Why do I use a U.S. based company when I'm in Canada?

lisap · January 13, 2009

As I'm still in the process of getting my photography business up and running, I've been slowly trying to order the various products available from SmugMug so I can evaluate the quality and also test out shipping options and such. (Pretty much my whole family received photo related products from SmugMug or Blurb this year for Christmas

)

When my shipments arrive at my 'day job' workplace, of course the people who know me well want to see what I've ordered and how it turned out. Often discussions of SmugMug start up ("what's a SmugMug", etc. etc.) and I explain how the relationship works and how my clients can interact directly with SmugMug, etc. etc. I'm sure you've had all of the same discussions at some point.

Typically I'll be asked why I'm partnering up with a U.S. based company since I'm in Canada and pretty much all of my clients are and will be located in Canada. There's talk about the exchange rate, customs and brokerage fees, shipping charges, etc. etc. I explain how I've been very pleased with the quality of the products I've ordered to date and how customer service seems to be very important to SmugMug and it's also very important to me as well. I tell them about the stories I read on here about services guarantees, however, that I've never experienced SmugMug customer service myself before.....

until now that is......

One of the 5X7 photo panels that I ordered before Christmas arrived with a small chip on the bottom. The others were all fine. It wasn't really big and one of the photo panels was for my husband to take to work for his desk, so I figured...oh well. I'll just give him that one for Christmas and he won't care. His eyes aren't the greatest....he probably won't even notice. He'll just be happy to have a nice picture of his little boy on his desk. LOL

But then I thought...oh well, what the heck and I contacted the help desk to see what they'd have to say about it.

They asked me if I could send a picture of the damage, which I did, and they immediately set out to get me a replacement. It wouldn't arrive before Christmas (and I had no expectation of that anyways), so they suggested I give the damaged one as the gift as planned and exchange it once the replacement came in. Easy enough.

So not very long after Christmas my replacement arrived. It was pretty quick too. I was kind of surprised actually. Really great, simple process, and speedy too!

Then about a week later I got this FedEx invoice. It was for some brokerage type fees. I wasn't really expecting that, because the shipments I had ordered myself didn't come with such an invoice. I figured it must have been the method of shipment they had choosen. Brokerage fees still baffle me at times and I just figure it comes with the territory of cross border shopping.

So I contacted the help desk again to thank them for the speedy replacement and I mentioned this invoice. In case it was the method of shipment, maybe in the future they could use a different method to avoid such extra charges. Well without blinking an eye, Wendee said that I shouldn't have received those charges, they should have been covered and asked me to attach a copy of the invoice to the e-mail. So I did and she wrote back right away and said my credit card would be credited $X.

Well, I thought there must be a mistake because the amount she mentioned wasn't the same as the amount on the invoice. But she assured me there wasn't. She rounded up the amount a bit to cover for the hassles and previous shipment of my defective product as well. :huh

I LOVE SMUGMUG. And I'll find some way to make sure I figure out how to deal with crazy exchange rates and even crazier brokerage fees. How can I not partner up with a company whose customer service focus is the best I've ever had to deal with?! :clap

So when I get those funny looks and get asked the question about why I'm using a U.S. company and not a Canadian company, I'll just tell them.... How can I not!

Thank you Wendee and everyone else on the helpdesk who helped with my issue. :lust

-- Lisa P. (PS: Sorry this was soooooo long)

Andy · January 13, 2009

lisap wrote:

Thank you Wendee and everyone else on the helpdesk who helped with my issue.

-- Lisa P. (PS: Sorry this was soooooo long)

Lisa: thanks for making the whole company's day

We're so lucky to have amazing customers like you who pour your heart and soul into your business and ours.

Thanks for being here!

Wendee · January 13, 2009

lisap wrote:

Thank you Wendee and everyone else on the helpdesk who helped with my issue.

-- Lisa P. (PS: Sorry this was soooooo long)

You're very welcome, Lisa! Really, it was my pleasure. It's so awesome to be helping out folks like yourself, you're the main reason why I LOVE SmugMug too!

