OK I just ordered a site from Blu Domain last Thursday, got an email saying they were going to send me the "link" to their website so I can start my website. After 4 days, still nothing, I emailed them 4 times in the last 3 days requesting phone calls.. etc. etc. still nothing!
I am ready to just call my credit card company and dispute the order ! Anyone else have these problems at this severity and not even get their site after paying for it?

( I did see some of the other forums on Blu)

UPDATE
Just emailed them for the 5th time.. being very polite about it.. and telling them I love their templates etc. etc. But I need to see the product that I was promised. I told them that if it wasn't here in the next day I would have to dispute it.. ( I can't wait I need the site up in the next week, I also need the customer service to be better and quicker).. I am going back to work and won't have time) I just finally got an email back.. ( I used the "high priority email" on their site) Aundrea from Blu Domain claims to have emailed it to my email address but I haven't received it yet. (triple checked my trash, spam filters) She just said she was going to try another email..Still nothing.. Honestly I know the cost is alot cheaper.. but now I am doubting and may not want to deal with this service.. They had no problem taking my money and contract, but they can't email me a link to a site? or even ask me if I got it yet... like a follow up?sad.gif

I'm guessing it's their growing pains.

Sigh.. its such a shame.. I love their templates. I guess I will give them until tonight then dispute the charge.. I need to have this up by next Monday..

LOL!

is it that bad? lol

I just signed on to bludomain as well. I'm very happy with my template, but it did take several follow-ups on my part to "get the ball rolling." They lost my details several times, I had to email them with a history of correspondences before anything happened. I had also requested for a phone call, which never took place. I felt that one phone call would have answered my questions and put a rest to my fears.

It took them 3 weeks for them to send me my admin link, from the time I had faxed in my contract. In my mind, I said I'd give them a month but they finally delivered. So far, now that the template is uploaded - the customer service has been very prompt and courteous. One of the reasons I stuck it out is because I can't really afford big folio or livebooks at this point and blu domain was in my budget. I was able to get one of those $800 templates for $400 deals. If I had paid full price, I'd probably be a lot more upset.

Auey

I have the oposite problem...we have been up and running for a few weeks and havent yet paid!! Maybe your payment went to my account!

Howdy OSP! I joined some time ago, but just started visiting again. I like the feeling here!

As to BD, we have two templates and I have not found any other source that delivers as nice a template at any price, and BD is very affordable.

Their customer service is their weak spot.

The key to getting along with them is to be persistent and be polite.

All the best,

Aj

Really? I thought maybe I was supposed to pay only AFTER the website went live. I haven't paid yet either but I thought that was part of the process. I'll get in touch with them immediately. Weird.

Wow, I have had no problems with their customer service at all. Quite the opposite. It was less that 24 hours from when I faxed a signed contract in to having everything I needed.

I even had a problem with my original domain name and had to request special sttuff from Blu and we had e-mails back and forth, sometimes as many as four in forty minutes.

I heard things about their service and debated going with them but I got to tell ya it's been great so far.

Take care,
Sarah

Just emailed them for the 5th time.. being very polite about it.. and telling them I love their templates etc. etc. But I need to see the product that I was promised. I told them that if it wasn't here in the next day I would have to dispute it.. ( I can't wait I need the site up in the next week, I also need the customer service to be better and quicker).. I am going back to work and won't have time) I just finally got an email back.. ( I used the "high priority email" on their site) Aundrea from Blu Domain claims to have emailed it to my email address but I haven't received it yet. (triple checked my trash, spam filters) She just said she was going to try another email..Still nothing.. Honestly I know the cost is alot cheaper.. but now I am doubting and may not want to deal with this service.. They had no problem taking my money and contract, but they can't email me a link to a site? or even ask me if I got it yet... like a follow up?thats ridiclous.. why should you have to wait that long? I can understand about the templates they are good.. but still its soooo frustrating !!!!!! I am getting so nuts..

I've gotten that line as well - that they had already emailed me and instructed me to please check my spam filter. But like you, I also didn't find anything in my mailbox. I've read on previous posts that they have major email problems, and I'm guessing their server problems are affecting their outgoing mail as well?

Mid-stream through the process, I decided not to host my website with them, and went with godaddy.com instead. I had major worries about their hosting and email.

I really hope that they attend to you immediately. I had a little bit more time to wait it out, before backing out of the contract. It's odd how mixed their client feedback is.

REally.. damn I am getting nervous.. I should def. dispute this.. How did you back out? I mean if they don't follow through with their services you are not liable..?

Sorry if I wasn't clear - I didn't back out. I waited it out, but it took 3 weeks of constant emailing and following-up. I also cc'ed Kailee Ann a lot on the emails because she was my initial point of contact. She was more diligent about emailing but my guess is that she's a frontliner and doesn't have control of the tech issues like uploading the actual site.

