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Thursday, July 9, 2015

A tale of two.....

(I have pondered this entry as to whether or not I should be even be talking about this. But once I wrote it, I was able to gain focus and move forward.)

This is a tale of two customers. Which are you?

All in all my first set of shuttles went to very good homes. Most of my customers were happy inspite of this being my first set of shuttles. It really makes me want to work harder at getting the formulation correct the next time round. I will work harder to get the adhesives and the finishes smooth and dry before listing them again. I have learned a few tricks that will make the next ones better.

Through all of this I had one customer who chose to encourage and forgave the imperfections that came with this first batch. Well, most of my customers fit in this category. But there was that other one, who chose a public forum for her complaints instead of going the route of courtesy. She wanted to set the conditions for which I would  "make it right" rather than allowing me to come to my own remedy. Then when I took the conversation private, she chose to continue her attitude of it would be remedied her way or else. Sorry but this is so wrong. I tried to offer a different solution but she decided a refund would be better. I am disappointed that what I offered was not good enough.

Please be the courteous customer and contact the seller privately first. This really allows for a better attitude from the seller. To automatically jump in and publicly comment about the poor condition of a product without providing the seller an attempt to make proper rememdy is just plain rude. To also tell the seller flat out the conditions you will accept is also plain rude. It is up to the seller and not the buyer what remedies that they will provide. There may be reasons behind their reluctance to provide an immediate remedy. You might find that the only thing they will provide with that sort of attitude is a refund because it is far easier than trying to please a picky customer.

The other brave customer in this whole situation was very understanding and caught in the middle of this whole situation. I am really sorry that things were in such poor condition. This poor soul was put in the middle because of her friend. She understood that this was my first set and I really have some things to learn. She is willing to let things go because of this but was put in a very awkward situation. For this customer I will go above and beyond to make it right. Not only did she put up with me but also with the actions of her "friend" in this situation. I would have dealt directly with only the one customer but she was drug into this  because she was the poor soul who ordered both items. For her I will go above and beyond. I have plans for my previous customers who order again. However, because she was put in a difficult situation, I will go above and beyond to make it right.

In short, you should always contact the seller in private when you are dissatisfied with a purchase. Allow the seller to come up with solutions and pick the best one offered. Don't demand a solution as taking your situation directly to a public situation will only alienate the seller and put yourself in a very bad light as a future customer. It is appropriate to take things publically only after going through a private conversation with the seller and not receiving a good and fair solution. Allow the seller the dignity to learn from an issue in private and be grownup about the solutions offered. It is better for good will to happen on the part of both the seller and buyer as this is an encouragement for growth. Whereas, being demanding only produces hard feelings in the seller who then becomes reluctant to produce anything else from a bad first time experience.

I did not name any names because I do not want to stoop to the level of being vendictive. I just want to educate both sides on the proper way to handle a situation. It was a learning experience for me as well but a very hard lesson that I had to go through because I now know that there are those people who are not forgiving and demanding perfection the first time out. I want the specifics private to give some dignity to someone who may not deserve it. Just be aware that people like this are out there. The first makes me not want to cooperate or attempt to work it out, where the second actually deserves better than she got. 

What type of customer or seller are you?

Sorry for no pics right now as I am just trying to work through this situation to clear the air. Hopefully that once this is over I will be able to get back to tatting and producing more shuttles. This whole thing has been very unsettling and almost made me quit altogether. I appreciate everyone who had ordered and overlooked my mess up. I also appreciate those who chose to encourage rather than discourage. Now to clear myself and focus on getting it better with the next batch and expanding to something I have in mind for the future.

Happy tatting


Arial - the Tattered Faerie

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