Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
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Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#2If you read the chat log he posted, it actually makes him look bad more than anyone else. Yes, it's bad, shady practice to require someone to call you to get a refund you promise, especially if you don't list that they have to call you anywhere.
But again, looking at the chat log, the 99 Designs guy is very apologetic and helpful and Andrew immediately says "OK, I think I'll blog about this and post it to Hacker News and see what everyone else thinks." (This is in response to "Justin" from 99 Designs apologizing for the inconvenience of requiring a phone call).
Hacker News is not your personal soapbox.
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#3I think the best use case for 99designs is to browse around, find logos/designs from other contests you like and then contact those designers directly. They will likely work harder because they know they are getting paid and you will get a longer term relationship.
That said, I know the 99Designs process does work for many people, so the above might not be good advice for most people.
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#4If you read the chat log he posted, it actually makes him look bad more than anyone else. Yes, it's bad, shady practice to require someone to call you to get a refund you promise, especially if you don't list that they have to call you anywhere. But again, looking at the chat log, the 99 Designs guy is very apologetic and helpful and Andrew immediately says "OK, I think I'll blog about this and post it to Hacker News…
Yeah. Requiring a call in for cancellation is shady but the guy just seemed like he was looking to whine/complain. This guy must write a lot of blog posts about every company who makes you call vs email. I hope he never has to do anything with the DMV- They make you go in person some things! shudder
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#5So, the company asks you to place a phone call to get your refund. A phone call they pay for courtesy of a toll-free number. When you refuse because... of whatever made-up reason in your head... they are apologetic in the online chat and give you your refund anyway. And then you make a whiny blog post about it.
Good companies listen to their customers when they have a legitimate complaint. But the best companies know that when a customer is being too whiny and entitled, it's best to fire that customer.
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#6If you read the chat log he posted, it actually makes him look bad more than anyone else. Yes, it's bad, shady practice to require someone to call you to get a refund you promise, especially if you don't list that they have to call you anywhere. But again, looking at the chat log, the 99 Designs guy is very apologetic and helpful and Andrew immediately says "OK, I think I'll blog about this and post it to Hacker News…
I don't even see a big deal about requiring a call, as long as the call itself goes smoothly and they don't give you the runaround or use bullying tactics to talk you out of it. They offer refunds if you contact them... that on its own doesn't sound shady or like a bad practice in any way. I'm not sure why the author feels entitled to an automated refund process--the biggest impression I get from the post and chat log are that he just really doesn't like talking to people on the phone.
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#7If you read the chat log he posted, it actually makes him look bad more than anyone else. Yes, it's bad, shady practice to require someone to call you to get a refund you promise, especially if you don't list that they have to call you anywhere. But again, looking at the chat log, the 99 Designs guy is very apologetic and helpful and Andrew immediately says "OK, I think I'll blog about this and post it to Hacker News…
I don't even see a big deal about requiring a call, as long as the call itself goes smoothly and they don't give you the runaround or use bullying tactics to talk you out of it. They offer refunds if you contact them... that on its own doesn't sound shady or like a bad practice in any way. I'm not sure why the author feels entitled to an automated refund process--the biggest impression I get from the post and chat lo…
While i haven't read the chat transcript all i can say in response to the don't-want-to-call thing is:
Not everyone is as good in spoken english as he is in written, most probably for everyone with english not being their mother-tongue as me.
As i can only speak for myself: I wouldn't be comfortable taking a call as much as i would be writing a response...
Re: Reasons Not to Use 99Designs - Refund Policy and Poor Customer Support
#8Not my experience with 99 Designs. I used them to come up with a design for our site, and contacted the customer service several times - to extend it a few times, or to just find out my options. They were always helpful.