Poor Customer Service - Deluded Manager
We tried to order last minute chocolates before Easter and most online sites made it clear they could not deliver - fair enough. Vanderwee offered a next day delivery service for which we paid extra. They were delivered 11 days later (4 working days taking into account bank holidays, some of which we were unaware of being outside Australia). We were prepared to put it down to experience until we received an email asking us for feedback. I said I was disappointed that the website accepted the order when they obviously could not deliver, and charged us extra for 'express delivery', and I thought I was reasonably polite. What we got back from Hendrick was a quite abusive response, calling us 'utterley ignorant' and obviously we were 'not connoiseurs' and were just trying to get compensation. Firstly, we never, considered compensation, and how he could judge we were 'not connoiseurs' when we never received the chocolates we are not sure, and also we are not ignorant. It seems he was fishing for compliments and threw his toys out of the pram when we dared to complain. Remember, he had asked for feedback.
Here are few extracts from his email. I promise you our email did not warrant this reply...
Dear Sue
'Wow, This email was clearly designed to hurt and insult. I can assure you it achieved it's goal. I am glad to read that you understand about the public holidays. So, why exactly did you request delivery on Easter Friday a public holiday?'
'If you looked at our delivery page you would have seen that for the past 15 years there are limits to the cargo space in the planes leaving Sydney heading for Adelaide and Perth especially the days prior to Christmas and Easter. This is a well advertised issue and the delivery terms are very clearly advertised on the top of every page of our website. You either missed that on every page or you chose not to take it into account.'
(Clearly I should have been aware of cargo space on internal flights - and if the details are on every page of the website, we never saw them so it can't be very clear)
'I've now realised that Bentley is actually two hours away from Perth.'
(His extensive research didn't include Google Maps)
'Your comment in regards to taking your money and blaming every one else is extremely insulting, offensive and does not go down very well here. Did we not ship out your gift the same day as your order was placed?... ...So we did indeed take you money and we shipped out your gift exactly as you requested us.
(So when it leaves their door, it's not longer their problem)
'...we simply deal with connoisseurs of well made chocolates. It some how amuses me that you avoid any comment about how the chocolates were received and if they were enjoyed or not. It clearly was all about the timing wasn't ? You've got your timing wrong, left it a day or two to late and you are blaming us for your shortcomings.'
(We can't comment on chocolates we didn't receive, and it was about delivery/clarity of the website)
'It is not unreasonable to assume that the customer did some leg work...'
(just remember that any potential customers)
'We take full responsibility' (Clearly not.)
'You wanted some form of compensation I was ready to offer it to you, the tone of you reply was so insulting, denigrating and so utterly ignorant that it wont happen.
(Compensation never crossed our minds, but thanks for the kind words)
(That was just a taster of it - I wish there was space to post the whole rant) read more