Really, basic business principles of making the customer happy don't apply to Cryptic?
Go on, please tell me more.
Basic business principals do not include taking back items for any reason at any time. If that were true the millions of businesses in the US, let alone the hundreds of millions around the world, would all be doing it, would they not? You would not be citing LL Bean as your reference, you would be citing everyone.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Really, basic business principles of making the customer happy don't apply to Cryptic?
(Hint: they had this policy since Day One. You know, when they were smaller than Cryptic. And their products DO cost money to produce marginally.)
Go on, please tell me more.
Yes, technically. As well as any other business. There are customers you want to keep, and customers you don't. It can be cheaper to let a problematic customer go than to keep them.
Comparing a MMO to a retailer doesn't work either. Technically the context of "items" here are more akin to services than physical goods. In that sense "items" can never really be returned.
I know the company I work for doesn't refund people willy for what they purchased, we look into requests for a refund, but unless it's a situation where the service the customer got was not what they agreed to in purchase or it was not complete there is no refund. And there have been more then one occasion where the company has "fired" a customer.
Basic business principals do not include taking back items for any reason at any time. If that were true the millions of businesses in the US, let alone the hundreds of millions around the world, would all be doing it, would they not? You would not be citing LL Bean as your reference, you would be citing everyone.
Since when does 'everyone' do a thing that is proven to work?
There are millions of examples of things that are guaranteed to work that people don't do.
A relevant example - you buy an item in a small store that is defective, and they refuse to give a refund. So you don't bother to 'fight for your rights' (that costs time and money!) - instead, you tell all your friends about it, and they all tell their friends, and because of the unreasonableness of their behavior, one $50 sale cost them $5000 in future sales.
Most stores take returns. I just cited the MOST EXTREEEME example of something most people would absolutely, positively say would NEVER work, showed that it DID work, and that it CONTINUES to work, and you're saying that makes it invalid?
Wow. Logic FAIL.
To the other comment, most customers you "don't" want are unhappy customers; make them happy, and whatever behavior they were exhibiting before that made them undesirable will often disappear. (Illegal/rule-breaking behavior is a separate issue; we're talking here about undesirable marketplace behavior).
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Since when does 'everyone' do a thing that is proven to work?
There are millions of examples of things that are guaranteed to work that people don't do.
A relevant example - you buy an item in a small store that is defective, and they refuse to give a refund. So you don't bother to 'fight for your rights' (that costs time and money!) - instead, you tell all your friends about it, and they all tell their friends, and because of the unreasonableness of their behavior, one $50 sale cost them $5000 in future sales.
Most stores take returns. I just cited the MOST EXTREEEME example of something most people would absolutely, positively say would NEVER work, showed that it DID work, and that it CONTINUES to work, and you're saying that makes it invalid?
Wow. Logic FAIL.
To the other comment, most customers you "don't" want are unhappy customers; make them happy, and whatever behavior they were exhibiting before that made them undesirable will often disappear. (Illegal/rule-breaking behavior is a separate issue; we're talking here about undesirable marketplace behavior).
Dude, you are the one who cited the LL Bean example of how a company should operate. I am simply pointing out that LL Bean is the vast exception to the rule, not the norm. You could compare LL Bean to Sears, Walmart, Target, and 1,000 other retailers and they would all be lacking if only judged by the example you have set.
You cannot make every customer happy. I am sorry if you do not understand that. You are unhappy, but for everyone of you there is another who is happy to have gotten this discount - a discount Cryptic did not need to give.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Comparing a MMO to a retailer doesn't work either. Technically the context of "items" here are more akin to services than physical goods. In that sense "items" can never really be returned.
I know the company I work for doesn't refund people willy for what they purchased, we look into requests for a refund, but unless it's a situation where the service the customer got was not what they agreed to in purchase or it was not complete there is no refund. And there have been more then one occasion where the company has "fired" a customer.
Think past the immediate.
