Does genuine customer service still exist?

[pique]

We have been trying to buy some letterheads and business cards for our business and went to a well known printing company. Nightmare - they were all over us when we went in promising delivery in a few days and "we will be happy to drop the order off etc, etc".

So we asked for some proofs and the saga began. We were hassled as to when we would place the order and when we did were told it'll be a few days. This was on August 12th. Still no sign and we got a phone call last week to say they would be ready at the beginning of this week. Still no sign so we emailed again to be told they might be ready next week. So we told them it was not good enough and they said OK they will be ready today and we could go to the owners house to pick them up!!!

Why do people promise the earth and then let you down - we would never dream of offering this level of service. Ironically they have the word quick in their name!

[JanetB]

I hope for your sake the merchandise is up to standard and to your satisfaction.

~Jan~

[yorkiesauctions]

Why do people promise the earth and then let you down - we would never dream of offering this level of service. Ironically they have the word quick in their name!

Unfortunately it is common business practice, get the customers to sign on the dotted line no matter what you have to promise.

I remember several years ago when mobile phones were just becoming affordable for everyone I worked for someone on a weekend doing market stalls. He sold phone cases mainly but also anything to do with mobile phones. I was told that if someone came for a case and we didn't have a case for that model then palm them off with any case to get the sale, then he would get some cases in for that model before the following weekend when he would be having the stall again. When folk returned the week after complaining that the case was wrong he would say something like, "Oh sorry, the cases got mixed up when we packed them", and then give them the proper case. He would do anything to not lose a sale. The same thing applied if someone asked him if he could get such and such an item, he would say, "yeah come back next week and I'll have it for you.", even though he had no idea where he could get the item. He would put them off the following week by telling them that the item was on order to give himself more time to look around for the item, he would do this for as many weeks as he could before the customer got fed up. At no point would it cross his mind to tell the customer that he didn't sell the item.

[DanTheMan3]

I believe that I offer excellent customer service as do many members on this site.

With regards to your poor customer service from your printer can I give you some advice.
Before you part with your money make sure that you are happy with what you have bought.
If you are not then do not be afraid to tell them.
Get them to reprint them if you are not happy.
And you could always negotiate a discount if you are not happy..

I worked in the printing trade for years and know lots of the tricks that they get up to, but with todays digital technology there is no reason why they should have not met their original promise.

One company I used to work closely with would produce a proof while you waited and then make any alterations hat you wanted.
When you were happy with the proof away they went and produced your goods.
From conception to printed finished product took about 4 hours.
And they were very very busy, because they had a good reputation and never missed a deadline.

[onlinegifts]

To answer op's question NO.

hubby purchased something from the other side, 24 hours after auction closed he recieved a message in capital letters demanding pyment or a NPB would be filed, the sale took place on the holiday weekend and hubby had tried to call and pay but office was closed due to holiday weekend!!, he replied a little annoyed at this email especialy in caps and saying he had called, next day a long email all in caps saying if we do not pay he will take the matter further and into littigation??? at no point did we say we would not pay??? and this was all within 48 hours of auction close. the seller is a power seller, upon questioning why he used caps as it comes accross as shouting.....well the reply came back in bold caps in a large text..........anyway we did pay on tue after holiday weekend, and we are still awaiting goods as decided to still pay as thats why we bid on them as we wanted them (wheels) but I know already what feedback I will leave and it will be along the lines of " poor custmer service" and at least he can't leave me a neg!!!! one good thing about the new system as you can bet he would of done!

but Ebid sellers do have good customer service I have found!!!

[CelticCraft]

I suppose it depends on who you buy from. Looking at feedback on line is good because if you look carefully you can see some very honest remarks from buyers. Hard to do when ordering from a supplier not on these types of sites.

We believe in 100% customer satisfaction. On the other side on a few occasions when a customer ordered an item that turned out not to be available due to a relisting glitch we have ordered in the item from several sources at our own expense even paying special delivery fees to make sure the item was available for the customer.

We supply a lot of wedding items and only two nights ago before shutting down for the night decided to check emails at 12.40am only to find a message from a distraught customer who had purchased items to make her wedding order of service two months previous, after making a printing mistake that day, and urgently needed extra paper to finish these for her wedding on Sunday.

Thankfully we had the item and made arrangements to personally deliver the paper for her at no cost to make sure she had no added stress so close to her wedding as she was a good customer and had bought most of her wedding stationary from us. Knowing how things can go wrong just wanted to help out! I believe in this life every good you do is repaid ten-fold and have found this to be very true in all aspects of life.

Always try to get a recommendation before buying from an unknown source it pays to have information before taking a risk.

[mainlypostcards]

I think it does Pique.
Just depends who you buy from.
I've just been involved in a lovely exchange of emails with a buyer - gave him a small p&p refund, which was much appreciated.
On the other hand, I purchased an item 3 weeks ago; raised the alarm a week ago, because I hadn't received it. Seller asked me to give it a few more days. Contacted her again early evening today and she has replied telling me that she is sending another item on Monday.

[pique]

Its second chance saloon - half an hour after posting this they came to our house and delivered what we ordered and its good. Very apologetic and gave us 20% extra free. They had been having printer problems, been ill, new staff etc What frustrated us was unfulfilled promises and not responding to questions. If they had just kept us up to date with what was happening we would have understood - communication is key. Busy weekend of sending out price lists ahead now - and the sun's shining!