Re: Counter Culture Coffee's business practices, NC, USA

On Mar 21, 4:02 pm, pltrgyst <pltrg...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:13:26 -0700 (PDT), SJM <landper...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mar 21, 10:02 am, "Brian Colwell" <bmcolw...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Out of interest, where do you make it very clear? I've just gone to
your site, imagining I want to buy some coffee.

Front page -http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/. The text "12" or
"twelve" does not appear (at least, I can't find it).

Click the link 'our coffees', get to page with photos to choose
region. Still no '12' or 'twelve'.

I fancy some colombian, so I click the picture of forest-covered
mountains - 'the americas'. I get to a page that describes some
coffees. Still no '12' or 'twelve'. Descriptions, yes. Prices, yes.
Space to say how many bags I want, yes. Sizes, no. "Oz" does occur -
but only in the place-name ZaragOZa.

Anyway, I think I'll try some La Golondrina from Cauca, Colombia.
I'll take 3 bags. Click 'add to cart'. Jumps me to a shopping cart
page. No '12' and no 'twelve'.

Click 'Check Out'. No '12', no 'twelve'. But I can't go any further,
because while you'll ship (it seems) to France, Australia or Guam, the
United Kingdom is not in your list of countries, a mandatory field.

So while your defence sounds mostly pretty reasonable, I think "as
clear as possible" is stretching your efforts somewhat. It is
possible (indeed, straightforward and the most direct way) to
complete the entire selection order and purchase process without
seeing the size of the bag. It seems it's only if you start rummaging
in the 'Product Details' links that the bag size gets mentioned.

If you select "shop" on their website, it clearly states that they use 12
oz bags.

Gee, wouldn't it be nice if the OP would say he was sorry????
He goofed???? He didn't pay close enough attention????

Why would I do that? I stand by my original post entirely. I didn't goof, and I
paid strict attention. Maybe SJM didn't read -- or didn't comprehend -- either
my post or Brian's detailed follow-up.

Perhaps one percent of their customers would click on "Shop", because it looks
like - and was clearly intended to be -- a general header. They would generally
click on the shopping area of interest *below* "Shop". If they clicked on "Our
Coffees," either above the "Shop" button or in the list of shopping areas below
the "Shop" button, they would be taken to the geographical selection area. Each
geographical selection showed the individual coffee types, with clicks for
ordering, *without stating the bag size anywhere.*

If they clicked on the geographical are directly on the home page, same thing.

And very few people would see any need to drill further down, to the one
detailed level where the bag size was specified.

* The order summary did not specify the bag size.

* The order confirmation did not specify the bag size.

* The confirmation email did not specify the bag size.

Where's the goof?

Now, to Counter Culture's credit, they have responded most admirably and
politely. I received an email stating that they would send me additional coffee
to meet my expectations, which I declined. I'm not trying to get anything out of
them.

But the big thing is they have now modifed their Web site to include the bag
size on both the page for each coffee, and on the shopping cart page. Kudos to
them.

So I was wrong about one thing: they have shown that they are honest, and they
mean well -- it looks like they simply had some bad marketing advice.

I still hate 12-oz. bags, but I will buy from CC again just because they have
demonstrated their good intentions, and followed through on their statements,
unlike certain dishonest coffee-related-article vendors (can you spell "Reg
Barber"?)

And in related but unrelated news that I haven't seen mentioned here, CC's major
customer in the DC area, Murky Coffee, just went belly-up a couple of days ago,
with all their property seized by various governments for non-payment of over
$450,000 in sales taxes, and their landlord further evicting them for
non-payment of rent. Apparently the owner's exalted position in the Specialty
Coffee Association of America didn't help his business acumen at all.

-- Larry

I think I'm glad to get out of this alive.
And, maybe I'm not surprised to find that I'm one of maybe 1% of
people who would do it the way I did it. Being weird can be
exhausting sometimes.
And, for assuming otherwise, I apologize, but that really wasn't my
point. My issue was with whether or not CC INTENDED to be deceptive.
And, so,
what I'm finally quite satisfied with is what Larry just said: that
CC demonstrated their good faith by making improvements to the site,
and that they "meant well".
Opinions to the contrary were what had gotten up my nose previously.
I'm outta here.
Susan
.

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