New Website At Goulet's

[Oldtimer]

Anyone having problems signing in, checking out, modifying the cart items like removing, etc????

 

A simple thing like adding something to the cart is causing me problems, the link seems to be static, no link. And when it does react it does it when i am already trying to do something else. Maybe my PC needs some Flash upgrade? On second thought, i did that yesterday!

 

Help me out guys, i have not been able to place an order for fear i will order 20 of the same item because i clicked 20 times before the link is activated.

 

[J85909266]

I hate it. I used to go there every day to check out pens and inks and use the comparison tools. The new one is awful. The site was perfect, before. I have no idea why they changed it.

[Kuhataparunks]

They are having a lot of trouble with the new website, unfortunately. He stated this in his most recent email newsletter and everyone is working overtime. There's no telling when it'll be fixed, but I am withholding from placing my order just to minimize their troubles. Once they get it back up and running I'll place my order.

[Kuhataparunks]

I hate it. I used to go there every day to check out pens and inks and use the comparison tools. The new one is awful. The site was perfect, before. I have no idea why they changed it.

Amen to this, they had a very easy layout.

They're trying to take on the new "modern" design which tends to be minimalist. It's the new direction in which nearly everyone is heading, like a revolution, in a sense.

[sargetalon]

Brian Goulet blogged about the issues yesterday. They are painfully aware of the issues and are reportedly working around the clock to restore functionality. Check out his post here: http://blog.gouletpens.com/2014/11/gouletpenscom-website-issues.html

Edited November 24, 2014 by sargetalon

[dladuke]

Brian Goulet blogged about the issues yesterday. They are painfully aware of the issues and are reportedly working around the clock to restore functionality. Check out his post here: http://blog.gouletpens.com/2014/11/gouletpenscom-website-issues.html

sargetalon, You beat me to the punch. But I would point out that in the article Brian gives a good explanation as to why they made the changes.

[Ted A]

I am amazed that sellers (there are others) will change their website just as they are coming into the biggest selling season of the year without adequate testing and then, when they find how badly it fails they don't immediately back out and wait to make the change until it can be done properly. I hate to say it, but right now from what I see I would be afraid to buy anything.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Any impediment to me making further purchases is a good thing. Regrettably, most of the other sites from which I would be tempted to buy have no such problems.

[Ghost Plane]

If you read the information Bryant made available, they DID test it. But reality is very different from testing as we hear every time we have to upgrade this board, test it like crazy back channels, then find the developer didn't allow for 200k people posting at once despite thinking they had.

[LamyOne]

I hate it. I used to go there every day to check out pens and inks and use the comparison tools. The new one is awful. The site was perfect, before. I have no idea why they changed it.

 

+1000.

 

I'm switching over to JetPens and Pen Chalet until they restore the original site. I feel like its 1986 and I'm living through the "New Coke" fiasco all over again.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited November 24, 2014 by LamyOne

[Morphling27]

I agree - go live after the holiday season, which I imagine is pretty big for pens.

 

Also, the site shows me less information and not in a better format - a bad combination. But, I know making a website is hard.

[Wheatflower]

If you read the information Bryant made available, they DID test it. But reality is very different from testing as we hear every time we have to upgrade this board, test it like crazy back channels, then find the developer didn't allow for 200k people posting at once despite thinking they had.

This. Test all you want, some things will only be discovered during live-fire exercises.

 

Also, I think some perspective is needed here. The website has problems, but it's hardly completely broken. I placed an order with no problems at all on Monday and the items showed up at work on Wednesday--just as I would expect from my past experience with them. I'll grant that getting my email confirmation and notice of shipped item the day *after* the items themselves was a little odd, but that's the only issue I had.

[LamyOne]

This. Test all you want, some things will only be discovered during live-fire exercises.

 

Also, I think some perspective is needed here. The website has problems, but it's hardly completely broken. I placed an order with no problems at all on Monday and the items showed up at work on Wednesday--just as I would expect from my past experience with them. I'll grant that getting my email confirmation and notice of shipped item the day *after* the items themselves was a little odd, but that's the only issue I had.

 

Hello Wheatflower, et al,

 

My problem with the site isn't whether or not you're actually able to process an order or not, (like Obamacare) - my problem is with the new format itself - which is plain awful. It provides very little info, comparing brands, models and colors is near impossible and there was something else that bothered me that is not coming to mind now!

At any rate, IMHO, the original format was far superior to the new one, (they should stick with Volusions, {if they switched and that is the cause of this mess}). I wish them a lot of luck with it - they're going to need it.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited November 24, 2014 by LamyOne

[Fabienne]

Amen to this, they had a very easy layout.

They're trying to take on the new "modern" design which tends to be minimalist. It's the new direction in which nearly everyone is heading, like a revolution, in a sense.

 

Like a revolution of sheep. Alas, I am thinking about heading in that direction with my site. Baaaaa. It is said it is better than what I have now. :|

[dkim87]

I was trying to buy a pen the other day with my credit card but it kept giving me an error. I finally gave in to just using my paypal account and it worked fine.

 

I say that we should just be patient. Many of us have given great praises for the company's customer service, so I am positive that they are working their best to fix many of the issues at hand.

[markh]

I hate it. I used to go there every day to check out pens and inks and use the comparison tools. The new one is awful. The site was perfect, before. I have no idea why they changed it.

 

I liked the old site better also. Information was more compact, you could see more on a single screen.

 

Anytime someone changes anything, someone else complains. Like me....

 

Still a nice place to do business.

 

 

 

.

[stevesurf]

This is actually a really exciting deployment of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. I know it seems like there is less, but the "more" will become apparent as the site evolves. As someone that has successfully moved my own support tools and extranet support to a cloud provider, it can be both exhilarating and frustrating. Today's web commerce sites have to have numerous integrations in order to scale, or just simply keep up with a growing customer base, but still keep great support.

[ScottT]

"...a year and a half of planning..."

 

So the decision to upgrade the website was made that long ago, but it wasn't possible to scale up their older and more comfy design?

 

Their decision, as it is their website, but I get the impression everyone loves the older website, so why did an upgrade have to be design as well as scale?

 

That was my Goulet-related thought of the day. Well, that and if I order that Herbin Grey sample, will it explode if the temperature drops below 32 degrees?

[KBeezie]

I am amazed that sellers (there are others) will change their website just as they are coming into the biggest selling season of the year without adequate testing and then, when they find how badly it fails they don't immediately back out and wait to make the change until it can be done properly. I hate to say it, but right now from what I see I would be afraid to buy anything.

I echo'd this over in one of the other threads. It would have made much more sense to try anything 'new' during the summer (like maybe just after graduation sales), giving them at least a few months to work out the bugs before entering into prime back-to-school and gift-buying season.

 

With how hectic the holidays are, most consumers especially new ones will remember the experience and just quickly move on rather than wait for support to reply back about an order not going thru or other issues.

 

PS: I much prefer the older design. It wasn't fancy or anything, but it worked, it was clean, you knew where everything was and could quickly get to a specific category or model. In the new design, too much of the space is taken up by pretty useless information, screen retail space is valuable, and shouldn't be wasted primarily on fluff or web-2.0-ish design.

Edited November 25, 2014 by KBeezie

[carlos.q]

I'm having problems viewing the Goulet logo in both my desktop Mac and iPad. In the iPad the effect is worse: I have to scroll down a LOT to get to the page's content. (And this happens with every single page!)

 

Edited November 25, 2014 by carlos.q