I've got a customer who appears to have tried to purchase my game twice and has failed to download his copy both times. With RegNow's system I don't get paid until a customer has actually downloaded the software they've purchased.

This fellow ordered my game about 2 weeks ago but never downloaded it. The same guy then purchased it again yesterday and again didn't download it. In each case he has completed the order, and I have his information, including his email address.

What I'm thinking is that he really likes the game, wants to buy it but is running into some kind of problem. So, I'm thinking of sending him an email from my Support email address asking him if he's having a problem, and if it's something I could help with.

Here's what I'm thinking of saying:

"Hello Steven,

Our records show that you have attempted to purchase our game Net War on two occassions but have failed to complete the order in both cases. If you are having some problem with our ordering process or with downloading your copy of the game, please let us know so that we can help you.

Damon DuBois
support@wizardslab.com"


Is this a good idea? Is it good customer service? Or is it spam because it's unsolicited?

send him a letter where you thank him for buying the game.
state that whether he has any problem with it or the registration process, you'll be glad to help.

also, use Mr. rather than first name.

Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks!

This doesn't even come close to spam in my books. It's good customer service as far as I'm concerned.

What's considered good service and what's considered spam though depends a lot on who you're sending the letter to. I could send the same letter to 100 people and get back 4 emails thanking me for letting them know something and 2 complaints. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

I'm trying hard to give the best possible customer service, and I kinda figured that this did fall under that category. I'm always just a little uncertain about sending unsolicited emails to people. Maybe I shouldn't worry about that so much.

Excellent customer service would be to send him a CDR with the game on it. ( at no cost )


pat.

Just because it's unsolicited doesn't mean it's spam, especially if you have legitimate reason to believe the recipient (or all of the recipients) will appreciate the contact. Even so, I don't think this is unsolicted. When the customer purchased the game from you, they initiated a transaction which you are obligated to see through. Sending a customer an email regarding problems with a transaction they initiated is desirable and solicted.

Originally posted by damon
I'm always just a little uncertain about sending unsolicited emails to people.
But this isn't unsolicited by any meaning of the definition. They approached you with the intention of purchasing. Once they did that, they have requested to established a business relationship with you.

The only way I would think that this could even begin to approach "unsolicited" is if they made the purchase of your product through an affiliate site rather than through your own site. If that were the case, it could be debatable whether you should contact the customer directly, or whether you should contact the affiliate and have them pass along the info. Personally, I don't even think this scenario would put you in the wrong if you were to contact them directly.

Ok, obviously I'm just being silly worrying about sending them an email. This is why I posted this here, I thought if my thinking was off track on this it would be set straight pretty quick here :)
Looks like I was thinking about it all wrong, and everything you guys have said makes total sense.

Originally posted by patrox
Excellent customer service would be to send him a CDR with the game on it. ( at no cost )


Well, I haven't actually received payement yet. I don't get paid and I don't believe that Regnow even charges their credit card until they've completed their download of the full version. I could be wrong about this though. Anyway, he still hasn't even replied to the email. I'm just going to wait and see if he replies and take it from there. I'll keep this idea in mind though. It could generate some good word of mouth.

If you work in a computer store and see a little old lady out in the street you don't go out and try to drag her into your store. On the other hand if she is in the store and struggling to reach something on a high shelf it is definitly good customer service to offer to help. Send the email and rest assured your not the nets new spam king ;)

Originally posted by damon
I don't get paid and I don't believe that Regnow even charges their credit card until they've completed their download of the full version. I could be wrong about this though.

Unless you have set up some kind of special system set up with RegNow especially for you for this, this is not true. Your account gets credited as soon as the order completes. A download is not necessary for an order to complete, only a charge of the card completes an order.

You can tell that you are getting paid for an order if you check your orders online in RegNow's order report. It lists two numbers, a total amount paid then a / and then your profit on the order. When the profit number changes from a - to a number, your account has been credited. This usually takes a few minutes after the order, and has to do with the delay involved in charging the card, not anything to do with a download.

Ahh... ok. Thanks for the clarification. Well in that case I guess it means he's gone through my order process twice and each time quit out on the last page(the confirmation page). Weird..

Originally posted by damon
Ahh... ok. Thanks for the clarification. Well in that case I guess it means he's gone through my order process twice and each time quit out on the last page(the confirmation page). Weird..

Yes, that would be an order in confirmation status rather than complete status. This happens often, when people change their minds at the last minute.

I've been trying to get RegNow to be more proactive about orders in confirmation status. I'd like to see an email go out to the customer explaining that the order did not complete and giving them a link to complete it. I've had some success doing this manually, but it's a lot of work and needs to be automated.