"I bought this item that (now) costs you $0 to make and sell to me, for $5. I would like to return this item to you, in order to repurchase this item AND two other items from you, which also cost you $0 to make, and pay you $10 in return. I know it would normally have cost me $15 to get this deal, but I would like to make this deal with you. I benefit, of course, by receiving the original discount that I was unable to take advantage of (for any number of reasons, but let's just assume I was stupid not to do so.) You, too, benefit, with more money than you had before."
"So here is your choice. You can have your current amount of money in your pocket, and an unhappy customer in me. OR you can have TWICE as much as I originally paid you, (no marginal cost to you) PLUS me as a HAPPY customer, who is likely to purchase more things from you in the future, because I respect a smart and fair businessman. It is a win-win. What shall it be?"
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Since when does 'everyone' do a thing that is proven to work?
There are millions of examples of things that are guaranteed to work that people don't do.
A relevant example - you buy an item in a small store that is defective, and they refuse to give a refund. So you don't bother to 'fight for your rights' (that costs time and money!) - instead, you tell all your friends about it, and they all tell their friends, and because of the unreasonableness of their behavior, one $50 sale cost them $5000 in future sales.
Most stores take returns. I just cited the MOST EXTREEEME example of something most people would absolutely, positively say would NEVER work, showed that it DID work, and that it CONTINUES to work, and you're saying that makes it invalid?
Wow. Logic FAIL.
To the other comment, most customers you "don't" want are unhappy customers; make them happy, and whatever behavior they were exhibiting before that made them undesirable will often disappear. (Illegal/rule-breaking behavior is a separate issue; we're talking here about undesirable marketplace behavior).
Also depends on if you have enough of a loyal customer base that likes you and will be spreading the opposite word to more people than just that one person can do.
Really, a place is not likely to refuse a refund on a relatively new customer as long as the person is reasonable. They may if the business notices a trend in that customers behaviour because you're just costing them extra money that could be better spent elsewhere.
A lot of the reason larger businesses just tend to take the refunds without much question is that they can absorb the lost revenue. Smaller businesses, not so much unless that person is also a loyal customer in other areas. And if dealing with that person is costing you more money than you are making from them, then dropping them will be a benefit for your business.
Trying to make customers happy does not mean you need to make every customer happy.
Dude, you are the one who cited the LL Bean example of how a company should operate. I am simply pointing out that LL Bean is the vast exception to the rule, not the norm. You could compare LL Bean to Sears, Walmart, Target, and 1,000 other retailers and they would all be lacking if only judged by the example you have set.
You cannot make every customer happy. I am sorry if you do not understand that. You are unhappy, but for everyone of you there is another who is happy to have gotten this discount - a discount Cryptic did not need to give.
Nope. I cited the LL Bean example of how a company CAN operate, under the most difficult return-related conditions. Perhaps all the other companies would benefit from a more relaxed return policy?
And I did not state the goal of 'making EVERYONE happy'. But it is hard to argue that we should not try to make people UNhappy. I argue that not having the option to buy the 9 tomorrow if I buy the one today will make many unhappy, and not buy the ships.
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
And I did not state the goal of 'making EVERYONE happy'. But it is hard to argue that we should not try to make people UNhappy. I argue that not having the option to buy the 9 tomorrow if I buy the one today will make many unhappy, and not buy the ships.
And I would reply that the vast majority of players are not going to buy all 9 ships, anyway. Heck, I have over 65,000 Zen on my account and have no desire to buy any of them.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
In many states, it is either illegal to not allow the purchase of 1 item for the same cost as the bulk 'each' cost, or the stores have gotten a backlash from people not wanting or needing multiples of the bulk item.
In either case, it's common to be able to get a single member of the bulk purchase for the same amount as the bulk discount. At least, that's the case where I have ever lived (NJ, TX, NY, FL, DE, PA...)
Umm... not here in FL or any place I've lived... There is no law requiring you to get the bulk price when you buy an individual item. Grocery stores here do it all the time... one of the worst stores for charging a higher price if you just buy one is Walgreens. ex: 2 candy bars for $3.00 or 1 for $1.79. Walgreens does this on all kinds of items. It happens in other areas of business as well that sell goods or services.
