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Date:         Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:10:17 -0800
Reply-To:     David Vickery <david_vickery@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Vickery <david_vickery@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: busdepot
Comments: To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <0d5d01cdc158$e5d66bd0$b1834370$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Yah, Ron, the new website sucks. Can't search anything or find things. It takes longer too. I normally like to compare your stuff with VC or GW and the last couple times I gave up. You have a lot of cool clearance items too but I haven't bought anything since the change.

I guess it comes down to sales, if sales are better, it was a good change, if not...

I know this feed back isn't that helpful, except it's one data point. I know I could email you and you would reply, but usually I just like to check brands or prices quickly before ordering.

Dave

--- On Mon, 11/12/12, The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> wrote:

> From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> > Subject: Re: busdepot > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Date: Monday, November 12, 2012, 9:39 PM > > Is busdepot under new > management?    > > New website not as good as the old?  > > Was there some change in the business? > > > Same management, new website. The old infrastructure was so > ancient that we > could not even find a web host to support it anymore. After > more than a > decade (an eternity in tech years) it was basically being > held together by > rubber bands and shoestrings. We were living on borrowed > time and had to > retire it before it crashed and burned.  The new one is > much more modern and > robust, and incorporates a lot of functionality that was > suggested by list > members. Among these ... > > - the ability to check order history, status, and tracking > numbers online > > - the ability to save your vehicle so the site defaults to > parts that fit it > each time you log in > > - the ability to save a credit card number instead of > entering it each time > > -  Also about 10,000 more images and 30,000 more > products. > > That being said, the transition has not been easy. Merging > databases and > point-of-sale systems has been an absolute nightmare. I have > been working > 60-70 hours a week since the new site launched. We're > literally working on > it day by day. Today alone, the left navigation pane changed > three times as > we tested minor changes and then rolled some of them back > because of this or > that minor bug. We got USPS tracking numbers updating > online, but FedEx is > still working with us to figure out why their tracking > numbers aren't > updating. And so on. On the other hand, the old site had no > tracking > numbers, no order history, 30k less products, 10k fewer > images, and a much > longer lag between updates. So while we've got a long way to > go, we've also > made a lot of headway. > > I am pretty happy with the basic layout - the SEARCH and > BROWSE tabs, the > links up top to diagrams, etc.  I also have a lot of > other improvements in > store once the basics are just right.  Like anything > new there's a learning > curve, but I think once you try it a few times you'll find > it pretty > intuitive. But if you disagree, or have any suggestions or > comments at all > (good or bad), please let me know!. Ultimately this needs to > be YOUR > website. I am determined to keep tweaking it until I get it > right. > > - Ron Salmon >   The Bus Depot, Inc. >   www.busdepot.com >   (215)  234-VWVW > > _____________________________________________ > Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT >


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