Does sales ever answer the phone?

My wife purchased TPM 2008 as a gift for me yesterday.  She screwed up the address portion of the purchasers info twice and the order was rejected twice, and on the third time the purchase went through.

When she checked her credit card, she had been charged for THREE purchases, even though she had only purchased the game once.

She sent an email to Stardock sales about this, and they referred the matter to TECHNICAL SUPPORT.  I've been trying to reach Stardock sales since 9am, but they're not answering the phone this morning.  Does anyone know when they deign to take calls from customers?
27,394 views 49 replies
Reply #1 Top
Stardock is a very small company and doesn't have a huge staff to handle sales calls.  If you emailed [email protected] they'll get it and fix it.  If Tech support picked it up you can bet that they are doing the requiered research.

It'll all be good soon.  :)
Reply #2 Top
I don't care about them being a small company. They could deign to have ONE person who actually answers a phone. If they don't, why the hell do they bother to take calls at all?

I don't appreciate a company charging my wife three times for something she purchased once. I've bought a lot of Stardock games and stuff. If I can't even get through to someone on the phone to discuss a matter when it's STARDOCK's foulup, I can guarantee this'll be the last time.
Reply #3 Top
They could deign to have ONE person who actually answers a phone. If they don't, why the hell do they bother to take calls at all?
That one person could be on other calls, helping other clients.  ;)

Based on your initial post, the foul-up doesn't appear to have originated from Stardock.  Blaming them seems a bit out-of-scope.  Having said that . . I've never known a company that goes to greater effort to work with clients who are interested in resolving problems.


Reply #4 Top
They could deign to have ONE person who actually answers a phone. If they don't, why the hell do they bother to take calls at all?That one person could be on other calls, helping other clients.  Based on your initial post, the foul-up doesn't appear to have originated from Stardock.  Blaming them seems a bit out-of-scope.  Having said that . . I've never known a company that goes to greater effort to work with clients who are interested in resolving problems.


For, now, 90 minutes? They're getting so beseiged with calls that NO ONE in sales can asnwer for 90 minutes?

And I called my wife's bank. This foulup originated from Stardock, not from them.
Reply #5 Top
You can also email [email protected]. The forums are used primarily for product techincal support and sales issues are never handled publicly and in the open on our forums.

Stardock isn't known for unfair billing practices and I'm sure that our sales people will get you fixed up. I can assure you that no one is avoiding you or giving you the run around. Unfortunately we lack the sales staff of the larger online sales websites that many are used to dealing with. Our sales staff is a very busy crew so please be patient.

EDIT: I misread the original post and see that you have already emailed sales. We've let them know and hopefully someone will be in contact with you shortly via email.
Reply #6 Top
If sales would deign to answer their phone I would have handled it that way. It's now just past 11am. Sales has not answered the phone ONCE since 9am.
Reply #7 Top

If you have left a message, Sales will return the call.  Otherwise, your email will be responded to.  Thank you for your patience.

From your description of what happened above, it sounds like what is showing on your bill are pending charges for the failed attempts to order.  You mention there were issues with the billing address.  In this case, your credit card company should show these charges as "pending," and these pending charges will disappear from your account within a couple of days.  Your credit card company could confirm this information for you.

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Reply #8 Top
Patience? Patience was at 930...maybe 10am.

It's now 11:22 am. When do you people bother to answer a phone?
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Reply #9 Top
Mr. Plotkin,

Your email was correctly placed into the sales queue, and I just replied to the ticket and copied you on it. You and your wife will receive the same email.

KimK546 is correct in her reply. Because the billing information was incorrect, there are pending authorizations on the card which will drop off in a few days.

As for the phone, using every prompt in our system was not appropriate. The only people who could have answered your question was sales, and we are not chained to our desks. Your ticket was answered in a timely matter, and your phone call would have been returned in a timely matter as well.

Case closed.
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Reply #10 Top
As an aside . . was a voicemail left during any of the calls?
Reply #11 Top
As an aside . . was a voicemail left during any of the calls?


Case closed.

Reply #12 Top
As for the phone, using every prompt in our system was not appropriate. The only people who could have answered your question was sales, and we are not chained to our desks.


I hate when people do that. The company I work for has my cell number listed for emergency purposes. I get calls at least a couple times a week from people who are to impatient to wait an hour or so(on busy days) for our reservations department to call them back. And usually it is people looking to book an event for a month away. ;p
Reply #13 Top
The internet has given people a false sense of an "instant society"
just because you can surf the web at the "speed of light"(or however fast your providor allows you to) , does not mean that every other aspect in your life is going to be handled in that manner.


