Fall Fest Phone Call To Ganz....I Got Answers

[scastle2003]

I called ganz and talked to Rep for 30 minutes. (I refused to hang up ) I got the same ole same ole answers. So I added some knowledge to the conversation about last years fest and how the leaves were fast then slow and "they were shaken". I never mention WI because I wanted to keep my conversation about leaves, I did mention however that this was a bad "selling strategy" and how I know hundreds of people not getting anything, and they will lose business. He said I understand and on behalf of everyone at Webkinz I am sorry. (They know this and I'm sorry don't really seem to care.) I refused to hang up and technically as long as you are nice ( and I was) they can not hang up on you.

I kept rambling till this poor guy finally broke and said he would find out what was the deal. Here's what I was told. Nothing will be done no matter how many calls are made. It does not matter if you call and threaten to close your account, swore on anything that you'll never buy another Webkinz as long as you live. The are not going to do anything. It will take to much "time and resources" to reprogram the leaves and they are not going to do it. They would have to shut down the site to do this and they are not going to. I told him that I bet if they did this and extended the fest, that would be the greatest thing they can do. The programmers have been notified of the calls and according to this rep, The leaves are running fine and there is nothing wrong. I quote "It's the way they intended for the programming to run" (wow really!!!) They are random and if you get 100 good for you and if you get none, we're sorry. There is no guarantee that you will get 1 or 1000. It's L~U~C~K! There is no set time in between, no 6 min or 12 min. It's programmed to fall when it wants and if you are lucky enough to be that at that time you will get one. So I said if I get none too bad, and he said pretty much I am sorry.

He said he was not sure about the peak time because it would vary so he has no idea. But did say 3-7 is what he was told but that could be wrong. Hum sounds familiar to other post with different times. I did not give up. I said that is not the answer I am going to settle for. So I told him I wanted someone higher to talk to, Let me talk to a programmer....Guess what? They have no phones hummm.


Ok let me talk to someone else. So he took my name and number and said someone will call me back. Within 5 minutes I had another call from Ganz. It was the same guy. They are not going to do anything, we are sorry and we will take this into consideration for the next fest so it can be improved. Wow what a job! He told me he gets calls about the leaves all day, nothing will be done, and if we want something to change to use the Comments & Suggestions page on Webkinz and send it there. He told me that they do forward all of those to the programmers in a "report" summary.


I feel this Rep went above and beyond to help. He still is forwarding my number to someone higher, ( I HOPE) and will continue on his end to tell them we are not Happy. He was listening for once. I did get the "this is what I am supposed to say" and I caught him and said come on and tell me for real what's going on and he did. They are not going to do anything, sorry.
So there you go. I am still waiting on maybe another call. ( which will be after the fest of course) I am sending my comment to them and if winterfest is the same....I will be calling this guy back and saying OK now it's on you.

Unless anyone else can pull some strings...all I can say is Good Luck, cause that's all it is and that is sad. Sorry this is long but I was on the phone for almost a hour, I really did try and was not taking the same answer that everyone else was getting. I wanted to know why? Pretty Much "will take to much of their time"

Scat

[Catmom41]

Thank you for your time and patience and for sharing with the rest of us. I think we were all hoping for a better answer, but it is what it is. Sounds like this rep was very nice and tried to help. I hope you have a great day.

[ChrissyW]

Thank You! i am really annoyed with this,my daughter refuses to sit & wait,so now its all on me to catch leaves,and there are none! i seen one yesterday afternoon,and thats the last one i seen.
I don't know why they advertise this fest,and don't do anything about it when its not running right,and its a shame its the kids that get disappointed,i am annoyed.
I seen this coming,the past fests,snowflakes etc have been getting worse,then the Berries never started back up,no chocolate ribbons on the 15th,this seems to be a problem with the floating things,i don't know why they just don't fix it already.
But thanks again for the info.


I also noticed the one i seen yesterday would not let me click on it,i clicked on it 10 times,and it just kept going!

[rockermom]

Thank you for sharing that information!

I have had better luck with the Ganz reps. But I do ask to talk with a Manager.

I feel bad for everyone who is not happy with the fall fest. I have been happy with the leaves I have been collecting and I feel it has been successful. It least to me.

But I know there has been a lot of people dissatisfied with the FF promotion this year so something must be amiss.

I am glad you called. Maybe try again. ? who knows who you will talk to on another call?

Good job for calling. I know it is hard to do!

[diannebee]

My kids don't even care anymore - not after the last fall/winter fests and the goober berries fiascos. They haven't sat down once to 'wait' for leaves. They know the leaves never fall and they have better things to do. Like BE OUTSIDE! Unfortunately, for as much as Ganz 'says' they want kids to be active...they sure do want kids to sit on their site for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time....

I've only gotten about 9 leaves since Saturday....mostly food. I am not parked on the site anymore either. I HAVE sent SEVERAL letters on that comments page in my WW account. But, as always, I just get the feeling they don't care and that my money can easily be replaced by the next person in line.....