Gold Sub since March 2010
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
Anyone who would express that the ships cost "$0" to make really is clueless. The ships do cost money to make, they don't cost money to reproduce, no... but they cost money to actually make. The sale price is to recoup the cost of making them (paying design staff) overhead for running the system as well as a tidy profit for the shareholders who for all intents and purposes "fronted" the money for the creation and deserve a return.
Anyone who would express that the ships cost "$0" to make really is clueless. The ships do cost money to make, they don't cost money to reproduce, no... but they cost money to actually make. The sale price is to recoup the cost of making them (paying design staff) overhead for running the system as well as a tidy profit for the shareholders who for all intents and purposes "fronted" the money for the creation and deserve a return.
NO ONE SAID THIS. I was very careful in my language. So I am NOT clueless. Let me be imbecilically clear: I understand that ships cost money to make.
But please see my above post #38. Read it carefully. Let me be even more pedantic:
ONCE THE INITIAL COST IS RECOUPED, the MARGINAL cost to sell you ONE item is $0.
ONCE I have paid you money for one ship, buying 3 ships from you for twice my original cost to you costs $0 - 100% PROFIT.
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Here is a blog that Brandon did that shows the amount of work going into designing ships... There is also more cost involved than just the ship itself... those ship sales fund everything else Cryptic does from the servers to the people that clean the building. Without seeing their internal financials no one here can say what the profit margin is on anything they sell.
considering the thread started out about the particular points on this set, ie the locking out of sets after some purchases, I am surprised it ever got to 5 pages. Basic math shows that locking it out for the particular purchases costs no further Zen, so it is presumably to just hep prevent any issues with the game trying to have duplicate unlocks.
If I buy one ship, I can never buy the 3-ship pack, or the 9-ship pack.
If I buy a 3-ship pack, I can never buy the 9 ship pack.
Not only can I never enjoy the savings, I can never even buy the packs!
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
What it essentially translates to is: "We want you to buy the $100 9-pack so we're going to railroad you in that direction."
And all I'm saying is, that's ok, but can I buy the 1 ship now and the have the option to buy 9 later, even if I have to pay the full 9-ship price, even without a discount for having bought the one now?
It doesn't seem like I'm being greedy to me. But maybe I am, ?
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
If I buy one ship, I can never buy the 3-ship pack, or the 9-ship pack.
If I buy a 3-ship pack, I can never buy the 9 ship pack.
Not only can I never enjoy the savings, I can never even buy the packs!
No. It means you can only get the 9-ship discount price of 10,000 Zen if you buy all 3 Packs at once. You cannot get that discounted price any other way.
If you purchase each 3-Pack individually it will cost you 15,000 Zen instead of 10,000.
If you purchase an individual ship you lose the 3-Pack discount, so you pay 7,500 Zen for the 3 ships instead of 5,000 Zen.
At any time you can by any of the 3-Packs for 5,000 Zen. At any time you can buy an individual ship for 2,500 - but you lose the 3-Pack price break by doing so.
Individual sales have no impact on the ability to purchase any other items. It only impacts your potential discount.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
No. It means you can only get the 9-ship discount price of 10,000 Zen if you buy all 3 Packs at once. You cannot get that discounted price any other way.
If you purchase each 3-Pack individually it will cost you 15,000 Zen instead of 10,000.
If you purchase an individual ship you lose the 3-Pack discount, so you pay 7,500 Zen for the 3 ships instead of 5,000 Zen.
At any time you can by any of the 3-Packs for 5,000 Zen. At any time you can buy an individual ship for 2,500 - but you lose the 3-Pack price break by doing so.
Individual sales have no impact on the ability to purchase any other items. It only impacts your potential discount.
So my question is this: If I buy one ship now (2500), why can't I buy the 9-pack later (10000) for a total of 12500?
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
So my question is this: If I buy one ship now (2500), why can't I buy the 9-pack later (10000) for a total of 12500?
I can only assume it is because they consider it to be a one-time offer: take it or leave it.
