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small suggestion on "AnandTech Deals" locked posts in Hot Deals Forum...
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Having a little experience in the whole online advertising world as I do, I would have to argue/agree with a few of the points made here. One, yeah, someone should have made sure that TigerDirect would receive a better reception than they did. However, companies do change...the problems everyone pointed out in this entire thread appear to be very old, past problems that have been corrected. I know perception is everything and everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I've used TigerDirect without incident. I'll continue to use TD unless they do something I don't appreciate.
Beyond that, there's obviously a contractual agreement in place here. These can run for a couple of months, rather than the 2 week period mentioned above. I guess we'll see how long this one goes. There is always something like this in the Hot Deals forum though...I've seen ads in there from other resellers and manufacturers throughout the last few months. It's just when a company people don't like gets an ad that everyone seems to notice.
I doubt we'll receive any other apology than the ones we've seen from TD and the Mods. (thanks Anand!! Thanks mods!!). There certainly are other people involved with getting advertising besides Anand. While I doubt his hands are tied, he's not going to come out and openly say that TD is bad. That would be like buying a Dell and having the boot up welcome screen saying "Intel Sucks". Sure, $$ talks...but then again, there's a site and forums and people that write content and ad people and hosting fees and all kinds of other stuff to pay for. At least we've seen response from Anand, from Tiger and from the Mods...it's nice to know that our voices are heard.
I say let Anand scam TigerDirect...no one buy from them and continue to let them pump money into the AnandTech machine. I know it's hard to turn the blind eye sometimes.
Anyways, that's my rant and my offer to explain the miracle of online advertising to anyone who wants to know...I think Anand is seeing to the matter at hand and will do what he can with the best interest of his site and his audience in mind.
TigerDirectDeals
Banned
To all: As a long time employee of TigerDirect and an officer of the company I am very concerned by the negative things I have read about our company. Please accept my apology if as a company we have failed our customers in any way. I have worked very hard over the past 12 years building a solid reputation for Tigerdirect and would like an opportunity to prove to you our commitment to customer satisfaction and earn your business.
As stated in all our advertising, our goal is 100% customer satisfaction. We are the largest reseller in the industry dedicated to computer components, accessories and deals yet we have designed our policies to treat our customers as part of our family, which is something usually found in only very small companies. We have streamlined our return authorization process and have been working closely with vendors and suppliers to improve the level of technical support they offer our mutual customers. Our sales people receive daily training on both products and customer service practices.
TigerDirect ships over 30,000 orders per week and the vast majority of our customers are return shoppers who buy from us frequently. We must be doing a lot of things right in order to have earned the trust and repeat business of that many people. We have been in business for 14 years and are dedicated to servicing the needs of our customers for many years to come.
I want to assure you that every single customer complaint is fully investigated and not only do we make every reasonable effort to resolve the issue to the customers satisfaction but we also proactively take steps to prevent that same issue from causing future complaints.
Occasionally, there are some issues that will not be able to be resolved to every customer?s satisfaction. Sometimes the very customers we try to service attempt to perpetrate frauds against us. Because we have been victims of such frauds, especially when it comes to returns, we have initiated new inspection procedures in our warehouse, which will enable us to weed out fraudulent returns while protecting our honest customers.
We would like to hear all feedback, be it positive or negative. I would also like to again extend my personal apology if we have let you down in any way. We have assigned a dedicated customer service agent, with management level decision making authority, to personally deal with Anandtech users. We stand ready to assist you in all your computing needs.
Sincerely,
Bruce Matthews
bruce.matthews@tigerdirect.com
305-415-2291
800-88-Tiger (for sales)
As stated in all our advertising, our goal is 100% customer satisfaction. We are the largest reseller in the industry dedicated to computer components, accessories and deals yet we have designed our policies to treat our customers as part of our family, which is something usually found in only very small companies. We have streamlined our return authorization process and have been working closely with vendors and suppliers to improve the level of technical support they offer our mutual customers. Our sales people receive daily training on both products and customer service practices.
TigerDirect ships over 30,000 orders per week and the vast majority of our customers are return shoppers who buy from us frequently. We must be doing a lot of things right in order to have earned the trust and repeat business of that many people. We have been in business for 14 years and are dedicated to servicing the needs of our customers for many years to come.
I want to assure you that every single customer complaint is fully investigated and not only do we make every reasonable effort to resolve the issue to the customers satisfaction but we also proactively take steps to prevent that same issue from causing future complaints.
