Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

I went to a site that sells wood veneer slat paneling. They make a nice range of products and seem reputable. However, on completing my order I found that my payment options were limited to

  • shoppay
  • paypal
  • gpay

I have never seen a legitimate site that would not let me pay by credit card. There was a chat option and when I clicked on that it opened a chat window where I typed a question, and was immediately told to continue the chat on whatsapp. To do that I woud have to install a QR code reader on my phone, scan the given QR code, then install an app on my phone. Then link my phone to my laptop.

Or I could continue with the whatsapp web app. When I chose that I was immediately led down the rabbit hole again where I would have to install apps on my phone. Then link my phone to my laptop.

The only phone number provided was not a toll free number.

As a first time buyer I was offered a 10% discount on my first order. They emailed me the discount code. Entering the code on the purchase page did apply the discount. The email had an option of "if you have questions just reply to this email". When I did that I got "invalid recipient" and the email was never sent.

I've bought plenty of stuff from Amazon, and even from etsy. I never had this problem. This is not the way to run an online business.

Edited by Reverend Jim
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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Someone wanted me to pay with Venmo which I also have never used. Sorry, but I don't want to add more apps today.

Member Avatar for Dani

Not that it is an excuse, but I would like to offer up an explanation, if I may.

You can see here that only 4 days ago, FarrisFahad had a button to pay by Paypal on his website, and wants to convert it into utilizing a payment API (e.g. something that accepts credit cards). This takes a decent amount of backend programming and working with the credit card processor's API. For a small business, especially some guy who sells wood veneer, hiring the right web developer who can modify the out-of-the-box eCommerce platform he's using to handle this is likely completely over his head.

And as far as phone numbers ... I am of the opinion that small businesses should not invest in toll free numbers. They're super expensive (the business has to pay per minute) and pretty much everyone has a flat rate mobile plan these days, so you wind up spending a lot of money on something that doesn't even provide a huge value add to your customers.

Edited by Dani
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

I could understand that for a small company but it looks like this place (US based) also has a Canadian presence. And judging by their range of products they aren't a small company.

In any case, after pricing out what we wanted ($800+) and failing to get an alternate payment option we decided to invest in a couple of sheets of masonite and get some wood and rip our own slats. I wouldn't have bothered had the purchasing been easier but I figure I can do it myself with my table saw and some elbow grease and time for under $100.

Member Avatar for Dani

I could understand that for a small company but it looks like this place (US based) also has a Canadian presence.

According to their about us page, it’s a family owned business run by a guy named Lawrence who has been in the industry since the 1970s but just started his own business in the 2000s. Which fits the profile I had laid out. (Eg older guy who knows his craft and industry but isn’t necessarily tech savvy.)

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