RightCart Gone Wrong

You heard it here first!

We have been with RightCart since they launched last fall. Over the last few months, our online eCommerce solution has gone from wonky to broken.

First, they were acquired over the summer by online mega giant Buy.com, a fact that was only known to us when the SSL certificate went bad, delivering an error message that the certificate doesn’t match the site. We sent several inquiries about this through the summer, all met with either no reply or an apology, and all with no action.

Then, some time in October, the service stopped processing payments completely. I found this out when someone went to buy an album as was unable to complete the checkout. I then tested the service myself last week, and the payment was processed. I have received no confirmation from the RightCart service that someone bought an album, and I have not received notification as a buyer that my purchase was authorized. Sometime last week I was told that the purchase was on hold on both sides, and that was the last I heard of it.

Upon calling Buy.com last week, I was unable to get in touch with anyone involved with RightCart, although the RightCart contact page points to Buy.com. The person I spoke with on the phone was unable to find any record of RightCart being affiliated with Buy.com.

Finally, after sending a concerned email to several parties, I got a call from one of the original developers of this platform, who was only able to give me a minimum of information. It turns out that Buy.com has been altering the platform for a different use, reducing the original developers to outside consultants, and leaving us (and all the other clients) in the dark, and without a working checkout. Buy.com has refused to allow the RightCart development team to repair the platform, and has informed the developers that they will be retiring RightCart as an eCommerce platform.

The RightCart service is non-functioning, and Buy.com has been unwilling to allow the developers to patch the platform (they have the say-so since they now own it). All without any notification to the clients about the buyout of RightCart or any information on the status of the platform.

Although I have no solid data to back it up, I’m willing to assert there is some kind of non-disclosure clause for the developers, and that Buy.com is satisfied to tell none of the RightCart clients about the demise of the service until we are left with no checkout (which is already the case).

While an official announcement hasn’t been made yet, the RightCart service is completely inoperable, and will soon be extinct. Those of us who use the platform have been left with a non-functional platform, and no direct information.

Bottom Line: Buy.com bought the RightCart platform, then decided to disable the service. None of the clients of RightCart were informed of the acquisition, or told that the service stopped working, and we still have not been formally notified by anyone that the service will soon be shut down completely. The service continues to process payments, and no longer notifies the vendors that transactions have been processed.

We send our condolences to the RightCart development team, who have had their vision distorted and twisted by an online e-tail giant. We love the platform, and look forward to a new and improved checkout similar to RightCart.

We’ll be moving everything over to Paypal this week, until we can secure a stable platform that won’t be co-opted in the metaphorical dead of night.

NOTE: If you have purchased anything from Polyvibe since July and not received your album, please let us know immediately. We will see to it that your order is processed and give you additional swag, too.