Want to keep me as your customer?

Posted by random olio

What do you do when you have a good customer service experience? How about a bad one? I am kind of a nut. Okay, Chris would say more than a nut. If I have a bad experience, I can guarantee that I will be alerting the company. If I have a good experience, I can guarantee that I will be alerting the company. Below are two recent – shall I say – adventures!? One was annoying and the other started out annoying and the company eventually tried to fix it.

Late last week Chris and I were dropping his parents off at the airport. We decided to stop by IKEA on the way home to return a comforter cover. (Who knew that IKEA sells covers that are not the same size as regular US comforters. I should have thought of that!) What a bummer of a customer service experience that was for us. We had to wait for 30 minutes. In that time they called 15 numbers. Now you might think that 15 numbers meant 15 customers, but it did not. Many of the individuals with numbers before us left. They had waited too long. Many times during the 30 minutes we were there waiting this is what was happening.

Returns desk at IKEA

As you can see in this photo, there are no customers being helped. There are 4 representatives at the desk, but no customers. It was a frustrating experience to say the least. You might think that I am complaining about just one experience, but I am not. Just a week before we were dropping Chris’ brother off at the airport, and we decided to venture to IKEA with Chris’ parents. Chris stood in line at the Returns area for a similar amount of time (he is patient)!

I will definitely think again before I purchase something at IKEA. I will make sure that it is something we have no desire to return, because I am not sure I can handle going back to the Returns area! Have you had a similar experience with IKEA?

My second experience was with Shoebuy.com. I ordered a pair of slippers just before Christmas. Had I been faster with my purchase, they would have expedited it so I could have it before Christmas. I was not in any rush, so I made the purchase, got free shipping, and 25% off. Always up for getting a deal I made the purchase on December 21. My order arrived today. When I opened the box, and tried on the slipper, it did not fit. I then noticed that the slipper was a different size than the size listed on the box. They were an entire size smaller. Annoyed? You bet I was. I had waited 2 weeks for my order and it was incorrect. Most likely a mistake at the manufacturer, since the paper in the shoe box did not look like it had ever been touched.

I called Shoebuy and asked what they could do for me. Nothing. The only option was for me to print the mailing label they were going to email me, and return the slippers. Once they received them they would proceed to send me a new pair. So all in all I was probably looking at another 3 weeks. That would be the beginning of February. By then, my mind starts to think about flip-flops, not slippers. I continued to push, and explain that it was not my fault. Would they be able to expedite them? No. Could they send them now? Only if they charged me again. The representative was nice, but kept saying there was nothing they could do.

I am a bit of a Zappo’s evangelist. I probably should just have paid full price at Zappos where I know the customer service is creative and top-notch. (Maybe next time I will). In the end, I pushed her to speak to her supervisor and call me back. She called me back within 10 minutes, and said we could start a new order, where she would charge me $10 for expedited shipping and give me 10% more off. I would be charged all this and later the billing department would credit me for the extra $10 shipping charge and give me 10% off. Exhausted and frustrated I decided to take this step. I should have my slippers in a few days, and they will then credit me for the ones I return. Yet, that only happened because I pushed, and allowed them to go ahead and charge me again. Otherwise, you know February and flip-flops on the mind.

My issue is why not empower employees to be able to fix customer service issues quickly and easily? Why does it have to take a 30 minute phone call and a frustrated customer? In the end, I have to return the slippers and watch that I am refunded the money, and I have to watch that I am credited for the shipping and 10% off. This puts the work and follow through on the customer, not the company. I do not really care about the money, it is the principle of what it takes for a customer to have quality service. If Shoebuy empowered their employees to do what they need to do to fix a mistake, they might find quicker call handling times and happier customers. If IKEA noticed how long their customers were waiting, should they maybe hire more individuals? Add more computers for Returns? Or maybe they want you to decide returning their product is not worth the wait.

What do you think?

…learning to write my story…

Posted by random olio

How did you learn to write? Did you start with a diary that had a little padlock, where you would write all your innermost thoughts and experiences? Did you learn in school or when you started your first job? I remember writing a lot as a kid. I did not have the padlocked diary, but I wrote many short stories. I still have some of them. I do not remember what compelled me to start to write. There are also gaps, where I do not have any writing, no journal entries, and no short stories. Looking back to middle and high school there was too much happening in my life, that writing took a back burner. Later, in college, I began writing more, memoir excerpts, journal writing and taking notes of quotes I appreciated or that resonated with me from authors I read.

Recently I posted about “My Ideal Bookshelf.” I have continued to enjoy exploring the pages of this book. To learn what books have changed or shaped the lives of different authors, writers, chefs, etc. Two ideas stood out to me from different individuals. The first is from Michael Chabon:

“But that was how I learned to write, and it’s the approach I recommend to people who want to write. It’s through imitation that painters learn to paint and composers learn to compose. It is an incredibly useful way to figure out how to write like yourself in the long run. And it’s much easier and more pleasurable to imitate a writer whose work you love.”

And this one from writer, Andrew Sean Greer:

“We don’t write in a void. Our storytelling comes from reading, learning, and trying out techniques we love. As Pound says, we ought to have either the decency to acknowledge a theft outright or the cleverness to hide it. Since I can’t hide anything, I guess it’s clear where I stand on that point.”

