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My rant for the day! Suggestions please :-)

12/14/2013

6 Comments

 
I have been stewing about this for the past hour, so I decided I would put it out here and get some opinions. Here is the scenario....

After several email a customer decided to purchase some pullets from us. We explained our deposit requirements both in the email and in more detail on the invoice. The customer decided to place the deposit. We began making plans for a time to meet. The customers suggested time would not work for us, so we suggested another. All of this happened a littler after noon and we were trying to make arrangements for the next day. The customer did not respond, we did not show up at the time we suggested because we never received confirmation and now the customer is unhappy and wants a refund for her deposit. 

My question is this.... after consistent emails back and forth, should we have continued to hound this customer for a time to meet or left it up to the customer to respond to our request? I feel that if we would have continued to email her it would have been pushy??? If I pay a deposit for something I am going to be sure to make arrangements to get, whatever it was I just paid for. If I am going to drive over 20 miles I want to be positive that is what the plans are. 

If the last email was this............ what would you think????

Would around 9 be too early? 

If you did not receive a response would you assume that they were still going to meet you? Or wait for sure to know what is going on?

Customer service is VERY important to us. We understand that when purchasing a new puppy or even chickens you aren’t always paying attention to the details so we try to make it as simple as possible without making it seem like the customer knows nothing BUT that being said, that is why we try to do most of our “business” via email....so nothing can be misunderstood. 

Opinions, suggestions please. 

6 Comments
Brittany
12/14/2013 02:42:48 am

If you never got an email back, then it would seem that they were still in limbo about the time. If it were me, I wouldn't have gone if I never got a response back. You did the right thing. I am sorry that this happened. :(

Reply
Our LittleBit Ranch
12/14/2013 03:10:04 am

That is how I see it also. I am really torn between always providing good customer service/trying our best to make every customer happy and sticking to our guns because we are running a business and the customer did agree to the terms of a contract.
Its a bummer but I guess I have to realize there are some customer who would complain or be unhappy no matter what! Not to mention we gave this customer a pretty awesome discount to begin with!!
Thanks for your input :-)

Reply
Gina
12/14/2013 03:17:20 am

If you did not receive any type of response, I would not have gone either. I'm usually a customer, sometimes a seller. I am ridiculously anal about communication. It bugs me that some people chose not to respond or just ignore my requests. In my head, that means that they do not want to do business with me. There's just too many ways to communicate with each other nowadays (smart phones, e-mail, phone calls) that I find no excuse for lack of communication. So I would say you did the right thing. I'm sorry it happened, but unfortunately, it seems that some people lack any type of communication skills.

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Our LittleBit Ranch
12/14/2013 04:21:50 am

Honestly, these responses are making me feel a little better!!
We ALWAYS communicate via email to make sure that EVERYTHING is covered.
It amazes me how often people pay deposits or sign contracts without knowing exactly what they are doing!! We try to cover our bases by reiterating the details in an email, part of customer service NOT just assuming the customer is reading what they are agreeing too!
I try to look at it from both sides. We have made plenty of mistakes making purchases. For this reason we try very hard to make sure that nothing is hidden or deceiving!
Oh well.
Thanks for the feedback :-)

Reply
Heidi
12/15/2013 02:16:12 am

I feel that communication is key in a lot of things especially customer service. I probably would not refund her deposit because a deposit only secures an agreement requiring both parties do their part. Seems like your customer failed to do their part by not communicating well. If you have it written in your contract and in email I think you did more than cover your bases. Some people are just hard to please and use to people bending over backwards, this being one of them.

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dany
12/15/2013 04:07:10 pm

Delivering exceptional customer service/experience is hard and you are right... some people can't be happy no matter what you do. Clearly we can see on the last email that she didn't tell you the exact time and date as well as get your confirmation but it sounds like she wanted her item. To me personally, email is not a good method of communication. If I need to get something done and relay what I need to say effectively then its best via phone and follow up with a email recapping what was said because email alone can be misinterpreted. Just based on experience and research.

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