Customer Service - the Good, the Bad, the Non-Existant!

These are a few of my experiences.

Scrapbook.com - I ordered the Memory Dock system, and then about an hour later I ordered something else. Called to see if they could combine shipping even though they were two separate orders and without hesitation, they did. Then I received my products SECURELY packaged (very well) however I was completely dissatisfied with the Memory Dock products themselves. (not sb.com 's fault, mind you) They would NOT close and were already starting to unravel, before I even opened them. So, I called sb.com and I was told to ship it back and they would refund my money as well as the shipping cost. Smooth, flawless transaction - Love it.

Oriental Trading - One of the items in my shipment was broken. Called Customer Service and they gave me 3 options, they'd send me a replacement, refund my money, or send me a gift certificate for the amount of the item plus $5.00. I chose the last option and am extremely impressed with how they were willing to accomodate me.

Cropper Hopper.com - Received my order and was completely dissatisfied with the products. I've been calling the company now for two days and have yet to even hear back from them regarding how I should send it back to them. ETA: Guess who just called me? :P They gave me an RMA# to fed ex it back and get a full refund. So YAY!


Anyone want to share their customer service experiences with the various sb companies out there? I know for me that good customer service will keep me coming back for more...bad cust service will lose me forever, regardless of how much I may love your products.

I've never had an issue with sb.com but I've always heard their cs is awesome!!

Fiskars is a top-notch company. They really stand behind their products. My trimmer quit cutting straight after 9 years. They sent me a replacement piece to fix the problem; no questions asked.

Oriental Trading is another great company to deal with too. They're more than willing to make you happy as their customer.

What? It stopped cutting straight after NINE years? That's a good product to begin with and to boot, they gave you a new one? Very impressive!!! I have a Fiskars cutter too (one of their lower end ones) and I've had it for 5 years probably and I've only had to replace the little blade once (about a month ago) ....

I ordered some Loveland paper January 29th and I have yet to receive ... from busy bee scrapbooking. I won't be ordering from them again, it just takes too long (it was the Valentine's paper ... ). I only ordered 4 pieces and it's almost a month later ...

Wow! Have you called them to follow up? That is way too long!

I have ordered Cropper Hopper items from here before and one of the storage items cracked and so I went to the Cropper Hopper website and emailed them and within a few hours I had a reply and they were already getting me a new one into the mail.

I had bought some MAMBI rub-ons on evilbay and some of them didn't come off the plastic properly. The second time it happened I emailed MAMBI , mostly to make sure they knew about the problem. They emailed me back in less than 4 hours, said they knew of the problem and it was from the first batch they ran. They asked me to confirm which set I had and sent me TWO new sets. And I got them really quick.

Also, not sb related, but a number of years ago I had a Pampers diaper with some 2" x 3" black piece of tape in it and I called them and they sent me a coupon for a free package of Pampers.

This is a REALLY good idea for a thread! I'm so glad to hear that sb.com has great service!! As i am about to make my very first online order, with them!

Small scrap site Angels Garden has very quick ship & great communication!

• peenut_23 Said:

Isn't that awesome?? I posted something here about it, and the lady who runs the Fiskars profile here contacted me and said that I should call Fiskars and it would be replaced. I felt weird calling after so long, but the lady told me they stand 100% behind their products. One of my friends had a border punch jam and refuse to come unstuck. They were great about that too. I will always choose their stuff over other brands as a result! That good customer service is worth its weight in gold because so many companies just don't care.

I just remembered another one: I had some Ek Success stickers that wouldn't come off the backing without ripping several years ago. My LSS where I bought them didn't carry them any more so I contacted Ek Success . They sent me a nice package full of those stickers and other things as an apology. Great customer service there too.

• yoginiscraps Said:

Christy, you still haven't ordered??? LOL.

I ordered a bunch of stuff from embellishments etc. Inexpensive shipping, the items were well-packaged, and they sent me a little thank-you note with it.

