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[dc89]

but this is in the Queen territory.

Mr President has no bounds. He has a hotline straight into the palace.

 

[No Love]

They did try to resolve the issue by explaining that they weren't lowering the price. OP then went and badmouthed them on twitter. They apparently don't want this business since he's not going to be shopping there anymore anyways.

Actions have consequences, both parties are finding this out.

A consumer can say whatever they want about you, ESPECIALLY ON A THIRD PARTY SITE. Retaliation for that is considered extremely unprofessional and shopto will be feeling the effects of that when this story gets picked up by the media and their PR department has to backpedal and apologize.

Whoever said that to him is either going to get reprimanded hardcore or get fired. Guaranteed.

 

[cormack12]

I can't believe people are actually defending Shopto here.

I don't think many people are defending them to be honest. I guess a few can see some sort of impulsive reasoning behind the account closure.

Problem is OP isn't getting much sympathy because he acted like an immature kid - which he freely admits.

All these outcries for 'free PS4' etc. set a very dangerous precedent for those who will just spout bile on social media hoping to provoke a reaction. I use shopto regularly but I use amazon as well. Have a preorder on each for example. I have always had good to excellent customer service from both sites. If the caveat to that is that I don't act like an immature asshat on social media then I can handle that.

Were shopto right? No.
Do I sympathise with the OP? No (I also think it's a bit disingenuous to leverage a community the size of neogaf for a personal issue like this in which there are, at least, blurred lines).

The wider issue of slagging off companies on twitter that could have potential account closures is a bigger issue than this one thread and should be discussed seperately imo.

 

[Kun Aguero]

Yeah, by not ordering from Shopto!

I have a pre-order with them from day one, got the mega bundle. Are they gonna cancel my pre-order because I'm calling them out on their shitty PR and lack of professionalism?

Come at me Shopto.

They might if your daft enough to give them your account number.

 

[Wickerbasket]

Why do people keep making this awful comparison?

They think shopto owns twitter.

 

[DragonSworne]

Yeah, by not ordering from Shopto!

I have a pre-order with them from day one, got the mega bundle. Are they gonna cancel my pre-order because I'm calling them out on their shitty PR and lack of professionalism?

Come at me Shopto.

Shopto has a new program: "Turn in bad consumers and get their PS4 preorder"

* forwards message to Shopto *

Your PS4 preorder is now mine.

 

[Jezbollah]

They might if your daft enough to give them your account number.

This is probably the only mistake the OP made.

 

[FranXico]

shopto definitely acted in the wrong customer service wise but being aggressive towards any company regardless of how small the transaction rarely ends well. I'm human though and if you told me you were going to take your fucking services elsewhere id probably rather not have you as a customer either and say go somewhere else.

If my company did that every time a costumer threatened to take their business elsewhere, I wouldn't have a job any more.

 

[Andrax]

If this dude was publicly slagging off Shopto and actively trying to reduce their business then I can see why shopto would do this, but this is ridiculous I have to agree with everyone.

I'll definitely think twice before ordering from them a "loyalty points" scheme isn't enough to keep me shopping somewhere. Amazon have always kissed my shiny ass why would I ever leave them?

 

[Samurai_Heart]

They did try to resolve the issue by explaining that they weren't lowering the price. OP then went and badmouthed them on twitter. They apparently don't want this business since he's not going to be shopping there anymore anyways.

Actions have consequences, both parties are finding this out.

You got the link to that tweet? The DM screenshots just made it look like they just asked him for his account number, and then after the convo closed his account.

 

[Mr. X]

I didn't even know they could do that.
Your fault for telling them you account/order #.

 

[jonno394]

Of course it is legal. A company is free to decide who it wants to do business with.

Meh... I will continue to buy my games from Shopto. Through out the years I've never had any bad customer service, and my games always arrive prior to launch.

Yeah I work in international export documentation and deal with a lot of freight forwarders and agents who are extremely pressured themselves so cn be rather uncourteous to us, so we have it as rule six of our Docs rules that we have the right to refuse service without giving an explanation. It covers us well even though we hardly have to use it.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

It's really silly on their part.

They need to understand that they are not the only online retailer and that they need to deal with criticism, not just hide it or go all childish over it.

 

[Enco]

They are banned for it still here on neoGAF.

