59,000 hits to non-functioning web-site infuriates users

From: Diane DeLoach <dianedeloach_at_frontiernet.net>
Date: Mon 28 Jul 2003 10:54:52 -0500

Brain trust request:
Help prevent the demise of a new on-line company BEFORE it can even obtain
online status! A development firm (hired for big bucks) can't seem to
produce working software for this young company.

Thumbnail profile:

My clients designed a site for wake boarders to exchange 'gently used'
accessories (wake boards, water skis, etc.) for a fair ROI. They created a
working site for demo purposes; the site would receive a fee-for-service for
each completed transaction.

After two years of planning, my clients hired an experienced development
firm to create its sophisticated IP application & host the site.

Marketing/media/PR/ plan complete, IP system tested (supposedly), we ran
the initial print ad ran in a premier publication.

The site received 59,000 hits on May 29 & 30, 2003--which would have been
great--- if the site was working. Such was NOT the case.

Help, please:
'Brain trust power' needed to help determine:

Potential financial impact that could be associated with 59,000 hits over
a two-day period.

Translation of 59,000 hits into an estimated number of potential customers
in a vertically targeted industry.

Probability those visitors will or will not return to that site? Oh,
yes--- due to the firm's own software glitch, the program fails to gather
e-mail addresses, so we can't contact the 58,958 people who e-mailed us when
the site didn't work May 29-30.

Can you 'calculate' a financial loss because of disastrous results that
occur when, after two years of planning, preparation, expenditures, plans
for advertising, creative expenses, trade shows, etc., you 'hire the best'
to design incredible software, etc. to launch the site properly--- and still
the outsourced software prevents the site from working? Thus, 58,958 initial
customers are lost on the first weekend, etc.etc.etc.; forget the
word-of-mouth factor via e-mail.

Mo' money, say the development guys
You guessed it: the development firm wants mo' money to get the site up and
working. (Yes, that's what they've ALREADY been paid to do!)
Among developer 'goofs' which were not fixed pre-launch date (May 29):
(1.) the same item can be sold more than once, without being deleted from
the on-site listing
(2) unless someone actually writes an e- mail to complain, the software
FAILS to record an e-mail address. Of the 59,000 hits, fewer than 1% wrote
e-mails, so we can only contact 42 of them. (Dumb or dumber?)

This situation reminds me of a cyberspace version of Exxon-Valdez/PR
nightmare... guess who is taking NO responsibility?

I'd like to arm help these two new grooms (whose pockets are not nearly as
deep as those of the software developers) with ammunition to prepare for
meeting with an Internet attorney.

Thanking you in-advance,
    Diane DeLoach, markEtc .
    202 Wellington Circle
    Statesboro, GA 30458
    e-mail: dianedeloach_at_frontiernet.net
    phone: 912-682-0681
    FAX 912:764-3619




Received on Mon Jul 28 2003 - 10:54:52 CDT