I also noticed you only just purchased this "yesterday"(your word) which was a Sunday, a day Stardock employees are not at work. You gave them less than three hours to rectify your issues upon arrival at their workplace. They had a whole weekend full of issues to resolve, including your own. There is not humanly enough time in the space of three hours to completely and to every customer's satisfaction,handle all issues which might have arisen over the two days employees were not working.

Everyone in the US is allowed at least one day off a week. Most companies allow two. Stardock chose to give those two during the weekend. Which means you are in a Que and must wait your turn.


people can work only so fast, and I didn't notice the title "king" or "god" in your name so I don't understand why you expect service above that which each other customer recieves.


Patience has always been a virtue,unfortunately not one many cultivate in this day and age.

Reply #14 Top
As an aside . . was a voicemail left during any of the calls?


There was no voicemail left. I had eleven messages from over the weekend and not one of them was Mr. Plotkin.
Reply #15 Top
Everyone in the US is allowed at least one day off a week.


WHAT???????

I need to renegotiate! :LOL:



Patience has always been a virtue,unfortunately not one many cultivate in this day and age.


You can add patience to the list of things that seem to have been left in the past. First on that list would be common sense. ;)
Reply #16 Top
As stated above, unfortunately Cyber life often misleads folks to believe they are entitled to instant results in all aspects of life. Sad but this falls under that Entitlement mentality most folks are tired of.


As for this Being all SD's fault ?? Sure ..why not? All Software companies should be required to send service staff out to homes of possible customers and teach them how to properly fill out a purchase form the "first time". This will save on the stress level of sales staff, as well as the rest of us on the net from having to read "I screwed up and its your fault" every other day on the net.  :NOTSURE:


 :)




Reply #18 Top
Actually you know I had the same thing happen to me, but it was from NewEgg.com, I emailed them, and they informed me that the first two were just authorizations, and when you order on the weekend they get cleared up the following week, by the time new egg finalized the purchase, and sent it, the first two charges had dissapeared, I believe you could have a little more patience, and understand that our banking system in this world causes most of the headaches... does anyone know what the average turn around time is for authorizations to just "fall off"..??? my guess is they should dissappear within a few days...
Reply #19 Top
does anyone know what the average turn around time is for authorizations to just "fall off"..??? my guess is they should dissappear within a few days...


All depends on the business where you use the credit card.

For instance most gas stations only put a hold on your card larger than your purchase if you pay at the pump and those that do usually drop off in a day or two. However there is one gas station chain in TN that anytime my card has been used there, indoors (even for just a snack) or at the pump, they put a $100 hold on the card and it takes them at least 10 days to drop it. Annoying bastards! X-(
Reply #20 Top
However there is one gas station chain in TN that anytime my card has been used there, indoors (even for just a snack) or at the pump, they put a $100 hold on the card and it takes them at least 10 days to drop it. Annoying bastards!


That's Terrible... lol... I'm taking cash if I go to TN.... lol (or buying $99.00 worth of gas)

Reply #21 Top
That's Terrible... lol... I'm taking cash if I go to TN.... lol (or buying $99.00 worth of gas)
$99?  What's that?  4 gallons?   X-(
Reply #22 Top
He has a point about them not answering their phone. I've called dozens of times before and never once have I ever spoken to someone. Always goes to the voicemail. If they work with or do work for big companies like Microsoft, Asus, etc... then they shouldn't have a problem hiring enough staff to answer the phones. At least switchboard or something. I order from the net constantly and have never experienced this with any other site, even the most rinky-dink cheap sites. I'm a business owner myself and I know that turns off a lot of business. I, for instance, was so excited about all the products Stardock has to offer that when my husband asked what I wanted for my aniversary gift, I told him I wanted just about every single program they have. I was surprised when he told me to go ahead and order them all. So for two days straight I tried to call, over and over, it was rediculous. I wanted to call because I wanted to get the cd versions on all of them and the link for the desktop ultimate cd order didn't work online. Plus I had a few questions, I just wanted to be able to speak to a human being. After two days of calling over and over between 9-4, both on weekdays and not one time of getting through, I was very frustrated. I still wanted the products though, so I decided to go ahead and just try to order one of them online, went through all the usual steps, then after I gave my c.c. it just went back to the original page. No confirmation, order #, nothing. I've been religiously checking my email and I'm pretty sure it didn't go through. That was a few days ago. By the way, I've also left plenty of messages when I've called and yes, gave my name and number. I'm so completely disqusted at this point I don't know if I should even bother wasting anymore of our time trying to hunt down stardock to GIVE them a bunch of money. Personally, I think it's just a horrible reflection on their customer service. Whether it annoys you or not, I think u have it backwards. The businesses are suppose to compete for the customer's money, the customer shouldn't have to have this kind of difficulty. Yes, the high demands of todays customers are pretty darn tough, but if you don't keep up with the competition, you will ultimately lose. Sad, but that's just life and how the world is today. Can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen. It's already been proven that a customer will go elsewhere simply because of their experience with a particular company. After all, speaking as a would-have-been customer, I was prepared to purchase just about every software product that stardock is currently offering because I was literally in awe of all the things I could do with all of it. However, once I realized that if I needed to speak to someone, it would be...well, so far by experience impossible, my excitement and desire for the products has since dwindled. It may just be a matter of opinion, but I learned very quickly that keeping my customers, even the cranky ones happy, to the best of my ability, has paid off. Seriously though, being able to speak to someone on the phone is a very basic expected thing from all customers. Come on, that is completely validated! Customers don't want to hear your excuses, they simply don't care! That's just reality. BTW, customer satisfaction is key, within reason of course, you never leave a customer unhappy. If they feel that they have been somehow inconvenienced or mistreated, etc...closing the deal/sale then, by only giving them what they have already purchased, will NOT restore their confidence in you. It's then that you have to go above and beyond by giving them something extra that will, in their mind, makeup for their negative experience, therefor allowing you to regain their trust in your customer service and also restore, within them, the desire to remain YOUR customer rather than just moving on to the next company.
Reply #23 Top
My two cents are this. ANYTIME and I mean anytime I get a duplicate billing like that I never worry or get upset until the money is out the door. Meaning me having the sent the money because of the duplicate. The reason I have a very casual attitude towards it is because to date I have NEVER actually ended up paying the DUPLICATE billing. Also, I have found that the calmer you are and just treat as an ACCIDENT on SOMEONE'S part that they usually apologize and get it fixed. Just my 2 cents. RAD
Reply #24 Top
Aah....another old thread kept alive by a problem that could have been solved through another one :LOL:

