How not to get my business

I like good customer service.  I can tolerate bad customer service to a point.  Uneven customer service, though, is the fastest way to lose my custom in the future.

Congratulations, Vistaprint! 

I ordered folded note cards through Vistaprint last week.  It’s part of an experiment – a dry run – to see how the process works, so that I can consider incorporating them into my Etsy shop, or even selling them at events, in the future.  I paid additional money to have them shipped and to my door in a week.  I considered the matter in abeyance until yesterday, when I logged onto Vistaprint’s site to check on the status of my order; it was listed as “still printing.”

I beefed on Twitter about it, and voilà!  What I thought was merely a kvetch into the ether turned into a chance for Vistaprint to impress me.  Somebody from the company monitors twitter, and I received a tweet from them within five minutes asking for my order number, so that they could look into it.  I was impressed.  I direct-messaged them the number, got a tweet that their customer service team was looking into it, and ….

This morning, I log on to check the order status.  The screen shot is above – it’s still listed as “printing in progress.”  So why did I pay extra money for fast shipping if it’s not going to be ready to ship on the day I’m supposed to receive it? 

As for uneven service, you can find beefs about your company on Twitter, yet your customer service team can’t reply to a simple query?  You have my e-mail address.  You even have my twitter account.  Surely all of your staff can’t be so engrossed in monitoring Twitter that they can’t compose a simple e-mail?  They’re certainly not keeping up with all the print jobs.

If Vistaprint has grown so large that they get behind on print jobs, so inefficient that they can’t deliver on time (when you’ve paid additional money for the service, mind you), and so jaded that they think one intern on a twitter account constitutes good customer service, they obviously don’t need my business. 

I’m disappointed, Vistaprint.  Really, I am.  You took a great opportunity to impress me with your responsiveness, and fumbled it. 

*After trying fruitlessly to find a customer service telephone number, I contacted Vistaprint customer service via online chat.  My representative was – I couldn’t make this up –DAMIAN.  They have offered to reprint my order gratis, and I should have it by next Wednesday.  Not a perfect response, Vistaprint, but you may yet redeem yourselves.

Happy Independence Day!

I’m celebrating my Independence Day, and the independence to be able to work for myself at least part of the time, by putting together final proof sets for two photo shoots/events I’ve done recently.

In short, I’m working.  (For the record, I will be attending a party and then the famed Boston Pops fireworks show later.)

That’s OK, though.  The first deliverable is for a client, Emmy, who hired me to take some portraits.  She’s starting a new practice and needs them for her website, brochures, etc.  (Emmy is the lady in the photos with Hunter, the boxer, back in April.)  I took photos of her for my portfolio a couple of months ago, and ended up getting a paid assignment out of it.  She will be getting her proof set on Monday.

The second deliverable is for friends of mine.  Amelia and Shirley got married on June 26th, and they wanted me to take the wedding photos.  I don’t normally do weddings, but I agreed to do it for them.  Their proof set will await them on Tuesday, when they return from their honeymoon. 

I’ve been busy and doing a lot of photography work, which is great.  Tiring, but still great.  That I have the time and the knowledge to do this is pretty darn nifty.

Happy Independence Day!