Jaded Dreads is starting 2009 a lot fresher, faster, and more proficient than ever before. Jaded Dreads will be making numerous improvements to multiple areas, both as a business and as a website. Such as a complete overhaul of the website, faster turnaround time, availability notifications per product and better customer service for everyone! We have discussed some of these improvements already, while others may be more surprising. Here are a few of the changes.
The biggest problem we have had, by far, is the "Return to Merchant" bug. Most know all about this issue, but for those that do not know the bug’s details. It is a big pain and a hassle for both the customer and us. When purchasing products using a credit card or PayPal, you are redirected to PayPal’s secure checkout to complete payment. Upon completion of the payment, PayPal is supposed to return you back to jadeddreads.com to our order confirmation/thank you page. This is not always the case!
Now if the customer does not go back to jadeddreads.com, then PayPal will complete the transaction and debit the payment, but will not store the order information on our website. This is a big hassle! We have had some major updating done on the jadeddreads.com order system, so from now on, we will have all order details whether PayPal redirects you back to our website or not.
Therefore, never again will an order be lost because of this. After doing extensive testing on the new order system, we are happy to announce it has been 100% successful with the new changes!
We have also added a new Points and Rewards system. This is just one of our ways to say thank you for your loyalty and relationship with jadeddreads.com. Now by shopping with us, you earn points, free Jaded cash in a sense.
How does it work? Simple! Each product's page will show you how many points the item is worth, and the dollar value of those points.
We have credited everyone’s accounts for all past purchases during 2008 as an added bonus. Customers who have not yet received their backlogged orders also received credited points regardless of when purchased. During checkout on your next purchase, you can choose whether to use the points accumulated for an instant discount, or keep saving them up for a bigger discount in the future.
There are a few ways to earn points and rewards with Jadeddreads.com.
- Writing a review for products you have purchased
- Sending photos for the gallery - The better the quality, the better the points earned
- Shopping at Jadeddreads.com
- Welcome Points for new customers
- Being referred by a new customer – So be sure to tell your friends to give your email address when checking out at jadeddreads.com
Earning points has never been easier.
For a full complete rundown and FAQ of how the points work, check out the Points FAQ.
Another one of our big issues in the past has been our customer service. Many people have been upset, confused, worried, and annoyed by the fact that they never received responses after writing us.
This *should* no longer be the case since during Sept. 2008 our new email system went live. Now that emails are fully functional, everyone receives a response within 5 to 7 business days. We send an automated message to confirm that we received the email and to let you know what our current response time is. If you did not get a confirmation email, then please check your Spam/junk mail folder and make sure that you add info@jadeddreads.com to your address book.
For those of you that use MySpace, please note, that we do not answer or check messages on MySpace very often. This is due to several reasons; the first is that 50% of our new messages on MySpace are comments like “your hot!” To sift through those daily would take far too long. The second reason is, more often than not, the person answering MySpace messages does not have access to the Jaded Dreads server. Therefore, she cannot give you accurate order information.
Finally yet importantly, if we answer you on MySpace and then again, through email, you are likely to get two very different answers, as the messages are from two different people. We would much prefer you get an accurate answer the first time, that is saved and referred to when needed. So, please only write to the MySpace mail if you cannot seem to reach us at Info @ jadeddreads.com
We are currently working on addressing the processing/turnaround
time. Many people have valid complaints
about turnaround time and order length.
We want all the orders done within a reasonable period as much
as you do!
In an effort to accomplish
this, we have added a few new features to the website to help keep the public
aware while we are working to catch up on the backlog and get every single
order sent out!
Some of you that visit jadeddreads.com often may have noticed
the new availability feature in the product pages.
If not, on every product’s page, the new
feature shows the availability or turnaround time for that item. In addition, the availability shows next to
the item in your shopping cart. Therefore, there should be no more confusion as to how fast an item can
be shipped.
We have also upgraded and added new FAQ’s for general
information, shipping and returns, points, and the wish list. Our hope is that this will help to cut down
the number of emails we receive daily asking the same questions. Giving us more time to work on orders, while
reducing wait times for the customer.
Now many people think that we are a large company
and have items ready to ship. When they
do not receive their items within a few days, they do not understand why it
takes so long. We are being very honest
here, we do not hide the fact that we have tons of orders and they all take
time to make properly. This year though,
we are going to be strictly enforcing the first come, first serve policy until
all back orders are completed.
Now you might ask, “Why
is that a change or an improvement, haven’t you always been first come, first
serve? “
Valid question, we have always tried to be first come first
serve, problem is that we are big pushovers at heart. When we get emails saying their
prom/birthday/wedding is in two weeks, they did not know there was a processing
time and just ordered last night. They
really need these please, please, please it would make their year. We end up feeling bad for them and then we
cave and do their order right away. Just far too many people do not take the time to understand how long orders take.
That leads us to the next most common situation.
Mary (random name) has just ordered and paid for overnight shipping. She does not realize that a set of dreads are handmade to order and take
10 to 20 hours to make. Mary assumes she
will get her hair in plenty of time for that concert in 3 days. Understandably, Mary thinks we suck when she
does not get the hair in 24 hours.
It
would be impossible to do both Mary’s hair and the other 20 orders we received
that day all in a 24-hour period. Mary,
having not received her dreads in time for that concert now emails. Now, we know it would be unfair to loyal
customers who do not complain and have been waiting for their sets patiently to
do Mary’s order right away. When
explaining this to Mary, she just assumes it is an excuse to delay her
order.
Again, cannot really blame her,
she does not personally know us. However, if we cave and do her order right away, then George (sounds
good) who ordered 6 weeks before her is now being pushed back another day. This makes George an unhappy man, rightfully
so! Unfortunately, Mary does not know
George, so why would she care that she bumped someone else out of line.
This is a daily issue for all of the older back orders. We have let it get excessively far out of
hand. In 2009, no matter the reason, the
first come first serve policy will be strictly enforced.
We are updating our customer gallery! Our current gallery takes up far more space than actually needed. Not only is this a hamper on the server, the viewer may also experience long loading times.
Currently, we have at least 50 new galleries plus updates to previous galleries. It is also FAR more functional, aesthetically pleasing to the eye and user friendly.
With the new gallery, we have incorporated the Points and Rewards system. We will be offering points that, upon approval, credit directly to your account. The better quality of photos you submit, the more points you earn to redeem on purchases! The better you feature the product in the photo, earns you extra bonus points!
For those of you that skimmed through this, here is a quick breakdown of what we are working on and what will be new for 2009…
- Reduce or eliminate the long processing times.
- Catch up on all back orders
- Establish a better customer service relationship with everyone
- We resolved the “return to merchant” bug
- Redesign jadeddreads.com with options that are easier to understand
- Continue to grow with new merchandise and diversity
- Train and hire talented people to join the jaded team
- Resume vending conventions (After backlog is caught up)
- We introduced the Points and Rewards Program
- Several new website features
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read this.
This is definitely going to be the year for changes, and we hope that everyone knows how much we appreciate and value their support over the years.
Here is to a more productive efficient year, in hopes that in 2009 we can do right by our customers who have stuck with us!
-D
