You know what is so amazing about God? He's not at all surprised by what surprises us. Yesterday, he reminded me of this truth. So, it's the first day, right? Everything is supposed to run smoothly, right? Really, why is it that people say that? Rarely does the first day or moments of anything run without hiccups. In fact, it's actually a blessing to be able to get out the kinks in the beginnning before they become tangles that are difficult to remove.

For the most part, camp ran smoothly, and hopefully to the parents and campers, we looked organized and prepared. And in reality we probably were...for the most part. And the surprises we had turned into awesome opportunities to live out our vision.

7:36 AM: Michelle and I had just arrived at the church. Owen is changing into his clothes right there in the foyer (seriously, no one else was there). Blake is swinging his blanket around like he's lassoing a cow. And Madison is desperately crying out "feed me, mommy." I look up and see a little girl bouncing towards the door, followed by her mom loaded down with a backpack and lunchbox. Perplexed, I go for the door. Clearly there has been a mix up. The mom thought we started full days this week, but that's cool, we just rolled with it. We'd already made arrangements for a couple of our all summer kids to stay, so we'll just add her to that list. I took her in and got her aquainted with our nursery staff and she hung out with them until it was time to "go to camp." That was surprise #1, which really turned out to be more of a blessing.

8:34 AM: Suddenly, I realize we have no banners up. These are what let people know we're a camp. So I get a couple guys working on it, but we run out of time. Scrap that for later. By 4 pm, they were hung and ready for tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they all knew they were at camp yesterday, but just to make sure....

9:36 AM: A mom approaches me and asks if this is where her daughter will be dropped off after lunch. After lunch? Camp is over after lunch. We do have a girl starting next week who is coming from summer school, but...yep, you guessed it...there's been a minor mix-up. Well, since I'm used to rolling with it by now, we just rolled with it. I assured the mom that we would take good care of her daughter, made sure she knew that since this was a half day, that she would be simply hanging with our staff all week, and sent her merrily on her way. Again, a blessing.

10:01 AM: Radio sounds off ;"Hillary, are there any cups at the pavilion?" Oops, cups would make it easier for the kids to drink from the water coolers. Off I go down to the pavilion with the first stack of cups I saw (which I stole from the coffee bar). When I get down there, a counselor stops me and says her campers needs a band-aid. Oh no, we're not even an hour or so into camp and we already need band-aids. Nah, it was just a girl who picked a scab. Yuk (though I totally used to do that as a kid).

11:21 AM: Radio sounds of: "Hillary, are you going to be ready to teach during assembly?" I glance down at Madison chomping away, pick up my radio, and say "yep, I'll be right there." Shoot, I'd forgotten that I told Michelle that morning that I'd teach about Mary & Martha. I finished up with Madison, who was done anyways, handed her off and started down the hallway. I prayed the whole way that God would take away my words and replace them with his. When it was time to go on, I talked a bit about Mary & Martha engaging the crowd along the way, however I still felt like a deer in headlights. My bad. I realized later that they had really studied about the Bible this morning and that Mary & Martha didn't really get introduced until tomorrow.

Most of these were minor surprises, but let me just focus on our added blessings for a moment. How many other camps would have just sent these moms away? How many other people would have stuck to their agendas instead of thinking about the familys' needs? Sure, there was a mix up, but the best customer service is the kind that accomodates the person, not the program. Unlike Office Depot who told me yesterday that they couldn't honor my state issued tax exempt card because there computer said that Grace Community Church was not tax-exempt. Um, sorry O.D., but I think my state-issued card trumps your computer, and I had just bought some stfuf the day before at a different O.D. with the same card. Anyways, the guys working there (one who was truly apologetic and the other who was a little too stuck to the policies) simply gave me a card with the number to call. Totally didn't mean to go down this path, but it's just an example of what not to do. Allright now I need to go take a shower or I will definitely be late.

A Few (More) Good Men

It's nice to say that I haven't had any major battles lately in the war on poor customer service. Maybe that's because I've been dealing with smaller businesses over the Internet. I'm thinking I might be changing my ways a little. Before I was all about where ever I could get whatever I needed at the cheapest price, but I think that mentality (across America and not just with me) has gotten us where we are today...in a society that rewards poor customer service. We keep patronizing stores like Walmart because their prices are better. I'm starting to find that it may be worth it to spend a little more and support those willing to go out on a limb for my business. Small businesses are the heart of the American dream, and I feel like their slowly dying away. Now you won't find me boycotting Walmart or Target just for being mega stores that came in and took over. Nope, I blame the fall of the small businesses on us as consumers. It's our choice where to spend our money. That's capitalism, but I think I'm done rewarding poor behavior. It's like giving candy to a child pitching a fit because she wants candy. Hence the fact that I've thrown myself into this war.

