Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

Hello Everyone and Happy April!  Easter will arrive this month with cute bunnies, colored eggs, baby chicks and, of course, those awesome chocolate bunnies which soon will be missing an ear or a head. With all the world's issues at this particular moment in time, I can't think of a better time to focus on these happy things.

Customer service is the topic of this month's discussion.  Here at Cherry Rose Cottage customer service is at the forefront of every transaction.  I recently had a couple of purchasing experiences that left me shaking my head, and I wanted to share a little with you.

First was an attempt to purchase a yard sign from a local brick & mortar business.  I called to place an order and the person answering the phone informed me they were new and couldn't provide me with any help or information.  They advised I should send an email with specifications for the sign and the correct person would contact me with a cost estimate.  Immediately upon hanging up the phone, I sent an email stating the size, text and font of the sign as well as attaching the graphic I wanted.  I also requested a price quote for a stand.

I received a message back next day with a quote for the wrong size sign, no indication of whether the price included a stand, and no instructions as to how to proceed.  But still, I thought, at least I received a response.  Next, I sent an email that they had quoted the wrong size and asked for a quote for the previously requested size, price for the stand and turnaround time.  They responded same day with a quote for the correct size sign and nothing else.  Frustrated, I immediately sent another message restating the information about the sign, asking for turnaround time and requesting instructions on how to proceed.  And that was the last I heard from them. After another week, I called again and they finally said I could pick up the sign THE FOLLOWING WEEK.  By now we are three weeks into my simply trying to buy a sign and support a local business.  When I finally did pick up the sign, they charged me double the quoted price, because the stand (for which they never gave me a price) cost as much as the sign.  By this time I was so totally over it, I just paid and picked up the sign.  This place definitely lost my business in a big way.

In another head scratcher, I saw an item posted on social media I wanted to purchase.  Since the item was in a retail store, I messaged the seller asking if they shipped their products.  The seller indicated they did ship so I requested the price plus shipping.  After some discussion back and forth, I decided to purchase the item and asked how I should proceed and pay.  The seller said I should call the store and pay for the item.  They would then pick it up and bill me for shipping.  This was all fine with me.  After everything was agreed, the seller messaged me back saying it would be "a few days" before they picked up the item and they hoped that was okay."  I advised them to send me the store phone number, let me know when they were going to pick up the item, and I would call and pay.  Please keep in mind I didn't know this person, nor did I know how long "a few days" would be.  The seller advised they would pick up the item on Thursday or Saturday (we were speaking on Tuesday) and message me when they picked it up.  And I never heard from them again.

After giving the seller the agreed-upon amount of time to contact me, I simply went ahead and found the item somewhere else, purchased from an online seller at a better price and it was delivered in three days.  I felt very disrespected by the first seller as a new potential customer.  Another business that lost not only a sale but very likely a repeat customer as well.

Please be assured you will never experience either of these scenarios shopping with Cherry Rose Cottage.  I try to find the best ways to keep my customers happy by serving up the best customer service possible with a side dish of kindness on each and every transaction.  If you shop with me, know that I am here to help you.

Thank you so much for spending time with me today.  I appreciate your business and every minute of time you spend in my store.

Happy Easter and Happy Shopping!