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Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

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Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#181

Post by randomdata »

reaperducer wrote: post #179
randomdata wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I had to speak to my telecom operator, which granted has been a while, Twitter was clearly where business took place. Interactions were always pleasant meeting them in the right place. Isn't calling them by phone, as if you're still stuck in the 1950s, like showing up at the back door at a restaurant and wondering why you weren't greeted by the host and seated promptly? Maybe the surly dishwasher will event…

Twitter was clearly where business took place... Isn't calling them by phone, as if you're still stuck in the 1950s You're using Twitter like you're still stuck in 2008? All the cool kids are on Vazpe32shaau! If you aren't reaching out to customer service on Vazpe32shaau, then you're not worth having as a customer!

> You're using Twitter like you're still stuck in 2008?

That's approximately the timeframe when I last had to speak to my telecom operator, yes. Like I said in the previous comment, it's been a while.

I wouldn't expect that to be where business is conducted in 2023. The world certainly doesn't stand still. You can stand still if you wish, I guess, but don't expect everyone else to cater to that choice.

Don't get me wrong, I like banging out morse code on the telegraph as much as anyone, but if you don't get the desired results from it at some point you have to look inward.

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#182

Post by reaperducer »

xwdv wrote: post #154
DevX101 wrote: post #5

I'm glad your issues were sorted, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea that you need to make a social media post to get a customer service issue resolved. This isn't just stripe. I see this with many other companies on social media. I don't post on Twitter, and I'd rather not put my account details for some service I use in a public forum. It's starting to seem like for too many companies, resolving public complaints…

If this is the way things are going, then there should be some kind of influencer types with large clout who can bring up these sort of cases on behalf of an anonymous party. Imagine having no real social media footprint or even a bad reputation with lots of downvoted posts. How are you supposed to resolve your issues when a company has decided no one would give a shit about you if you complained? You need someone to…

If this is the way things are going, then there should be some kind of influencer types with large clout who can bring up these sort of cases on behalf of an anonymous party.

These have existed in newspapers for at least a half a century.

There's a nationally-syndicated travel expert who does nothing but travel customer service with plenty of name-and-shame.

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#183

Post by yarg »

cj wrote: post #78

This reminds me of an issue my sister is having with Etsy. She runs an Etsy store with $1-2 million in annual sales, and her store keeps getting taken down by Etsy's automated copyright infringement system -- which keeps getting triggered by someone submitting fraudulent copyright claims and then immediately asking her to pay $5k/month in exchange for the person to stop submitting the infringement claims (in other wo…

It's not that astounding. The simple truth is that customers are not valuable enough to warrant human interaction.

Cheap and scalable server time? No problem.

Communication with actual people? Not unless there's an exodus of customers (and even then you're not big enough to matter).

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#184

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

randomdata wrote: post #177
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did, eventually, and I am voicing my discontent over having to do so. I received some support ( as flawed as it was, which reflects poorly on the company ) and that customer service number exists, therefore phone support exists and therefore I ,also apparently, pay for phone support. In other words, I think your argument is flawed. That said, I think you are wrong in a much grander sense. The question is not whethe…

> therefore phone support exists and therefore I ,also apparently, pay for phone support. My misunderstanding. So, in that case, you got what you think you are paying for and are clearly happy with what you got in return for your money as you continue to pay for it going forward. What's your concern again? > I am fairly certain if more options were available, this run towards the bottom would not be so awful from cus…

I will admit I am mildly concerned I am being willfully misunderstood, which goes against the spirit of HN conversations. I would not characterize me as happy. My issue was resolved, but that issue explicitly could and should have been resolved earlier ( as it clearly could have been ) without the need to of intermediaries in the form of Twitter. And what happens to all those poor folks, who were banned from Twitter? They can't get 'good' support now, because T-Mobile is saving a few bucks? How is that even in the realm of being acceptable business practice?

It is a stretch and it goes back to my lack of options "rant" above that include oligopoly position in nearly every industry in US. If I had 20 providers to choose from, somehow I do not think we would have this conversation. Instead, I get to choose, who will piss me off the least. That is not happy. That is merely not sufficiently angry yet.

You are right. The price is ridiculous for an individual and most businesses.

Not necessarily. Virtual providers do exist ( and they don't seem to be doing badly ), but they happen to be running on the same network as the existing oligopolies giving the illusion of choice, which only hides the real issue here.

Maybe? I certainly had no way to test that proposition. Ever since I was a little boy, there were only a handful of telecoms for some unfathomable reason.

Maybe? What price range are you talking about specifically though? $100 for two lines with some silly 2gb cap? I frankly pay too much as it is compared to similar services in EU ( I can't readily compare to India or China, but I suspect those prices are even lower there ). If I am sensitive to price, it is because I like to get value for the money spent.

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#185

Post by wstuartcl »

cj wrote: post #164
FredPret wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want one, care to share a link?

