SmugMug - Will they ever come into the 21st century?

Next month I will have been with SmugMug 3 years, and this year I doubt that I will be staying with them due to the fact that they seem to be stuck in the 20th century!!

I have been asking for the last two years when they will change their charging policies to fit more into the international communities that they allegedly support ie. I'd like my customers to be able to pay in UK£ not dollars, as I am losing loads of sales as the Brits just don't want to have to pay so much more for their pictures.... Not only is the postage costs from the US to the UK quite a bit more than normal UK postage costs my customers are also collared with a crap exchange rate and an admin fee for paying in a "foreign" currency. In the present climate and struggling to make ends meet as a pro photographer every sale helps keep me afloat..... Other US companies don't seem to have the same problem, you can pay in £'s, the printing is done over here plus the customer does not get the crap exchange or currency fees....... It also does not make any business sense at all, as the more sales they get from our work the more of a cut they get on the sales, which is on top of the $150 subscription rate that they charge each year....

I have asked on several occasions when they will be changing, and there answer of "we're thinking about it" just does not hold up anymore especially after two years of asking....

Anyone else come across this problem and asked them if they will be changing? or are they just an anti everyone else other than US citizens company who really don't give a crap about the rest of the World??

Rob

Example for a basic small print (4x5.3) to the UK.
Items: 1
Subtotal: $0.21
Shipping: $5.90
Tax (estimated): $0.00
Total (estimated USD): $6.11
Plus an additional cost of about $2.5 dollars for making an overseas payment on your CC, and not forgetting the iffy exchange rate when they convert it to UK£.. I doubt anyone on here would pay 9-10 dollars for a 4x5.3 print!!!

Not sure your complaint is all that valid. A single 4x5 print from my Zenfolio account will cost you $7.65 to be shipped here in the US. If somebody really wants the image, they will buy it....I find that most of my customers aren't looking for little prints....I seldom see many sales for stuff smaller than 11x14 or 12x15. Buying a single small item is going to clobber you with fees, regardless of the vendor and regardless of your location. I always try to order prints in quantity minimize the impact of the fees.

A UK print lab has been our #1 requested feature for some time now

http://feedback.smugmu​g.com/forums/17723-smugmug

We listen to our customers and love our international pros. Like most companies we don't publicly announce what we're working on. It is pretty hard to ignore a #1 requested feature, right? If and when we announce a European lab we will be sure to let our international pros know about it.

-Zac
SmugMug

You have missed the main point of ny problem Zac...... when are my customers going to be able to pay in UK£ and not $'s or are you avoiding that question??

The print price was just an example and l would not expect anyone to just buy 1 print if that size.......

ZacW wrote in post #11747957
A UK print lab has been o ur #1 requested feature for some time now

http://feedback.smugmu​g.com/forums/17723-smugmug

We listen to our customers and love our international pros. Like most companies we don't publicly announce what we're working on. It is pretty hard to ignore a #1 requested feature, right? If and when we announce a European lab we will be sure to let our international pros know about it.

-Zac
SmugMug

ZacW wrote in post #11747957
A UK print lab has been o ur #1 requested feature for some time now

http://feedback.smugmu​g.com/forums/17723-smugmug

We listen to our customers and love our international pros. Like most companies we don't publicly announce what we're working on. It is pretty hard to ignore a #1 requested feature, right? If and when we announce a European lab we will be sure to let our international pros know about it.

-Zac
SmugMug

Ah, another company with their "ear to the ground"!

Robuk wrote in post #11748151
You have missed the main point of ny problem Zac...... when are my customers going to be able to pay in UK£ and not $'s or are you avoiding that question??

The print price was just an example and l would not expect anyone to just buy 1 print if that size.......

IF we rolled out a European lab, pricing in £ would come along with it . Sorry I didn't address that point in my first post.

Thats one BIG IF in both of your posts, if you don't mind me saying.......

I also note the thread on your site, and it seems I'm not the only disillusioned customer of your services http://feedback.smugmu​g.com …ide-timely-a?ref=comments ..... and it seems to me that you have all been brainwashed to give out the same rehearsed answer when this question comes up, as what you said above, is almost the same word for word, as Andy Williams said on the above link, and copied below.....

@Steve Petty I don't think you can know anything about what we're working on We don't announce in public everything that we're working on. It's pretty hard to ignore a #1 feature request, right? We love our international pros, and we want your business and your customer's business too. Your acting like a third World dictatorship, not an International company by stating that you don't announce everything, and If it was on the cards to be done in the future, and I was your CEO I would be telling the World as it would be a fantastic selling point to your overseas users.

I'm not anti American by a very long way, but this problem has been questioned by myself on several occasions over the last two years, with the same old wait and see replies, so what makes you think I or the other complainants will believe anything you or your company say as I have lost any trust I had in your company and the longer this situation goes on, the more your customers will desert you in droves, me included.

