HC Blog

I am very sorry for the downtime tonight. I was really optimistic that the code changes I made would make these super-stockings possible. They certainly improved things, but the server eventually succumbed to the 400+ ravenous hyenas.

I’ll be working with our super-sellers to come up with stocking strategies that will prevent downtime in the future. Thank you for your patience as we work through this.

Also — those of you who are still trying to access the Mutt store. It has currently been disabled to keep the server stable. It will come back online when Michelle has had a chance to unstock her store.

Thanks everyone and sorry for the inconvenience.

Hi everyone,

I realize we have been experiencing some server slowdowns and other issues which have caused HC to be inaccessible from time to time. These are related to some hyena stockings with extremely high traffic loads. I’ve contacted our host to see if we have any options to prevent this from happening in the future. If this isn’t possible, I may have to ask some of these mega-supreme-hyena sellers to use different stocking strategies to even out the load. I’ll keep you all updated as the options become clearer.

In addition, the database that counts users online seems to be corrupted. I’ve disabled the “Where the Hyenas are” feature until we can get that fixed. You’ll also notice that on each individual store page, the number of shoppers online isn’t listed. Hopefully that won’t last long.

Finally, the feedback system seems to be working well. Thanks to all the loyal hyenas for leaving such glowing feedback for all of our sellers I’ve just realized that auction and lottery sales have not been showing up in shoppers’ purchase histories. I’ll be working to get that fixed in the next week or so. In the meantime, feedback for those types of sales will need to be left in the feedback forums, the old fashioned way.

Thank everyone. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!

OK — based on all the input from last December, I’ve implemented our new feedback system.

Here’s the scoop:

• The buyer can leave feedback for a transaction from his / her Purchase History. The “Feedback” link now takes them to a user-friendly form in which they can fill out comments on customer service as well as a product review.
• If the transaction was a negative one, the buyer can mark it as such. In this case, the seller will have the opportunity to respond to the negative feedback. The buyer can then make a final comment about the resolution of the transaction and has the option to remove the negative flag. The entire conversation will be viewable from the Store Feedback page.
• At the top of the Store Feedback page it lists the total number of feedback comments a store has received as well as how many of these comments were negative. If a transaction was negative at first, but was then resolved, it is not counted in the “negative” total, but is marked resolved, and, as mentioned above, the entire transaction comment history will be viewable.
• HC Multi shoppers who do not have an account or were not logged in at the time of purchase will receive a link in their purchase confirmation email which they can use to leave feedback.
• Sellers, you will see a new column on your order history page for Feedback. It will show whether or not feedback has been left for your transaction. In the event that a buyer marks a transaction negatively, you will see a “View & respond” link which will give you a form in which to respond to this feedback.
• When negative feedback is left, a sellers responds to negative feedback, or a buyer enters the final resolution comment on a negative transaction, the other party will be emailed as a head’s up.

In addition, I have added a flagging system for sellers to use to flag buyers who do not honor HC’s purchasing agreements.

• To flag a buyer, use the Flag link on your order history page. You will be asked to describe the situation.
• The flagged buyer will receive an email, with a link to a form in which he / she can respond to the flag. The buyer will also see the Flag on his / her purchase history page.
• The buyer can respond to the flag using the form link.
• The seller will then have the option to remove the flag, with a final comment on how the situation was resolved.
• The flags will not be publicly viewable, but the HC admin will monitor them for shoppers with a history of bad shopping behavior. If a shopper is flagged too many times, he / she will be blocked from further purchases on HC.
• As in the feedback system, when a user is flagged, responds to the flag, or when the seller makes the final comment, an email will be sent to the other party.

To test out the system further, feel free to make purchases from the HC Multi test store: http://hyenacart.com/HCmulti/ you can then leave feedback (positive or negative — I promise not to be offended ) and view it here: http://hyenacart.com/feedback_view.php?vidn=1 As the shopper, you’ll see that you can also resolve the negative feedback, even if the seller does not respond.

As for the old feedback system:

• All feedback left in the forums is still intact and is counted towards the total number of feedback comments.
• The forum feedback system will still be kept running (for now) for trades and sales made through emails, PM’s etc.
• Note that on the buyer’s Purchase History page, if feedback is left under the new system, it will be marked as “Done.” If feedback is (or was) left in the forums, it will look like feedback still needs to be left. Please ask your shoppers *not* to C&P forum feedback into the new system as it will be double-counted and duplicated on the feedback page. However, if you have had shoppers email you feedback or leave it via the “Comment” function, now would be the perfect time to ask them to go back and leave it via the new system.

Three more comments (sorry for the novel!)

• If you have an HC Multi and have shoppers who have past transactions in which they *didn’t* log in, they will not be able to leave feedback for these under the new system. They will need to use the forums. Moving forward however, for all future purchases, even if a user does not log in, he / she will be able to leave feedback via the link in their purchase confirmation email.
• For those of you with multiple storefronts (i.e. one in a congo, and one standalone), I am still putting some thought into how to combine the feedback for all your stores on one page. For now, feedback left at your congo, will be separate from feedback left at your standalone store (except for forum feedback, which should show up in both if you have everything linked up already).
• ETA ~ I will also be working on the feedback system for Spot’s Corner. It will integrate the feedback from the forums and set something up similar to the store feedback system.

One last thing — those of you with HC multi who are using product listings as information items (about me’s, policies, etc.) — make sure to mark these with quantity of 0. Otherwise, if you have no shipping listed for them, it is possible for a shopper to put your info item in his / her cart and then check out with no shipping on the entire order. Just something to keep in mind.

So, clear as mud? I think this will be a very simple system once we start using it. Please encourage your shoppers to use the new system for all purchases from here on in rather than the forums (this will give the mods a much needed break too!). Just tell them to go to their Purchase History pages and leave feedback from there.

Thanks everyone — please post all bugs to this thread: http://hyenacart.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=72356

Oh, just as a side note — as I researched feedback systems, I came across an interesting journal article which claims that text comments are a much better reflection of actual store performance than “crude numerical ratings.” If anyone is as geeky as me, you can check it out at: http://isr.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/4/392