UGh thats a long time 3 weeks.. thats nuts.. I think If i don't get it by tommorow I am disputing it. I wish I had more time.. but I am just not patient enough to email these people everyday.. Its starting to get exhausting.. thanks for the input.

Thursday? And this is Monday? Even if you mean a week ago last Thursday, it still takes some time for them to install a site - and there may be a few people in front of you. They also had some problems before when they were adding server space.

Just because it's an online service doesn't mean it can be instantaneous.

If you need something by Monday, start on your blog.

If they could tell me this.. that would be great.. I just don't get why they told me Friday.. and then didn't promise it..THen the head person over there keeps on claiming they " sent it to me"
I mean communication is the issue here.. If they were like oh yeah we are having problems.. totally understandable but they don't respond or tell you what is going on.. that is what is frustrating.. even if they told me it would take a week.. but they told me one day.. and nothing..

DANG! For once I agree with JKantor....

give it time, but be presistant with them. The are REALLY backed up. We have a site with them, and they host, and all is well. In this fast paced world, waiting a few days will not hurt. Hang in there and good luck!

yeah, they ARE slow, but they are WELL worth the wait!

Hang in there.

Stick w/ 'em. They are crazy busy but it's worth it. Have patience. Be persistence. Your website will look FABULOUS after all the wait I promise!

When I got my website with them, it was a pretty quich process. I say give them some time because it will be worth it!

supposedly by september 1 they are going to be all caught up and i think they said they had hired more people to help with their growing pains - they are launching new templates as well.

i always get my problems taken care of but some times it takes a few days - remember they dont work over the weekend. have you seen their launched list? its quite big - they are super busy!

i got my admin link a few days after i sent in the contract. when i sent in a request to go live... they had me up and running within a day!

but even then, they do have a note up somewhere about the timing for launching a site, etc. You're launching a site by monday?! wow! it took me 2 months...

and i barely slept!

good luck. i'd say don't give up on them just yet. and i got some of their emails in my spam folder. they don't come from Aundrea or Kailee they come from Marlene. at least, mine did!

also, there is a questionnaire they make you fill out before they send the template to you. did you get that?!

I had a similar problem. I wasn't hosting with them but the questionaire that they sent kept getting cut off, so instead of getting a long list of important questions I kept getting a short list of questions that didn't provide all the information they needed to set up the site.

The service was HORRIBLE, but one I received the template I didn't have any other problems. Stay on them and good luck.

Ryan

Hey guys after all those emails I finally got the ADMIN link this morning.. Now I can't log in.. tried to generate a password.. Not working.. just emailed them again..I didn't fill out any questionaire

I suggest always using the customer service ticket system on the blusupport.com website. That worked faster for me, and they always got back to me within the day when I used that. Just label it as very urgent every time. As I said, the customer service got SO MUCH BETTER after I had the actual admin link - both Wade and Harold are very prompt about replying and responding to customer requests. At least, this has been my experience in the past two weeks.

I agree. Within an hour of submitting a ticket online my problem was solved. Blu is totally worth the wait... They are expierencing some major growing pains, but should have it together again in a little while.

Awesome.. thanks for the advice.. I just did that.. I am just happy I got the ADMIN link. You were all right persistence is the key with this company.

We recently started up with Blu - had some problems but, we were honestly pretty persistant with them. I ended up getting in contact with Harald, who did a pretty good job of getting our problem resolved in good time. Don't be afraid to call and email repeatedly. Request phone calls through their support system - I think Harald handles this area.
I think they're juggling so many clients that it's hard for them to keep us straight (unfortunately.) BUT, I'm pretty sure they will get this resolved for you, as soon as they can.

Ok I am in finally.. Thanks for the advice from everyone..
1. Persistence is the key
2. sending urgent emails
3. and emailing them constantly..
My friend who just ordered a site from them is having the same problem now.. I am going to let her know..
I hope they hire more people over there..

we have actually emailed them several times about this and have heard nothing back! I agree with the growing pains comment. It ALWAYS is hard to grow!!!

I'm having them do a site for me. I called them when they missed a blog post and got an $800 template for $400. I'm in no hurry, so let's see how long this takes....

Honestly, our biz is all about customer service, right?

not really - that is not the way to go - sending urgent emails when it is not an urgent matter could result in them 'temporarily' ignoring your email. you really should only use the 'urgent' request when it really is urgent, like when your site is malfunctioning or using hte 911 option when your site is totally down.

it took them over 3 months to cash my check... (you're probably saying 'who pays with check these days'... but money is money)i was constantly in contact asking them when they were going to cash it and aundrea said a few times that their accountant was sick! do they even have an accountant?so...needless to say when i'm ready for a new site i'm not going with BD!

don't know if you ever got the password or not. but it's "bludomain"

then you can change it.