Can anyone expand on this?

 

[DragonSworne]

If this dude was publicly slagging off Shopto and trying to reduce their business then I can see why shopto would do this, but this is ridiculous I have to agree with everyone.

The only reason we know this situation happened is because Shopto cancelled his preorder and account...

Kind of back fired on Shopto don't you think?

 

[Dantis]

I don't think many people are defending them to be honest. I guess a few can see some sort of impulsive reasoning behind the account closure.

Problem is OP isn't getting much sympathy because he acted like an immature kid - which he freely admits.

All these outcries for 'free PS4' etc. set a very dangerous precedent for those who will just spout bile on social media hoping to provoke a reaction. I use shopto regularly but I use amazon as well. Have a preorder on each for example. I have always had good to excellent customer service from both sites. If the caveat to that is that I don't act like an immature asshat on social media then I can handle that.

Were shopto right? No.
Do I sympathise with the OP? No (I also think it's a bit disingenuous to leverage a community the size of neogaf for a personal issue like this in which there are, at least, blurred lines).

The wider issue of slagging off companies on twitter that could have potential account closures is a bigger issue than this one thread and should be discussed seperately imo.

This is pretty much how I feel.

Can anyone expand on this?

They were hacked and lost account details, I believe.

Pretty bad stuff.

 

[Iacobellis]

You got the link to that tweet? The DM screenshots just made it look like they just asked him for his account number, and then after the convo closed his account.

https://twitter.com/poowitheyes/status/389382472623865857

 

[Wickerbasket]

You got the link to that tweet? The DM screenshots just made it look like they just asked him for his account number, and then after the convo closed his account.

https://twitter.com/PooWithEyes/status/389382472623865857

Note that the tweets isn't in response to shopto, it's a conversation between him and one of his friends. Shopto closed his account based on a public conversation he had with a friend because he mentioned them by name.

 

[The One Who Knocks]

.

OP when you gave them your account number what were you expecting? Whatever happened to good old fashioned common sense? not the wisest move to publicly slag the company your hoping to get your launch day console from. I hope it works out for you op, but this was totally avoidable.

This doesn't make much sense to me at all. Common sense would not indicate that they would cancel the order. As EatChildren has mentioned above, there were two different scenarios; the original poster would either cancel his order, and they would not get any money, or he would keep the order, and they would (even if they wouldn't receive more money from additional purchases). If the complaint was about price, as it was, then after they asked for the account details, it seems reasonable to assume, to secure the original poster's continuous purchasing of items on the site, that they may offer some form of discount to 'make it up' to the original poster and potentially get good publicity. By cancelling the order, not only do they not get his money (and he had already stated before the closed the account that he would not cancel it), they don't get him to continuing purchasing items one the site, and they acquire bad publicity. It is compeltely contradictory to common sense that they would be vindicative and immediately cancel the order; that's an irrational, emotionally-fueled response that one would not really expect from a company representative.

 

[tehPete]

You are having a private conversation with your friend in a public place and suggest humorously (though you are being serious) that you are going to switch your game orders to Amazon because ShopTo are charging £20 more for your PS4 bundle as a "fuck you".

Just so happens that ShopTo are making use of listening devices which are installed literally everywhere and someone who works for them cottons on, gets pissed and calls you to tell you that they've cancelled your account.

Beautiful.

I've just sent them a request through their internal support service to have my personal details and account deleted from their systems.

 

[w00zey]

If my company did that every time a costumer threatened to take their business elsewhere, I wouldn't have a job any more.

obviously you pick and choose but I've seen enough retail customer service incidents where the customer wasn't right. also if you have that many threats of people wanting to go somewhere else then the companies policy/model is wrong.

 

[kiyomi]

ShopTo have had poor prices on games lately anyway. Always feels like you're paying a premium for their fast delivery.

 

[atomsk]

So if I was at a restaurant and I turned to my buddy and said something derogatory about the restaurant above my normal talking voice, the restaurant wouldn't do anything about it because I am the customer and I am always right?

Depends on the restaurant

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Yeah I work in international export documentation and deal with a lot of freight forwarders and agents who are extremely pressured themselves so cn be rather uncourteous to us, so we have it as rule six of our Docs rules that we have the right to refuse service without giving an explanation. It covers us well even though we hardly have to use it.

