The i-Deals Incident

[Scarpia]

I made some orders from I-Deals, had one cancelled and some sitting in limbo it seems. Although I would be disappointed if the transactions never occur, I certainly wouldn't be angry. We do all make mistakes. I've been working in the food/service industry for over a decade, talk about making mistakes, they occur more often than we would like, and sometimes it's not even due to our own actions but that of others (vendors, computers, equipment...) and all we ask, or hope for is that those we are serving can identify that it was an unforeseen error and that we are not proud of it. Those customers that recognize it are cherished, they understand and we always appreciate it. Of course those that don't recognize this, and remain upset and continue to vocalize their frustration, well, we may not like it, but we work our asses off even more to change those customers views.

It's obvious there was a computer glitch, or error with I-Deals. What surprises me is that the cancelation emails are claiming those items are out of stock, instead of what seems to be the truth. I will not be leaving them any negative comments, and more than likely will shop again with them, but there might always be tht little red flag, this unless something changes in the next few days.

I will, however, be leaving a negative comment to the MP who sold me a "very-good" used disc that had traces of sticky substances and scratches on both sides of the disc. I almost don't want to put the disc in my player. That to me, is worse than what I-Deals has done.


Happy Wednesday! 

I got the cancellation notice I was expecting.  It was the standard Amazon boilerplate, no specific reason given.   From my small experience selling on Amazon marketplace, there is a button you mash to cancel, and the rest is automatic.  One item from another order is marked as shipped with a tracking number that is not recognized yet.   

The biggest downside here is not that I didn't get the cheap CDs, but that i-Deals store is still down, and not competing for my business now that I am thinking of ordering.  I have to order from other vendors who are no longer competing with i-Deals, and can therefore push their prices up.

This is why I found MI's conduct reprehensible.  Ordering every CD he could find when he believed that a computer mishap had caused pricing errors was crass, perhaps.  But spending his time on the phone with Amazon managers trying to get them to coerce i-Deals into honoring the spurious orders added only added to the difficulties that i-Deals was contending with.   The same for his vows to post negative feedbacks.  Such conduct can only delay i-Deal's return to normal, and the resulting financial losses can only push up the prices we will pay when or if they resume business.  I doubt that MI's exploits will have any noticeable effect on i-Deals' financial standing, but if all i-Deals customers behaved the same way it would be a real problem.  The good news is, based on the limited sample of this site, MI is an outlier. 

[springrite]

The good news is, based on the limited sample of this site, MI is an outlier.

Was.

[Sergeant Rock]

It's obvious there was a computer glitch, or error with I-Deals. What surprises me is that the cancelation emails are claiming those items are out of stock, instead of what seems to be the truth.

But maybe that is the truth. Perhaps they honored the orders they could but were so inundated with orders they quickly ran out of what I assume was limited stock anyway. (MI couldn't have been the only one to spot the bargains.) That would explain why some orders have shipped while others have been cancelled.

Sarge

[flyingdutchman]

Well, I ordered a great number from I-Deals, but didn't expect them to be shipped and I won't be leaving negative feedback like some here did.  Mirror Image may feel like his apologies are enough, but in the end his tantrums earlier have left a bad taste in my mouth.

What I did do, though, was order a number from other sites who lowered their costs.  Many of those discs are used, but I don't really care. 

[TheGSMoeller]

But maybe that is the truth. Perhaps they honored the orders they could but were so inundated with orders they quickly ran out of what I assume was limited stock anyway. (MI couldn't have been the only one to spot the bargains.) That would explain why some orders have shipped while others have been cancelled.

Sarge

It could be, Sarge, you're right. I'm wondering how many, if any of the $1 sales they are actually honoring? I'm not sure anyone has received any of their "shipped" orders yet.

And I'm sure there were many other buyers jumping on these sales.
GMG is only the 1%'rs, or are we the 47%? 

[TheGSMoeller]

Update: all of my I-Deals orders were just cancelled, about 5 orders consisting of a dozen discs. Reading the emails now. I'll get back.