I don't want your Love, I want a company that is committed to go forward with me to further my business, and the way SmugMug is carrying on, gives me very little faith that this will happen.

ZacW wrote in post #11747957
If and when we announce a European lab we will be sure to let our international pros know about it.

-Zac
SmugMug

ZacW wrote in post #11748283
IF we rolled out a European lab, pricing in £ would come along with it . Sorry I didn't address that point in my first post.

Andy is my dad, so yeah

I wish I had a better answer/response for you Robuk! The best I can tell you is to stay tuned.

ZacW wrote in post #11749664
Andy is my dad, so yeah

I wish I had a better answer/response for you Robuk! The best I can tell you is to stay tuned.

Zac, you have 28 days before I shut my SmugMug Pro account and go to Zenfolio, if something isn't done, so you'd better get that tuner working overtime........

Robuk wrote in post #11749798
Zac, you have 28 days before I shut my SmugMug Pro account and go to Zenfolio, if something isn't done, so you'd better get that tuner working overtime........

Hi! I wish I could operate on your timeline and not ours

I meant what I said on our feedback forum site - it's rather hard for us to ignore a #1 feature request. But we are private, and we do have competitors. So we don't publicly pre-announce everything that we're working on.

This is hugely important to us. And such relationships and technology don't get implemented overnight. I can tell you that since day one of that feature request I've been living and breathing this! I'm always available at http://smugmug.com/hel​p/emailreal ATTN: Andy

Thanks,

Andy
COO, SmugMug

Robuk wrote in post #11749539
I don't want your Love, I want a company that is committed to go forward with me to further my business, and the way SmugMug is carrying on, gives me very little faith that this will happen.

Sadly, SM makes many such "mistakes" (errors in judgment might be a better term).

I spent some time customizing my site to get it the way I want, but now I need to be constantly watching because every time SM rolls out a new feature they have a nasty habit of turning it "on" by default and changing the way my site looks and operates. They take the exact opposite approach with new products, so the "jam it down your throat" feature mentality is a bit mystifying.

It also irks me that sometimes these new features/options become the default (like square thumbnails) with no way of reverting back to the "original" as a default setting. Instead I have to manually change every gallery after it's been created.

No company is perfect, but on balance I've (for now) decided that SM wins in the pain vs. gain comparison. In your shoes (currency and lab issues) I don't know that I would have come to the same conclusion.

There ARE other options that will meet your currency needs... of course you will have to pay subscription rates of over US$400/yr for services which are generally far inferior to SmugMug.

I'd just take a deep breath, and hold on. My experience with SmugMug is that they always seem to be adding "something", and my guess, like Apple, is that they will spring the multi-currency options on us without notice....and make a BUNCH of people happy.

I can fully understand their secrecy on development. No sense giving away the cookies to your competitors before you actually produce the cookie jar.

mbellot wrote in post #11755246
Sadly, SM makes many such "mistakes" (errors in judgment might be a better term).

I spent some time customizing my site to get it the way I want, but now I need to be constantly watching because every time SM rolls out a new feature they have a nasty habit of turning it "on" by default and changing the way my site looks and operates. They take the exact opposite approach with new products, so the "jam it down your throat" feature mentality is a bit mystifying.

We don't do this anymore any haven't - can't you name a specific feature that has burnt you in this manner in the past year? I'd love to know, so we can improve.

You have the option of setting thumbs to square or original in your gallery settings - your choice. And you can set a template (quicksetting) that can be used when you create new galleries.

If you have more questions on this, send us an email, we'd love to help http://smugmug.com/hel​p/emailreal thanks!

Another month and a half gone and still nothing from their royal highnesses in NY......... Now I am really believing what others say, that you are racist towards everyone bar Americans, as I can see no reason whatsoever for your failure to get your fingers out of your butts and implement well overdue failures in your business.......

Great way to run an international business when you completely ignore the wishes of all your international clients!!!!

Even more comments on smugmugs site http://feedback.smugmu​g.com …ide-timely-a?ref=comments Score out of 10 for your continued art of keeping customers happy....... -10

I would advise anyone who is outside the US not to join this site, and then maybe they will eventually wake up!!!!!

After they lost one of the only vidoes I had of my father, yeah they are pretty bad.

I've been a memeber for 7.5 years (October 2003), and asked about how to recover the video, which was uploaded in 2004 when their first started doing video. They told me they could not recover it and something might have happened in the transition to their new video system. These clowns did not even bother to apologize.

I had two copies, one on a CD that I can no longer read and one online with them. I expected that since I paid them, they would be professional enough to maintain it, or at least send out an email warning about the video migration several years ago. Well, I thought wrong and paid a dear price for it.


For many things they are OK. However, putting the customer first, I just don't see it in my 7.5 year history with them. Granted, I am one data point, but after my dealings with them, I would have to overall say AVOID.