Forgive if I'm wrong I haven't read the whole thread but he said fuck shopto to his friend not to shopto themselves. If he said it to the agent who was helping him then fair enough. You can't just close someones account because they spoke bad of the company to a friend on a service that is nothing to do with your store.

 

[dc89]

This story has pretty much everything. We just need a SunhiLegend GIF now.

 

[foobarry81]

Can anyone expand on this?

There is a neoGAF thread about it.

 

[Danneee]

Whoa, that's really childish of then. Have been checking their prices lately but won't even consider buying from them now. Unprofessional.

 

[ButchCat]

Why are people all that surprised? If this scenario came up on Xbox Live wouldn't the same thing had happened?

 

[Taker34]

LOL ops situation just made me laugh at him.

What's wrong with you?

 

[Zemm]

I can dig it.

Such a shit stirrer! I LOVE IT.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

A consumer can say whatever they want about you, ESPECIALLY ON A THIRD PARTY SITE. Retaliation for that is considered extremely unprofessional and shopto will be feeling the effects of that when this story gets picked up by the media and their PR department has to backpedal and apologize.

Whoever said that to him is either going to get reprimanded hardcore or get fired. Guaranteed.

I don't know what the third party site has to do with anything. It would be the same if he had the conversation on a forum. If it is public, lots of people will see it.

The only reason this is a story is because the op is a member of a popular forum. Half the shit on consumerist doesn't get resolved and most never go viral.

I'm not defending the company either.

cormack said it better

I don't think many people are defending them to be honest. I guess a few can see some sort of impulsive reasoning behind the account closure.

Problem is OP isn't getting much sympathy because he acted like an immature kid - which he freely admits.

All these outcries for 'free PS4' etc. set a very dangerous precedent for those who will just spout bile on social media hoping to provoke a reaction. I use shopto regularly but I use amazon as well. Have a preorder on each for example. I have always had good to excellent customer service from both sites. If the caveat to that is that I don't act like an immature asshat on social media then I can handle that.

Were shopto right? No.
Do I sympathise with the OP? No (I also think it's a bit disingenuous to leverage a community the size of neogaf for a personal issue like this in which there are, at least, blurred lines).

The wider issue of slagging off companies on twitter that could have potential account closures is a bigger issue than this one thread and should be discussed seperately imo.

 

[Toma]

LOL ops situation just made me laugh at him.

I need to get off the internet.

 

[silver.tongue]

This is ridiculous... So a guy can't complain about a store anymore? Wth?

 

[Slowdive]

That's horrible. I used to use Shopto quite a bit but not anymore, they've been getting worse lately.

 

[ghostface pizzakid]

lol wow talk about being a little too sensitive

 

[Tabby]

Dat grammar from Shopto.
Unf.

 

[conman]

Considering that people can lose their jobs in similar situations, this is small potatoes by comparison. Maybe someday people will realize that social media is called "social" for a reason. It isn't private.

Not a defense of Shopto at all. It's a crappy situation. But so is the internet. The bigger issue is that private companies and governments now dictate consequences for seemingly innocuous communication and user behavior.

 

[Joni]

Why are people all that surprised? If this scenario came up on Xbox Live wouldn't the same thing had happened?

Microsoft doesn't care, just like most companies. Hell, half of the Amazon forums is people bitching at Amazon and this hasn't happened there.

 

[supaflyryguy]

ShopTo was completely within their rights to cancel his pre-order, just as the OP was completely within his to say whatever derogatory remarks about the company that he so pleased. I don't find this disgusting, just an overreaction to an immature comment, from which the company will suffer in the form of short term lost sales and the OP will gain from the attention his incident is receiving.

If you want to bury ShopTo, simply never purchase anything ever from them again. But the simple fact is that if tomorrow ShopTo started selling PS4 bundles for $30 cheaper than Amazon, a whole load of a people would forget this transgression and preorder from them, despite this incident. This is simply business in a capitalist society, and I don't think the moral grandstanding is entirely necessary here.

 

[Midou]

Problem is OP isn't getting much sympathy because he acted like an immature kid - which he freely admits.

I use shopto regularly but I use amazon as well. Have a preorder on each for example. I have always had good to excellent customer service from both sites. If the caveat to that is that I don't act like an immature asshat on social media then I can handle that.

