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icarusTime to vent!
Customer Service?
December 17th: We drop off our custom down comforter that's started to leak down. The word from the owner of the company, "I don't think we'll be able to save the cover -- it's probably ruined -- but I'm almost 100% sure the down is okay, looks good, reuseable. I don't know what to quote you, but we can do a remake. We'll have the factory manager call you before he attempts to wash it. If it's going to fall apart in the washer -- we won't wash it, and instead he can quote you on a remake."
January: No call back. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wildernessguru's mom dies, so it's not a high priority.)
Week afterwildernessguru's mom's funeral (just after February 24th): He calls them. Talks to this girl "L." at the factory. She says, "The down is reuseable, but the cotton shell is destroyed. We can do a remake for $165, reusing the down. We'll contact you after it's done."
wildernessguru says, "No hurry, my mom just passed away and it's been pretty expensive, so end of April is fine." He also told them that he didn't want the down topped off as the comforter had been a little too warm anyway. She was going to contact us when the bag was done.
March passes. April passes. Now it's May.
First week of May:wildernessguru asks me to call, but I can't get through, the factory's closed.
Last week:wildernessguru calls them this Friday, the factory was closed, and their answering machine was full. wildernessguru calls the store and asks to speak with the manager or the assistant manager. The guy at the store says, "That's me!" and sends the factory manager an email.
L. at the factory leaves a voicemail, "You seem to have slipped through the cracks." No apology. No explanation.
Well.
Today: I contact L. at the factory, who, by the way, was busy doing shipping and asked me to call her after five. I'm rather amused and ask her, "Whoa, this has been since December 17th! What happened?"
She says, "I kept calling you guys and you never called me back." (Hmm. I didn't remember any calls, but I'd have to talk to WG to be sure.) So I say, "Well, his mother died."
She says, rather snappish, "Well, I'm sorry his mother died but I can't keep calling people forever." We go in circles for a bit.
Then I ask her, squinting, "I'm trying to work out the timing here. When did you call exactly?"
Her voice drops, real quiet, swallowing it, "March...." I can tell that she's not sure about this, and either lying, or she doesn't know. I also note that this left us with January and February with no call back, which isn't exactly stellar service and should require at least an apologetic tone.
Then she goes on the offensive, "Well, I can't keep calling. And you need to wash your down comforter. What happens is that it affects the down and it was powder. Now we quoted you for a remake at $165. We can give you 25% off--"
-- Now. Everyone stop. I've hit the pause button here.
Why would we have been quoted for a remake if there was nothing to be remade? The remake is the price that's quoted after they know if the down can be reused and the comforter remade at all. She either a) quoted a price for a remake without checking the condition of the down like she was supposed to, or b) was lying to us now about the down being powder.
I'm going with b). March through May? That's plenty of time to lose someone's torn up comforter. Also, the down was leaking. Meaning we could see the down because we were sweeping it up all over the bedroom. It wasn't powder, the plumes were big. But that didn't strike me until later.
Let's continue.
"--we can give you 25% off. Retail price on a new comforter is $359. With the 25% off that will be $259.25. That's a hundred dollars less than a new comforter."
I ask, "Will it take six months to make it?"
"No," she says. She continued with more of this attitude, and no apologies.
My amusement by this point was long gone and I was very irritated. I told her I'd need to talk to WG. "Should we call you if we decide to do this?"
"Yes, that would probably be best," she says. There's just enough desperation in her voice that I think, Uh-huh. I bet you want this to go through you. That's probably why you wanted to handle this after five when everyone was gone, too.
I was so annoyed with her by the time I hung up the phone that I paced for ten minutes, grumbling to myself. I called the store and talked to a guy there, telling him very generally what happened and asking, "If I do this, do I have to go through her? Because I don't want to have to deal with her again."
Yes, we could go through them.
Options.... I'm thinking: letter to the owners. This is small Seattle shop that's dependent on goodwill in the outdoor community, because they have lots of cheap competition overseas. Whatever they choose to do, a small shop like this deserves to know what happened.
