Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

Just a few days ago I shared a lousy customer service situation I was dealing with and discussed the many ways a company started out doing well, then headed downhill fast.

The bad news is that even though yesterday was Monday, the start of a new business week, I did not receive a return phone call for my messages from Thursday and Friday at all.  (Nor did I get any responses to my previous emails.)

The good news, however,

Is that just a few minutes ago the big brown UPS truck arrived with a box just for us!  Hip hip hooray!  Problem (mostly) solved!

The items were packaged well, though the box was looking more than a bit worn from the delivery process.  (Always be sure to triple-tape your box tops, folks; this one was almost split on one end, which would have been bad!)  When I opened it, however, the items were in great condition, and a packing list was included, right up top. (+2 points)

Everything was itemized, and the list was easy to read and figure out.  Each item in the packages was listed separately, with the prices zeroed out due to inclusion in package prices.  (+1 point for ease of confirmation)  The products definitely appear to be of the high quality I expected/was hoping for.

Am I more likely to re-order from this company now?  Hmmmm.  I'll give it an 80% chance.  If the curriculum is perfect for our family's needs, it's highly likely that I'll order again from them for next school year.  I will, however, take a couple of precautionary measures:

1) I will order in July or August, well after their June "busy" month and well before the September "busy" month.

2) I will order by phone, in person, and I will make sure that I receive confirmation of everything right then and there.  No leaving this to unanswered emails or unreturned phone calls!

3) I will be writing a letter of complaint to the company's director, explained how disappointed I was in this situation, and how stressful it was for both the adults and the child who looked forward to using this curriculum.  Had their customer service people taken the time to make ONE five-minute phone call to tell me that the box had been shipped and given me a UPS tracking number, with instructions to give them a holler if it didn't arrive in XYZ amount of time, I'd have been satisfied.

Now, instead, I'll be leery until and unless I am utterly thrilled with the products in the end and receive much better service a second time around -- IF there is one.