I also had a great experience with OTC. I hated the product, but their service was great. It was a self-assemble storage box and it wasn't well made (not their fault). I called them and they told me to donate them to charity, refunded my money, AND gave me $10 towards my next order. Every other item I've ever gotten there has been great.

I've gotten two orders from sb.com - I ordered one and my mom ordered the other for me. Great experiences both times.

I sb.com ! The only time I order else where is because it's either out of stock, they don't have it listed here, or it's at one of my local stores I can use the 40% off coupon.

I only order storage items or party supplies from OTC. I wasn't happy with the quality of a few items I purchased in the past, but I settled with "you get what you pay for". Other than that, I've never had any problems.

I will never order from The Little Craft Cart. I needed some Halloween papers to finish a project I was making for someone and they were the only ones who had this paper. Well it was sent in a poly bag with shorter piece of card board inside. The corners were so damaged and I paid 9.95 s&h for 2 packs of paper. All I got was a "you didn't pay 12.99 for express shipping". I assumed paper would be sent in a box and not a shipping bag. Live and learn.

The last orders I've placed with another company purchasing single sheets of Bazzill , all the card stock had bent or dirty corners. So I pass their scrappin deals up too. They also had spools of ribbon advertised as 99 cents, Well I put 3 of each color in my cart...purchased them and was billed later for a hunderd and seven dollars, they had made an error. No thanks.....It took several weeks to get my refund.

I also ordered my dream cuts from a company I cant remember the name of right now, three weeks later I had not received a shipping conformation. I e-mailed them. They were nice and said it was on back order and they some how overlooked me and didn't send a notice. Well 3 more weeks passed and no machine. I asked for a refund and received it right away. I ordered it straight from the company and received it in 3 days...

I love Making Memories . I bought a circle cutter several years ago and after years of use it broke. I sent them an e-mail asking if I could buy the part. They asked for a pic of the item and my address. I sent what they needed and about a week later I got a new circle cutter. They didn't have to do that but it sure made me a happy camper. I love MM stuff. I own quite a bit of there tools. They last for a long time and well worth the money.


I could go on for hours....

xyron customer service is fantastic. I had the cartridge for my 500 snap the plastic inside so it would no longer advance. Called the company, and they immediately got my name and address, and told me they'd send me a replacement.

A few days later, I was back in business with my 500 and my new cartridge.

I've had great experiences at sb.com . I ordered items and was told it would be a certain amount of time for shipping, only to get the item days early. I loved it!

I have lots of MM stuff. I had bought a metal embellishment glue pen of theirs and it all leaked out before I'd even gotten the chance to use it! I sent them an email and they sent me a replacement, plus a ton of goodies along with it. I also had some problems with their gems - the gem would come off the plastic but not the adhesive backing and it would take all of the "silver" with it - so all I had was the bling, but no color. I emailed them about it and they sent me a whole new package of gems plus some goodies.

I also have problems with my xyron X refill. There was something wrong with the adhesive or something. I would rub and rub the strip, but when I pulled the plastic part off, none of the adhesive was coming with it. I sent xyron an email and they sent me a new cartridge, no questions asked.

I had ordered what was said to be a Bazzill 8.5x11 multipack, with different colors in the textured paper line from KMA. When I got it, it was the KMA brand paper. I was totally disappointed that I spent money on an offbrand that had been advertised as Bazzill . I called their customer service and was told that it WAS Bazzill cardstock, but I KNEW it wasn't because you can TELL when something isn't Bazzill . They basically told me that I was out of luck and did nothing. I've never ordered from them again.

Awesome, awesome! Thank you all for sharing your experiences.

I want to add one more.

ribbonring.com - I ordered a set, and got them THE NEXT DAY and didn't pay for any kind of express shipping or anything. They also hand wrote a little thank you note on the invoice inside. Then I realized I needed MORE so I made another order the following day. On the website you can get a 90 bundle, but they didn't give an option to split it up and get 45 of the small ones and 45 large, so I emailed to ask. Within 5 minutes I had a response, and the answer was YES. So far, I've gotten GREAT service from them (and I LOVE the product!)

• MelissaW Said:

Wow. Can I ask where from?

