What do you do about horrible service? - Explained in post 4

[AylaM]

There is a small mom & pop shop near the house that does custom stitching for things like uniforms.  We've used them 3 times before and the work was done very well and the lady was very friendly and helpful.  It looked like we were going to be regular customers (we got our uniforms done there for bowling teams each year).

We used them again and I have to say it is the worst service I have ever received.  Ever. Ever.  From anywhere.  It still isn't resolved.  But the whole drama is finally drawing to a close.

On the one hand they've done great work before.  On the other hand when they mess up they really, really mess up.  And for the first time in my life I really feel like I have to say something to someone about this.  I don't think we'll ever use them again.

I was considering putting up a review on yelp or something similar.  They have no online presence as of right now.  Not a single review.  I just feel a little guilty now that after the good service I said nothing and after this horrible service their only online presence would be a review of how awful their service was.

Especially since a lot of businesses in this area are really struggling.  I can't imagine that they are doing well themselves.

But it was just so horrible, and since she owns the business it isn't like I can write a letter to her boss.  So I'm not sure what to do. 

What would you do in this situation?

[Virg]

You could always say in your review that you've had good experiences with them before, but this time around it was truly awful.  It's really their fault and their problem that they took a repeat customer and mishandled you so badly that you're now of a mind to pan them in an online review, so be honest and don't let it bother you any further.

Virg

[redcat]

Can you be more specific as to what the problem was?  As is, I don't have enough information to suggest anything.

[Cat-Fu]

Generally speaking, my first step is to contact management, usually right when something happens. Next, I contact the owners/corporate. If the issue still is not resolved, I go to Yelp and urbanspoon and unleash my wrath. (Ok, that's an exaggeration. It's usually more "I used to love this place but they disappointed me and here's some facts that explain how.")

[AylaM]

The good experiences:  they ordered shirts for us for uniforms and embroidered them matching up all sizes and names properly.  It came out looking great and was done much quicker than I expected.  In one case I brought in some shirts of my own and they were done by the second day.  She was helpful in picking out the designs and offering advice as to what would be god and bad colors to put on the shirts and the logo.

All around very nice, timely, and helpful.



The bad one:

• We ordered uniform shirts in October as a gift to my grandmother's bowling team as a birthday gift.  Supposed to take a couple of weeks, tops.  And she'd call us.
• We called a few days after the given deadline had past and she got upset because she's said she'd call us.  The order wasn't in yet.
• Checked in after another week and was told the shirts came in but hadn't been started on yet
• Checked in a week later and was told that the shirts hadn't come in yet
• Checked in a few times.  Eventually the shirts were in, but she wasn't going to work on them because she had other customers to get to
• Eventually got them (over a month late) and gave them to grandma's team
• We got them back b/c the small wasn't an adult small it was a child's small.  Took them in to the shop.  She wouldn't fix it, so we had to order and pay for a new shirt.
• She said she wouldn't get to it until after Christmas because she had Christmas orders (despite a posted sign that said she was still accepting Christmas orders for another 3-5 days
• Repeat problems with calling and it not being done.
• Tried to pick it up last week and she had closed shop early.
• Will attempt to pick it up again today.

all in all it was ordered in early-October for a birthday in Mid-November.  We didn't get it until early December.

She lied about receiving the shirts.  She was short with us when we checked in on the progress.  When it finally got to the point where she could do the shirts, she made it apparent that other customers were her priority.  When it came out that she had ordered the wrong shirt size she wouldn't fix her own mistake.

She was horrible about it, really.

[Cat-Fu]

I'd replace "she" with whoever it was and post what you just wrote above on Yelp, if I were you.

[Jones]

My office went through something similar recently, a local tiny 2 person business. Weeks to get a one day job, something that actually hurt our business. As other past transactions had gone well, we simply shrugged and quit using their services  without vindication. Our money, their loss.

[nuit93]

I would definitely leave a review on Yelp or a similar site.  Is there another company you can take your business to?

[Shalamar]

That's awful!  Yes, definitely leave a bad review on Yelp.  That "service" combines rudeness, inefficiency, and all manner of badness.

I can't remember if I posted about this before, but I had a similar experience with a jeweller when my fiance and I ordered our wedding rings.  We ordered them in January for a September wedding.  The jeweller teased us about being so ahead of the game; we said "Well, we wanted to be sure they'd be ready."  And ... they weren't ready.  Weeks and months went by, and every time we called, she had another excuse.  The best was when she said "I can't right now; I'm so busy with June weddings!"  YES, THAT IS WHY WE ORDERED OUR RINGS IN JANUARY, SO THAT YOU WOULDN'T BE BUSY WITH JUNE WEDDINGS!!

(Sorry for the shouting.  Gee, it's been 20 years almost to the day, and I'm still mad.)

The kicker was that the rings weren't ready until a week before the wedding, and they'd made a mistake with my husband's ring so that they had to do a rush fix.  That was some extra stress we really didn't need.

[KitKat]

That's awful!  Yes, definitely leave a bad review on Yelp.  That "service" combines rudeness, inefficiency, and all manner of badness.

I can't remember if I posted about this before, but I had a similar experience with a jeweller when my fiance and I ordered our wedding rings.  We ordered them in January for a September wedding.  The jeweller teased us about being so ahead of the game; we said "Well, we wanted to be sure they'd be ready."  And ... they weren't ready.  Weeks and months went by, and every time we called, she had another excuse.  The best was when she said "I can't right now; I'm so busy with June weddings!"  YES, THAT IS WHY WE ORDERED OUR RINGS IN JANUARY, SO THAT YOU WOULDN'T BE BUSY WITH JUNE WEDDINGS!!

(Sorry for the shouting.  Gee, it's been 20 years almost to the day, and I'm still mad.)

The kicker was that the rings weren't ready until a week before the wedding, and they'd made a mistake with my husband's ring so that they had to do a rush fix.  That was some extra stress we really didn't need.

This is why I lied about the date of my wedding when ordering my dress.