I’m sorry, but I’m mildly cranked and I just have to rant. I feel like I’m allowed to now, especially, because I’m a shop owner myself.
I called a to-remain-unnamed needlework shop this afternoon in search of a pair of the airline-approved Dovo round-tip scissors. This is important because I NEED to be able to stitch on the 5 hour flight to Salt Lake City. No ifs, ands or buts. And I would seriously prefer not to run the risk of an over-zealous TSA employee deciding to confiscate my scissors, even if their own website says that sharp pointed scissors under 4″ in length are allowed.
So, anyway, I call and ask if they have them in stock. She politely puts me on hold and goes to check. She comes back and says that yes, they have them in stock. GREAT! 1 point to them. Then I ask her if it would be at all possible to get them out tomorrow via Priority Mail because I need them right away. This is where it gets dicey. She hesitates, so I kindly mention that I’m aware that their shipping department is a bit backed up right now, but I am leaving for a trip next Saturday and really need to have these so that I can take them on the plane. She says that they are backed up one week on order shipments. ONE WEEK! Holy cow! I would move heaven and earth to keep that from happening, if at all possible. But, she says that she will bump me ahead of a few other orders and see what they can do.
So, here I sit, with a $28 pair of Dovo scissors ordered that I may or may not get in time. Do you think that I am a satisfied customer? Um… no.
And here is where I proudly get to proclaim – NOT IN MY SHOP! I’m sorry, I know that they might be in a tough spot if they are that far behind in orders, but if I had gotten that phone call, my response would have been something like this:
“Yes, we have those in stock. I will make sure that they are packaged up and go out with tomorrow’s orders. Using Priority Mail, they should arrive sometime next week before you leave. If, for some reason, they do not arrive in time, please call me once you’re back in town to discuss whether you want to keep them or return them. But, I will do my best to get them to you next week.”
End of discussion. No excuses about how backed up the shipping department is or how difficult it might be. Just do it. If I were that woman, I would have personally picked up the package of scissors, walked them back to shipping and ask for them to be packaged up right that minute. Because, really, if you are that far behind with your orders, is anyone going to notice if their package arrives one day later? And with a package that small, how much impact would it truly have?
But that’s just me…
Needless to say, had I had any other options of places to order these, I would have started elsewhere. Gosh, I can’t wait until I have the money to be able to order stuff like that for One Star’s Light. I will try my absolute best to NEVER leave a customer hanging like that. I can either do it or I can’t.
“Do or do not, there is no try.” – Yoda
Start Just Nan – Barnabee’s Quest