Today is May 16th. Last night I noticed a charge on my credit card for $15.48 from Big Steer, one of my wholesale suppliers. Strange, I thought, I haven’t ordered anything from them since October.
So I called and left a message. Got a call back from the owner telling me that this was for shipping on the order that I placed back in October — seven months ago. I asked why wasn’t the shipping included in the charge that was made on my credit card for the product back in October. The answer was that it was a Quickbooks issue and had happened to other customers as well.
I don’t have the time to spend going back through my tax files to find a a credit card statement and an invoice for $15.48 from seven months ago so I will pay Big Steer the $15.48 instead of challenging the charge.
But, they have lost another customer and gained this post. I don’t think I am the only person having customer service issues and am wondering what has happened to customer relations in our world today.
As I said in the post I made on Monday about another customer service issue:
The lesson from this experience: It just confirms the policy that my company has had since its inception is that if I make a mistake, I will eat the loss. I will not expect my customer to pay for my mistake. And, being on the receiving end of this fiasco created by two different local companies (and now just a few days later with a national wholesaler), I understand the truth in the statement that a happy customer will tell their friends while an unhappy one will tell everyone they can reach.
An Update: A few hours after making this post, I received a phone call from the owner of Big Steer telling me that she had been thinking about it and decided to refund the charge on my credit card. I thanked her and told her that I thought that was a good customer relations move.
I have been doing business with Big Steer for many years. I love their products, as I’m sure many others do!
Yes, they have recently been bought and I agree that many issues should be viewed as a learning experience.
Sally is still associated with the business and Lety is working hard to continue the great customer service we have all appreciated by this company that works with smaller companies like mine. Glad the issue was resolved quickly and thanks Joyce for updating the outcome!
You have really had the run of customer service issues! My policy is equivalent to yours and I stand 100% behind my company and my product. Customer satisfaction is so important and that is why you are as successful as you are! Thank you for sharing your experiences and for all you do for the gift basket community!
It is unfortunate that it takes a post from you for them to contact you and do the right thing. Perhaps this was a learning experience for them – in positive customer service. I hope so.
I’m glad they did the right think especially as they have not owned the company too long……. shame it had to be marred with this short sighted issue…….. Thanks for these useful posts Joyce!