Work experience kids on Langtons website?

[Polymer]

When it comes to software development, sometimes you get less than what you pay for, but you will never, ever get more than what you pay for.

Haha..exactly...

To be fair, they've improved things a lot..better load times...smaller pics so you have to go into them to see the more detailed (and larger) pic...Their search has been improved as well...

What annoys me now are:

If a wine is on your bid list and you've bid on it, if you are outbid and decide you want to get rid of it to get it off your screen...no way to do it now..I mean, why remove the option? Just seems stupid...

If a wine is on your bid list you can't go into the detailed screen to see the wine..you have to go to the generic auction portion....

[dave vino]

I reckon it could be directly linked with a backend table which monitors previous bids for Second Chance offers or just in general bidding history requirements. So if you delete it then it deletes the corresponding bid history - and got put in the too hard basket to create an extra field to ignore if user had removed or something like that? Could be any number of reasons but like any new project they probably have an ongoing Enhancement Register (ER) with issues/wish lists etc on it that they work through.

[odyssey]

That's understandable (although it pisses me off too) but what makes it vastly worse is that the "load more" button only works once, so if you have placed a bunch of bids on a no reserve auction and been outbid on them, you will never be able to rebid on the third page or more.

That is financially shooting themselves in the foot... I gave up bidding completely today because I couldn't access the stuff I was as really interested in any more. Their financial loss - no rebids from me today and I didn't make a single purchase in the end because I couldn't actually bid on them any more (the stuff I was really interested in was on the third page of my outbid list)

[GraemeG]

They have indeed been splashing the lipstick around, but the fundamental porcine quality remains...
cheers,
GG

[markg]

They have indeed been splashing the lipstick around, but the fundamental porcine quality remains...
cheers,
GG

Hahahah...

[trufflequeen]

Hi all. I've been contacted personally by a Langtons representative recently, wanting to give me a call to talk to me about issues I've been experiencing with the Langtons website (I've had a large number of issues further to my post on this board sometime back). I'm more than happy to pass on feedback from others if there are still some glitches people are experiencing - please let me know if this is the case. And Mark - I'm looking forward to heading over to Wickman's for your January auction for the first time. Any idea when the bid list will become available?

Cheers.

[markg]

Hi all. I've been contacted personally by a Langtons representative recently, wanting to give me a call to talk to me about issues I've been experiencing with the Langtons website (I've had a large number of issues further to my post on this board sometime back). I'm more than happy to pass on feedback from others if there are still some glitches people are experiencing - please let me know if this is the case. And Mark - I'm looking forward to heading over to Wickman's for your January auction for the first time. Any idea when the bid list will become available?

Cheers.

You will be most welcome. Anything you need me to address on Wickmans and you can call me direct to get it sorted.

I am putting the Catalogue together at the moment and it will officially launch this Monday morning the 19th, stay open for a week and close on Australia Day evening (26th Jan).

Make sure you sign up for our auction alert email, sent at the start of the auction and at the close of the auction (morning).
http://www.wickman.net.au/wine_auction_alert.aspx

The catalogue MAY be up on Sunday for viewing, it just depends how much caffeine I can get into my system over the weekend

[Duncan Disorderly]

Hi all. I've been contacted personally by a Langtons representative recently, wanting to give me a call to talk to me about issues I've been experiencing with the Langtons website (I've had a large number of issues further to my post on this board sometime back). I'm more than happy to pass on feedback from others if there are still some glitches people are experiencing - please let me know if this is the case. And Mark - I'm looking forward to heading over to Wickman's for your January auction for the first time. Any idea when the bid list will become available?

Cheers.

It's operation has improved a fair bit, but the thing that still ticks me off is when you want to remove lots from your bid list you have to do it one by one which is frustrating, particularly when I am doing it on my phone. I'm pretty sure you used to be able to remove multiple lots at one go on the previous site.

Cheers

DD

[trufflequeen]

Thanks for that Duncan and Mark. Yes, I agree that the site is currently much better than it was. The last issues I had were some months back, so it's odd that I've been contacted out of the blue to 'debrief'.