~Wendee

Kyle D · January 14, 2009

Well that just sealed the deal! I've been sitting on the fence these past couple of weeks trying to decide whether or not to upgrade to a pro account so that I can start selling photos from my site and have a lot less hassle with tracking down customers and having them pay, etc.

As soon as I get a chance, my fledgling/up-and-coming photography business will be finally upgrading to a pro account!

Thank you Lisa for taking the time to post your experiences. That was one of my major concerns with having people order stuff from the US, but not anymore!

I would also like to thank everyone at SmugMug for doing a great job and running such a wonderful company. In all honesty I've never seen or heard of this level of customer service from any company in all my life. I really look forward to growing my business with you.

Kyle D · January 14, 2009

I made the plunge this evening and upgraded to a pro account and let me tell you, wowsers what a difference! I should have done it along time ago!

Thanks again SmugMug for doing such a great job!

AnneMcBean · January 14, 2009

Kyle D wrote:

I made the plunge this evening and upgraded to a pro account and let me tell you, wowsers what a difference! I should have done it along time ago!

Thanks again SmugMug for doing such a great job!

Woop!

Glad to have you, Kyle.

-Anne

lisap · January 15, 2009

Kyle D wrote:

Thank you Lisa for taking the time to post your experiences. That was one of my major concerns with having people order stuff from the US, but not anymore!

For me, one of my main concerns is quality of products and services. So despite some of the hassles that cross border online shopping can present, at the end of the day, the entire experience is what is important to me. Do I hope that we'll be able to order in Canadian $$ one day? Absolutely! Would I be even happier if there was a lab in Canada that Smugmug used so shipping wasn't cross border? Most definitely! But those types of issues I've found I can usually find ways to work around (unfortunately, that's not always the case for everyone and it can be a real showstopper). Quality and guarantees of products and services aren't things that are easy to 'work around' when they aren't up to par, which is why I've been so impressed with my Smugmug experiences to date.

Oh....and I'm not allowed to go to Henry's alone either.

(I just sneak it in while doing other errands....)

-- Lisa P

Ann McRae · January 15, 2009

lisap wrote:

For me, one of my main concerns is quality of products and services. Quality and guarantees of products and services aren't things that are easy to 'work around' when they aren't up to par, which is why I've been so impressed with my Smugmug experiences to date.

-- Lisa P

And, for me, that is what it is all about. I can/will continue to order through smugmug and deliver to custoemrs when they balk at the 'cross border/USD' thing, because the quality is just soooo good. and I know they have my back!

ann

Kyle D · January 16, 2009

lisap wrote:

For me, one of my main concerns is quality of products and services. So despite some of the hassles that cross border online shopping can present, at the end of the day, the entire experience is what is important to me. Do I hope that we'll be able to order in Canadian $$ one day? Absolutely! Would I be even happier if there was a lab in Canada that Smugmug used so shipping wasn't cross border? Most definitely! But those types of issues I've found I can usually find ways to work around (unfortunately, that's not always the case for everyone and it can be a real showstopper). Quality and guarantees of products and services aren't things that are easy to 'work around' when they aren't up to par, which is why I've been so impressed with my Smugmug experiences to date.

Oh....and I'm not allowed to go to Henry's alone either. (I just sneak it in while doing other errands....)

-- Lisa P

I can't wait until I get my first set of test prints from SmugMug in order to check out the different paper options and there quality. I also came to the realization that these days most people buy stuff from ebay which deals in USD so I figured that it won't be that much of a stretch for them to do it for my photos either.

As for my entering Henry's alone, that's how I ended up with my D50 in one trip and then after a few trips going in alone and coming out with new "friends" my girlfriend decided to make that rule. But what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

I usually tell her I need to go to Home Depot (in the same plaza) or Wal-Mart (across the street) but some how never make it there. I love her to bits but she's doing her best to stop me from spending money on new "friends" for my D50 and trying to get me to save money to pay for tuition and books. Oh, how I loathe University some times, always getting in the way of my getting a D2Hs and an 80-200 f/2.8!