Occasionally, there are some issues that will not be able to be resolved to every customer?s satisfaction. Sometimes the very customers we try to service attempt to perpetrate frauds against us. Because we have been victims of such frauds, especially when it comes to returns, we have initiated new inspection procedures in our warehouse, which will enable us to weed out fraudulent returns while protecting our honest customers.
We would like to hear all feedback, be it positive or negative. I would also like to again extend my personal apology if we have let you down in any way. We have assigned a dedicated customer service agent, with management level decision making authority, to personally deal with Anandtech users. We stand ready to assist you in all your computing needs.
Sincerely,
Bruce Matthews
bruce.matthews@tigerdirect.com
305-415-2291
800-88-Tiger (for sales)
Mr. Matthews,
I appreciate that you took the time to respond here. I look at the situation in this way. If you take a look at resellerratings or the ratings here at Anandtech then you will see that there are a lot of complaints about TigerDirect. You can say that some of them are people trying to commit fraud against TigerDirect BUT then why do companies like Newegg and Mwave have good reviews? They are just as open to fraud as TigerDirect yet don't have the same complaints. A lot of members of Anandtech are very happy to be customers with Newegg because Newegg takes care of their customers. From reviews on sites, it doesn't appear that TigerDirect takes the same approach towards customers. When 1 in every 6 reviews is a complaint, that doesn't support your idea that your goal is 100% customer satisfaction.
I have never purchased from TigerDirect but I have dealt with the "customer service" once. About 4 years ago I called to order a network card. I was told it was a pricing mistake in the catalog and that you wouldn't honor the price. This was a difference of $5(I understand when the mistake is a large amount). The customer service rep. was not pleasant so I ended up paying more somewhere else. I was happy to do so because I felt like I was treated as a customer that was appreciated.
Until I start seeing customer reviews that rival Newegg then why should I shop at TigerDirect? I know what type of service I will get at Newegg. I see no point in spending my money elsewhere.
-Jim
Ah, so that's why the Better Business Bureau has given you an unsatisfactory rating and has this to say?
"Specifically our files show a pattern of complaints alleging
dissatisfaction with product quality and performance, failure
to deliver promised goods or services, failure to eliminate
basic cause of complaints, misrepresentation in advertising and
marketing practices and a pattern of no response to customer
complaints brought to their attention by the Better Business
Bureau."
Or why a consumers at a site like resellerratings.com give you very poor ratings with page after page of complaints?
Ah, so this is why people describe your service department as "incompetent" and post messages such as this one:
"That is when I discovered the Herculian task of having to return defective product to Tiger Direct. They put up so many barriers making the return experience unpleasant and expensive. Their cheap prices are because thir product is junk and unreliable - the money you save upfront is quickly devoured many times over by the horrible experience of dealing with their rfeturn process."
This must be why, after the calling card debacle, you are now running a "sweepstakes" (scam?) to collect and sell personal information as described in your own conditions? "..by submitting the registration form you will opt-in to receive email or other communications from TigerDirect.com and its affiliated partners." Or maybe it's why you are constantly listed in pages describing Tiger Direct running rebate scams?
It's good to know that all that mountain of evidence and personal experiences are just nothing now that you've said you're here to make it all better and we should trust you! It just makes me so warm and fuzzy inside.
Evadman
Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
I was going to type a long drawn out post that refuted most of what you said, but kgraeme already did it for me.
I used to shop at the Global Outlet in Naperville IL weekly to buy parts for systems I built for customers. Look in your "prefered card" database. My company name is "Evadco." You will notice I was spending 20-50k a month till the phone card fiasco. I then went back a few motnhs later to see how things were going, and bought some more stuff. One was a mainbaord that was DOA. But could I return it? nope. According to your employees, it was not DOA when it was in the store, I must have killed it.
I am done with Tiger. It just saddens me to see AT promote you.
Of course, this is directed at Tiger as a company, not towards you, TigerDirectDeals. I thank you for taking the time out of your day to respond. but Tiger or any of its subsidiarys are not getting a cent from me. Ever.
<edit>
And thank you for taking the time to figure out the PM messaging system. Recieving a personal appology from you was a suprise. Unfortunately, until Tiger ( and systemax ) figure this out, I will not be a Tiger customer.
As TigerDirectDeals pointed out in his PM to me, the outlet store "Global" is not owned by tiger, but it is part of the same conglomerate of Systemax. ( AFAIK Tiger, Global, Dartek, and a good 200 other companies are all owned by systemax ) I just thought I should point that out just in case the other members here did not know that. Global and Tiger are not the same company, but they are btoh parts of a larger whole. (systemax) When you go to Global, and can order from the Tiger catalog at the S/O desk, things can get confusing.