• Joda Said:

Keeping Memories Alive... I'd have to send you the link in PM.

The silly thing is I'd spent quite a bit of money with them prior to this incident and they even used to send me additional gifts with my orders because I spent $100+ a month on items with them. And when I had ordered the same Bazzill multipack before, it WAS Bazzill .

That's about the time that I found sb.com , so I started spending all of my money here instead. And I've never been disappointed at all! Of course, now with two kids and making less than 1/2 the income that I was back then, I've had to cut my sbing budget significantly, but once I get a little supply money saved up, guess where I'm spending it?

I've always been super impressed with sb.com . I ordered some felt fusion ribbon and one was out of stock (or discontinued) and they sent me a 10% coupon for my next order and refunded my money.

I'm not a fan of Paperwishes. I ordered something in the middle of Jan. I never got a confirmation email nor did the order show up on my credit card. I contacted them and they never responded. About Feb. 8th...a box arrived at my door and it was my order...incomplete (I think, b/c I didn't have a confirmation email).

Hugs, Josie

Well, I had to correct my first post because I just got a call from Cropper Hopper regarding my return...they're giving me a full refund, so I'm officially satisfied!

Heidi Swapp - I had some of the chipboard letters, raw, that come on the sheet you have to punch out. Well, since they were raw I wanted to paint them but every time I tried to punch the letter through the backing that covers the adhesive part ripped all apart, exposing the adhesive on both the letter and the rest of the sheet. I ended up having to use my craft knife, which made the whole process both time consuming and angry. So I e-mailed the company. After waiting a couple days I got an e-mail back saying basically to just deal with it. That's the way all chipboard alphas were blah blah blah. I vowed never to buy another chipboard alpha set from them again (and I haven't).

Oh, and sb.com - One of my first orders here (maybe even my first) had a pack of paper in it (BG or something) and somehow one edge of the box had been completely smushed in. When I opened it one corner of all the papers was bent slightly so I e-mailed the company, basically just to let them know (I was thinking maybe they'd just start putting some packing peanuts or air bags or something in the box...which I think they do now). Anyway, the woman who took my call was really sweet and sent me a new paper pack and told me to keep the damaged one, which is still usable if you cut it up. How cool is that?

I have dealt with many places.

scrapbook.com superstore: AWESOME customer service. Never had to complain about any of the items, any of the service, ever. Scrapbook.com's Superstore is the first place I look when I need something scrappy. (Disappointed that you don't carry the Crop In Style cubes, but I'm sure there's not room for everything at the warehouse!)

]Oriental Trading I have ordered from there three times, I believe, ordered both scrappy stuff and party stuff. I have been completely satisfied every time. Again, had no reason to complain about any product or send anything back. Everything came exactly as I ordered it.

Making Memories I ordered a trimmer from J's website (another place I order from with NO complaints) in April of 2007. By June, the measurements were rubbing off. Emailed MM, included pictures of the trimmer, and they sent me a replacement. Received replacement, by September, it did it again. Emailed MM again, included more pics, they responded that they'd had problems with that and it had been fixed, received a second replacement. By December, I was working on Christmas cards and noticed it was doing it AGAIN. I emailed MM again, included MORE pictures, and got an email response back that said something to the tune of: "We regret the problems you have had with your trimmer. It seems the new and old trimmers were mixed up. We will either replace your trimmer again, or offer you a goodie pack worth the price of your trimmer. [$50]." I emailed back that I wanted the trimmer, ever since I used their trimmer, I'd gotten spoiled and nothing else would be good enough for me. They emailed back that they were happy that I was a loyal customer, and they'd send me a new trimmer but to ensure that I'd get the new-and-improved one, I had to wait two weeks for their shipment to come in. I emailed back, and politely asked that if I had to wait the two weeks, would it be possible to get both the trimmer AND the goodie pack? They answered back almost immediately and said that that would be a very fair solution, and thanked me for being so patient. Needless to say, I showed my loyalty by running out to M's and buying about $20 worth of MM stuff. I will forever remain a faithful MM customer.