[GraemeG]

Pretty much everything I complained about in my post of June 2 last year still applies.
It's still completely hopeless in my opinion.
The old site may have looked a relic, but it worked very effectively.
The new site is the triumph of appearance over utility.

If it wasn't for the fact you can view a pdf of the auctions, I wouldn't use it at all.
cheers,
GG

Edited to add: ...and I'm only a small volume buyer. How bad things must be for anyone trying to buy bigger volumes, or even attempting to sell, I can't even imagine...

[Polymer]

It is still very cumbersome to search through the auctions....It was actually a bit more efficient when you had to drill down to see multiple listings but I think that was a bit confusing...

I also think they need the option to show more items on the screen at once...It doesn't need the small pic there (you can't see anything anyways unless you go into that entry). Maybe making each line half the width it is now would help that. To be fair, Wickmans is like that as well which makes it cumbersome to go through anything but the PDF.

Searching under countries and regions has improved..a lot..they've fixed a lot of the issues..but it is still slow..

I have no idea how people bid on many things at once..you just have to set it way ahead of time and don't think about it...

In general though, most of the really bad problems have been fixed..the actual bugs have been fixed..so that is a big improvement...I guess..

[markg]

To be fair, Wickmans is like that as well which makes it cumbersome to go through anything but the PDF.

Thanks for the feedback.. Actually I have been racking my brains to come up with new ways to list the auctions.. I like the way WineBid.com does it personally.. I suppose its how you generally like to process the catalog ? Browsing or searching for something specific ?

[Polymer]

Winebid is ok...I think the main difference is being able to see 50 listings vs. 25. 25 is, IMO, really cumbersome....50 isn't too bad....Their filters are ok but in general, their site can be cumbersome to search through as well...If you know what you want you're fine...If you want to see everything because sometimes random stuff catches your eye, it isn't very good (50 isn't enough for that) and I don't even think they have the option for a pdf....

I also think that because your site already has the necessary brief info, it makes even more sense to have a longer list...

If the concern is some people like shorter pages, giving people a choice is really good..let them set it to 25, 50, 100 or something like that...

[markg]

Winebid is ok...I think the main difference is being able to see 50 listings vs. 25. 25 is, IMO, really cumbersome....50 isn't too bad....Their filters are ok but in general, their site can be cumbersome to search through as well...If you know what you want you're fine...If you want to see everything because sometimes random stuff catches your eye, it isn't very good (50 isn't enough for that) and I don't even think they have the option for a pdf....

I also think that because your site already has the necessary brief info, it makes even more sense to have a longer list...

If the concern is some people like shorter pages, giving people a choice is really good..let them set it to 25, 50, 100 or something like that...

Actually a number of people have asked for similar things, in different areas but it seems that the main thing is to allow people the ability to view more or less depending on personal preferences.

I have been tossing a few ideas around last night and will put something together to have a look at soon. I have to balance response time and practical considerations like where to store the paging preference ie. on an individual basis in the database or set it per session, that sort of thing.

Just fixed an issue with the website that has been slowing down the server since moving the infrastructure to Sydney last month now I should be able to have some of these ideas up soon to see what you think

[markg]

Is this the sort of thing you mean ?

A quick list of ALL the lots in the current auction, hard sort by Category/Wine Name/Size/Vintage - Active link that goes to the lot to bid on. Mainly I want to test the response time at the moment. As features get added the length of time to process the request will go up. I would be interested to hear how long it takes to render the page (should be less than 200ms atm).

There is not a link to this page on the website, it is exclusive to this thread
http://www.wickman.net.au/browseall.aspx

[Polymer]

Sort of...a list like that..except is has the details you have in the normal listing...so like the current bid, P, H, etc. So basically the same thing on your normal list but not limited to 25 or whatever...

The page came up really quick...

[markg]

Thanks for the feedback Poly.

Which listing do you mean when you say normal ?