As you are saving 5,000 Zen over the 3-Pack price and 12,500 Zen over the individual price it seems like a fairly good one-time offer - assuming you have an interest in ships for all three Factions.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
God, only thinking on "10000" zen creeps me out.. xd. That is what it cost a really good videogame.. I really dont even know how u guys think on waste that quantity of money just for buying a ship.. its insane xD. But well, thats the problem of STO.
God, only thinking on "10000" zen creeps me out.. xd. That is what it cost a really good videogame.. I really dont even know how u guys think on waste that quantity of money just for buying a ship.. its insane xD. But well, thats the problem of STO.
Well, I will disagree on this. There are ways to make this amount in-game without spending any money... but it DOES take TIME. I will also say that STO is one of the money-friendlier games I've even heard of.
But this just feels... weird.
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
God, only thinking on "10000" zen creeps me out.. xd. That is what it cost a really good videogame.. I really dont even know how u guys think on waste that quantity of money just for buying a ship.. its insane xD. But well, thats the problem of STO.
As Zen is fairly easy to come by - I routinely make 5,000+ per month with my Stipend - it is not necessarily a major hardship for everyone to use/spend. Even the average 8k-per-day player is making 1,800+ Zen per month - assuming he wants to use it for Zen.
Heck, I have spent months doing STFs in the old days just trying to get the Equipment drops I wanted. I could have been spending that time making Zen.
Clearly the package is not for everyone, but neither is $60.00 monocles in Eve or any of the expensive items in many other MMO stores.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
First off if you bought 1 ship now there would only be 8 ships left to buy.
Second when you are ready to buy the remaining 8 ships you simply buy them individually.
This is no different than buying soda on sale at a supermarket. You can buy 5 cases for $10 bucks or you can buy individual cans at $1.25 each.
The supermarket doesn't let you open the cases of soda and sell you one can at a fraction of the sales price and come back later to buy the rest at your convenience.
THE difference is, in a supermarket, it costs them money ("marginal cost of sale") to stock, heat/cool, move, etc. one more soda. It costs NOTHING to sell one more ship (no marginal cost of sale). Once the initial cost of production is covered, there is no cost to cover... subscription charges cover any marginal costs of memory, etc.
In fact, could be argued that the added ship slots to hold the ships are further profit centers from being more generous with ship sales...
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
As Zen is fairly easy to come by - I routinely make 5,000+ per month with my Stipend - it is not necessarily a major hardship for everyone to use/spend. Even the average 8k-per-day player is making 1,800+ Zen per month - assuming he wants to use it for Zen.
Heck, I have spent months doing STFs in the old days just trying to get the Equipment drops I wanted. I could have been spending that time making Zen.
Clearly the package is not for everyone, but neither is $60.00 monocles in Eve or any of the expensive items in many other MMO stores.
I'd love to see how much the 'average' player makes per month, but 8000/day is NOT average.
(notwithstanding the glut from super-DIL weekend, which is being processed, 8k/day is not an average player. Maybe an average expert player.)
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
As Zen is fairly easy to come by - I routinely make 5,000+ per month with my Stipend - it is not necessarily a major hardship for everyone to use/spend. Even the average 8k-per-day player is making 1,800+ Zen per month - assuming he wants to use it for Zen.
Heck, I have spent months doing STFs in the old days just trying to get the Equipment drops I wanted. I could have been spending that time making Zen.
Clearly the package is not for everyone, but neither is $60.00 monocles in Eve or any of the expensive items in many other MMO stores.
I know that. But the main problem of cryptic is that they know a lot of people waste more than 100 buying zen every month (and 100 wasted on zen is not so much lol....), and that is what they want. My point was that the prices are so insanely high that i cant believe that someone will waste more than 5000 zen on a ship. Its ridiculous.
And i disagree. Yes, you can make 10000 zen in a few months in-game, but ONLY if you focus every day on that. And still, it is really tedious, and wasting all your dilithium every day duirng months for zen does not compensate the final ship you will buy. Not by far lol. Hell, if you need 5 months to gather 10000 zen without using real money, i could just buy 500 zen every month for just 5 and i will feel that i didnt waste my time.