FiskarsI had the old grey trimmer that wasn't cutting straight at ALL. In a fit of anger, I threw the trimmer away and bought the Provo Craft Zision trimmer. (I was broke and couldn't afford the MM trimmer yet.) After I threw it away, I was whining about it in a thread and a Fiskars rep PMd me about the product and offered me a replacement part. After I'd thrown it away in anger. I thanked them politely, and changed my opinion of Fiskars . I am now the proud owner of the ShapeCutter and about 5 templates for it and am a happy camper and Fiskars customer.

FrugalitiesI had a whole thread devoted to my problems with this company, I was that irritated. Placed two orders, within hours of each other, late on a Monday night early Tuesday morning. First one here, then one at Frug's. I had previous experience with the quick shipping from here so I paid extra for "rush processing" in hopes that both orders would be here roughly the same time. (They each contained stuff for one project.) Immediately received a confirmation from here. Never received one from Frug's. (Had to go online to get it.) Had to email Frug's about it, and about the rush processing taking forever. They were rude with me, and I in turn got rude back. (I am not normally a customer from h-e-double-hockeysticks.) Between their slower-than-turtle-poo "Rush processing" and the post office losing the package, it was almost three weeks to the day of my original order before I received it. In that time, I received my order from here (FOUR days later! I was really impressed!), won a prize pack from here, and RECEIVED prize from here. All in that three weeks. Needless to say, I am NOT happy at all with them. In my frustration, I started a thread here and ranted. Some customer forwarded it to Frugs, who in turn sent me a rather nasty email about it. Which made me even madder. I'd heard tales of "regular shipping" taking less time than "rush shipping." And nobody will refund the extra "rush shipping" charge: Frug's says that once it leaves their warehouse it's not their problem anymore; post office says I paid shipping to Frug's not to the PO. So I won't be ordering from them anymore. Not that I could, because apparently when they found out about the thread, they deleted my account. I went to check on my package, and couldn't sign in. Oh, well, they lost me as a customer and I've told all my friends.

• BlingPrincessRia Said:

Did you pay for this with your credit card company? I would dispute the charge because they charged you for rush processing when you did not receive it. The credit card company with then take all of the money back from Frugs and they will then have to prove to your CC company that you DID get rush processing, etc. In the meantime, they have NONE of their money, including the extra they charged for shipping, and you will have it back until the dispute is settled. Even if you used PayPal, you should be able to dispute the charge.

Also, I would report them to the BBB. They shouldn't be able to delete your account because you were dissatisfied with their service. Everyone who has a brain in the business world knows that a good portion of your business comes from others who have given you a good word-of-mouth recommendation, and that bad service is more likely to be told to 5 other people than good service is! You are allowed to tell other people about bad service from companies. It's not libel or slander if it can be proven to be true!

• MelissaW Said:

I paid for it with a prepaid "Green Dot" CC. One of those cards you load with cash. It works like a credit/debit card, has the VISA logo on it. But is not linked to a bank or a line of credit. I finally received the product almost three weeks after the order, and my card was charged the second the order actually went through.

When they sent me the nasty email about the thread here, I responded with The First Amendment. Freedom of speech. I'm not lying about their horrible customer service, nor am I making it up about the incredibly slow shipping. So long as I'm not being libelous OR slanderous, they can't do anything to me. They have a right to be angry, yes, as somebody pointed out to me in that thread. But you would think, that when somebody starts a thread like that and gets so many others who've had similar experiences, that they would figure out that there's a problem somewhere and it needs to be addressed. I only found a handful of loyal customers; everybody else who's dealt with them said the same thing I said: never again.

And they really pushed the "rush shipping." First they tried to tell me I placed my order in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, when I placed it 12 hours before, in the middle of the night. They shipped it out on the third day. (Rush processing, I suppose, is when it goes out within 3 business days. Regular processing is that it goes out within 8-10 business days, which IMO is HORRIBLY slow.)

I emailed them today but didn't get a response .. it was only $8 after shipping (I know, way too much for 4 pieces of paper!) but I really wanted it ...

