[Plugin: WP e-Commerce] Not Worth The Trouble
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Just a heads up to anyone looking for a good shopping cart with excellent support… this is not it. I asked for help on their boards and was told to “try something else” as they were not willing to help me out with my problem. Their product is riddled with problems and without a clear, concise way to solving those issues.
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personally I also will recommend alternative plugins to my users if I find it to taxing for me to provide support for a particular issue.
Hi spotme10, this is a little unfair given that people have tried to help you in the forums.
I am guessing that this topic in our forums relates to your problem:
http://www.instinct.co.nz/forums/topic.php?id=1398I have no idea why so many people shoot down WP-eCommerce, it is like it is called WP-ShootMeDown instead of WP-eCommerce
I tend to agree with GamerZ about the forums. They’re not very helpful, and one of the main conributers over there, while knowledgeable, has a tendency to state the obvious in a very sarcastic tone a vast majority of the time. It’s almost as if he internally thinks that everyone is after him for answers and doesn’t understand what a community based forum is all about. “Socially inept” is the best way to describe him….but I digress..
On the flip side, this product is probably the best plugin you’re going to find for the time being when it comes to e-Commerce & WordPress integration. Hopefully the actual developer will provide better customer service once you’ve actually purchased the “Gold Cart” option. I really like the “DropShop” option and the audio player previews for selling music, however it’s the customer support which I’m mostly concerned about. Hopefully the forums don’t represent the type of support we’ll receive from the actual developer. I’d rather go with a slightly inferior product with excellent customer service & a willingness to help, then with a superior product with horrible or indifferent customer service. Unfortunately, I don’t think a lot of developers & programmers comprehend that.
I tend to agree with GamerZ about the forums. They’re not very helpful, and one of the main conributers over there, while knowledgeable, has a tendency to state the obvious in a very sarcastic tone a vast majority of the time. It’s almost as if he internally thinks that everyone is after him for answers and doesn’t understand what a community based forum is all about. “Socially inept” is the best way to describe him….but I digress..
Some of the users did not like to search and rather like to be spoon fed =)
To be honest, I also reply to my users in a sarcastic manner if the answer to the question they posted can be found easily by searching.
Lol…it’s a matter of treating your customer (or people in general) with respect, regardless of whether or not they did their due dilligence. I’m a Level III Network Engineer and I get questions all the time from Network Administrators who may have not read the documentation first or searched the knowledgebases beforehand, etc. I’ll usually point out the answer & provide them with a link, give some relevant advice, etc. The majority of them will get the point and do more research before calling or e-mailing me again about a future issue.
The point is that people don’t like to be spoken to like their idiots and responding to honest & simple questions with sarcasm is just unprofessional. A good number of programmers & developers just don’t get that. It’s bad business, especially if you’re trying to sell a product of your own to the EXACT same audience who you degrade with sarcastic remarks on a daily basis.
Making comments behind a customer’s back is a totally different ballgame. š It’s human nature, we all do it, but good luck keeping a business afloat if your customer (or potential customer) gets wind of it. All you’ll have in the end is a reputation for being a great developer with a horrible personality & customer service. That’s why a lot of IT departments are located in basements where the user’s can’t find them. š
Ok…enough of the soap box talk….:) I’ll probably end up purchasing this product because I really can’t afford to waste more time. Between searching the forums, learning more about PHP, and (with a little luck) some occassional help from Instinct, hopefully I’ll have my site up & running by the end of the week.
@gamerz – Thanks for the support mate…
@lawrencepd – I hear what you are saying and I’ll talk to the guys about the tone in the fourms to make sure that at the very least we’re always friendly. I guess the guys in the forums must get frustrated answering the same questions over and over when the answers are one search away – heck I personally relate to both sides of the coin.
There is nothing wrong with the quality of the support content – the generosity of the likes of people like Shayne is without parallel. These guys have helped countless people and do not deserve any stick – in fact the only people that can be compared to these people are the people who make free software in the first place.
For the record the only free WP e-Commerce support is in the forums. If people buy the Business license then they get a hour of our time. If people buy the single blogger license then they need to goto the forums – if they are still stuck or are not getting helped quickly enough then they need to pay for pro support or we are happy to give a refund.
It is the putting right that counts.
And have you looked at the rates for professional WordPress support lately? We are no different.
Thanks Mufasa. I’ve seen Shane’s posts and even when people come into the forums pissed off, he’s pretty much kept a cool head from the threads I’ve browsed through lately. I wasn’t actually referring to him in my post. At any rate, I do understand both sides of the coin as well. I think a friendlier tone would help a great deal.
As far as the 1 hour of support time which you stated is included in the business license, I didn’t see any mention of that on the Instinct website. They should probably add it to the Gold Cart features section.
Regarding the professional support rates, I have no problem with that aspect at all. I just have an issue with companies that put out products that aren’t tested thoroughly, then expect their customers to pay for support to fix bugs in the code. Otherwise, I’m not opposed to charging for extremely customized code changes that customers request.
Hopefully my experience with this e-Commerce solution will be a good one. I expect a few bumps in the road, but I’m confident they’ll get ironed out one way or another.
Thanks.
@lawrencepd – Thanks for this message. That is exactly what we do – We help people with genuine bugs and charge for support š
Welcome over to our forums anyway. If you need to talk to any of us guys at Instinct HQ then I’m sure you can find us…
Good luck with your ventures!!!
I’ll echo the OP in this thread. I was pretty new to WordPress when I tried to get this plugin installed and working properly. Three months later, I have learned a lot, my online shop is still not working properly and I’ve seen this constant angry banter online about how crappy this plugin is.
WP eCommerce is: (1) FREE and (2) OPEN SOURCE.
It is obviously a work in progress, by developers who are taxed with their jobs that actually pay their bills. There is one guy, in Texas, who has become the source for all things having to do with the plugin.
Other than that, you’re on your own when you have a technical problem specific to your site. The plugin is not robust enough to deal with all the crazy configurations out there (yet). I guess it would have been nice to ave known that this was more like “beta” code, rather than a proper WP plugin.
I have a feeling that in a few months, the plugin will be better than before. I know I am going to get working trying to learn php and javascript in order to fix the problems with my WP eCommerce install. I’ll be sure to post my fixes online and share them with everyone using this plugin. It’s all we can collectively do to make things get better, que no?
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