I’ve had a rough 10 days or so, dealing with the real world. I had my debit card number stolen and my checking account balance wiped out. My bank is working on it, but my balance hasn’t yet been made whole. I also depend heavily on deliveries of household goods and other items, and have become increasingly frustrated at the inability of services to deliver products in a usable condition. Items come crushed, broken or leaking. Navigating the “contact us” systems of various vendors is frustrating on a good day and elicits blood pressure-raising anger on a bad day. Many times, the process is so nasty, I just give up and take the loss.
So when I recently received some canisters of a nuts, berries and dark chocolate trail mix that arrived as a molten clump, I thought, here we go. I’ll never get this resolved. I figured I’d eat the $48 and maybe try again in January.
And I will fully admit that I clearly read the disclosure on the company’s website that stated they do not use freezer packs or similar packing materials when shipping chocolate items. I read it and thought, not a problem, it’s April. The day the package arrived, there was a high of 57 degrees but the package came from Michigan and took more than a week to arrive so who knows what kind of conditions it experienced in its travels.
When I called Ferris Coffee and Nut Co., I was pleasantly surprised to find a simple menu at the beginning of the automated answering service, and I dutifully pressed zero to continue my business. A woman answered the phone and, upon hearing I ordered online, she asked me to hold while she transferred me to the department that could help.
Jessica then got on the phone and couldn’t have been more polite or helpful. When I described my molten mass of trail mix ingredients, she did mention the disclaimer about the chocolate products. I told her I am a thorough reader and I saw that disclaimer, but didn’t really think April would be a problem. She agreed and offered to refund my amount to the same source used to pay for the order.
I was thrilled for a nanosecond before I remembered that the card used to place this order was canceled; dead as the proverbial doornail (see paragraph number 1). I explained that to Jessica, who told me a store credit was the other option. I asked her if I could give her the new card number, knowing — and almost hoping — that the answer would be no. She didn’t think that was possible and said she would have to talk to someone in the accounting department. She said she’d call me back within an hour.
Fifteen minutes later, Jessica called back (imagine being able to talk to the original person instead of having to explain your situation to 15 different people!) and said that, as suspected, a refund could not be made to a new card number. I could get a store credit, they could cut a check or — and get this level of customer service — Jessica said she talked to the shipping department and they would be glad to replace the order and ship it with ice packs! I told her that would be great because I truly did want to try the products. And while the molten clumps might be edible, it certainly wouldn’t do justice to the products of a company that obviously takes pride in its work and prioritizes customer service.
In a world of international call centers employing people who way too often speak in English so heavily accented that it can’t be understood, this experience has been the best customer service experience I’ve had in years. Maybe ever.
So here’s a big shout out to Jessica and the Ferris Coffee and Nut Co. If you feel so inclined, give their website a look! They have lots of scrumptious, somewhat decadent offerings. Treat yo self!
Now, if I can just get my bank on board!
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