There is the Search and Tracking pages (tracking is visible only when you are logged in)
http://www.wickman.net.au/wa-auction-tracking.aspx

Or there is the view by Category:
http://www.wickman.net.au/auction/APViewInCat.asp?ID=16

Or the view by Uncontested Lots (which can be handy for finding bargains)
http://www.wickman.net.au/ApUncontested.aspx

Apologies for the dogs breakfast of search pages

[Polymer]

Probably the 2nd one..although the first is fine too...Just seems like those should look the same .

So the basic wine information, how many bottles, current bid and hopefully some basics like prov check, etc..and then like you have it today, drill down into it to see the pic and other details (which are useful).

[markg]

Probably the 2nd one..although the first is fine too...Just seems like those should look the same .

So the basic wine information, how many bottles, current bid and hopefully some basics like prov check, etc..and then like you have it today, drill down into it to see the pic and other details (which are useful).

Ok, I will start adding info, although the more data that has to be transferred to the browser the slower it will get but I should be able to leverage my resources to get it down fast .. the ideal is so that you don't even notice the page loading.

Oh.. yes.. they should all look the same !! Its a fault of my really poor taste in layout and colors.. my son is working on a new design for the site at the moment, he seems to have a knack for it.

[Diddy]

Fwiw, the uncontested lots page is a great feature. How about the ability to sort based on current price relative to estimated price to show the real good value bargains?

[Dexter]

It appears that Langtons have now removed the abililty to browse an individual auction by lot number - very annoying!

[Polymer]

The current website has a lot of issues...

Searching is worse...there are still some screwups in the code...Navigation is bad...I'm not sure if anyone actually tests this ahead of time.

You can have more than 20 entries on a page though..and that's a plus...

[Bobthebuilder]

I gave up this weekend
too hard basket
Mark Wickman just scored another goal

[GraemeG]

Worse, you can't even look at a pdf of a catalogue, which was about the only way to browse things quickly.
In fact, the whole selection/filter panel down the left has gone entirely.
Every iteration of the website makes the thing less useable. Amazing.
Graeme

[jh_16]

I took a screenshot of myself winning a lot when the auction had closed and then somehow I was miraculously outbid.... We will see how my complaint goes

[Bobthebuilder]

I took a screenshot of myself winning a lot when the auction had closed and then somehow I was miraculously outbid.... We will see how my complaint goes

About a year ago I had the same thing happen right as the auction was closing
but different from your case, next thing I know I have them sending me an invoice for the underbidder price I put in
every other winning bid gets charged straight to my CC they have, this one they are too scared to do, want me to push the button.
its been sitting there for over a year, I refuse to pay because I know they know they were trying to pull a shifty
funnily enough I have been tempted to push the button because I would actually like those bottles, but its a matter of principle so I'm holding my ground on this (besides the fact I'm sure the bottles don't even exist anymore and if I pushed the button id end up going months on end calling them while they tell me they are trying to find the wine and its my fault for letting it drag on so long!)

[Bobthebuilder]

another thing that has happened lately is I have winning bids in and 5 or less minutes before close I cant monitor them, they disappear or the computer just freezes on refresh, next thing I know someone else apparently outbid me, or atleast that's what the email says.
funnily enough it always seems to happen on $5 or no reserve auctions for a good bargain price
I honestly think if everything they did could be proven they would be criminally charged for many offences of breaking the trade practices act

[GraemeG]

The clearance rates must be in the single digit % by now.
How come Woollies accountants haven't run their slide-rule over the business and said "sell"
The thing must be bleeding cash (admittedly in a small-scale way v, say Masters; - I could never work out why they bought Langtons in the first place).
Stewart Langton must've thought all his Christmases had come at once...
cheers,
GG

[Bobthebuilder]

The clearance rates must be in the single digit % by now.

If that were the case in the 5 dollar and no reserve auctions then most of the bottles were won by dummy bidders

[jh_16]

Yep mine was a $5 reserve auction