Costume Update

So I got my $5 back for the aforementioned pumpkin pacifier. And actually a much more valuable lesson in customer service that I look forward to sharing with my clients in the future.

As much as it pains you (client, company, customer service rep), you don't need to get the last word in, or reiterate your point. My buddy handling my case opened with a paragraph on the website policy, along with a history of how things with my order went down, all before saying "as a one time courtesy, we are refunding you for the Little Pumpkin Pacifier."

Frankly I would have been happier with that one line alone.

One of my colleagues always says 'less is more,' when dealing with media statements and consumer responses and this email really drove that point home to me. Nice that they gave me the credit, definitely, but to go the extra length to explain why I was still in the wrong, and that they were doing me a favor, not really necessary.

It's a good lesson to clients who are stuck on including the corporate language, or their point of view. The consumer just wants to hear their issue has been resolved to their liking. So if that is the course of action, you/company has decided on, just let them have it and be done.

Speaking of being done, I'm getting off my soapbox on this issue and will carry on with Halloween now.

Wait until you see the adorable costume...a LION!

Only problem is Ben refuses to put the head on. Naturally, I've been wearing it around the house myself trying to make it look more appealing. So far he hasn't taken the bait, though Stella is quite curious as to what's going on.

BuyCostumes - Scary Costumes and Customer Service

Ok - I finally made a decision on our Halloween costume, more on that later.

I ordered the costume one night after work this week on buycostumes.com. After clicking 'purchase' I get a prompt for an offer to buy face paint and a pumpkin pacifier. I actually pause and think about what a BS move this is to get you to buy more stuff...and then, in spite of myself, I buy the face paint. It's less than $2 and I'm thinking whiskers.

But when I click through, ii realize it also defaults to add the pumpkin pacifier to my order. I notice immediately on my receipt and email customer service, notifying them of the error. A real person responds in less than 15 minutes (impressive), however tells me my order has already shipped (at 10:30 pm) and therefore can't be changed.

Forgive me, I'm reluctant to believe this is really true.

I'm manipulated into a purchase, that can't be reversed, so my only course of action is to spent $7 (an estimate) to return something I didn''t order. Instead, I will keep the costume and pacifier (which I'm dying too return, but in the end it really only negatively impacts me - I'm out shipping costs, need a replacement costume, and obviously my point will be lost on them as they don't care about my business).

Instead I encourage you to shop elsewhere. There are many great options (try here, or here) for costumes online. Not to mention lots of great stuff at the Gap and Target.

I never bitch about this kind of stuff, but this crappy customer service really got under my skin. I don't know how in this day and age it's even possible.

Scary - and not in a good Halloween way.