If I had a dollar for every time I got blamed for an old man's technological shortcomings I would have a lot of damn dollars.#ITdepartment
Now, why do I say all of this? I know you have all heard me complain about dad's new hobby/my new, unwanted career. But this morning was a prime example of why I want to stuff my head into a pillow and scream. I got an email, by I, I mean dad got an email. They all forward to me because he can't figure out how to log in to check them, much less respond to them. It was a fellow in CT asking why dad had not paid for two items he had purchased from him. Dad (I ) always pay promptly. With eBay it is easy peasy. I just log in and see what says Pay Now and click and done, but those days are over.
Somehow my dad felt like he had mastered the art of the interwebs and has discovered a website that is far superior to eBay. He can find higher quality items, and buy them outright, no bidding wars. Oh dad, dad, dad, dad.
I didn't want to call it out publicly because dad just can't stop the rave reviews, but it is total crap. Even when I tried to read the about us section words are missing because of the large graphic they smacked in the middle of the page. Maybe some poor schmuck living in his parents basement made the site, who knows. No no, that can't be right, a basement nerd would do a much better job. At any rate, someone who needs some help has created this site. Sellers create shops and an account, got it. Buyers have the option to create an account, which is great if you aren't planning to buy anything ever. Otherwise? Make all parties involved create an account.
Naturally when my dad got all "junk drunk" and started buying shit he opted to not create an account. I guess the 2 extra boxes he had to fill out for a username and password were simply outlandish and inconvenient. So he ( I ) just start getting emails with links to the stellar website.
-A seller sees a purchase has been made and they create an invoice that you can print and pay. Most of these sellers like checks mailed to them. Of course they do. So now instead of my stress-less one click away through AN ACCOUNT on eBay I am printing and reprinting stuff, and then addressing envelopes for dad to just fire checks off across the nation, in hopes these super trustworthy merchants will then ship an item he probably won't even remember ordering in the first place.
Sounds, so legit, and so stress free doesn't it? I am half surprised that we aren't buying items from Nigerian princes at this point. I will cut a tiny bit of slack- some sellers do have a paypal option. But there is no accountability, I am still unsure how the site handles non payments and non shipments.
So what happens when you have a buyer (dad) and a seller that both don't know how to use the crappy website? You have items that don't get paid for. And a seller who is confused and mad at you because he can't navigate the site well enough to make an invoice for you. Ask dad how to log in to his account to view a running list of invoices. Account? I don't have one of those? What do you mean, why are you asking me this stuff? Just contact the guy he says. Then I get to rummage through dozens of emails and invoice links to see who he may owe and for what item.
Hey let's leave some feedback...oh wait, we don't have an account, nevermind! Feedback on this site is a joke anyways...
Now you will have to excuse me, I have a wall to bang my head into.
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