Both quotes make me think more and more about why I read so much. As I spend hours and hours of my year reading, I learn more about what I like in authors and what I do not like. I learn the different ways an author sets their scene. I learn who inspires and challenges me as an author. Hopefully I will continue to find my own voice and write my story. Whether that be a memoir, a short story, or a novel, I believe there is a story, or many stories in each of us, just waiting to be told. Some of us tell these stories in the form of a book, others through acting, some through marketing or social media. Whatever the avenue we each have a story to tell, we just have to listen for when it is ready to be shared.

just a few of my journals…

Thank you for being part of my journey to tell my story.

Designing my 2013

Posted by random olio

It is officially 2013. Still so hard to believe. While I am not much of a fan of New Year’s resolutions, I do think it is good to have goals for the year. So much good happened in 2012, it is hard to imagine what big things will happen in 2013. Here is the start of my list of things I want to do in 2013:

Run a 1/2 marathon
Start writing a book
Read more than 125 books. Maybe 150?
Travel more
Celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary (via a trip)
Add more photos in my blog posts
Take my camera out more often so I can add photos to my blog posts!
Paint more
Get back into drawing, I have a new fascination with figure drawing
Start to meditate

Here is my dilemma: I am often hard on myself to do everything and then some more. For example, each year I add another project to my list. In 2010, I wanted to read 100 books, for 2011 I wanted to read 125 books. In 2012 I wanted to read 125 books, write in my journal each day, and post a blog each week day. This year what has come to me to add to that list is: to meditate each day. Is that a lot to take on in addition to my exercise regimen, professional work, and being a wife? Will I have enough time in the day to do each of these projects? Yes. Why you might ask? Because these projects fuel and inspire me. Often I will write in my journal and get a blog idea. Or I will run and read, and solve a problem at work. It all somehow connects together. I think meditation will be the perfect blend to what I am already doing.

What to do better next year…

I would like to cherish the small moments, smile and laugh more, play more, and reach out and connect with those in my life that I have not spoken to in a long time. I would like to let go more and control less. These all might sound like easy things to do, but for me they are not. They will take conscious effort and focus if I want to be better. Take cherishing the small moments: This means I have to live more in the moment, which means I have to be more aware when I am not living in the moment. Hopefully as I meditate more, that will help with each of the above items. Time will tell. I will try to share my progress throughout the year.

I am also going to start doing something I saw on Facebook. I have started a jar that says: “Good things that happened in 2013.” At the end of the year we will open the jar and read all the notes. I bet it will be quite amazing to look back and read things we had forgotten about, and to see all of them in writing. I am ready for 2013 – bring it on!

What goals do you have for 2013?

2012 in Review

Posted by random olio

It is New Year’s Eve. I can hardly believe it is *almost* 2013. I feel like I just got used to writing 2012. I can remember back in 2000 the thought of making it to 2010 was strange to me. It felt like such a long time away, and yet here we are at the beginning of 2013. Before I get excited for what 2013 will bring, I wanted to reflect back on 2012. Here is a list of a few noteworthy details of my year, then it is time to party like it will be 2013:

Launched randomolio.com
Enjoyed a few months of “layoff” land
Found a job that changed many things in my life
Read 125 books for a 2nd year in a row
Moved into my dream house, am still in awe
I am no longer addicted to feta or Triscuits
Let my hair continue to grow out – the longest it has been to date
Learned that I am by nature an introvert, and that is okay
Stayed consistent with my running regimen, sometimes 7 days a week
Interacted with some amazing online folks

My favorite posts of 2012:

What is ahead in 2013?

See Wednesday’s blog for details!

Also, I wanted to thank Jackie.Eat.World for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award. I have received this award a few times this year, these are my recent nominations.

Happy, happy, happy New Year!

Books find you.

Posted by random olio

I am in the middle of finishing my 125th book of 2012. This year I wanted to crush my amount from last year (also 125 books) but moving homes took quite a bit of my extra time these past few months, so I will have to be okay with meeting last year’s amount. 125 is not too shabby. Right?

One of the last books I read in 2012 is called “My Ideal Bookshelf.” It is not a novel or a memoir, but a book that shares the top books of many 100 well-known individuals: authors, chefs, fashion designers, etc. It shares a page excerpt from each person, and then their list of books. The website for this book states the individuals: “…reveal the books that matter to them most—books that reflect their obsessions and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world.” Since I am such a book addict I wanted to read this book before the end of the year so that I could hopefully feel inspired and add many new (or old) options to my list for 2013. Even though many of the excerpts talk you through different books that matter to them, they also share ideas that can uplift and resonate about their own life experiences. I was inspired by this quote from Rosanne Cash:

“I think books find their way to you when you need them. Whenever I feel like I’m not going to live to read all the books I want to read, I remind myself that the important ones find their way to me.”

What a cool idea. Often we think the right people come into our life when we need them most, but many times we do not have these people there when we need them. I like the idea of knowing that the important books find their way to us when we need them, especially if the people in our lives are not there for us when we might need them. I know there have been times when I have checked a book out from the library and brought it home, and because of all the other books I had checked out I had to return it before I had a chance to read it. Yet, many weeks and sometimes months later when I had the book back in my hands and I open and read it, the words were just what I needed to hear, think about, and ponder. In those times I have often thought about how that particular book found its way to me just when I needed it most.

I hope that the books you need find you in 2013.