Shopster - Scam or opportunity

I have watched Shopster over the past few years. The company peaked my interests because they were entering the e-commerce scene just as the dot.com bubble burst and deflated. Out of that era arose the giants Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo and the likes.


The problem with Shopster as I see it is exemplified by the following thread. A customer paid and set up an account, and a store front. He made sales and Shopsters back office was not able to deliver on the sales to his customers. After about a month, he asked for a refund of this membership. Shopster said no, and the dispute escalated in a "war of words", threats of law suits, complaints to the BBB. Shopster friends, employees and supposed customers waded into the argument supporting the business, and other complaints arose. Shopsters representative Sheldon then goes on a rant and personally attacks the dissatisfied customer. There was even an official response from Sarath Samarasekera, CEO of Shopster. Readers can get the whole soap opera by folloing the link:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/246/RipOff0246214.htm#232426

My two cents on the matter.

The dissatisfied customer may have been irrational. Shopster's response was both unprofessional and childish. For the sake of a few hundred dollars, they are willing to let a bunch of bad publicity onto the internet. They guy was not extorting or committing cyber terrorism. He just wanted his money back. Shopster will always be a small time operator if they continue to handle customer complaints this way. A money back guarantee is a sign of a confident vibrant and growing company. They are tripping over a $5 bill to pick up a quarter. This is short sighted and not the right way to build up a business. News flash to Shopster, $300 is not a lot of money to preserve your dignity.

Attacking customers and calling them names is unacceptable, even if legal fine print was violated. Sarath's response was a sad commentary on the company's philosophy. He both personally attacked the accuser and implied that the negative press was good for his business. This type of behavior is not acceptable (outside of the confines of a high school). It speaks volumes about the professionalism of Shopster, of lack thereof as in this case. I feel sorry for Shopster customers and investors for having a leader who cannot even deal with a small matter like this in a private and mature way.