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Trail Permit Purchase Screwup


revrnd

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4 minutes ago, grover_yyz said:

I see them almost everyday and i shake my head in disappointment.

I was given the task of managing one like that. It took two years to clean everything up. When finished all cables were labeled at both ends and catalogued, colour coded and the right length. If you needed a 2 ft cable it was, a 4 ft cable it was. Same with the power cords. Colour coded and just the right length.

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1 hour ago, bbakernbay said:

Update from OFSC

12903884-440C-413C-A5F8-5C3C54170054.png

My friend's email account got the same message as an email. No sign of it on my account.

 

My brother's exchange w/ the OFSC yesterday:

 

Quote

I tried to purchase 2 permits for my 2 sleds tonight. I ran into servor error 524 and wasnt able to complete my purchase. When I checked on My sleds/my page it did not show any permits having been purchased. I re tried to purchase and was able to purchase 1 permit for my 2006 gsx 500ss (VIN #) but when I tried to purchase 1 permit for my 2007 mxz 500ss (VIN #) it told me that there were no permits available to purchase for this sled. Please help me resolve this issue

The OFSC response:

Quote

Thanks for your email.

Your permit purchase did go through, but I can see that you were charged more than once. I am sorry about that. There was a glitch in the system.

I am taking your information to the Accounting Department, and we will get you a refund for the extra charges.

We will be in touch.

 

Other than my friend's Visa account being charged, I have no idea if a permit was actually purchased as of now.

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They now say they will extend time to purchase the lower cost permits by as much time as system is down

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5 minutes ago, capster59 said:

They now say they will extend time to purchase the lower cost permits by as much time as system is down

That's fine & dandy, but what about the issue of folks that were partway thru a transaction?

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2 hours ago, revrnd said:

That's fine & dandy, but what about the issue of folks that were partway thru a transaction?

Guess you will have to figure out if they billed the credit card or not. Hopefully you will be able to log back in, once the system is fixed and see the status on the trail permits you bought.

I have always wondered why the OFSC doesn't just use the MTO site for permits. They have to approve everything anyway's and their system seems to be reliable.  Be nice if we could pick up permits in person at any Ontario drivers license office too, for people that aren't computer savy. Maybe next year.

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3 hours ago, The Groomer Guy said:

I know it's sad.   So much negativity.    Today I replied to a post on facebook,  It was to give information to everyone that had commented, it was a good normal reply almost like what a PR guy would do for a company and this dude goes nuts on me.  I was like WTF?    

More on the snow they said, make budget cuts they said. Etc etc etc.....

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It would be nice to be able to get a permit from Service Ontario along with the val tag however the val tag for a sled is the same as the val tag for a vehicle. There are huge numbers of them every year. There are in comparison very limited numbers of trail permits. If you think it's tough to estimate server demand to process trail permit orders imagine having to properly estimate the number of trail permits to have on hand at each and every Service Ontario office across the province and make sure you don't run out. Imagine the backlash if you actually traveled to the Service Ontario office and they were unable to sell you a permit because they had run out. Perhaps the guy in front of you just got the last one.... or you wanted two and they only had one left.

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It would also be nice to only be charged once for the process/mailing fee since when I buy 2 permits they put them in the same envelope.  Either way my 2 permits just arrived in the mail.  Ordered October 26th, email from them saying shipped on Monday arrived today.

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17 minutes ago, GibsonNytro said:

It would also be nice to only be charged once for the process/mailing fee since when I buy 2 permits they put them in the same envelope.  Either way my 2 permits just arrived in the mail.  Ordered October 26th, email from them saying shipped on Monday arrived today.

The $7.50 isn't just for postage. It covers all the operating expenses of the business doing the processing. They have to pay for the building, utilities, taxes, staffing including HR, accountants, payroll processing, insurance, taxes, labour (including labour overhead - WSIB, EI, CPP and so much more)

 

Hire a lot of services and there will be a call fee just to get them there then you will be over $100 / hour on the job. That covers all that background stuff you don't see as well as the labour. I am sure the plumber / electrician would love to be able to put the whole amount in their own pocket.

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8 minutes ago, 02Sled said:

The $7.50 isn't just for postage. It covers all the operating expenses of the business doing the processing. They have to pay for the building, utilities, taxes, staffing including HR, accountants, payroll processing, insurance, taxes, labour (including labour overhead - WSIB, EI, CPP and so much more)

 

Hire a lot of services and there will be a call fee just to get them there then you will be over $100 / hour on the job. That covers all that background stuff you don't see as well as the labour. I am sure the plumber / electrician would love to be able to put the whole amount in their own pocket.

And I presume the 2% (or thereabouts) credit card fee which is significant component of the $7.50 fee.

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I sure am glad I ordered our three and my brother's passes as soon as they went on sale.No worries no waiting,got them in 4 days. For those that are on the fence the deal is still on so hop on cuz winter is coming.

Kerry

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3 hours ago, bbakernbay said:

And I presume the 2% (or thereabouts) credit card fee which is significant component of the $7.50 fee.

Yup for sure 2 percent (pos) on every permit sold that adds up big time.

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4 minutes ago, gobills said:

Yup for sure 2 percent (pos) on every permit sold that adds up big time.

They all have variable rates these days dependent on the actual card and the rewards program tied to it. The retailer has no idea what the rate is from one to the next. The big retailers can negotiate preferred rates but the small guy can't. One of the reasons many don't take Amex is they charge the highest rate of all the cards.