Customer Service?
December 17th: We drop off our custom down comforter that's started to leak down. The word from the owner of the company, "I don't think we'll be able to save the cover -- it's probably ruined -- but I'm almost 100% sure the down is okay, looks good, reuseable. I don't know what to quote you, but we can do a remake. We'll have the factory manager call you before he attempts to wash it. If it's going to fall apart in the washer -- we won't wash it, and instead he can quote you on a remake."
January: No call back. (
wildernessguru's mom dies, so it's not a high priority.)Week after
wildernessguru's mom's funeral (just after February 24th): He calls them. Talks to this girl "L." at the factory. She says, "The down is reuseable, but the cotton shell is destroyed. We can do a remake for $165, reusing the down. We'll contact you after it's done." wildernessguru says, "No hurry, my mom just passed away and it's been pretty expensive, so end of April is fine." He also told them that he didn't want the down topped off as the comforter had been a little too warm anyway. She was going to contact us when the bag was done. March passes. April passes. Now it's May.
First week of May:
wildernessguru asks me to call, but I can't get through, the factory's closed. Last week:
wildernessguru calls them this Friday, the factory was closed, and their answering machine was full. wildernessguru calls the store and asks to speak with the manager or the assistant manager. The guy at the store says, "That's me!" and sends the factory manager an email. L. at the factory leaves a voicemail, "You seem to have slipped through the cracks." No apology. No explanation.
Well.
Today: I contact L. at the factory, who, by the way, was busy doing shipping and asked me to call her after five. I'm rather amused and ask her, "Whoa, this has been since December 17th! What happened?"
She says, "I kept calling you guys and you never called me back." (Hmm. I didn't remember any calls, but I'd have to talk to WG to be sure.) So I say, "Well, his mother died."
She says, rather snappish, "Well, I'm sorry his mother died but I can't keep calling people forever." We go in circles for a bit.
Then I ask her, squinting, "I'm trying to work out the timing here. When did you call exactly?"
Her voice drops, real quiet, swallowing it, "March...." I can tell that she's not sure about this, and either lying, or she doesn't know. I also note that this left us with January and February with no call back, which isn't exactly stellar service and should require at least an apologetic tone.
Then she goes on the offensive, "Well, I can't keep calling. And you need to wash your down comforter. What happens is that it affects the down and it was powder. Now we quoted you for a remake at $165. We can give you 25% off--"
-- Now. Everyone stop. I've hit the pause button here.
Why would we have been quoted for a remake if there was nothing to be remade? The remake is the price that's quoted after they know if the down can be reused and the comforter remade at all. She either a) quoted a price for a remake without checking the condition of the down like she was supposed to, or b) was lying to us now about the down being powder.
I'm going with b). March through May? That's plenty of time to lose someone's torn up comforter. Also, the down was leaking. Meaning we could see the down because we were sweeping it up all over the bedroom. It wasn't powder, the plumes were big. But that didn't strike me until later.
Let's continue.
"--we can give you 25% off. Retail price on a new comforter is $359. With the 25% off that will be $259.25. That's a hundred dollars less than a new comforter."
I ask, "Will it take six months to make it?"
"No," she says. She continued with more of this attitude, and no apologies.
My amusement by this point was long gone and I was very irritated. I told her I'd need to talk to WG. "Should we call you if we decide to do this?"
"Yes, that would probably be best," she says. There's just enough desperation in her voice that I think, Uh-huh. I bet you want this to go through you. That's probably why you wanted to handle this after five when everyone was gone, too.
I was so annoyed with her by the time I hung up the phone that I paced for ten minutes, grumbling to myself. I called the store and talked to a guy there, telling him very generally what happened and asking, "If I do this, do I have to go through her? Because I don't want to have to deal with her again."
Yes, we could go through them.
Options.... I'm thinking: letter to the owners. This is small Seattle shop that's dependent on goodwill in the outdoor community, because they have lots of cheap competition overseas. Whatever they choose to do, a small shop like this deserves to know what happened.