New program - Bid Yell

[kier]

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BidYell.com offers top bargains on branded products such as cheap digital cameras, cheap cell phones and apple iPod and iPhones. We offer more than just penny auctions, we also have the speed and knockout auctions which are the future of alternative online auctions.

Having only launched on the 25th of September it has become clear that our customers are loyal and regularly bring repeat custom. It is through our customer service, the quality of our custom built script and great bargains.

We are experiencing steady growth within our sector and are currently undergoing a brand building campaign in the UK and the USA. We have enjoyed equal success in both countries. We feel our affiliates will enjoy a high rate of return with this program and wish to build strong relationships.

15% commission and a 90 day cookie. No bidding on 'bid yell' or any variations or misspellings is permitted for paid search.

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[Jeff]

This site has some major technical problems, although they won't admit it.

Have a look at their forum and you'll see examples of people winning auctions, having the won item appear in their account, being allowed to pay for it, and then discovering that the auction had continued and they hadn't won it at all.

Bidyell blamed this on the user having a slow internet connection, which is obviously nonsense, it's a major bug in their system. The user's internet connection doesn't put the won item in their account and let them pay for it!

There is at least one other example of this happening that I noticed on their forum, and several other technical issues on there, and others that I've discovered myself.

They appear to be losing a lot of money at the moment, most items don't get anywhere near enough bids for them to cover their costs, so they need a lot more visitors, but I won't be promoting them while they continue to have these technical problems.

[kier]

Cheers for letting me know Jeff, I'll raise this with them.

[tauqeer2]

Hi jeff,

This is Tauqeer from BidYell.com. We would first like to say thank you for your honest if not slightly harsh feedback.

We never blamed slow internet speeds because if you notice in that same post we mentioned how "some coding has been added to stop this happening again.", this indicates that we actively took steps to fix the problem the same day it was reported. Also this shows we have admitted fault. Hence, the customer was given a refund on bids and also sent the product.

Furthering this, our customers are loyal. The person making the complaint even defended our site after your comments on the forum. This is one thing he said "Bugs happen, in everything, they r fixing them as fast as they find out, and i can honestly say iv not had enough problems to warrent your comments" and he further goes on to say "Bidyell staff are working hard to make this one of the best communities - which theyv taken it to a hole new level, in customer service and support".

In an unrelated thread on the same day an american customer said "lol im sorry i doubted your superfast delivery.. i recieved my pens.... like in 3 days and they were shipped from uk. u guys are awesome."

Also, I would just like to say that any complex software is bound to have certain bugs no matter how much testing is done. For example Windows Vista, the Nokia N97 and the iPhone are massive brands, even they suffer from glitches. The only way these bugs are ironed out is by being reported and being fixed. We work hard everyday to ensure we can improve the site as much as possible everyday. The bug you commented on in our forum has been fixed and we guarantee you will not see this problem again. I would just like to ask what other major bugs you have found on the website? If you don't tell us, we can't fix them.

Sorry, this is a long post. I just wanted to put across the passion that everybody working at BidYell has for the company. I urge you to test out the website yourself and if you do not like what you see we will refund your bids.

Kind regards

Tauqeer (BidYell Team)

[Jeff]

Hi jeff,

This is Tauqeer from BidYell.com. We would first like to say thank you for your honest if not slightly harsh feedback.

I don't think I'm being harsh, I think your site needs a lot more work before it is ready to be released to the public.

We never blamed slow internet speeds because if you notice in that same post we mentioned how "some coding has been added to stop this happening again.", this indicates that we actively took steps to fix the problem the same day it was reported. Also this shows we have admitted fault. Hence, the customer was given a refund on bids and also sent the product.

I suggest people have a look at the forum thread here: http://bidyell.com/forum/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=96 and make up their own mind whether you were trying to avoid admitting that there's a problem with your system.


This was your first response to the thread:

"Hi,

This problem was caused by slow internet speeds, after looking at server logs we have to say that stev-m is the winner. However, craig, your bids for this auction will be refunded and the money you spent 1.03 will be converted into 3 bids as a goodwill gesture. I hope this is a just solution."


This was your second response:

"Hi,

To clear things up, it was stev-m's internet speed that was slow. With each bid more than one packet of information is sent to our server, the first package got to our server fine but there was a delay with the second package so his bid had been acknowledged but not completed. Therefore, the timer finished and restarted when the bid was completed. However, some coding has been added to stop this happening again.

We always honor what our server states as the winner, this is in the terms and conditions. However, when there may have been an issue that affects another customer we feel refunding their bids is fair rather than giving them a refund of the end price (in this scenario £1.03)."

You should have admitted at the time that there was a SERIOUS flaw with your system. Allowing someone to pay for an auction your system says they have won, and then telling them they've not won it is not acceptable, and trying to blame it on internet speed rather than a programming error just makes you look like you're trying to fob people off.

Furthering this, our customers are loyal. The person making the complaint even defended our site after your comments on the forum.

You have a small and loyal following. I think there's a good reason for this. You have so few people on the site at the moment that it's easy to get bargains. They don't want to upset you by complaining, they want to keep getting the bargains.
I'm not so sure people will be so loyal once you become popular enough to make a profit and getting bargains becomes more difficult.

I can assure you that most people, if they'd won an item, and paid for it, would not just be happy to have their bids refunded because you told them they'd not really won it because "their internet connection was too slow".

"Also, I would just like to say that any complex software is bound to have certain bugs no matter how much testing is done."

Of course bugs happen.
But a bug that lets two people win the same auction is about as serious as it gets on an auction site, and as a programmer myself I can't understand how such a major flaw was created in the first place.
Your server decides who has won the auction, then tells the winner, and adds the product to their account.
It seems you had the system the wrong way round, with the user's browser telling your server they had won, which not only leads to this "two winners" problem but could also be open to abuse.

I would just like to ask what other major bugs you have found on the website? If you don't tell us, we can't fix them.

I have regularly seen the error message in the attached picture. I have since noticed on your forum someone else has had the same problem.

When buying bids an option to pay by Google Checkout appears, but clicking on this has no effect.

When winning an auction, apparently an email is sent to the winner. I won an auction and I didn't get the email. And no, it's not in my spam box. Several other people have also reported this on your forum.

When paying for an auction win, after paying there is no indication on your system that the payment has been received by you, and your system allows multiple payments for the same item.

Several of the past auctions show strange things, as though there is a problem with your database. I have attached two examples, but I have noticed several more. One showing the top bid (for a strange amount) being from someone who isn't shown as the winner, one showing an item which has obviously had bids, but it says " no bidders"

The drop down box to select the product category, although it may have been designed that way and is not a bug, is very annoying and user unfriendly. if you pause for a small amount of time on an item in the drop down, it opens that page. It should wait for a mouse click. Numerous times I've wanted to go to a particular category, stopped moving my mouse too early, and ended up on the wrong page.