• peenut_23 Said:

How much did you pay for shipping????

I agree with sb.com , love the superstore.

Also xyron , I ended up with two rolls of "bad" adhesive for my sticker maker. I emailed them and they sent me two replacements that work wonderfully. Very nice!

I have ordered online from creativexpress, joanns, scrappin deals, addicted to scrapbooking and crazy scraps and all were great, highly recommend them.


Brandi

This was a great idea for a thread.

I've had great service from most of the online stores I've ordered from: sb.com , 2peas, peekintoyesterday scrapbookgoddess and paperthreads. I pretty much stick to these.

I've also had a great customer service experience with 7Gypsies - there was a problem with a stamp I received for Christmas. I figured at a minimum, they'd want me to return the damaged stamp but they just sent me a new one. I received it very quickly too. I will say I had better luck contacting them by phone than via email but they were very nice. And I love, love their product.

• Vel Said:

that's depressing! I have to email them I have a new chipboard variety pk that the pieces are all pulling apart. Grrr

alrighty I just e mailed Heidi Swapp witha chipboard complaint I'll let you know what happens


I contacted xyron once about bad refills and they never responded... bummer

• Scrappychicdesigns Said:

Same here! I was disappointed at their lack of response.

• petergabrielfan Said:

After I posted this, I just went to e-mail them again. They responded right away and are sending out replacements. Maybe my first e-mail got lost in cyberspace somewhere.

• petergabrielfan Said:

I'd heard nothing but good things about xyron 's customer service. I am contemplating emailing them because I'm having a problem with the refill that came with my 250...BUT it was user error, NOT their error, so I doubt they'd do anything for me.

Have always loved doing business with sb.com ...love how fast my order arrives the most!

Here's a strange one...I was in my local Michaels and I overheard the str mgr telling his staff that they were going to have an internet coupon and you can only get it on website or e-mailed to registered users. So, I go online and can't find anything. I e-mail Michaels and they send one back asking me to call their 800 # and tell them which store. I did that and they put me on hold, called the store mgr to verify he said that, and then told me they have no idea at corp what he is talking about and thanked me for my call, blah, blah, blah. Then she said they would call me tomorrow. Strange, huh!?!

i placed an order at joanns on feb 14th and have yet to hear from them not even a confirmation but my credit card was billed. i emailed them about it and still no response. im really getting discusted because i need the order by the 29th and have in the past always gotten grat service

I've had wonderful experiences w/sb.com. Every time I;ve ordered they've been speedy, and last week I wanted to cancel an order and it was handled promptly! Sometimes if someone sends me a GC I don't get the email, don't know why THAT is!!? But otherwise, this place is awesome!!!

Scrappack- I told everyone how I adored these totes for YEARS. They were (I thought) just as sturdy as the Crop In Style totes but pretty!! However my tote broke on the bottom and they won't sell parts and do not stand behind them. Their "warrenty" is 6 months with reciept and they would not warranty my tote since I did not have a receipt, I'd purchased it off ebay brand new (still wrapped in the origional plastic). Meanwhile, the handle broke on my Crop In Style XXL (also purchased new off ebay) and they warrantied it NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

I've had good experiences with all the co's I have ordered from. I don't do kit clubs anymore cause I have had BIG MAJOR problems with a few but I love sb.com , and some others.

The Good:
scrapbook.com-always my first stop to shop

scrapyourtrip.com-so many unique items, great for vacations, disney, sports, pets...very nice packaging too

The Bad:
embellishonline.com-UGH!! They ship individual papers in a box with no plastic wrap or secure packaging....NOT GOOD when it rains and when your paper gets dinged up.
I emailed their CS but was only given a long winded response about the cost of fuel and shipping....no solution for my wavy, dinged paper....will never order from them again as there are so many other choices.

Nicki - I know that JoAnn.com was having some computer issues. I am *still* waiting to hear about qualifying for the free shipping club after repeated email inquiries. It took days for me to even get acknowledgement (automatic) of the even 1 of the emails. I got through on the phone. They couldn't fix the free shipping club issue I was having but perhaps they could at least let you know if they've processed and shipped your order.

