I understand the need for security with online purchases and advise clients on that all the time, but TemplateMonster.com takes the cake.
I find a template i like. I order it. Simple right? No. I even have to look up my bank’s phone number to include in the form. No big deal right? Just a little more time. A little more chance for me to change my mind. But I do it.
Then I get an email saying that since they could not reach me immediately by phone, (I was on with a client), they can’t send me my download link for the template I purchased.
Does TemplateMonster.com actually want to make a sale? Do they actually want more business? Why not go ahead and ask for an in-person appointment while you are at it. Require the names of my children, my mother’s maiden name, a secret question, the street my family lived on when I was born, where my mother was born, and to top it off, put in a captcha that is really hard to read.
TemplateMonster.com, you need to understand, you are not doing us a favor by allowing us to purchase what you sell. We do you a favor if we decide to buy something from you.
EDIT: Oh wait. It gets better. The email says I must respond right away if I want the template I paid for. But when I email them, the email bounces. So now I had to get their number and call them.
A lot of work just to buy something from someone. The exact way NOT to set up your purchasing system.
Hello Chris,
Thank you for you feedback and sorry for our purchase procedure. I agree that when you buy for the first time it hardly looks like an ideal online purchase.
The billing procedure is simplified for our returned customers and currently we are working on the account system.
As for the first time customers… You won’t believe if I tell you the number of fraudulent orders we get. That’s why we can’t rely on merchant systems’ anti-fraud check and use our own verification system.
As a compensation I would like to offer you a discount. Please contact me if you decide to make another purchase with us and I send you the promo code.
Thanks,
James.
I appreciate the response. I know my post seems pretty direct, but if you were my client, you would have heard it the same way. I am direct with clients as well when I believe they are making a mistake. When you make it more difficult to buy, you make less sales. That is a fact.
I really don’t need the discount but thank you for the offer. I didn’t do the post to get a discount. I was more hoping to get you to think about the process and possibly improve it.
templateMonster.com showed how monstrous they are lol.