Saturday, July 31, 2021

 So I did order more goods from Missouri Star Quilt Company to finish the gift certificate my friend had purchased because they told her they could not return any of her money, even the unused portion, unless I returned everything and more. Guess what--the same bad service happened. It actually got worse in some ways although overall the service was identical. They told me my order had been "fulfilled" but as it turns out that only means they have determined that they have the goods in store not that anything else had happened.

That alone took them four days. Then another week passed where nothing at all happened because fulfilled does not mean that the goods are on their way. Then my order was finally packaged and given to whatever FedEx service this crappy company uses. Don't get your hopes up when you get that email because Missouri Star uses the least efficient of the multiple levels of service that FedEx provides. So three days later FedEx acknowledges receipt of the package but again nothing happens for days. Just because FedEx has it doesn't mean that FedEx ships it. FedEx has different levels of service depending on what the company requires or asks. I know that because my husband worked for a company that shipped goods all the time and as the old saying says, "You get what you pay for."

Since MSQC does not require speedy delivery my package meandered across the US but I still got a notice that delivery was scheduled for this past Wednesday. From past experience I knew not to get my hopes up and sure enough I did not receive the package nor did I receive any information from either FedEx or MSQC. Then nothing for four days until today when Missouri Star had the effrontery to tell me that my package was out for delivery. Why do I say that message involved effrontery? The email said, "Your package is out for delivery; scheduled delivery Wednesday, July 27." Today is not 7/27. 

I am glad that I have used up all of the gift certificate. I never will even look at MSQC's site again. Their fabric isn't interesting, their prices are very high, and the colors on their site are not true to the colors of the fabric received. One of the fabrics I picked this time was described as a soft yellow but I can promise that it is brown. It doesn't even approximate yellow.

Be warned.

 

Be warned also about Trump. He still claims chicanery but the only chicanery came from him and his minions. When the DoJ transcripts showed that he had told the Attorney General to help in overturning the free and fair election of 2020, he shot back that he was only trying to protect the US (https://www.npr.org/2021/07/30/1022826068/notes-show-trump-pressed-the-justice-department-to-declare-the-2020-election-cor). That was just today, 7/31. If you believe that, you probably haven't gotten vaccinated and are putting the rest of us  at risk because you follow a moronic megalomaniac with serious mental issues and multiple pending criminal cases. Bless your hearts, you Trumpettes. If you want to live in a Trump land I suggest Wyoming or North Dakota.         



Friday, July 16, 2021

 My package has still not arrived despite tracking indicating that it was out for delivery on Wednesday. It never arrived Wednesday but it is in Pennsylvania. When I tried to call FedEx they seemed to think that it was some sort of major achievement that the package (two items totaling 4 pounds) had made it from Missouri to Pennsylvania in the blisteringly fast pace of just over 15 days.  But they certainly didn't want to tell me when it might make it all the way here. My husband says I should order stuff, any stuff, that totals the rest of the gift certificate so that at least the order will be in rather than just sitting idle. I am tired of dealing with all of this. They sent a questionnaire asking how I felt about their customer service. Of course they didn't respond to my filling out the questionnaire so they obviously don't care. 

This isn't even my money since it was a gift certificate but this customer service is demonstrably bad.


I just got an email from Missouri Star Quilt Company. They told me I couldn't complain until the 26th regardless of what they promised previously.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 Customer service is supposed to be where consumers go to seek solutions for any number of issues. At least that's what it used to be. Nowadays customer service is where a company goes to seek excuses. Sure, the world has been upended by any number of problems over the last two years. Does that mean that companies aren't responsible for their failings?

So what happens when the company fails in its duty to consumers? What does that even look like? Time was that the customer could complain if a package failed to arrive or arrived later than promised. In my experience currently, that simple standard doesn't even exist.

Although I gave away my two quilts without regrets or expectations, the recipient sent me two gift certificates to Missouri Star Quilt company. I had never shopped from them before but when I finished the new flimsy, I thought I might as well use this gift to get backing and batting. Yes, I do have hundreds of yards of fabric in my stash but I tend not to have backing or batting just sitting around. So I ordered a wall size batt and three yards of backing fabric with my gift certificates. That was back on July 1. The website indicated that even though there were backlog issues, they would still press forward. On July 9, when I had not received any information about my order, I contacted them. Just this morning, 7/14, I got a note that my order was filled.

All I have received so far is excuses and even those aren't explanatory. Sure, it's possible that orders are coming in faster than anticipated but that never means that your duty to satisfy the customer is relieved by the fact that you are busy. I do not have my batting and backing. I have a couple of assurances that the order is complete, but no other information. FedEx says that the package has moved very slowly from Missouri to West Virginia but even that assurance only came after I had contacted them to find out where it was. So as far as I can tell nothing happened at all until I complained and after that it has been silent.

Sure, two weeks isn't that long, but it's a long time for a charge for shipping. If you charge me for shipping, you need to ship. I still have more than 70 dollars in gift certificates for this company but I sure as hell do not want to buy from them when they are so dilatory in processing requests or answering questions.