I'd love to see how much the 'average' player makes per month, but 8000/day is NOT average.
(notwithstanding the glut from super-DIL weekend, which is being processed, 8k/day is not an average player. Maybe an average expert player.)
I can only suggest that you read some threads about how much Dilithium people are making in this game in a very short time - such as people doing ESTFs in minutes and doing several of them in an hour or two. There is a reason why this forum has had so many "raise the Dilithium cap" threads in it.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
And i disagree. Yes, you can make 10000 zen in a few months in-game, but ONLY if you focus every day on that.
The problem is that at end-game virtually everything you can do gives you Dilithium. Spend 10 minutes doing an ESTF and boom! A thousand Dilithum - and more if you want to convert your items for more Dilithium. If you actually spend an hour or two a day just playing the normal end-game things you are easily making the Dilithium you need. Now you might not be saving it for Zen, but making it is not the issue as Cryptic throws it at you - and even throws things like Mining Claims or Bonus events into the game to make it even easier to make more.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Comments
I know the company I work for doesn't refund people willy for what they purchased, we look into requests for a refund, but unless it's a situation where the service the customer got was not what they agreed to in purchase or it was not complete there is no refund. And there have been more then one occasion where the company has "fired" a customer.
Since when does 'everyone' do a thing that is proven to work?
There are millions of examples of things that are guaranteed to work that people don't do.
A relevant example - you buy an item in a small store that is defective, and they refuse to give a refund. So you don't bother to 'fight for your rights' (that costs time and money!) - instead, you tell all your friends about it, and they all tell their friends, and because of the unreasonableness of their behavior, one $50 sale cost them $5000 in future sales.
Most stores take returns. I just cited the MOST EXTREEEME example of something most people would absolutely, positively say would NEVER work, showed that it DID work, and that it CONTINUES to work, and you're saying that makes it invalid?
Wow. Logic FAIL.
To the other comment, most customers you "don't" want are unhappy customers; make them happy, and whatever behavior they were exhibiting before that made them undesirable will often disappear. (Illegal/rule-breaking behavior is a separate issue; we're talking here about undesirable marketplace behavior).
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
You cannot make every customer happy. I am sorry if you do not understand that. You are unhappy, but for everyone of you there is another who is happy to have gotten this discount - a discount Cryptic did not need to give.
Think past the immediate.
"I bought this item that (now) costs you $0 to make and sell to me, for $5. I would like to return this item to you, in order to repurchase this item AND two other items from you, which also cost you $0 to make, and pay you $10 in return. I know it would normally have cost me $15 to get this deal, but I would like to make this deal with you. I benefit, of course, by receiving the original discount that I was unable to take advantage of (for any number of reasons, but let's just assume I was stupid not to do so.) You, too, benefit, with more money than you had before."
"So here is your choice. You can have your current amount of money in your pocket, and an unhappy customer in me. OR you can have TWICE as much as I originally paid you, (no marginal cost to you) PLUS me as a HAPPY customer, who is likely to purchase more things from you in the future, because I respect a smart and fair businessman. It is a win-win. What shall it be?"
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Really, a place is not likely to refuse a refund on a relatively new customer as long as the person is reasonable. They may if the business notices a trend in that customers behaviour because you're just costing them extra money that could be better spent elsewhere.
A lot of the reason larger businesses just tend to take the refunds without much question is that they can absorb the lost revenue. Smaller businesses, not so much unless that person is also a loyal customer in other areas. And if dealing with that person is costing you more money than you are making from them, then dropping them will be a benefit for your business.
Trying to make customers happy does not mean you need to make every customer happy.
Nope. I cited the LL Bean example of how a company CAN operate, under the most difficult return-related conditions. Perhaps all the other companies would benefit from a more relaxed return policy?
