How would you respond to this customer?
So I run Zylvie, an online cart software.
This guy wanted me to build an offline redemption system (with QR codes, the whole shebang), so he could use my online ecommerce platform for offline use cases.
I thought about it, but nah...
He was so pushy with deadlines too. 🙃
So I sent him this:
A few days later, he responded with some acrimony, some shaming language, and also some drama, if you ask me.
How would you respond to this? 🤔
Note, this guy has spent $0.00 on my product so far.
Just don't respond and be happy that you got rid of a demanding low-value customer. Personally I've had my fair share of unreasonable customers and I can only laugh about their requests these days. The cheapest customers have the highest demands :)
You're right, my highest-paying customers rarely email me -- some don't even email me at all.
They're just very happy to use my product as-is!
In general, one should try not to argue with crazy people.
Good tip. 😅
I would be super petty and insert some type of fake automated reply.
"Sorry. This message could not be delivered to the users inbox because your sending email address has been set to the filter named "bag of d1cks" which is set to immediately reject any messages from this email address.
Thanks for your understanding."
No but seriously F that guy.
Hahaha, that's very tempting.
But it has been quite a few days now.
I'm no longer pissed off.
I'll keep in mind your suggestion for next time. 🤣
Great job, Jay! Your response was clear, empathetic, and resolved the customer's issue effectively. Keep up the excellent customer service!
Lol, this reads like a GPT response.
I'm employee at sainsburys-online organization and have to deal with a lot of customers like this. You must need to deal them politely and gently.
Thankfully I can just ignore this customer and ghost him, since it's my own business. 🙃
If I had $5 for everyone completely outside of our target demographic who said Orderly was useless it'd be listed on NASDAQ
Hahahaha, very nice.
Your link is dead, by the way.
Brutal, thanks for pointing it out. Link is: www.joinorderly.com
Don't waste time on people who don't want to invest. Defos no-no.
I probably wouldn't, unless you feel their feedback is valid or their use case exactly matches what you're solving for.
You're going to get a lot of feedback when you build and launch a product. The key is to listen and action the feedback that is valuable to your business.
Valuable doesn't mean "matches my idea" or "agrees with me" though. Valuable means:
No, their feedback doesn't move my product in the correct direction.
He's someone who doesn't fit my ICP at all.
It's like someone who goes to a luxury yacht store asking for extensive customizations to make their yachts into a fishing boat, because he wants to do commercial fishing.
Yes, they're both boats, but they're very different kinds of boats!
There’s no need to respond to such emails. It's unfortunate that some people resort to these tactics when things don’t go their way. If someone genuinely wants to work things out and request customizations, they would approach the situation with respect and understanding.
If he had done that, I might just help him out, take a few days, and roll it out quickly for him.
But he was so pushy, impatient, and also insistent with the deadlines -- I feel like he's acting like my boss all of a sudden, a boss who hasn't paid me a single cent, mind you.
And yes, I didn't respond at all. 😄
It would make more sense with additional context. It sounds like someone requested a custom feature that doesn't fit your product, hence you rejected it. The customer definitely has an attitude but also pointed out many valid points for improvement regarding how features are implemented and communicated.
However, the post seems intended to disclose the customer's contact information and roast the customer in public. I'm not sure if you have asked for permission from this person, but as a reader, I feel that sharing the customer’s contact information is a major red flag and an example of what not to do if you want to earn customer trust. At the very least, hide the name—whether it's fake or real doesn't matter. Showing the name has nothing to do with what you are trying to share, unless your intention is for the public to know and avoid this person, who I think is a legitimate customer nevertheless.