The Earplugs Files – News from Snorestore

Customer feedback isn’t all negative, in fact, negative comments are pretty rare at Snorestore. We don’t expect to get 100% praise for what we do. But when it comes – and Snorestore gets a load of positive feedback – we like to shout about it. You can read some of the comments here.

Charlotte, who processes our orders, discovers that this particular customer’s payment card as been flagged as a fraud risk by the HSBC payment system. So we don’t need to cancel the order at all. That happens automatically.

Then, whoa! Bam! The following slams into our inbox overnight. Note the threats towards the end and be warned, it’s very long – I mean, who has the time to write this sort of stuff in the early hours of the morning?

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” I have read your two emails and subsequent automated cancellation e-mail. It would seem to me that you have taken my customer feedback very personally to yourself. I must admit to being slightly flabbergast that you as a business owner are choosing to cancel my order as you do not like my feedback. I thought that feedback was something you would yourself welcome- even if it is negative as it may give even the tiniest insight into the frustrations of your customers.

At no point did I say I did not wish to proceed with my order; in fact my e-mail shows a I intended to go ahead with it as I required these items and thus ordered an extra bag of plugs to feel the courier fee was justified.

I simply felt at the end of my order I would note my key points to you in an e-mail, I did not want my order cancelled at all. In trying to think myself in to your shoes; I can imagine the frustrations that post issues bring to your business. However I am sure you will receive a number of complaints or feedback queries from people as this is an option on your web page.

As your emails to me were all in quick succession – at 230 and 231 etc, I can perhaps ascertain that you have had a bar of such complaints and are yourself frustrated with the postal issues. However I myself am not the person to take this out on. I would like to put aside this mis communications and proceed with my order- which I am sure you will agree is pretty much the best course of action?

I would not like to think Snore Store are not open to feedback. Are sarcastic to customers upon response (e.g. do LoveFilm sell earplugs). I would not like to think they will send me an email advising me ‘ps I will get my staff to cancel your order’ and then advise me that in actual fact my card had an issue which is obviously not what happened. Most of all I guess that in the current economic climate it would not be beneficial for a company to be widely known to turn customers away as they chose to leave what I would reason to be some pretty mild feedback and just choose to cancel their order.

If you do reinstate my order (no problem to cancel me if you need any card details reiterated) then I will simply follow up with dropping you a mail to thank you for your assistance. However if you choose to follow through on your current course of action in cancelling my order as I chose to send some feedback via your web page expressing my opinions then I will not follow up with yourself directly but will undoubtedly reconsider my next options and steps as a consumer very carefully.

Best Regards etc etc ”

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All comments welcome, apart from those which say “the customer is always right”.  Because they patently are not.

Dear xxxxx

We are sorry you are disappointed. The advice re shipping/delivery estimates comes directly from Royal Mail, who you may be aware are currently involved in an industrial dispute with most of their staff. We clearly have no control whatsoever over this dispute, would that we did.

We know from Royal Mail that mail posted on strike days is the last to be sorted. It is, literally, at the bottom of the pile.

Warning our customers that a delay in receipt of their orders is inevitable, is in our opinion an honest and open way to do business.

Do Lovefilm sell earplugs?

Yours sincerely,

etc

PS I have instructed my staff to cancel your order completely.

Name: xxxxx
Email: blah at blah dot com
Message:

I have just placed an order and I was restricted into only ordering 1 of the 35db Sparks earplugs I often buy in bulk of 2 or 3 packs. I am very disappointed with this.

Next it tells me that unless I choose courier it may take several weeks to get my order to me. I did choose courier at £4.95 but felt I had no choice but to do so. I understand you are based in London – when I post cards or letters currently they arrive slightly later but not several weeks- this seems like you are pushing customers to choose courier options. Are you making money from this?

Also as I was paying £4.95 for a courier I felt I may as well order further ear plugs as the courier prices was almost the same as my purchase. I was unable to buy further sparks so bought different ones.

Overall for a business that relies on mail delivery you are not competing with other companies I order through post with like Love Film. It does not take them seven weeks to get my films out to me.

I suggest you take this on board and go and get something better sorted for your customers or they will just look elsewhere.

Poor show. I would like a retrospective refund of my courier cost as a gesture of goodwill and a comment or some feedback from someone at manager level in snorestore?

Regards

(customer)

Pretty much the whole of the UK now knows about the postal strikes. The latest is into its third day, after all. What many of them don’t know though, is that some parts of the country have suffered postal strikes since July. Even before the latest round of industrial action, there were around 30 million items in the pile still waiting to be sorted from months ago. How big that figure has climbed to now is anyone’s guess.

As a mail order business, we have to try to respond to this by making alternative shipping arrangements, keeping our customers informed and hoping against hope that some heads get knocked together very soon. Currently we don’t charge anything for shipping for the smallest orders – doesn’t seem fair to make customers pay for a service which Royal Mail can’t deliver. Higher value orders are charged at below-cost courier rate.

So it really doesn’t help when a handful of individuals write us full length essays disguised as “feedback”, containing allegations and threats. Come on guys, we’re reasonable people, why aren’t you?

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