And I did not state the goal of 'making EVERYONE happy'. But it is hard to argue that we should not try to make people UNhappy. I argue that not having the option to buy the 9 tomorrow if I buy the one today will make many unhappy, and not buy the ships.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
DELTA PRICE RISING
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Umm... not here in FL or any place I've lived... There is no law requiring you to get the bulk price when you buy an individual item. Grocery stores here do it all the time... one of the worst stores for charging a higher price if you just buy one is Walgreens. ex: 2 candy bars for $3.00 or 1 for $1.79. Walgreens does this on all kinds of items. It happens in other areas of business as well that sell goods or services.
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
NO ONE SAID THIS. I was very careful in my language. So I am NOT clueless. Let me be imbecilically clear: I understand that ships cost money to make.
But please see my above post #38. Read it carefully. Let me be even more pedantic:
ONCE THE INITIAL COST IS RECOUPED, the MARGINAL cost to sell you ONE item is $0.
ONCE I have paid you money for one ship, buying 3 ships from you for twice my original cost to you costs $0 - 100% PROFIT.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=1085061
Lifetime Sub since June 2010
If I buy one ship, I can never buy the 3-ship pack, or the 9-ship pack.
If I buy a 3-ship pack, I can never buy the 9 ship pack.
Not only can I never enjoy the savings, I can never even buy the packs!
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
What it essentially translates to is: "We want you to buy the $100 9-pack so we're going to railroad you in that direction."
And all I'm saying is, that's ok, but can I buy the 1 ship now and the have the option to buy 9 later, even if I have to pay the full 9-ship price, even without a discount for having bought the one now?
It doesn't seem like I'm being greedy to me. But maybe I am, ?
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
If you purchase each 3-Pack individually it will cost you 15,000 Zen instead of 10,000.
If you purchase an individual ship you lose the 3-Pack discount, so you pay 7,500 Zen for the 3 ships instead of 5,000 Zen.
At any time you can by any of the 3-Packs for 5,000 Zen. At any time you can buy an individual ship for 2,500 - but you lose the 3-Pack price break by doing so.
Individual sales have no impact on the ability to purchase any other items. It only impacts your potential discount.
So my question is this: If I buy one ship now (2500), why can't I buy the 9-pack later (10000) for a total of 12500?
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
As you are saving 5,000 Zen over the 3-Pack price and 12,500 Zen over the individual price it seems like a fairly good one-time offer - assuming you have an interest in ships for all three Factions.
Well, I will disagree on this. There are ways to make this amount in-game without spending any money... but it DOES take TIME. I will also say that STO is one of the money-friendlier games I've even heard of.
But this just feels... weird.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Heck, I have spent months doing STFs in the old days just trying to get the Equipment drops I wanted. I could have been spending that time making Zen.
Clearly the package is not for everyone, but neither is $60.00 monocles in Eve or any of the expensive items in many other MMO stores.
THE difference is, in a supermarket, it costs them money ("marginal cost of sale") to stock, heat/cool, move, etc. one more soda. It costs NOTHING to sell one more ship (no marginal cost of sale). Once the initial cost of production is covered, there is no cost to cover... subscription charges cover any marginal costs of memory, etc.
In fact, could be argued that the added ship slots to hold the ships are further profit centers from being more generous with ship sales...
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
I'd love to see how much the 'average' player makes per month, but 8000/day is NOT average.
(notwithstanding the glut from super-DIL weekend, which is being processed, 8k/day is not an average player. Maybe an average expert player.)
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
I know that. But the main problem of cryptic is that they know a lot of people waste more than 100 buying zen every month (and 100 wasted on zen is not so much lol....), and that is what they want. My point was that the prices are so insanely high that i cant believe that someone will waste more than 5000 zen on a ship. Its ridiculous.
And i disagree. Yes, you can make 10000 zen in a few months in-game, but ONLY if you focus every day on that. And still, it is really tedious, and wasting all your dilithium every day duirng months for zen does not compensate the final ship you will buy. Not by far lol. Hell, if you need 5 months to gather 10000 zen without using real money, i could just buy 500 zen every month for just 5 and i will feel that i didnt waste my time.