He has a point about them not answering their phone. I've called dozens of times before and never once have I ever spoken to someone. Always goes to the voicemail. If they work with or do work for big companies like Microsoft, Asus, etc... then they shouldn't have a problem hiring enough staff to answer the phones. At least switchboard or something. I order from the net constantly and have never experienced this with any other site, even the most rinky-dink cheap sites. I'm a business owner myself and I know that turns off a lot of business. I, for instance, was so excited about all the products Stardock has to offer that when my husband asked what I wanted for my aniversary gift, I told him I wanted just about every single program they have. I was surprised when he told me to go ahead and order them all. So for two days straight I tried to call, over and over, it was rediculous. I wanted to call because I wanted to get the cd versions on all of them and the link for the desktop ultimate cd order didn't work online. Plus I had a few questions, I just wanted to be able to speak to a human being. After two days of calling over and over between 9-4, both on weekdays and not one time of getting through, I was very frustrated. I still wanted the products though, so I decided to go ahead and just try to order one of them online, went through all the usual steps, then after I gave my c.c. it just went back to the original page. No confirmation, order #, nothing. I've been religiously checking my email and I'm pretty sure it didn't go through. That was a few days ago. By the way, I've also left plenty of messages when I've called and yes, gave my name and number. I'm so completely disqusted at this point I don't know if I should even bother wasting anymore of our time trying to hunt down stardock to GIVE them a bunch of money. Personally, I think it's just a horrible reflection on their customer service. Whether it annoys you or not, I think u have it backwards. The businesses are suppose to compete for the customer's money, the customer shouldn't have to have this kind of difficulty. Yes, the high demands of todays customers are pretty darn tough, but if you don't keep up with the competition, you will ultimately lose. Sad, but that's just life and how the world is today. Can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen. It's already been proven that a customer will go elsewhere simply because of their experience with a particular company. After all, speaking as a would-have-been customer, I was prepared to purchase just about every software product that stardock is currently offering because I was literally in awe of all the things I could do with all of it. However, once I realized that if I needed to speak to someone, it would be...well, so far by experience impossible, my excitement and desire for the products has since dwindled. It may just be a matter of opinion, but I learned very quickly that keeping my customers, even the cranky ones happy, to the best of my ability, has paid off. Seriously though, being able to speak to someone on the phone is a very basic expected thing from all customers. Come on, that is completely validated! Customers don't want to hear your excuses, they simply don't care! That's just reality. BTW, customer satisfaction is key, within reason of course, you never leave a customer unhappy. If they feel that they have been somehow inconvenienced or mistreated, etc...closing the deal/sale then, by only giving them what they have already purchased, will NOT restore their confidence in you. It's then that you have to go above and beyond by giving them something extra that will, in their mind, makeup for their negative experience, therefor allowing you to regain their trust in your customer service and also restore, within them, the desire to remain YOUR customer rather than just moving on to the next company.


When will we get proper paragraph formatting? ;p