A couple highlights for today:

1. I heart CFA. I'm telling you. I rarely have a bad experience around these cow-loving peeps. They are kid friendly and I just love that they say "my pleasure." Of course it sucks when I want to stop in and get a sweet tea on my way to church and they're closed, but I don't need the sugar anyways. Today, Michelle and I were grabbing a bite to eat (and a bit of work done) while we let the kids play. The operator, Chris, sees me heading for the counter for refills armed with a baby and intercepts me. He takes the cups, fills them up, and delivers them to our table. Now that is customer service. (This was at the new John Hopkins Rd. CFA in Laurel).

2. Say what you will about HMO's, but I love Kaiser Permanente. I called today to schedule Madison & Blake's next check-ups. The woman bent over backwards to make sure they had back-to-back appointments with the same doctor. She was kind, polite, and knowledgeable. I've never had any real issues with Kaiser. And with our government trying to force socialized health care down our throats, it's nice to be reminded that it's not all bad.

That's all I got for today. I'll let you know if anything else pops up.

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my dad's death. Please know that my blog time tomorrow will be reserved for him. I appreciate your prayers and thoughts during this time. It's been difficult, and I'm still working through it all...even a year later.

Sometimes They Get It Right...

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my war against poor customer service. However in this war it is always good to pay homage to my allies, the ones who actually want my business.

The Housekeeper:

Keep in mind that, a lot of times, good customer service comes out of mistakes. It's not about getting it right all the time. It's about how you clean it up. For instance, I ordered a bucket load of cloth diapers from Diva Diapers as described in a previous post. My order arrived yesterday sans my free gifts. Clearly this was not going to work for the "guru of thrift." After all I chose this store because of the free gifts and added discounts. Granted I'd rather talk to someone in person, but given this is a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) store, I opted for a quick email to Carolann.

Here is her response (sent less than 24 hours later):

"Hello, Hillary! I am so sorry we forgot your gifts. We are away
visiting family and had some help packing orders. I apologize for
this. We will ship out your 2 free gifts today. Thank you for
bringing this to my attention."

Perfect. She addressed my concerns, took responsibility and fixed the problem. This is a company I'll do business with again. Great deals and customer service...can't go wrong there.

Doesn't Hurt to Ask:

The good thing about a bad economy is that there are always deals to be had. And when you can't find one, ask! Of course I have a few examples.

1. I happen to like No Nonsense bras, and can only find them on their website. Because of this I subscribe to their email list where they send out sales and specials all the time. I kept waiting for a free shipping or a small discount to come across, but all of their sales were for stockings or underwear. Sucky! So I replied to one of the notices and simply asked if they were going to be running a sale on their bras anytime soon. Seriously, the next day, they sent out a notice that the bras were 50% off. Totally didn't expect that, but I jumped on it and now have several new bras to get my through this "larger" era of my life (and I didn't have to spend a lot). No Nonsense listened to me as a customer and went above and beyond to make me happy. Sounds a little like a certain Bible story, doesn't it?

2. Since making the switch to cloth diapers, I'm contemplating using cloth wipes as well. They are environmentally friendly and just seem to make more sense. Just throw it all in the wash, instead of one thing in the trash (totally should make flushable wipes) and one in the laundry. It's not like they are that expensive, but shipping normally does me in. So while I was on Twitter this morning, I sent a tweet to @diapershops and asked if they would be putting wipes on sale/free shipping anytime soon. She immediately tweeted back with a code, WIPES, for free shipping on my entire order when I bought wipes. Again, what great customer service, and it turns out that there were others that were wanting the same thing. My question and her willingness to make accommodations for little me probably brought her two or three extra orders.

3. This one didn't turn out so good. I was searching for a popcorn machine for camp. Now we're not talking a small $40 machine you get at Costco. We were looking to spend about $500. I'd done my research and had found the best deal including shipping at Webstaurant.com. Before I completed my sale, I saw this little space for a coupon code. So I googled to see if I could find one. There weren't any current offers. Remembering my experience with No Nonsense, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. I clicked on their web chat function and asked the guy if he had any current codes that just might help me pinch a penny. You know what he tells me, "Our prices are already so low that we can't give further discounts." A simple "no" would have sufficed. He didn't have to sugar coat it with a lot of crap he didn't mean. However, that being said, I still placed the order. For what I found, they did have the best deal with low shipping. I might not have agreed with the way he handled my question, but to be honest, he probably couldn't do anything for me and in his mind, he was saying the right thing. You can't win them all.

