Stamps.com: Start thinking about user experience

I love Stamps.com.  I mail out a ton of books every week, and it really makes my life easier.  It's one of those things that I could get for free, but I choose to pay for it. But they have a really boneheaded idea of customer experience. Two examples.

1. Where is it?

Global Priority Mail is a standard postage choice that I use all the time.  They upgraded the software ... and now it's completely missing.  After wasting more than an hour looking for it, I finally called support.  Then got escalated to level 2 support.  Decent support, but ... they finally told me that it was "removed for an unknown period of time, and they were working on it."

• You can't remove a basic feature without telling your customers.  It's just gone.  I'm really pissed that you wasted my time.  At least put a note where the feature used to be, explaining that it's being fixed. It's rude.
• You can't offer half a solution. If I use you for postage, you have to solve ALL my postage needs. Printing some of my stamps isn't good enough. If I need to go to the post office, I'm taking all my business there. Half a job doesn't count.

2. Don't treat me like a child.

I got a new printer and my envelopes were printing off center.  Totally standard HP printer. I tried every setting, read the manuals, surfed user groups - everything.  Finally, I call support.  THERE IS A TOP SECRET SETTING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.  Specifically, if I hit a certain link while holding the alt button then a checkbox appears that lets me fix the problem.  A 30-second fix.

What is wrong with you, Stamps.com? You wasted hours of my time and cost yourself $$ on a tech support call -- because users can't be trusted to see the secret button?  Some engineer convinced you that customers can't be trusted with this setting. That's demeaning, and a bad business decision. 

Stamps.com, you owe me $211.  $200 for 4 wasted hours, $11 for wasted envelopes and labels.

UPDATE:  Here's the Stamps.com hidden fix: If your envelopes and labels are misaligned try this.

(This is the fix they think we are too dumb to be allowed to know about)

 
1. Fill in an address as if you're going to print a label.

2. Click "Print Sample"

3. THE SECRET STEP: Hold Control and ALT while clicking "Configure"

4. You will see several check boxes. Try different combinations until your labels print well.

HP 2600: Check L90 + Envelope Feeder

HP 3520: Check L90

HP 1150: Check Envelope Feeder

 

Comments

Jeffry A. Spain said... (Jul 30, 2007 3:22:23 PM)

Here's my experience with configuring an envelope feeder. The key/mouse combination to invoke the hidden dialog differs somewhat from the above, but I found that the above did not work.

Stamps.com v6 Envelope Feeder Configuration

Select Tools > Configure Printer.
Set Default printer as desired and Default Paper Feed Tray to Envelope Feeder.
Click Next.
Print On: Envelope - #10 and Yes to print the return address.
Click Next.
Hold down and click on either the Short Edge or Long Edge icon.
Check the L90 and Envelope Feeder options. Uncheck the other options.
Click Test.
Make sure envelopes are loaded, and click OK.
Should feed an envelope from the envelope feeder and correctly print a sample.
Click OK.
Click Next.
Should feed letter paper from tray 2 with a square in the top middle.
Select Square completely visible, and click Next.
Click Next again.
Should feed an envelope from the envelope feeder and correctly print a sample.
Select Yes indicating that all four items appeared, and click Next.
Click Finish.

Jeffry A. Spain said... (Jul 30, 2007 3:25:28 PM)

Apologies. Step 6 above was not parsed as expected by the posting engine. It should read:

Hold down the Control and Shift keys, and click on either the Short Edge or Long Edge icon.

Eric Bewley said... (May 15, 2008 9:37:59 AM)

Not sure if Stamps.com changed the process or what, but on my machine I had to hold down the left Shift, Alt and Ctrl keys while clicking the Configure button. Also, the "L90" option was the only option I needed to check to make it work on a Magicolor 2300DL printer. Thanks for the tip and I hope this one helps some of you.

Sincerely,
Eric Beweley, CEO
Bewley Software Productions, LLC (BSP)