THE HIGH PRICE OF MANURE!
I may be a poet and an angel crafter, but
I have a lot in common with a farmer.
Like any good farmer tending the crops
(business), last year I made a rather large
investment to fertilize (improve) the
product I bring to the market.
My signature product has always been
cloth angels with miniatures and my poems
attached. Since I can no longer sew due to
health reasons, and since I was having a
hard time finding a supplier to provide me
with a consistent style of angel, I had a
company called "BINKLEY CUSTOM
PRODUCTS" manufacture them for me.
http://www.customplushtoys.com/
I am in the U.S. and this is a Canadian
company.
After designing an angel, and a prototype
being made, I waited like any good farmer
for my seeds (angels) to sprout.
The first ear of corn (production sample)
was absolute perfection.
But when the rains came (angels delivered)
the majority of the crop was a disaster.
What I reaped surely wasn't what I sowed!
I picked out the perfect ones (10%), fixed
the ones I could (25%), and the rest (65%)
had well....wound up in the mulch pile.
The bottom line is:
IT WAS A HIGH PRICE FOR MANURE!
I should tell you that after I mailed samples
of the disasters back to BINKLEY CUSTOM
PLUSH, it was their opinion that the angels
were fine! BAWAHAHAHA
I received a refund of 12%, which didn't
even cover the cost of shipping.
So let my farmer's tale give you some
hard learned lessons:
* Never deal with a company in Canada
if you live in the U.S. This is by no means
a knock on Canada but.....
* The shipping will be horrendous
* The logistics of taking a Canadian
company to court would be an equal
nightmare.
* Don't be impressed by former customer
testimonies posted on any company
website. You won't find the bad ones.
* Don't be intimidated by a line of BS if
you contact a company regarding your
dissatisfaction or when negotiating a
settlement.
* When ordering anything, don't place
a big order. Order ONLY the minimum
the first time around.
* Think long and hard about taking out
a loan.
Use due diligence my friends, or you
too could be crying while sitting knee
deep in manure!
Theresa
I may be a poet and an angel crafter, but
I have a lot in common with a farmer.
Like any good farmer tending the crops
(business), last year I made a rather large
investment to fertilize (improve) the
product I bring to the market.
My signature product has always been
cloth angels with miniatures and my poems
attached. Since I can no longer sew due to
health reasons, and since I was having a
hard time finding a supplier to provide me
with a consistent style of angel, I had a
company called "BINKLEY CUSTOM
PRODUCTS" manufacture them for me.
http://www.customplushtoys.com/
I am in the U.S. and this is a Canadian
company.
After designing an angel, and a prototype
being made, I waited like any good farmer
for my seeds (angels) to sprout.
The first ear of corn (production sample)
was absolute perfection.
But when the rains came (angels delivered)
the majority of the crop was a disaster.
What I reaped surely wasn't what I sowed!
I picked out the perfect ones (10%), fixed
the ones I could (25%), and the rest (65%)
had well....wound up in the mulch pile.
The bottom line is:
IT WAS A HIGH PRICE FOR MANURE!
I should tell you that after I mailed samples
of the disasters back to BINKLEY CUSTOM
PLUSH, it was their opinion that the angels
were fine! BAWAHAHAHA
I received a refund of 12%, which didn't
even cover the cost of shipping.
So let my farmer's tale give you some
hard learned lessons:
* Never deal with a company in Canada
if you live in the U.S. This is by no means
a knock on Canada but.....
* The shipping will be horrendous
* The logistics of taking a Canadian
company to court would be an equal
nightmare.
* Don't be impressed by former customer
testimonies posted on any company
website. You won't find the bad ones.
* Don't be intimidated by a line of BS if
you contact a company regarding your
dissatisfaction or when negotiating a
settlement.
* When ordering anything, don't place
a big order. Order ONLY the minimum
the first time around.
* Think long and hard about taking out
a loan.
Use due diligence my friends, or you
too could be crying while sitting knee
deep in manure!
Theresa
2 comments:
Thanks for sending me your blog link. I would hope that you would post my comment in it's entirety. I was disappointed to see your blog post since I thought that we left our business transaction on good terms.
Your final words...
"I know I am being a pain in the A__ client, and I am glad you have patience when it comes to customer service. Hopefully on the next order, all the wrinkles
will be ironed out and it will be a smooth transaction."
...made me think that I had resolved the situation to your liking. You had agreed that the refund we offered was fair, so I am not sure why you are now deciding to complain publicly, after not hearing from you for over 3 months.
I was very clear that I took the samples that you felt were the worst and presented them to our staff. Other then the few you and I agreed on, our staff did not see the toys being defective.
Believe me, when we have had a complaint in the past, and I showed my staff the toys, they would not let me do anything but replace the toys 100% if they agreed with the customer.
Being the owner of the company, I can be cheap sometimes, but my staff are always fair to our valued clients.
I would be interested to hear why you would accept a solution agreed upon by you and us, and then start this public complaint 3 months later.
I am sure you can appreciate the potential damage this could have if your blog is too public, so I will have to get our legal team to assess this.
Thank you.
Rob Bishop
Binkley Toys Inc.
Will be happy to explain to you my decision for posting.
Even though you thought we had resolved the situation, it wasn't until I was well into the Christmas season madness that I discovered what an idiot I was for accepting the terms. Several thousand dollars were spent in supplies to finish crafting my end product, craft show rents and pre-advertising....all in anticipation of the arrival of my order. Due to the conditions of the angels, I could not repair them quick enough to fulfill anywhere near my production needs for the year. I refuse to dedicate any more time and effort into them. Each bag I open, the defects are worse. Every time I stumble over these defective angels in my studio, I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this whole situation was handled poorly by both of us.
I am taking a big loss, chalking it up to experience, and moving on,
as there is no other option.
My experience with negotiating a resolution to something like this was nil. The final resolution was based on my panic, disappointment, fear, and a hope that I could make the necessary repairs. I was in no way ready to agree to a resolution at the time I foolishly did.
My crafter blog entry was meant for educational purposes and to relate my own personal story and opinion. At no time did I say NOT to do business with Binkley, but to use due diligence when dealing with ANY manufacturing company. Every word in my blog entry is 100%accurate.
As a sidenote, a suggestion, I strongly recommend that your company makes it a practice to save a production sample for each client. In this way, when your "team" gets together to judge if there are defects of the delivered order, they can see the defects for themselves by comparing them. A photograph does not serve this purpose.
You wondered if I could appreciate the potential damage this could cause. I wonder if you realize the damage your company HAS caused to my business?
Theresa, blog owner
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