I used to shop at the Global Outlet in Naperville IL weekly to buy parts for systems I built for customers. Look in your "prefered card" database. My company name is "Evadco." You will notice I was spending 20-50k a month till the phone card fiasco. I then went back a few motnhs later to see how things were going, and bought some more stuff. One was a mainbaord that was DOA. But could I return it? nope. According to your employees, it was not DOA when it was in the store, I must have killed it.
I am done with Tiger. It just saddens me to see AT promote you.
Of course, this is directed at Tiger as a company, not towards you, TigerDirectDeals. I thank you for taking the time out of your day to respond. but Tiger or any of its subsidiarys are not getting a cent from me. Ever.
<edit>
And thank you for taking the time to figure out the PM messaging system. Recieving a personal appology from you was a suprise. Unfortunately, until Tiger ( and systemax ) figure this out, I will not be a Tiger customer.
As TigerDirectDeals pointed out in his PM to me, the outlet store "Global" is not owned by tiger, but it is part of the same conglomerate of Systemax. ( AFAIK Tiger, Global, Dartek, and a good 200 other companies are all owned by systemax ) I just thought I should point that out just in case the other members here did not know that. Global and Tiger are not the same company, but they are btoh parts of a larger whole. (systemax) When you go to Global, and can order from the Tiger catalog at the S/O desk, things can get confusing.
"We must be doing a lot of things right" is bullspit. If this was true, how come so many people here and elsewhere (every other website with a knowledgeable and/or an astute community) think your company borderlines a criminal organization?
DUDE, WAKEUP, their is NO underground, top secret conspiracy to put down TigerDirect, if you do not understand these negative sentiments, maybe you need to pull the proverbial -head out of the a$$- and look at AND read, AnandTech Ratings, Reseller Ratings, or just search google 'TigerDirect Ripoff' to figure out this hatred.
Next, I have a question Mr.Matthews,
Is this some kind of excuse for your companies horrid customer service? Why does this not seem to affect other Online Retailers ability to provide quality customer service?
EDIT: I just re-read this:
Treating your customers as 'part of our family'. LOL, thats funny but I dont ever remember my family taking my credit card and giving the number to other companies without my permission. I also dont remember sitting on hold for 45 minutes waiting for a family member to pick the phone back up after telling me to hang on a second. I also have never had anyone in my family sell me a product that was missing parts, then tell me I am lying when I inform them of the missing parts. Maybe my family is different than yours?
Wow, this thread has gotten some strong responses.
While I agree in spirit with the seemingly honorable act of not renewing one's subscription, I think that this act of abandonment is counter-productive. It's essentially the same as throwing a hissy fit and telling mommy you won't clean your room until you get a new bicycle. It's fairly clear that AT's hands are tied in this deal, and it's also very clear that such deals will not be taken lightly in the future. In other words, it's clear that our comments and feedback have made a difference. If you're tired of AT or need to spend less time on the computer, that's a fine reason to quit your subscription; but for something like this, it's nothing more than a temper tantrum. If you enjoy using the forums, and you make a contribution that is valued by other members, then holding a grudge for this one (essentially) admitted mistake by leaving or cancelling your subscription will only hurt yourself and others.
Sorry to see you won't be posting as much apoppin 🙁
While I agree in spirit with the seemingly honorable act of not renewing one's subscription, I think that this act of abandonment is counter-productive. It's essentially the same as throwing a hissy fit and telling mommy you won't clean your room until you get a new bicycle. It's fairly clear that AT's hands are tied in this deal, and it's also very clear that such deals will not be taken lightly in the future. In other words, it's clear that our comments and feedback have made a difference. If you're tired of AT or need to spend less time on the computer, that's a fine reason to quit your subscription; but for something like this, it's nothing more than a temper tantrum. If you enjoy using the forums, and you make a contribution that is valued by other members, then holding a grudge for this one (essentially) admitted mistake by leaving or cancelling your subscription will only hurt yourself and others.
Sorry to see you won't be posting as much apoppin 🙁
You know, it just hit me....as visible as this ad is, there have gotta be a lotta newbs going for it. Out of >100K members on AT, Tiger has to make out very well on this promo with AT. No matter what we say. I mean, how many people would even know to come over to the Forum Issues forum.
However, I do understand that AT cannot have a thread degrading one of their advertisers in an area that would strongly affect the click thrus. To justify to Tiger that this thread should remain open, AT would only have to refer Tiger to resellerratings and AT ratings, and let them know they did it to themselves.
