25/01/2021
One of our lovely followers suggested I write a post to reassure people who have expressed concerns about our business, and particularly about the difficulties in communications.
Last year was especially difficult. COVID meant we had to furlough 4 staff so it was just the two of us running the operation. As our priority has always been to process and ship orders, it meant that we had little time to really keep on top on of e-mails and messages. We had to switch the phone off because we simply could not afford to have one of us dealing with phone calls - it would have meant that few orders actually got posted.
On top of that, we also had to relocate our business premises after new landlords hiked the rent by 80%. That was fun - imagine packing, moving, and setting up again the equivalent of about 3 households!
But all is much improved now. Our teenage son is fully on board packing orders which leaves me and hubby more time to answer enquiries and messages. So anyone who needs to get in touch will see us much more responsive. We still haven't dared switch the phone on but are responding to e-mails and posts quickly.
As for customers who have unwarrantedly accused us of operating a scam - taking money and never sending orders out. I can understand peoples frustrations and I get the need to sometimes lash out. But such comments don't describe us at all. We've been operating for 15 years and in that time have sent out 10s of 1000s of orders. Some will always go missing. We've never not sent out an order (unless an item was out of stock and in which case we offer an immediate refund if the customer does not want to wait until back in stock).
Unfortunately we have to rely on postal services and they can not guarantee a 100% delivery rate. In a year out of 3000 to 4000 parcels about 50 will have issues - lost or damaged. But it's not often that customers post a review or comment simply for receiving their parcel on time - that's what they expect. It does tend to be customers, who are not happy, that leave comments and that's fair enough. But it does tend to distort the true picture of how we run our business.
Please be assured that if you are thinking of ordering from us and have been put off by some of the comments - we always ship out of orders - typically within 24 hours. We are now using a tracked post option which means if you select that option you will receive real time updates on the progress of your parcel. And as 99% of our customers use Paypal - your payment is protected in the event of loss or damage.
We will continue to strive to improve and welcome your messages; assuring you of a quick reply
Kind regards
Sharon
