Always on Vacation!

[vrooje]

We did talk about a workaround to this technical problem on the (currently) 20-page AOV thread. The first post I made about it is here.

Certainly not every listing site has this problem, but some of them do. It seems to be more common for newer listing sites that don't have money to pay a top-notch programmer; the quick and dirty method when writing image display code is to just force one aspect ratio. But it's not that much harder to determine which side of an image is longer, force that to be no larger than your site's max image height or width, and either let the browser work out the smaller dimension or write a couple more lines of code to specify it in such a way that it preserves the original dimensions of the photo. Your programmer ought to be able to fix this very quickly if s/he knows the code and if the code is decently written.

Why I'm providing tech support to AOV, I have no idea, except that this directly affects LMH members.

[Chianti]

Our engineers have created an SRS for the issue and I have pushed the project up the list so that we will start working on it right away.

I was asking for the listing id number because there are ways you can modify the images before you upload them to solve the issue. I believe Vrooje pointed this out and provided us with instructions when this was originally reported. I was going to personally modify the images for you.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

I like his style, 6 months after the issue was brought up and a promise made to Nightowl he's telling us Vrooje provided instructions on how to modify the images so he did stuff all. Now after he's told us his "engineers" have created something to resolve the problem he states "I was going to personally modify the images for you".

What about the images for the others who complained and were also ignored. Don't try to tell us no one else complained or I'll prove you a liar.

I've been told that you post on other forums too, I suspect in an attempt to make a bad company look like they are resolving problems. None of us are stupid.

I've said it before; your honest competitors don't use call centres and sleezy sales tactics or keep peoples credit card funds, they have triving businesses for which we don't have complaints. They never post on forums either, why do you feel the need?

[Jimbo]

... on the (currently) 20-page AOV thread.

It's 40:30 in the first game of the fifth set of this monumental struggle. Chianti's just delivered a stinging volley but Tyler's moving smoothly towards it. The result is by no means a foregone conclusion. I've been on LMH since big and bad T-Rex strutted his stuff but the AOV epics have always been amongst my must-reads. They say that there's no such thing as bad publiclity ...

Jim

[Nightowl]

Our engineers have created an SRS for the issue and I have pushed the project up the list so that we will start working on it right away.

I was asking for the listing id number because there are ways you can modify the images before you upload them to solve the issue. I believe Vrooje pointed this out and provided us with instructions when this was originally reported. I was going to personally modify the images for you.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Firstly, as you are well aware, I didn't want you 'personally' anywhere near my ad

Secondly, why didn't your engineers start working on it 'right away' in November

Thirdly, your clients, who pay good money to list on your site, shoudn't have to resort to 'work arounds' to get their photos to display properly.

Fourthly, your comments to me by PM at the time regarding the issue were:

(10th Nov) I have reviewed your forum posting regarding the photo resizing. I will look into it, however I am confident that we do not resize, or change the orientation of photographs. what is uploaded is what is displayed.

If the photo seems pixelated, it is because the resolutions is low to begin with and cannot accomodate the picture window. In this case you can upload a higher resolution photograph that accomodates the window.

And then when I said he didn't need to look at my own ad, because the problem was across the board....

(10th Nov) I am asking you for the example that you are speaking of so I can expedite it to our engineering department.

I have never received this complaint before, so I need an example.

and very helpfully

Your unwillingness to provide me with your listing id as an example is highly ridiculous. If you are only willing to point out issues but not able to provide examples, I can remove your listing from our distribution network.

and later

20th Nov

The issue won't be fixed if you don't provide an example.

My replies at the time (several emails back and forth) were that it was a generic problem which needed to be fixed for ALL his paying customers

my last exasperated mail to him:

What is it you don't understand? This issue isn't just about me. It makes not one jot of difference if you see my ad or not. I'm not giving you my ad details because I don't trust you. That says more about you than me.

If you choose not to fix an issue that affects 100% of your advertisers and distorts their photos, then you don't really care about your paying clients. Which is what I have thought all along anyway.

I'm not giving you my details. Fix the photos issue or not. It's your business after all, you're in charge. Just don't threaten your paying clients when you don't get your own way. And don't pin it not getting fixed on ME not providing an example!!!

[Chianti]

In the end, their failure to deal with the problem of our photos has effected the number of genuine enquiries. We've had 1, but paid for 10 and suspect that few members if any, have done well. This is during the optimum period for enquiries.

Clearly, using a call centre in India, their failure to resolve problems quickly when asked and to respond to emails, plus most importantly their failure to bring in enquiries makes for a customer satisfaction rating of 0.

Jimbo how interesting that you find this thread entertaining, it's actually meant to highlight AoV's failures and act as a warning to owners before they part with their hard earned funds.

[Edited by admin, please ensure your facts are correct before posting allegations]

[Hells Bells]

I am very wary of wolves in sheep's clothing, but at the moment, I can only say that Tyler is being very helpful in sorting out a problem for me.

[declanja]

To me the issue with AOV is more basic. I paid Perfect Getaways for 70 enquires, to date from AOV/Ryanair I have had I think two enquires with no conversion. Its just not delivering full stop!

[Chianti]

To me the issue with AOV is more basic. I paid Perfect Getaways for 70 enquires, to date from AOV/Ryanair I have had I think two enquires with no conversion. Its just not delivering full stop!

That's exactly the issue, they aren't delivering, nor will they ever.

[Hells Bells]

Have you had any enquiries from Perfect Getaways?

[declanja]

No enquires from PG since they lost the Ryanair gig. Had one while with Ryanair. I do check my ad and am averaging 150 hits per month on their stats but ZERO enquires. I have a soft spot for them though and unrealistically hope they will come up trumps eventually. I probably will have to have a line in my will on who to pass on my unused enquires to!

[Chianti]

No enquires from PG since they lost the Ryanair gig. Had one while with Ryanair. I do check my ad and am averaging 150 hits per month on their stats but ZERO enquires. I have a soft spot for them though and unrealistically hope they will come up trumps eventually. I probably will have to have a line in my will on who to pass on my unused enquires to!

ditto


Effectively they had to start all over again. We had a booking through the old PG and have hopes still for PG II. They are trying.

[Giddy Goat]

It was my turn this evening to hear from AOV. I have never been a client of PG or the Ryanair site so they are clearly reaching out to owners via other listing sites now.

As soon as he mentioned the company name I said "no thank you" but of course he persisted, and even more firmly, I said "no thank you".

As I put the phone down, a receding voice could be heard saying "I'll call you again tomorrow."

[The Olive Grove]

It was my turn this evening to hear from AOV. I have never been a client of PG or the Ryanair site so they are clearly reaching out to owners via other listing sites now.

As soon as he mentioned the company name I said "no thank you" but of course he persisted, and even more firmly, I said "no thank you".

As I put the phone down, a receding voice could be heard saying "I'll call you again tomorrow."

I had this a few weeks ago. I too said "no thank you" and was asked why. Told the guy I had read very bad reports about them from other owners - no further argument, just a polite acceptance of the comment.

[brenda]

Several phone calls this past couple of weeks despite us very firmly saying No Thanks.

[Big Sis..]

Well Im already on there, via Ryanair, via PG, via whatever, whatever.

But when I told him, he said youre not ,I said I am, he said youre not[you get the gist]........

then I said, well you are REALLY good then!![and physic] as I got an enquiry today,
think he hung up on me [cheek]