Great Service and REALLY Bad Service

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I fully agree with you, Webfabric courtesy, service and prices are difficult to equal. I order from the UK and can get delivery within 5 or 6 days.

Maybe we should know about the bad ones too, so we don't get caught. Ruth Sydney "

It was Erica's.

Don't know the shop. Is this an internet store?

I ordered some books and patterns and got a receipt for the order.

6 days later I got an email about some items out of stock, asking what to do. I responded within a few hours to send what was available ONLY and cancel the other items. My instructions were very clear.

As one of the items that was advised as OOS was intended as a Christmas gift I immediately hunted down another supplier and ordered there.

7 days after the above I got another email that the order had shipped complete. I replied immediately (just barely over an hour later) that I had asked that items advised as out of stock be cancelled, that I had sourced two of them elsewhere in the following week, and that I did not want to now receive duplicates. My email was polite, but I did say I found the whole chain of events "disappointing" (the word I used). I did not go into all the details but I was disappointed because the delay in getting back to me and filling my order (now two weeks) meant that I was unlikely to get their goods in time for Christmas gift giving, and I was now going to get two copies of some items and pay two shipping charges - expensive to say the least and not my fault.

There followed an exchange of a couple of emails between me and the lady processing the order in which she apologised rather sarcastically for taking her first holiday in two years, about how she was very busy (implied on more important things than my order) and claiming my order had shipped BEFORE they got my instructions (that I had sent immediately after both the earlier emails to me). "As angry as you sounded, it would appear you would rather we not ship at all. Please let me know how you wish to proceed. At this point your parcel has been retrieved (not at the top of my list of things to do) and a refund has been made." (quote including bracketed text is from her email)

Now I figure anyone can have a "bad hair day". But even ignoring the tone of the emails it was unclear to ma at the time whether she was refunding the cost of the items I cancelled or the cancelling the order in total, because at this stage I had already been billed for the full original order. So I wrote another email emphasising that I had not responded to her in anger, and that I hoped she had enjoyed her holiday. I even stated outright that this should not be interpreted as either anger or sarcasm, and as she was clearly snowed under on her return to work it might be better to put my order aside and deal with it after the holiday weekend, and that I would not seek any more of the items I wanted until I heard back from her. I even wished her a happy holiday weekend in closing.

No response or acknowledgement, just a refund for the total order on my bank statement a few days later (less two lots of bank/currency conversion fees of course).

I am still not angry about the chain of events - just a bit bemused and disappointed. I am sure others here could report good experiences with this store, and they do have some very nice stock that I would like to be able to access (I love Makower fabrics). But there are too many other online stores that will gladly take my business without the hassles and delays for me to persevere with this one.

All this was immediately followed by excellent service from Carly at Webfabrics, who has followed up with a similar fast and courteous response to another order I placed a few days later.

With my teaching I order at least once a week, usually more. Just not from Erica's any more. YMMV

One thing my employer stresses about Customer Service is that there are no excuses. Either we have fulfilled our end of a transaction or we have not. It is unacceptable and extremely unprofessional to whine about your need for time off, how busy the staff is with other problems, the sad fact that folks are out sick and CS is understaffed at the moment............you get the picture. Granted, as a medical services provider we will always have some dissatisfied customers; dissatisfaction stems primarily from ignorance of insurance contracts and/or modern methods of medical billing (which drive folks like me nuts--used to be that I got *one* bill, from the hospital, which included everything from ambulance and doctor to radiology and surgery charges) and our CS people are very good at explaining all these matters. My favorite is a gal I will call Kitty. Folks come in raving mad over what they see as an exorbitant bill, swearing that they will never have another procedure done at our hospital/urgent care/outpatient surgery center. By the time they leave, they are exchanging hugs with Kitty; they are now empowered with a knowledge of their rights as patients, customers and policyholders, and she has given them constructive suggestions for dealing with the insurance company.

I said all that to say this: Erica's needs to be aware that the CS person you dealt with is not doing her job properly or professionally, and that your timely instructions were completely ignored. No reputable business wants people on staff who antagonize customers. If the CS person is also the owner/operator, you would absolutely be justified in never doing business there again.