Hesitant to link directly to her store here, but she's on this page! https://www.etsy.com/search?explicit=1&q=last+name+sign&ref=...

Wonder if it is a font license issue.

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#186

Post by maxgashkov »

Update is valuable, but I'm surprised there is no word on you looking for another payment processor. I do realize it's a painful process from the integration & KYC bullshit perspectives, but I'd be looking for alternatives after experience like this.

Also, it's good that Stripe deservedly gets bad publicity for shit like this, but nothing will really change unless they start losing paying customers.

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#187

Post by Rastonbury »

jetrink wrote: post #84
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #43

Lots of posts here along the lines of "it's not good when you need to resort to social media shaming to get customer support", but I'll take the contrarian view, or at least explain why this dynamic exists. The past 20 years has seen an explosion in Internet services, but a fundamental (often unspoken) quality of these services is that they must keep individualized customer support costs very low in order to be profi…

I'd be ok with this if it were a tradeoff that I was choosing to make. Stripe withholding $400k can end a business. Google locking me out of my account can upend my life. I'd like to be able to pay the premium required to ensure that if an algorithm flags my account, I'm not going to be spending days banging my head against a wall trying to talk to a person who can straighten it out.

The fact that a company has the power the screw up your life to the point you need to give them money is too much power for a company to have. It's like your bank making you pay to resolve fraud against you

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#188

Post by Rastonbury »

iam-TJ wrote: post #135
johnhaddock wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

John here from Stripe (I lead our Risk product area). As OP noted, we try to spot unexpected spikes in processing volume, which are often associated with risky activity. In this case, that was in error — we were too fast to act and (much) too slow to unwind. In particular, we erred in not taking congruent action across OP’s related accounts. We’re working on a fix for this. I’m following up with OP to make sure we fu…

In a former business I had several 'customer advocates' who were tasked with representing customers to internal teams. Difficult/complex/delayed issues could be escalated to the advocates by customer support. I view customer support as a marketing opportunity via goodwill and word of mouth. Accounting for customer support as a debit against the marketing budget is an incentive to prevent incidents. In another comment…

Stripe knows this, when they were smaller the founder used to reply to threads like this or patio11 who they hired (but he just wrote that he is no longer there!).

Makes me wonder what's going on in there post-layoff, the business model is sound and they are market leader. No pressure too IPO quickly in the down market

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#189

Post by chemmail »

wmeredith wrote: post #131
jaredsohn wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on what you replied to, I thought you were going to say that Twitter Blue Plus allows you to suppress posts written about your company

Yelp already does this. You can pay to have them hide bad reviews. Or, to put a finer point on it, many small companies that refuse to pay Yelp's protection money find their negative reviews much more visible.

Oh no, Yelp never, never, NEVER does anything like that. We actually don't even have control of our site!!!!

Re: Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation [resolved]

#190

Post by randomdata »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #184
randomdata wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> therefore phone support exists and therefore I ,also apparently, pay for phone support. My misunderstanding. So, in that case, you got what you think you are paying for and are clearly happy with what you got in return for your money as you continue to pay for it going forward. What's your concern again? > I am fairly certain if more options were available, this run towards the bottom would not be so awful from cus…

I will admit I am mildly concerned I am being willfully misunderstood, which goes against the spirit of HN conversations. I would not characterize me as happy. My issue was resolved, but that issue explicitly could and should have been resolved earlier ( as it clearly could have been ) without the need to of intermediaries in the form of Twitter. And what happens to all those poor folks, who were banned from Twitter?…

> I would not characterize me as happy.

It would be irrational to pay for a service you are unhappy with. Perhaps you mean you are are "unhappy" in the same way that one is "unhappy" to have a $5 BigMac over a $50 steak? Which is to say that the BigMac is good for the price, even if not the best food imaginable.

> If I had 20 providers to choose from, somehow I do not think we would have this conversation.

Just about anyone (with reasonable knowhow) can provide you phone support. If there are fewer than 20 people out there willing to do that for you, I'd be flabbergasted. But they won't work for free, and probably not even for cheap. You've no doubt chosen the bargain basement option provided by T-Mobile because you find it balances the best value for the money. It's not great service, but it is cheap service. It's the $5 BigMac, even if you are really craving $50 steak, but don't want to spend $50 on a meal.

> Ever since I was a little boy, there were only a handful of telecoms for some unfathomable reason.

We seem to be flailing around here a lot, but it was made clear to me in the last comment that we're talking about the phone support being paid for. Phone support does not have to work directly for the telecom to interface with the telecom. They can talk to you to find out the problem and then do whatever it takes to get the job done with the carrier afterwards.

How much are you actually willing to pay for that, though? It seems the answer is not much. So why would competition rise up to make no money?

Let's take that further: Why aren't you offering this service to others? Because you realize you won't make any money?

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