Kyle D · January 16, 2009

Ann McRae wrote:

And, for me, that is what it is all about. I can/will continue to order through smugmug and deliver to custoemrs when they balk at the 'cross border/USD' thing, because the quality is just soooo good. and I know they have my back!

ann

I had never thought of that! Good call and thanks for the idea. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future!

Now this is why I love dgrin and am spending more and more time here.

kdspencer · March 5, 2009

I just saw this thread, and am so glad I did! I have some Canadian clients and wanted to get feedback from others about the experience of having prints shipped up to Canada. I'm really happy with prints shipped to clients in the USA, but have never shipped to Canada yet. (I'm from Canada, but currently live and work in the USA)

Kyle, Lisa, and Anne (and anyone else from Canada...) could you give some detailed feedback on the process? I assume there's a currency exchange, as well as some extra shipping fees, and possibly a delay at the border? Anything you give me will be beneficial, so I can inform my clients of the process.

Oh, and I assume both Bay Photo and EZ Prints ship to Canada?

Thanks!
Kathleen

kdspencer · March 8, 2009

..... anyone???

lisap · March 8, 2009

Sorry for taking so long to reply, Kathleen. I haven't been able to spend much time here the past several weeks so I missed your first post.

Typically when I've received a shipment of photo related items from the U.S. the only extra charges I've had to pay are Canadian Tax related and those are typically C.O.D. The exception to this is UPS.

I've found that UPS ground has proven to be one of the worst ways to ship from the U.S. to Canada as there are pretty much always some unexpected C.O.D. customs and brokerage fees. Now I'll usually pick the more expedited shipping options even if they are a bit higher, as those types of fees are typically 'included'.

I've never had any delay in customs, that I'm aware of, with any of my photography related items.

I hope this helps.

-- Lisa P.

CosmicVoyager · March 10, 2009

I don't sell many prints, and they are mostly to local people in Montreal. I got a Pro account to make it easier for people to buy prints. Recently I wanted to buy some test prints to see the quality, but was surprised at the shipping charges. It was more or less equal to the price of the prints, and along with the (currently horrible) exchange rate made the price per print much higher than I would like (and that's before COD charges). I can order prints from the local photo lab and get them delivered (and paid for) the same day. I'm not knocking SmugMug... it costs what it costs, and I'm sure the quality is great, but if there was a Canadian service that can cut down on the overhead costs that would be super. Right now it is hard for me to recommend buying from SmugMug if it is faster and cheaper for me to handle sales manually.

xris · March 11, 2009

And how about co-branding. IF a Canadian client actually puts aside the exchange rate, the expanded shipping charges and lengthy transit times to actually order something, the products arrives from the U.S. with no mention of the photographer! How can this be?? Some even consider refusing the shipment because they had no idea what a "SmugMug" is!

-Good galleries,

-Great customization,

-Superior, world-class customer service and photo sharing...

-Yet far too complex, expensive, time-consuming and anonymous as a professional front-end...

... for FAR too long!

Ceazar77 · March 16, 2009

I agree that co-branding (with the option of hiding smugmug/the printer entirely) would go a long way to making the service seamless for the customer. The more we can look like an autonomus entity the more we can justify our fees.

atb · April 5, 2009

Hi all,

I am very happy to have found this thread as I am in the process of deciding how to sell my prints on-line. I am mainly in the fine art market at the moment and see 12 x 18 as the smallest size I would offer. Stretched canvas and foam core mounted giclee prints are the main media's I print on. There are two main things are I looking for - Its got to me easy for my customers to order and its got to be easy for me to administer. At the moment I use a local printer. The results are great and I love dealing with small businesses that care, but it requires a lot of my time.

I agree with a number of the posts here - lack of personal branding and coming from the US (shipping, exchange) is an issue. Especially on larger prints. Maybe Smugmug could partner with a Canadian based company and then the options for the Pro account would be EZ, Bay, or xyz Canadian print co. Just a thought.

On another track, has anyone configured their Smugmug site for their own shopping cart using paypal or similar? I was thinking of building a Wordress page off my blog to do this.

With all that being said, the customer service at Smugmug is great. It is the reason I chose to host here. Thanks!

Cheers...Andrew
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Why do I use a U.S. based company when I'm in Canada?

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