About Customer Service and Christmas Money

I have had a couple of experiences lately that have made me think about customer service.
A while back I ran across this website that runs daily deals.
Deals that are limited in number, and when they are sold, they are gone.
It is called "Pick Your Plum."
I am sure you all have a similar one bookmarked- it seems like a million of them have popped up.
This particular one is geared towards girly/crafty things, (headbands, jewelry, project kits) so I have placed a bunch of orders with them over the course of the past few months.
(No, I am not being compensated in any way to endorse their site.)
I was just pleasantly surprised when I opened my first order from them.
It shipped quickly and when I opened the package, it was packaged carefully- each item bagged with a handmade tag stamped with the company logo.
And the best part?
A Laffy Taffy dropped out of the package.

A tiny little unexpected treat all for meeeeee!
And I am not sure how they knew, but they picked the banana flavor.
My favorite.
I am not saying that next time I crave Laffy Taffy, I am going to place an order with them.
Well, maybe.
You can always win me over with candy.
But it put a smile on my face.
That little something extra.
I am hesitant to link you to the site, since they have limited supplies of "deals" and I will now have to beat you all to them!
But I can whole-heartedly back that company.
Great prices. Cheap shipping.
I have e-mailed them with questions, and have gotten a quick response.
I am sure they do a lot of business, but they made me feel like I was one of their favorite customers.
You don't see that a lot anymore.

Take for instance Satan's Warehouse.
I was there one evening with a friend of mine, who has to be the nicest person on the planet.
That being said, I watched her, as we shopped, gradually morph from Pollyanna into a crusty troll.
If the mix of crappy music, constant overhead cashier pages, and screaming children weren't enough, it seems like that place periodically moves an entire department to another area of the store, just to "mix things up a little."
The employees, if you can find them, and if you can speak their native tongue, which is never English, can't seem to locate the items you are looking for either.
They give you the deer-in-headlights-stare, coupled with a shoulder shrug.
Occasionally, you can get one who will volunteer to "help you find it."
And then proceed to lead you over to the area you already just scoured, and then tell you "Gosh, I am just not sure. Let me call a CSM (Walmart speak for customer service manager) for you." 
Which is code for "You are going to hear me page out on my little black phone, and then I am going to disappear forever."
Anyway, back to my friend.
When we did locate her items almost all of them were out of stock.
No lie.
Just an empty space where they should be.
Some of her items she begrudgingly substituted with something else, but a good portion, she knew she would have to come back for another day.
I watched her physically and mentally wilt.
And finally, when we approached the check-out, she had reached her limit of patience and compassion.

Now, I am not sure about the timing of things in life.
Sometimes fate has a funny way of working things.
They must have had a recent staff-meeting on customer service, because the first thing our chipper checker ( and the ONLY checker, with a line stretching back to layaway) said to us was....wait for it....

"Did you find everything alright this evening?"

The proverbial dam burst.
My usually mellow friend let loose on the poor cashier.

"Why do you even ask that? Are you going to physically leave your little perch and help me find something if I asked? Are you going to pretend that you even know where anything is in this store? Do they MAKE YOU SAY THAT?!!"

The poor cashier rang her items up with lightening speed.
My friend, having released those pent-up frustrations, apologized to the cashier (and the 632 people in line behind us)--while she bagged her own items.
I just sat back and ate my Rolo's.

My friend apologized to me in the car.
"I am sorry you had to be there for that. I am not sure what is wrong with me- that place just frustrates me every time."

Preaching to the choir, sister.

You can talk to employees all you want about customer service, and match every ad, but bottom line is walking the walk.
And with no competition to speak of, what is the motivation?

That is why I was blown away this week by another example of excellent customer service.
(Again- not being compensated to state my opinion here.)
I placed my first order with an online stamps and etc. company "Papertrey Ink."
I have often gone to their site, and made a mental wish-list.
But truth be told, I have so stinking much scrapbooking crap that I could never justify paying for more.
And I am not really a stamper.
I just love the style on the site.
Everything is so pretty.
And they don't use cheesy fonts on their stamps.
No Comic Sans, or Brush Script.

Well, lately I have been doing a lot of cards, and cards need a sentiment.
I do this complicated text box thing in Word.
I make a phrase, measure it to fit a tag, print it....then adhere the tag to the printed phrase, and run it back through the printer again.
Sometimes it shifts.
And I curse.
And then have to die cut another tag, and attempt running it again.
So I thought to myself, "Man, it would sure be nice if there was a various sentiment stamp set that fit these tags."

Well there is.
Here:
Tiny Tags

And here:
Tiny Tags II

And also a die set that fits all the stamps perfectly.

So I used my Christmas money, and bought them all!

Let me insert a small insight here, on the Christmas money thing.
My parents give me and my sisters Christmas money, with certain restrictions.
You have to spend the money on YOURSELF.
No bills, or household expenses.
And it is an unwritten restriction, that you must spend it on something slightly frivolous.
Something you have wanted for a while, but have not been able to justify it into the household budget.
They like it when you report back on what you spent the money on.
Once I bought a vacuum.
It was not well received.

So these stamps were perfect for me.
It's kinda like the story of the toilet seat.
I am going to use the heck out of these things, and why didn't I treat myself to them long ago?

I happily placed the order, and three days later, the package was sitting on my porch.
Inside the box, each item was individually wrapped in tissue paper, just like Christmas!

I want you to look closer.
Enclosed in the tissue is a real live "Thank You" card.
Hand-signed by the owner of the company, and some employees, I presume.
Thanking me for my order.
"We look forward to exceeding your expectations in both quality and service."
(Um, you already have.)

Also in the package?
A free "Thank You" stamp set.
There is nothing on their website, baiting you to order.
"Order now, and get this FREE STAMP SET."
It was a pleasant surprise.
My order was only forty bucks, but my business was appreciated.

Kinda refreshing.
Now, I don't expect "freebies" or candy to make me a returning customer, but there has got to be a happy medium between that and bag-your-own-groceries.

I still have Christmas money to spend.