Thank you AT for the understanding to let this thread live. Hopefully, after your committment is up, Anand himself will fully explain the why's and wherefore's.
apoppin, at least wait til you hear all the explanations before you don't reup. However, I do understand that utilizing the power of taking your $$$'s elsewhere is legitimate, no matter what the issue is.
--Randy
However, I do understand that AT cannot have a thread degrading one of their advertisers in an area that would strongly affect the click thrus. To justify to Tiger that this thread should remain open, AT would only have to refer Tiger to resellerratings and AT ratings, and let them know they did it to themselves.
Thank you AT for the understanding to let this thread live. Hopefully, after your committment is up, Anand himself will fully explain the why's and wherefore's.
apoppin, at least wait til you hear all the explanations before you don't reup. However, I do understand that utilizing the power of taking your $$$'s elsewhere is legitimate, no matter what the issue is.
--Randy
Why? The forums are about building community and a community is based on trust. When AnandTech runs a promotion for a disreputable and shady vendor, that trust is shaken. Why pay someone you don't trust?
AnandTech made a pragmatic business decision to accept money from a crap vendor. Apoppin made a pragmatic decision not to give AnandTech more money.
Not to mention that the original terms of the subscriptions were that we wouldn't see advertising. Then they introduced the "AnandTech Deals" posts and changed the TOS.
apoppin
Lifer
No need to be sorry (but thanks). I am just expressing my extreme disappointment with this particular forum policy. AT admitted no mistake and likely never will. The AT Moderators - expressing support for us - are essentially just forum members (at a little higher level).
This ad has really lessened my enjoyment of these forums - I hold no "grudge" against AT and will continue to visit and comment (although probably much less frequently).
I believe no explanations are forthcoming from AT. I did not quit the forums - TigerDirect can make up the revenue difference from the loss of one (or two) subscriptions. 😀 My decision is based on my own principles (and irritation with the weak way AT is handling this fiasco).
Not exactly "trust". I can see making a mistake to allow sponsorship by TigerDirect. No contract is iron clad. The lack of honest response - except to say, "we tried" - is what I am protesting.
I really DO believe AT made a mistake. They are making a "pragmatic decision" to continue to accept money from a vendor that is screwing over its members RIGHT NOW! And AT's changing the Terms of Service in the middle of a contract period is plainly wrong.
I do as much as possible, but for this I think you guys are making too much out of the forums. This isn't the Shining City on a Hill where everything's perfect and everybody's happy and it's some wonderful exchange of pure ideas based exclusively on mutual respect and concern for one's fellow citizens. AT is fallible, the admins and mods can and do make mistakes, the members can be obtuse and sometimes downright evil.... And somehow I don't see your 'bailing out' as doing anything to help AT become a better place.
Fighting against injustice in the world is a wonderful goal, but I don't see how your current actions are actually doing anything to fight the injustice. They're ineffectual actions. So AT loses your $3 a month... big whoop. There are new members and new subscribers every day. I'm sure it affects Anand personally (speaking non-monetarily) to see long-time subscribers quit because of this, but not much more than this whole protest did in the first place. He obviously cares, and this mistake won't happen again, and now we're just into the realm of punitive damages. You've already put up the fight, and it's been declared a draw; so now you're going to spit in the face of your opponent and walk away feeling like you won?
I admit that I sympathize with you guys and I actually felt proud the first time a few people started saying they weren't going to renew their subscriptions because of this. But overall I still believe that this is counter-productive. BTW I'm not a subscriber, but I don't think that would change things much.
Elections are an explicit means to voice your opinion in such a way that it matters. Votes, by definition, determine the outcome of an election. They have a real, explicit, and pre-determined effect on the outcome. A subscription to a message board does not have any implied or explicit effect on any of the board's policies.
Def. of principle It was a simple question, do you apply this principle to other actions?
BTW, one vote in a national election, say for president, although an "explicit" action, statistically speaking is improbable to affect the outcome, much like not renewing his subscription. I would bet that more than one person has chosen not to renew their subscription after the Tiger ad, and between the number of subscribers vs. voters in an election, the former is more significant. 😀
Oakenfold
Diamond Member
Uh, this is forum issues right?
😕
Anyhow I get both sides here, I think AT could have chosen a better vendor as well but how many people on this forum would actually buy something from Tiger? I think it's safe to say that quite a bit of us know better, unless of course it's another Dell Ferengei type dealio.
Did I get irritated when my maxiumpc actually came with an aol cd one month? I sure didn't, it was wrapped in a plastic baggie to protect the poor aol cd from falling out.
Maybe the HD forum members could pitch in and buy the spot from Tiger?
😀
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