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17 minutes ago, 02Sled said:

They all have variable rates these days dependent on the actual card and the rewards program tied to it. The retailer has no idea what the rate is from one to the next. The big retailers can negotiate preferred rates but the small guy can't. One of the reasons many don't take Amex is they charge the highest rate of all the cards.

Ok so average it out to what 1 to 1.2 percent that's still a lot since every person pays with a credit card.

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40 minutes ago, gobills said:

Ok so average it out to what 1 to 1.2 percent that's still a lot since every person pays with a credit card.

Not denying it. The point is that it may well be more than 2%

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14 minutes ago, 02Sled said:

Not denying it. The point is that it may well be more than 2%

Yes and the Clubs previously had to eat that, I recall we were reimbursing our Sellers 3.5% which was significant.

 

The Club Volunteers sure don't miss reconciling and inputting all those permits either.  That was an additional cost as well to some Clubs.

 

Anyone have an idea as to how many permits sold to date?

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2 hours ago, 02Sled said:

They all have variable rates these days dependent on the actual card and the rewards program tied to it. The retailer has no idea what the rate is from one to the next. The big retailers can negotiate preferred rates but the small guy can't. One of the reasons many don't take Amex is they charge the highest rate of all the cards.

If you don't know what your charge back  credit card rates are you better do some better planning,  not a big deal to set up if you do your home work??

15 years with a machine and running permits when we could, the math was easy,

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10 hours ago, The Groomer Guy said:

I know it's sad.   So much negativity.    Today I replied to a post on facebook,  It was to give information to everyone that had commented, it was a good normal reply almost like what a PR guy would do for a company and this dude goes nuts on me.  I was like WTF?    

 

The OFSC should not be posting this situation on Facebook. Social media seems to be the place where folks will vent. Lets hope the learn from this and not set themselves up to get ripped in public. 

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14 minutes ago, Reved said:

 

The OFSC should not be posting this situation on Facebook. Social media seems to be the place where folks will vent. Lets hope the learn from this and not set themselves up to get ripped in public. 

I don't agree, when your system crashes like this it creates mass confusion and frustration and customers want to know ASAP what is happening.  Facebook gets the word out quick.

 

First get the word out quickly, explain the situation and take your lumps.  I believe you can setup your FB page not to accept comments but I stand to be corrected.

 

As frustrating and embarrassing as this was they seem to have corrected the issues in a reasonable time and with a good decision to extend the buying window so as to minimize the PR damage.

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3 minutes ago, bbakernbay said:

I don't agree, when your system crashes like this it creates mass confusion and frustration and customers want to know ASAP what is happening.  Facebook gets the word out quick.

 

First get the word out quickly, explain the situation and take your lumps.  I believe you can setup your FB page not to accept comments but I stand to be corrected.

 

As frustrating and embarrassing as this was they seem to have corrected the issues in a reasonable time and with a good decision to extend the buying window so as to minimize the PR damage.

 

This could have been handled on their web site. The word would have been out because the customer comes to the site to purchase the permit.  Successful busnisses don't let mass negative feedback to be posted. Posting an apology/updates for technical difuculties is great but allowing the feedback should be reconsider in the future. IMO

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7 minutes ago, bbakernbay said:

I don't agree, when your system crashes like this it creates mass confusion and frustration and customers want to know ASAP what is happening.  Facebook gets the word out quick.

 

First get the word out quickly, explain the situation and take your lumps.  I believe you can setup your FB page not to accept comments but I stand to be corrected.

 

As frustrating and embarrassing as this was they seem to have corrected the issues in a reasonable time and with a good decision to extend the buying window so as to minimize the PR damage.

A page or group can be set up so that posts have to be approved before they're visible.

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1 hour ago, Owls Nest Lodge said:

If you don't know what your charge back  credit card rates are you better do some better planning,  not a big deal to set up if you do your home work??

15 years with a machine and running permits when we could, the math was easy,

Retailers would love to have it a standard rate but with so many rewards programs tied to the cards it's impossible I get cash back on my Visa card . Others get you travel rewards, new vehicle discounts and so many other variables. Then there are the large volume retailers who get a lower rate than the small guys. Having all cards at the same rate for all retailers will just never happen 

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I wish this was my biggest problem...fb is soapbox for blowhearts....we will sled...

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7 hours ago, Reved said:

 

The OFSC should not be posting this situation on Facebook. Social media seems to be the place where folks will vent. Lets hope the learn from this and not set themselves up to get ripped in public. 

Marketing.......

 

Meantime, while you are waiting to determine the outcome of your purchase, whether the deadline will be extended, has your credit card info been hacked.....etc.........nominate someone or yourself.....

 

Who is our most vibrant, inspiring, dynamic Ontario  snowmobiler? Represent us in Zoomer magazine!   We're always looking for ways to celebrate snowmobiling in Ontario. That's why when we were  approached by Zoomer magazine to find the ultimate  Zoomer to feature in their pages, we just couldn't say  no..

 

http://www.everythingzoomer.com/zoomer-tenth-anniversary/

 

The lucky winner gets an article written about them. No cash, no prizes, no sled passes.

 

Groomer Guy is ineligible.....not old enough.

 

 

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4 hours ago, white dragon said:

I wish this was my biggest problem...fb is soapbox for blowhearts....we will sled...

Thank goodness you are okay. When the news of that big firey accident on highway 400 came out yesterday, remembered the big multiple crash you were in - was it last year? Pictures were pretty bad. Thought coulda been like the couple that escaped the shooter in Las Vegas only to be killed later in a car crash.....Then I thought of my other second hand smoke buddy Nunz...but he doesn't drive that far south.....usually......

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