A & A wins the trophy for RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE!
At A & A Trophy house I dealt with Lori Doyle, who is a sales person/account manager. We sat down and went over prices for different plaques and awards for a banquet. During the entire conversation Lori wasn't very friendly, in fact she was quite short with me in her answers. I'd call her demeanor and tone a bit condescending to be honest. After telling Lori what I wanted, she told me she would type it up and get back with me the next day via email. I read the invoice and for the 7 Acrylic awards I was looking at the bill came up to $761! I called Lori and expressed to her that I thought it was a little pricey, to which she said rather rudely, "Didn't you look at the prices while you were here??" I said "Excuse me?". "The prices were on the trophies, didn't you pay attention to it?" She said. Well obviously not. The trophies have multiple prices on them for different sizes... maybe I missed something but I think she could have had a better approach. I just thought she was being unnecessarily rude, but I've been through this rodeo before, so I just decided I'd just get the trophies and buy the next ones some place else. I told her that those trophies were too expensive and I'd be in the next day to look at some others that would fit the budget I'd been given. She then said "make sure you get in here early because I have to pick my kids up from Day-care." And again, it wasn't what she said as much as her tone and manner in how she said it. Once I heard that I thanked her and hung up. I'm coming from Federal Hill and get off at 4:15... Maybe they could have assigned me to someone who could stay a few minutes after 5 to complete the order? Well that's when I called another company across town named Larry Beck Co. and set up an appointment. The treatment there was like night and day! These guys were very helpful, friendly and courteous... I told them I couldn't get there until 4:45 and they said no problem. They worked with me until 5:25 to get my order right. I got four of the exact same and three Identical plaques for under $450. I called A & A Trophy back to speak to the manager/Owner (Kim) to let her know about my poor experience. I felt Kim was nicer, and she sent me an email saying she will speak to Lori, (it's a small business and they work together everyday, so I doubt much will come of it). I really wish it could have worked out.. and had Lori been LESS RUDE I would have actually paid more for the trophies because this business is so close to my home. I'm on the Budget Committee at my school and we hold annual dances, proms, sports banquets and honors events every year. I usually purchase our trophies online but decided to do it in person because of past errors. We usually budget $2-3k annually and while I'm sure A & A trophy won't miss the money, just not having to drive all over town would have been really convenient for me. However, I expect a certain level of customer service and professionalism when I'm the customer, and unfortunately for A & A, Lori Doyle didn't deliver for this potential customer. read more
