The following article was originally written for the Ruby Lane forums. However many of the tips offered can be used when communicating with virtually any company's Customer Support desk. Employing some of these tools are likely to make your next experience with a customer support representative (from an airline to your local cable company) more successful:

It isn't unusual for Ruby Lane's Customer Support specialists to receive email that will read something like these examples:

(1.) - "I've been trying to modify this item in my shop for the past hour and can't. Why? I need help NOW."

and

(2.) - "Hi, I contacted a customer about her purchase but I don't think she ever got my email about the cost of shipping. What do I do?"
(Note: Often shop owners will structure a question like this even if they have 10 or more purchases pending from 10 different customers.)

When shop owners contact us with questions like these a few questions of our own come to mind that must be answered before assistance can be given:

For email number one -

[*]Which item are you having trouble modifying and what is its ID number?

[*]What seems to be the nature of the problem, i.e. what is it that you are trying to change in the listing?

[*]Are you getting an error message? If so, what does it say - exactly?

For email number two -

[*]To which purchase order and customer are you referring?

[*]When was the purchase order placed and when did you reply to it?

[*]Why do you believe the customer did not receive your reply?

A solution to a problem, like a recipe for a favorite dish, may contain many ingredients. Until all the ingredients are gathered, you can't expect to obtain the desired result. A shop owner needs to be sure to give us adequate information and supply basic background details in the very first message they send us. What we need are any essential basic elements that will help to frame the issue.

You can expect any member of our customer support staff to always be helpful and professional when processing any correspondence you send, but if you also want them to be able to reply quickly and with accuracy, be sure to explain the exact nature of the problem. This means when you contact us be sure to give full information in your initial email, such as item numbers, dates, the text relayed in any error messages, or anything else related to your inquiry which we may need to know.

Permission Denied
Ruby Lane uses a sophisticated email tracking, assignment and ticketing system. Once a ticket has been opened for you and we respond to your question, you can and should use the reply feature of your email program if you need further help with the same subject. One problem we occasionally encounter is that though a shop has a singular email address and that shop's owner has initiated contact with us through that email address, after receiving a reply from us they then attempt to write back again from a different email address. This will not work. If you try to reply to a correspondence from Ruby Lane and get a message back that says "Permission denied", check to make sure the email address you've written from is the same as the one from which you initiated contact.

Also, though we do ask that you give us adequate information and supply basic background details during your initial contact, a 'Permission denied' message can result if attempting to send too much information through the contact page on site. The email contact page is limited as to the number of characters so please do not attempt to copy and paste into it all details that you may feel relative to a problem. Trying to send to us through a site contact page, for instance, all customer correspondence related to a transaction dispute would be too much initial information. After we have set up correspondence for you with a Customer Support representative, if they require that type of additional information they will request it to be forwarded to them later.

Sending Multiple Messages on the Same Topic
Our customer support staff makes every effort to reply to questions received by the end of the next business day - much sooner whenever possible. We ask that shop owners refrain from asking the same question more than once, as this does not help to speed the process. We also ask that you try to be patient if awaiting a resolution to a problem. We know how hard it can sometimes be to remain good natured when you are feeling frustrated, for whatever reason, but maintaining a professional demeanor in all correspondence is highly recommended, and much appreciated.

Other Options
There are a variety of ways for a shop owner to get help that are accessible on the site which do not require the small delays that might be encountered for email contact. These include the Ruby Lane FAQ Knowledge Base, Forum boards, Help Tutorial Videos, and the Selling Successfully page, where the Shop Handbook section can be found. Before asking a question via email you might check to see what these other options may have to offer in the way of information. Reviewing these before a problem actually presents itself can also assist in helping a shop owner to know what is likely to be the best and most expedient way to handle an event when it occurs.

For more information about the many ways you can find help for an issue you might be experiencing or to find the answer to a question you might have, see the Shop Handbook article, "Getting Help:Contacting Us":