A Battle Lost:

Speaking of not winning: About 2 years ago, Neil and I purchased a home theater system from Philips (probably closer to a year and a half actually). Our children decided it would fun to play Candyland with the DVD player. Needless to say, it lost. Neil took it apart and decided that we might be able to salvage it if we could just replace the DVD-rom, so he called up Philips that sent him on a wild goose chase ending with a "I'm sorry but we don't carry those parts anymore." Seriously? You don't carry parts for an item you just sold a little over a year ago? Ladies and gentleman, this is not the way to run a business. Do you know what this says to me? It says that they can't/won't stand behind their products. Do they just scrap the parts once they stop selling the product? I get that it was our fault it broke, but now we're stuck with a $300 item that is completely useless. They have crossed over to the enemy side as we will no longer purchase Philip's products. Why would I want to reward a company that doesn't stand behind their products? You might say that it's normal for a company to do this, but I beg to differ. Did you know that Pampered Chef carries replacement parts for items it discontinued 8 years ago? Just saying, that's all.

Join Me in a New War

Okay so I'm sure we've all noticed the downward spiral of customer service in the past few years, but now it just seems to be getting to the point of ridiculous. Have we become so numb that we just roll over and take it. Are our expectations so low that the stores meet them every time? Balogna! I think it's about time we stand up and demand a certain level of civility from the companies we CHOOSE to spend our hard earned money.



I think we should reward those who get it right, and bring to light those that are a bunch of slackers. Case in point: today I would like to highlight two recent experiences I've had, one bad and one good.



The Bad: Yesterday Clare was so kind as to stay with my kids so I could run up to Safeway (on Rt. 40 in Catonsville) to pick up a few things. I was rushing a little more than normal because I knew she was waiting for me. It took me about 30-45 minutes to load up my cart, but when I headed for the check out I was quickly overwhelmed by the long lines. They had 2 express lanes open (only one with a light on) and 2 regular lines open (again only one with a line open). It almost felt like we were being herded like cattle (being led to slaughter). I could feel my blood begin to boil. It wasn't even a peak time. The cashier began ringing up my items over 30 minutes after I first entered a line. Everyone could tell that was not excited to be there. There was no greeting, no friendly smile. Heck, she didn't even ask if I had a Safeway card. She simply rang up my items. I made a comment about the wait and she made no response at all. She did her job (granted not well), I paid, and was about to leave when I realized that I wasn't doing anyone a favor by leaving angry.



Turning my cart around I rolled on over to customer service and asked the store manager for a comment card. I could tell he was frustrated by my request, and when I explained my disappointment, his response was, "uh well the times are hard on us all. My hands are tied." Luckily for him I kept my cool. I get that the economy sucks right now. Everybody gets that because no one will let you forget it. So is that the excuse now? We don't get good customer service because the economy is bad. Here's my advice Safeway...figure out a way to keep your customer's happy now because we still have a choice and right now, I choose to go to Super Fresh or Shoppers or any other store that treats me with respect and courtesy. You'd think that in times like these, companies would be bending over backwards to make you happy.

The Good: You all know about camp, right? Well this is the time of year that we're not only bringing in money, but we're also spending it. Last week I went in search of a stamp with our camp logo on it. I browsed several sites, and chose to get quotes for three. One I never heard back from. One sent me a response that was generic and really didn't answer my question. The last one (who was actually the first to respond) emailed me the next morning and let me know that he could make the stamp, but the way our logo was set up it wouldn't come out very well. He even went through the trouble of inverting the colors in the artwork so he could present us with a quality product. Steve at simplystamps.com gave me what I would consider great customer service. I didn't even have to entertain the other company's quote because I knew I had found someone that would treat me right.

The stamp arrived this morning and it's just what I wanted, and the price wasn't too shabby either. I was actually surprised at the low price. Considering some of my research I figured we were talking $50-60, not $30. So if you are in need of any kind of stamp I highly recommend www.simplystamps.com.

So there ya go folks. I encourage you to share your war stories as well. Don't leave a store angry, fill out a comment card, talk to manager, send an email. Let's declare war on poor customer service.