I think the act of making it public is a bit worse than normal, but I disagree with both sets of phrasing. It's pretty fucking normal for someone to say like "Fuck Amazon" or "Fuck Apple", and you could probably find tons of tweets like that, because it's a phrase without too much meaning, the word does not have much impact these days. If someone said 'fuck you', who would get terribly offended? I think calling OP a child and an asshat for saying 'fuck shopto' even if in a public place, is unfitting.

I'm not saying it's okay to do it because everyone else is, I'm just saying it's basically meaningless and more of a 'shrug' than anything else, for most people and for most businesses who would read a tweet like that.

 

[theRizzle]

To me this seems like the equivalent of putting in a preorder and EB/Gamestop and then going into the food court for lunch with friends and saying "Fuck I hate shopping at that store" and the employee who took my preorder overheard that comment and cancels my order.

i.e. fucked up

 

[FlyStarJay]

like someone said if you acted like that in the store, you should expect same treatment. YOu went out there to provoke them, they didnt do anything to you like misplaced your order or anything, you went out there to attack. Closing your account is not a suprise. if you dont want them, they dont want you.

 

[zackmorris]

I can't believe that the guy running the twitter account would be in a position to make that call. I'd fight it. Also since you never had to provide your login and password and only an order number that others could have had access to, they would have a tough time proving it was actually you.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Wow, screw them. Just read this, OP. Pathetic on their end. Hope they see this blow up in their face.

 

[Gestault]

So if I was at a restaurant and I turned to my buddy and said something derogatory about the restaurant above my normal talking voice, the restaurant wouldn't do anything about it because I am the customer and I am always right?

It would be more like if you'd scheduled a reservation at a restaurant, and you'd called to reconfirm, and the person who answered the call was rude to you. You then comment to a friend on Twitter that you should skip on a tip as a "fuck you." Someone at the restaurant comes across this and cancels your reservation.

That's unprofessional, and doesn't benefit the restaurant in any way.

 

[Baleoce]

To me this seems like the equivalent of putting in a preorder and EB/Gamestop and then going into the food court for lunch with friends and saying "Fuck I hate shopping at that store" and the employee who took my preorder overheard that comment and cancels my order.

i.e. fucked up

This

 

[EatChildren]

Trying to justify Shopto's behaviour is baffling in how far it misses the point.

Shopto is a business. The job of PR and customer service is to give existing, potential, and ex customers a positive impression of the business. The objective is to avoid bad PR as word-of-mouth and bad publicity can do measurable damage and take considerable time to amend.

It's not a case of right/wrong justified/unjust professional/childish. It's a case of bafflingly stupid and unnecessary PR behaviour that has potential to cultivate a negative impression of the business. You just don't do stuff like this because it serves no positive purpose to the business, but risks negative ramifications. Like the 101 of shit not to do in PR.

 

[JJD]

Wow...

Thank God I made my pre order at Amazon. Not buying on Shopto anymore, I'm going to cancel all my Shopto game pre orders.

 

[Toma]

like someone said if you acted like that in the store, you should expect same treatment. YOu went out there to provoke them, they didnt do anything to you like misplaced your order or anything, you went out there to attack. Closing your account is not a suprise. if you dont want them, they dont want you.

Curious, did you work in a single company that required you to interact with customers?
Because then you'd know that this sentiment is blatantly ignorant, unadvisable and I'd go as far as to say mindboggingly stupid.

Trying to justify Shopto's behaviour is baffling in how far it misses the point.

Shopto is a business. The job of PR and customer service is to give existing, potential, and ex customers a positive impression of the business. The objective is to avoid bad PR as word-of-mouth and bad publicity can do measurable damage and take considerable time to amend.

It's not a case of right/wrong justified/unjust professional/childish. It's a case of bafflingly stupid and unnecessary PR behaviour that has potential to cultivate a negative impression of the business. You just don't do stuff like this because it serves no positive purpose to the business, but risks negative ramifications. Like the 101 of shit not to do in PR.

Correct.

 

[nib95]

To me this seems like the equivalent of putting in a preorder and EB/Gamestop and then going into the food court for lunch with friends and saying "Fuck I hate shopping at that store" and the employee who took my preorder overheard that comment and cancels my order.

i.e. fucked up

Yeap. This.