[luigi'smom]

I was on a lot (doing other things in the background) and I've only seen about 10 leaves total. Most were on the Asian account the first day. I was lucky enough to get 1 each of the new items, but many haven't been so lucky. My son isn't interested at all in watching for leaves since none are falling. This is absolutely ridiculous.

[Mynoey]

Thanks for putting so much time into trying to get an honest answer, Scat. Unfortunately, it isn't the one we were hoping for. It is, however, pretty much what I suspected...that they were saying there was no problem because, to them, there wasn't. That they were quite content with how Fall Fest was working...no matter how unhappy it made their customers...particularly the disappointed children.

Would like to think something good would happen through Comments and Suggestions but, from personal experience using that, I doubt it. I spent years working in customer relations. When a company gets lots of complaints, getting a compliment or a thank you stands out. Most companies will make a effort to respond to one.

While I see lots wrong with Ganz in both technical and customer service areas, I do give credit where credit is due. So I took the time to submit a compliment/thank you letter through C&S regarding how much pleasure WW gave my disabled husband. I really didn't expect an answer.

Three days later, I was surprised to get one. Even more surprised when I read it. Their response to my compliment/thank you was "Thank you for your suggestion".

So...before I can believe that something will be changed by comments and suggestions...I'd have to believe that Ganz values their customers enough to pay attention to what is being said in the comments and suggestions.

Which really says a lot about the image Ganz is projecting...particularly to their new customers. I've only been playing for five months. For the first two months, I webbie shopped weekly. By the third month, I only made one webbie shopping trip because I'd seen so many glaring programming error and disregard for the players that there wasn't much fun in knowing I was putting money in the pockets of the Ganz executives responsible for both. Fourth month...saw so much of both that I chose not to buy any of their products. Fifth month...put off my shopping trip because I was excited about the first day of my first Fall Fest and didn't want to miss it. Too disgusted now to want to shop.

I will buy something occasionally if I see a really good sale and, if someone gives me someting webbie as a gift, fine. But the hundreds of dollars a month I would have been happy to throw at Ganz...that's just not happening. That money will go to gaming companies that deserve it. The ones who value their customers, listen to them, and work very hard to keep their games functional and fun.

Wish I didn't feel that way. I love WW and I loved webbie shopping.

Wish even more that Ganz realized just how lucky they are with their customer base. In no company, gaming or otherwise, have I ever seen the kindness, patience, and understanding of problems I've seen in WW players through WI. You are a company's dream customer base. They should appreciate that and jump through hoops to keep you...and keep you happy.

Actually, when I think about walking away from the aggravations of Ganz...I remember that means having no reason to visit WI anymore...and that keeps me playing WW.

Y'all really are great, you know. You deserve better from Ganz. I'm really hoping something does change and you get it.

hehehe...thank goodness I don't have time to post often. My posts get very long.

[egg]

Thanks so much for that info! I would have at least thought a programmer would have talked to you. Last year I got a ton of snowflakes for the Winterfest so hopefully the same will happen this year and not turn out to be like the fall festival.

[gma2r]

Thank you for the information. This does not shock me at all as it has seemed to me, as time has gone by this year, that Ganz not caring is an ever growing theme.

The only way we can speak in a voice they will listen to is to stop buying their products. We have been on a two month (starting now on our way to three month) buying freeze. As long as people are shopping and increasing their revenue, Ganz will continue to feel they have no responsibility to their consumer base.

During the two years since we bought our first Webkinz ( the grandkids and me) this lack of being responsive on Ganz part has been an endless theme. This lack of respect should now be glaringly obvious to all of us here. For me, it means they no longer receive financial support. I am sure there are many other companies that have the same attitude but most of those are not aimed at children. It is disgusting to be treated poorly by any company that expects our support but there seems to be something especially egregious about what goes on with Ganz and this site.

We decided to stop threatening to no longer buy their products until we saw a change in attitude and take the actual step. For one thing, I wanted my grandkids to learn that this attitude and behavior is absolutely unacceptable so that in the future, when treated poorly by an entity like Ganz, they know what to do. They are fine with it as their level of disappointment has increased greatly over time. They are young and yet still understand, sadly, that they have been taken advantage of and have lost faith in something they were once so excited about.

As I said, from everything we have learned, the response from Ganz and its customer service rep are no longer a surprise.

[dragonfly]

I too have given up waiting for leaves, its not worth my time. I wish Ganz cared.
Sadly I'm getting the "who cares" attitude about taking the time to care for my pets. Just like when love isn't returned the heart strays, I confess I've been two-timing my Webbies. I found greener grass, less headaches etc etc. I've been spending my time with a game on a social networking site. (gasp!)
And to think if leaves had been really falling. I would have stayed true to my poor little Webkinz.
I am only planning to buy one new one and its the wolf. Its for my mom, she collects wolves.