Continue reading »]]> For the last year (yes, you read that right – YEAR), I have been trying like Hell to get a replacement pair of jeans for my oldest daughter from the fashion jean manufacturer MissMe.com. For a recap of this story read: The “HOLE” Story, followed by The “HOLE” story – UPDATE and finally The “Hole” Story, take 3 .  The process as been torture. Seriously torture.

After numerous attempts to remedy the situation, I threw up my hands and tweeted out the scathing “Take 3″ blog post I wrote, hoping someone at MissMe.com would notice. They did – almost immediately.  I sent them my cell phone number and asked them to call me to discuss what my options were moving forward. I was tired of fighting with them and was about to give up. When the customer service rep called, Enoch, he was very courteous and apologized for all the issues. (He happened to be the same rep I had dealt with back in April with this issue, so he knew how long this was going on.) His solution: refund me the $. The only problem was, I didn’t pay for the jeans originally, my mother-in-law did. I think I had been so vocal about my disdain for them and the experience I had, Enoch said “You didn’t pay for it with your card? No problem. Just give us a credit card to refund. Yours is fine.” WHAT? Did he just say he was going to refund me on MY card even though I didn’t buy them originally? Yes friends, he did. And in addition, he was sending me some free items for Bella.

Two days later, I checked my credit card to find a refund for $85.

Finally, it was over.

A week later we also received a nice MissMe.com gold necklace and scarf.

Here’s the bottom line. Companies live and die by their reputation. And as I was taught in my marketing courses,  for every bad experience someone has with a retail store or restaurant, they will tell (at LEAST) 10 people. I would multiply that by 100 for this situation.

Continue reading »]]> As a Marketing Manager, I think customer feedback is vital. Over the years, I have called, emailed or sent letters to numerous companies, including Pizza Hut, Campbells Soup,  McDonald’s and many others. Sometimes the feedback is great (I once sent a letter to Red Lobster to praise a server who brought something for the girls to much after an hour wait to be seated. Need less to say – he got a huge tip too) and sometimes the feedback is not so good….

About two weeks ago, my husband had to run some errands during the lunch hour, and offered to pick up some lunch for us while he was out. There are several local deli’s that we enjoy, but this particular day we decided on Schlotzsky’s. BIG mistake. HUGE. This particular location, located on Memorial Road in Oklahoma City, has the type of drive-thru that once you are in line, you are stuck.

Below is a copy of the transcript from the messages I received via Google Talk (note the time):

Since our office is approximately 10 minutes away, I am expecting him to arrive with my sandwich somewhere around 1pm. (10-15 minutes of waiting in line, plus another 10 minutes of driving seemed reasonable, right?)

At 1:04 pm, I get this:

At this point, I have logged onto their website and found the “Customer Feedback” form to fill out. Although I wasn’t actually in the line, I am the starving wife wondering where the HELL my food is. Poor Husband.

So, being the conscientious marketing manager I am, I filled out the Schlotzsky’s online customer complaint form and listed my grievances regarding the experience. When my husband returned home from our Labor Day vacation, we received a letter from their Corporate Offices apologizing for the unsatisfactory experience and sent us a $10 gift card. I am very please with the card, but what I really wanted was to hear from the franchisee (each location is a franchise, and the letter said we should be hearing from someone. As of this date – no word from the franchisee…. )

Have you ever had an experience (good or bad) with a product or service that you contacted the company about? If so – were you satisfied with the outcome?