I am FLOORED that anyone considers this to be acceptable. Seriously. If anyone here were to read a post like this on the Knot about a photographer, we'd all be outraged and appalled and the photographer in question would be CRUCIFIED.

I am just baffled that this behavior is not just tolerated, but justified.

Karen

+1

I *heart* Karen...you just have to respect someone who speak her mind regardless of the status quo. Plus, the responses are quite fun to read.

That being said I stuck with Blu, and I'm keeping my mouth shut because everything is working right now.

At this point.. I looked at other Domains.. and they are not to my liking.. It sucks about the customer service.. but now everything is working properly. I have to be honest, I can't afford a more expensive site, their templates are better than bigfolio and creative designs..I think they know it..
You are right if I was searching for a photographer on the knot and found that review.. I would not touch them with a 10 ft. pole

Lack of communication shouldn't be tolerated - but unrealistic expectations shouldn't be either.

Of course, the irony of this business is that a second-rate photographer who gets the pictures back immediately gets better recommendations than a great photographer who takes a lot longer.

Floyd, I guess I look at it this way... Blu is far from status-quo... they keep coming out with some dynamite website templates and they're going through some major growing pains right now because of their popularity.

Despite Blu's high level of activity right now, I received my newest template within 24 hours of requesting it... and my new site went live the VERY day I asked for it to go live. Can't ask for better service than that.

My loyalty to Blu has absolutely nothing to do with "justifying bad customer service", but it's got EVERYTHING to do with having received EXCELLENT customer service from Blu at multiple times throughout four years and three websites with them.

So to the nay-sayers who jump up and down like they're the customer service police for website developers, I'd say OK... if they've found a better company that floats their boat, then go for it. But if they feel so empowered to harp about Blu every chance they get, I say... gosh, go out and take some pictures!!!

FWIW Floyd, I think you're doing the right thing by sticking with Blu... as long as YOU are happy with them. Because that's all that really counts... what YOU think. Just about everything else you read here -- including this post as well -- is going to be biased somewhat by each individual's experience.

Best of luck!
David

i really really hope that any of the 'blu bashers' never have a business faux pas of their own - how sad is it that a company has had a few problems and just cannot seem to live them down in the land of the perfect people who never make mistakes or do wrong, or make wrong decisions or piss of a customer.

Please keep in mind - My experience and others goes WAY BEYOND any minor customer service issues. I have never been treated so rudly in my life. I have no problem showing anyone the deplorable unacceptable e-mails I have received from them. Mouths have it the floor reading what they said to me. It wasn't a minor situation. My website didn't always load properly - the flash pre-loader would just spin. I also have video of this over several months of it happening. I had to video it to try to get them to believe me it was happening. It was never fixed, My site was never moved to my server as I requested multiple times for almost a year. Months went by without responses. The responses I got were mumbled garbage.. which made no sense. I finally gave up They also never even responded to my BBB complaint. In the end Harold was helpful but where was he the YEAR I had issues and was trying to get help? I had requested to speak to him many times. I have another MAJOR issue that I can't post publicly - which was the worst. I only post things where I have documented proof on what happened.

If you got great service from them - terrific. I'm glad your happy... I'm glad it worked out and that you didn't have to deal with what I had to. But please keep in mind some of the issues some of us have had have been beyond a simple few extra days to respond to an e-mail.

eeee gads. sorry i didnt realize it was that bad for you.

You can read this post http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index...p;hl=blu+domain for my whole situation.

thank you sandra!

Couldn't have wrote it any better.

Blu continues to be a disappointment!! I ordered my first site from them at the very end of 2007 and ordered a gift card at the same time to get any site I wanted within the next year. I got my first site template with no problems and very quickly. However, when I requested to go live it took them a month and a half! I was emailing them twice a week during that time. Now I have requested new site with the gift card that I bought and I'm not getting anywhere. First, I had to argue with Harold that they owed me a site. Then I was told they were working on it. Now, I've talked to Aundrea and she's telling me that they have nothing for me. She told me twice that she will look into it and I hear nothing from her. I've emailed them countless times. This has been going on since Nov, 12. I would not be TRYING ordering another Blu Domain site if I didn't have the gift card. I will never order another site from them. I am treated rudely, ignored and given the runaway every time I deal with them. I'd heard mixed reviews about them before I ordered my original site. Too bad I didn't take the warnings so many others had given about their customer service. Great product, but what good is it if you can't get it or go insane trying to get what you are promised and paid for.