...reasons for all were "out of stock", bummer.

[jut1972]

All my orders have been cancelled too, same reason, out of stock. 

I notice a lot of people are now putting 1 star reviews on the site.

[DavidRoss]

GMG is only the 1%'rs, or are we the 47%? 

Partisan Democrats in either case.

[TheGSMoeller]

Their feedback percentage rating is dropping, ouch. 

[DavidRoss]

Their feedback percentage rating is dropping, ouch. 

They can probably better afford the hit on their feedback than the loss of thousands of dollars. I'm surprised their management isn't sharp enough to realize that they should send an apology and explanation with the cancellation notices and not just boilerplate "out of stock" BS. Not getting an honest and forthright explanation irritated me much more than the cancellation itself.

Oh, wait a minute--when I consider how dumb management of large corporations and government entities often proves, why should I be surprised that ideals' management is no brighter?

[Scarpia]

They can probably better afford the hit on their feedback than the loss of thousands of dollars. I'm surprised their management isn't sharp enough to realize that they should send an apology and explanation with the cancellation notices and not just boilerplate "out of stock" BS. Not getting an honest and forthright explanation irritated me much more than the cancellation itself.

Oh, wait a minute--when I consider how dumb management of large corporations and government entities often proves, why should I be surprised that ideals' management is no brighter?

Make that millions of dollars, perhaps.  Classical is a small slice of i-Deals, from what I gather.   After a bit of googling during the i-Deals incident I found another discussion boards full of comments from people who couldn't believe their luck, getting tons of bluray discs for $1 each.  I suspect for every $1 Beethoven Sonata cycle there were 100 $1 "Game of Thrones" sets. 

[Karl Henning]

People watch that rubbish?

(j/k)

[jut1972]

I combined the two, complete ring cycle on blu-ray for $1 perhaps in hindsight it isnt such a bad thing, I never would have watched it!

[DavidRoss]

Make that millions of dollars, perhaps.  Classical is a small slice of i-Deals, from what I gather.   After a bit of googling during the i-Deals incident I found another discussion boards full of comments from people who couldn't believe their luck, getting tons of bluray discs for $1 each.  I suspect for every $1 Beethoven Sonata cycle there were 100 $1 "Game of Thrones" sets. 

Yep, I suspect you're very right!

Still, if I were running that business, I would want to issue a blanket apology to all the disappointed customers, explaining the cause of the glitch, the steps they're taking to correct it, the fact that if they filled all those orders the losses would put them out of business and cost their employees their jobs, and then say how much they value their customers and hope to continue serving them for years to come.

And it sure wouldn't hurt to offer some kind of discount coupon for future orders, either, if that were possible.

[Scarpia]

And it sure wouldn't hurt to offer some kind of discount coupon for future orders, either, if that were possible.

Maybe they will.  At they moment they may have more urgent concerns.  I can imagine the voice of the shift supervisor.  "Order another 200 Logitech mice, FedEx Priority Overnight.  These cheap generic mice can't handle the cancelation volume!"

[DavidRoss]

Maybe they will.  At they moment they may have more urgent concerns.  I can imagine the voice of the shift supervisor.  "Order another 200 Logitech mice, FedEx Priority Overnight.  These cheap generic mice can't handle the cancelation volume!"

[PaulSC]

I suppose it just be a coincidence that things went wrong for i-Deals on Friday the 13th. Makes me wonder if they were victims of a malicious act rather than an innocent error..

[Karl Henning]

But Friday was the 12^th ; )

[listener]

A recollection that might not be off the topic:  an employee in a former head office was dismissed rarther rudely but told to finish the day to be eligible for pay.  This was in accounts payable.  Before leaving, the date for issuing payments was moved up to three (or maybe six) months, and the computer password was changed.   This was not discovered for a few months until suppliers across the country began to refuse to supply as bills weren't being paid.

[Sergeant Rock]

But Friday was the 12^th ; )

Not in California. They're always different there 

Sarge