they are promoting a new product without fully and completely resolving all outstanding issues. It seems to me to be total disrespect to past customers.
I note that people are still posting here with unresolved problems.
Nobody in my mastermind group respects Stompernet any more. We have all purchased products from them so I guess that they are getting new 'tribe' members because not one of us would recommend them as an organization.
One of our members also has ongoing and unresolved affiliate payment issues with them.
Your action in this, as I heard you on IMTW, as the saying goes, speaks louder than words and you have further gained my respect.
I dare say the product is brilliant but I personally am totally burned with them.
Best,
George
Hey Lynn,
Thanks to your outstanding efforts, I got somewhere with my refund request, but not all the way.
I finally managed to get them to refund the second issue of TNE, only to find that they had billed me for the third issue, despite me having cancelled the subscription TWICE.
After some hassle, they have refunded that, but still haven't refunded my original order.
I have supplied my credit card details as requested, as they said that couldn't do the refund automatically as it was too long since the original order. Hmm, I wonder whose fault that is then?
So, they still owe me a substantial amount for the first order. Please could you chase them and see if you can do anything?
The person who was dealing with my case is called Natalie Smallwood (nsmallwood@stompernet.com), and she seems to have decided to ignore my e-mails for the past week or so, and doesn't even acknowledge them, never mind do anything about them.
Thanks again for all your efforts. As much as my feelings are negative against Stompernet, my feelings towards you as a responsible and trustworthy IMer are positive 🙂
Ta ra
Alan
***LYNN PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS MATTER***
Stompernet still has not gotten back to me, nor did they send my products, nor my refund.
Today ...I am very upset like I have not felt before, I never contacted you for help on this matter, but now had no choice 5 months later and still no product and no refund ...:>(
Hope you see this soon and give someone a call there to help me and give me some priority after it has only been 5 months since september that I placed the order.
My email address is sources4you@yahoo.com they can look me and name is edwin de leon, would appreciate if you could give them a call and let them know they still have a 5 month casualty with deep wounds and still bleeding...;>)
Edwin,
Keep at them and don't give up. I still haven't got my full refund, but I have some of it, and they claim to be working on the rest. I'm not sure why it takes so long to process a credit card refund though.
Hope you get sorted.
Wow. I can't believe I recommended this to a friend after reading stuff here. He just ripped me a new one cuz never got everything he ordered. Plus he only got the first issue. I had came across the stuff here and forwarded it to him cuz he just got started on starting up a new website and being an affiliate. So when he read this stuff at this site he was impressed to.
What a croc. And no credibility for either stompernet or here at this site either from my perspective.
I thought I would find out what happened since this was where I thought it made sense to forward to him, but what a mistake.
I don't understand why there's not an update and apologies from them and you since November?
No wonder now I understand why He's totally pissed at me and at you Lynn.
I didn't know it was such a big failure and a complete debacle.
I went to there site and there's nothing except some vague information.
Total dismal failure and untrustworthy. Can't say I could ever recommend going thrugh here or there again. appears to have been a complete and total rip off too with no one taking responsibility.
geez where have I seen that for the past 8 years?
Good luck restoring any credibility or trustability.
I guess I'm not surprised. I was a StomperVison customer who responded to one of those Net Effect I also never received a hard copy. Yesterday I figured enough time went by an I canceled the trial subscription and then started looking as some videos. When I inquired about the cost I got a runaround extra credits vs a full membership. So I gave up and logged off. I got an e-mail from a customer service rep named dusty who said he was going to give me an extra bonus and get me access to the two videos.Instead they canceled my StomperVision account. When I called to find out what happened I found out they now demanded a monthly fee for the materials I had previously paid for. I sorry I can't agree with Lynn's feeling about how concerned they are as the BBB in Ga gave them an "F" for so many complaints and failure to respond to inquires. Sometimes you don't get what you pay for.
Wow. I can't believe I recommended this to a friend after reading about it stuff here.
He just ripped me a new one cuz of never getting everything he ordered. Plus he only got the first issue. I had came across the stuff here and forwarded it to him cuz he just had got started on starting up a new website and being an affiliate. So when he read this stuff at this site he was impressed to.
What a croc. And no credibility for either stompernet or here at this site either from my perspective.
I thought I would find out what happened since this was where I thought it made sense to forward to him, but what a mistake.
I don't understand why there's not an update and apologies from them and you since November?
No wonder now I understand why He's totally pissed at me and at you Lynn.
I didn't know it was such a big failure and a complete debacle.
I went to there site and there's nothing except some vague information.
Total dismal failure and untrustworthy. Can't say I could ever recommend going thrugh here or there again. appears to have been a complete and total rip off too with no one taking responsibility.
geez where have I seen that for the past 8 years?
Good luck restoring any credibility or trustability.
My hands are tied here guys. I've done everything I could possibly do outside of drive down there myself and try to resolve it firsthand. Oh wait, I did that too...
I'm just as frustrated that we are still having issues here as you are. The best thing I can offer is to email the lterry@stompernet.com address with your details and your request.
-Lynn
Customer Service / Cancellations:
404-348-4401, or Toll Free: 866-779-0641
Wow, Rik! I can completely understand being upset that things have not worked out as they should but Lynn didn't hold your friends products from him. She only recommended a product that she THOUGHT would be beneficial to all of us. It sounds like you are more upset at the fact that your friend no longer trust your recommendation and you are now taking out of Lynn.
She has done the best that she could to rectify the situation for us. Can you say that has happened across the board in the IM industry? NO! I think Lynn is the only one who has tried to fix it.
She has not disappeared. She is still here. You can find here at a click of a button on this very site... they same way you found this post.
I think you would be hard pressed to find many others like Lynn. But it is your choice not to take any of her recommendations. No one is perfect but she definitely give of herself more that should probably has too.
Anyway, thats just my to cents. I just hard to see people attacking her for something she had not control over.
Best,
Natalie
@southernbg