I do a lot of shopping at joann.com. At one time I was really upset about the quality of some of the items but now that I read reviews carefully I am a much happier shopper. Shipping is rather slow but that usually isn't a problem for me.

I have not heard anyone say anything about EKSUCCESS. I had the pink cutterpede that I dropped and it broke, I emailed them and they sent me a new one, just needed the product #.

I ordered from Couturescrapbooking.com in the morning. Their S&H is only $5 and their packaging great and shipping quick!!!! Well, when I went back in in the afternoon and ordered more items for my friends (they were having a 70% off sale) when I posted it, they did not charge me for shipping for the 2nd box. Then they put it all together. We spent at least $175. And shipping was only $5. Awesome site!!!

I just had a wonderful experience with Simply Renee (Clip It Up.)

Despite the bold print warnings on the instructions, I apparently overtightened it and stripped the screw. I emailed them about 4:00 and heard back before 5:00. After a couple more emails to get a better description of what exactly was broken, they asked for my address and are mailing me a replacement part free of charge!

Update on my order from BusyBee Scrapbooking ...

My original order was Jan 29th, still haven't received or gotten any notice.

I sent them an email on Friday, Feb 22 and got no response. Sent them another email on Monday.
If you recall, I paid $8 for 4 sheets of Loveland paper, $4 for the paper and $4 for the shipping.

I JUST now got a response (almost a month later) and this is what the email said:

Hi Jill, I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I have been in the shipping department helping to get things caught up after CHA and am just not getting caught up on my emails. I emailed you several weeks back that the paper you ordered is out of stock right now. We are waiting for another shipment to come in and I can keep the paper on backorder for you if you would like. Shipping to Canada would be an additional $16.00. We have not billed your card up to this point. Since we hadn't heard back from you I assumed you probably didn't want the order since it was going to be so much to ship it. Let me know for sure. Thanks so much.

LOL - Like I'm going to pay $20 for shipping for four sheets of paper ... are these people for real? At least they let me cancel the order!!

• pattie g Said:

I e-mailed them the link to the coupon and I cannot believe this one! Michael's cust svc just e-mailed be back again to say that they don't have an internet coupon. They must be crazy! I love Michael's, but maybe the corp ofc and cust svc needs to get a clue.

• Brenscraps Said:

I actually posted about them in an earlier post on this thread. They are a WONDERFUL company to deal with!!

LOVE LOVE sb.com . shipments come fast.

QuicKutz ...super friendly and efficient (and the original problem wasn't even their fault!)

the good news
Making Memories
I had a Instant Setter jam and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I filled out a form on Making Memories website and they sent me a brand new set no-questions-asked. Once I had the new one I could figure out how to unstick the old one so I had two. I gave the old set to my BF's daughter and she loves it. Hasn't stuck again.

the bad news
scrapbooking-warehouse.com
I have to give scrapbooking-warehouse.com a big thumbs down. First I messed up the addresses on my internet order (yea it was my fault) but it took several e-mails and numerous telephone calls to resolve it (every time I called I got a recording). Then I received the order and things were missing (turns out it was UPS fault) but again it took numerous calls to resolve it (every time I called I got a recording). Then the replacement package shows up and one item is missing. At that point I gave up. The frustration of no customer service was not worth the couple dollars I saved.

I just ordered from paperaddict.com & it came SO fast! Plus a hand written thank you

I buy from sb.com & I've never had a problem but it does take them a bit longer to get my stuff to me BUT I still LOVE to shop the super store!! :-)

Blackberry paper is a good online store too

hey update on joanns!!!! i just got notification today from joanns my order shipped today. (i ordered on the 13th) well anyway they are upgrading shipping at their cost since somehow my order was processed but never shipped. i would of liked to have the stuff for tomorrow but at least its now on the way. i was worried since my credit card was billed 10 days ago!

• MommyMarci Said:

Just wanted to follow up and say that my piece arrived today, I am very impressed with their service!