EarlyBird order process journal

  • I thought I'd post this to help ease some of the anxiety occuring regarding this program.


    **Anything shared are my experiences & observations and in no way to conflict with anything the Kemper customer service team advises**
    My background in process efficiency lends itself to share these comments objectively.


    But again, all Kemper product, program, customer service process recommendations trump anything I share here.


    My goal is to explain what I've discovered to date from a customer perspective and share results of some things I was questioning myself.
    Also to share some U.S. customer payment perspectives which perhaps the Kemper team from Germany might not be privy to.


    Background (Way Back When):
    Like many, I responded to the initial announcement and emailed to place myself on the Remote waiting list.


    Upon the initial registration announcement, we all had the option to pre-order through the Kemper Store via:
    Pre-Payment Pro Forma invoice, Credit Card or Paypal.


    Many folks had their struggles with this initial process and many as I've observed (myself included) resolved to the suggested Pre-Payment option. (primarily to get themselves registered and in the queue for the upcoming distribution)


    Currently:
    As the distribution process began, folks began to realize and question the Pre-Payment option and whether or not any excess wiring fee charges would be in their best interest for their Remote product order. I myself, didn't factor the wiring fees associated with that option at the time.


    As a resolution, many have gone or are going back (as instructed) amending their "yet to be processed" orders to reflect their current purchase/payment preferences.
    I also believe that the initial Credit Card & Paypal process fault conditions driving everyone to select the Pre-Order option in the first place have now since been resolved.
    (Note: Coming only from a Paypal customer perspective, I can only say that I recall messaging about an out-of-date Paypal page error. I can't say definitively whether standard Credit Card users had any issues)


    Below is what customer service has instructed we do in such situations:
    - Log into your user account in the Kemper Online Store
    - Change type of payment
    - Re-order the item in question (Repeat Order)
    - Once done, you will see two orders in your account.
    We will void the first order for you when we ship.


    OK, so I followed their directions and like they said, two orders now appear in my account.


    Here are the important points/observations I really wanted to share!


    1) It makes perfect sense to me how/why Kemper is handling reorder conditions the way they are.

    • Any business must have an effective process of audit accountability for all the transactions which occur. Hence the two orders

    So, think of it like this...

    • Your first request/order remains there for audit purposes and also to keep your delivery schedule linked/on track
    • Your second request/order secures the payment option you're now selecting.

    Kemper Team: If any of the above statements are incorrect, please amend or advise


    Paypal:
    In my case, my goal was to pay via Paypal (and as it happens, my credit card is Paypal linked)
    So for me, all roads led to Paypal.


    But, these following conditions did confuse me about this particular order:

    • This transaction is a Pre-Order and so the Paypal request you receive(d) in your account remains there listed as Pending.

    The status is correct as Paypal explained to me. The pending status will remain in effect until the product is ready to be shipped.
    Most of us are used to ordering something from a company's current stock, the vendor bills you and they ship it.
    Remember you ordered through a pre-order delivery program managed by it's specific schedule!


    It's to your benefit to have the payment pending until it's ready to be shipped!

    • This being an international order

    I can't recall if I've ordered ordered anything straight from Germany before, but international commence can be tricky.


    I did make it point to contact Paypal directly. I explained I had authorized a transaction (TransID#) which was uncommonly in a "Pending" status and below is their reply.


    "Our record shows that this is an order, When you place an order.
    The money isn't deducted from your account right away.
    The transaction status is Pending until the seller completes your order.
    After the seller completes your order, you receive an email and the purchase amount is deducted from your account."


    Again this made perfect sense once I understood the operating procedure for a pre-ordered product transaction.


    I saddens me to read that some are now opting to cancel their orders at this stage of the game. I'm sure they believe they have their reasons.
    And for some, those reason may indeed be valid, but I'd rather try to bring some clarity to the uncertainties I went through and share the results.


    If anything I've shared puts another at ease regarding this program and the status of their order or perhaps lightens the load of the Kemper customer service team, I consider it time well spent.


    All-in-all, I believe now more ever that the Kemper team is doing everything they possibly can supporting this product kick-off. And the best thing we can all do is allow them to keep doing what they're already doing.


    BTW - Version 3.0 Rocks!

  • Carsnguitars58, Very well stated and understood, but I did the Repeat order scenerio changing to PayPal, and the store gives me a new order but will not let me check out. It keeps booting me back out of check out and yes I have checked the little box. So I still have a certain measure of frustration.