Customer Service….Above and Beyond

**afdoty** · 09-28-2009, 05:07 PM

To often people only talk about the poor service they get. We rarely talk about the excellent service (I remember reading somewhere that a person who experiences bad service will tell 10 other people. The same person who experiences good service will tell only 2). So I figured I’d share this experience.

I needed a gallon of Buck Wheat Honey. I wanted Eastern Buckwheat for that intense "barn yard" aroma and the powerful flavors. The places where I've ordered it before were out and I needed to get some... had to get some... wanted some.........it gets obsessive sometimes.

Anyway, I found a place in Ohio, called eBeehoney.com and ordered a gallon of Buckwheat honey and 2 gallons of other honey.

When I received the package on the 23rd, it had been damaged. The other two gallons of other honey were fine, but the Buckwheat had been crushed. Basically, I received a squashed 1 gallon plastic bottle and a bag of Buckwheat honey…thank God it was in a plastic bag!

I wrote an email to eBeehoney explaining what had happened. I had fully expected the reply would be in the form of "oh well, we shipped it... you need to contact UPS".

Not so! Within a half hour of sending the email, I got a response from Glen at eBeehoney(this was 6:30 pm last Thrusday). He explained that the shipment had been packaged correctly; surmised it had been damage caused by UPS and he’d ship out another gallon as a replacement.

there was no need for explanation, no excused, no shifting of blame… I wasn’t a happy customer and this guy was going to make it right.

An hour after that I had an email with a tracking. The next morning I was notified the package had been sent and today I received a replacement gallon of Raw Buckwheat Honey!

To me, customer service isn’t how someone acts when things are going good…. it’s how they respond when things aren’t going good. This simple act has made a customer of me to this place.

**wayneb** · 09-28-2009, 06:45 PM

That's a great story, Al! I'm bookmarking their website. Although I usually get most of my honey locally, and occasionally from Bee Folks, I want to make sure that a place like this gets some of my business, too.

**wildoates** · 09-28-2009, 07:08 PM

That's a good story, Al. I've had Midwest make something good twice so far, and I mean immediately--and I got to keep the wrong item too. Sweet

Of course, I have absolutely no use a'tall for 2 ozs of galena hops, but I just sent them to my son.

Was any of the original shipment of honey usable?

(obsessed? You? Noooooooo)

(passion is a good thing, by the way)

**afdoty** · 09-29-2009, 04:43 AM

Originally Posted by wildoates

Was any of the original shipment of honey usable?

I was afraid to use it. The bag had leaked and I was worried about contamination...the tapped lid was soaking in the honey. It was heartbreaking to throw it away....

**socpsy** · 09-29-2009, 07:28 AM

I've never ordered from them, but I bookmarked them when I was compiling potential honey sources. Now, I'm more likely to buy from them.

That eastern buckwheat is pretty intense. I hope you left the honey in the plastic bag. Your house could have smelled more like a barn for a while if you opened the bag!

**wildoates** · 09-29-2009, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by afdoty

I was afraid to use it. The bag had leaked and I was worried about contamination...the tapped lid was soaking in the honey. It was heartbreaking to throw it away....

It's hard to imagine ANYTHING contaminating buckwheat honey, because that stuff's so aggressive I can see it fighting off all comers.

But I know what you mean.

**Medsen Fey** · 09-29-2009, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by wildoates

I've had Midwest make something good twice so far, and I mean immediately--and I got to keep the wrong item too. Sweet

Thanks for sharing that experience Al. It really is good to reward folks that deliver good service - too little of it seen these days. I've ordered some goldenrod honey from them and it was delivered without problem (good honey too).

I can also say I've had Midwest supplies fix a problem for me. I ordered a wine kit and a couple of the packages of additives had leaked. They sent me replacement packages of everything that was damaged immediately with only one phone call. They also do a great job communicating the status of orders placed with them. I use them often.

**Vino** · 09-29-2009, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Medsen Fey

I can also say I've had Midwest supplies fix a problem for me. I ordered a wine kit and a couple of the packages of additives had leaked. They sent me replacement packages of everything that was damaged immediately with only one phone call. They also do a great job communicating the status of orders placed with them. I use them often.

I place one or more orders a month with Midwest Supply, and as Medsen stated they have always been quick to remedy any problems. Last year my wife bought me a new Dual Tap Draft System, one of the regulators wouldn't hold a steady pressure. I called them and they were out of stock, they offered me a different system, to refund my money, or to ship a new regulator when available...I elected to wait. Four weeks later I received a complete new system (dual) and they didn't ask for the old one back. Because of their great customer service, Midwest gets about 90% of my business.

Thanks for the information on eBeeHoney, I have not used them before but will add them to my list of Trusted suppliers.

**afdoty** · 09-29-2009, 04:51 PM

I'd rather buy from someone based on good experiances rather than not buy from someone based on bad experinaces. To often we only hear about the bad........in refecting, I can say that the good outways the bad by a lot. It's funny how hard I have to think to remember the good.....

**AToE** · 09-29-2009, 05:04 PM

I work for my family's music retail company, and it really sucks when someone latches onto the bad. Just had an email from an angry customer today (he spammed all of head office because the manager of that store is out until the 30th or something), and I couldn't help thinking that no matter how good of a company we are, there will always be mistakes that happen, and sometimes they'll be bad enough that the people involved hate us forever and will never see the other 99.99% of the time where we go above and beyond for the customer. That's just part of doing anything I guess, so I try not to take it personally.

It's great to hear the good comments though. I still hang onto a pile of customer satisfaction forms I got when I was the rentals manager (we mail them out at random to customers) where the customers expressed how happy they were.

I agree totally about buying from places that do good rather than just buying from someone other than the company that messed up!

**Darter** · 09-30-2009, 10:58 AM

"The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones."

**BeeFolks** · 01-06-2010, 07:20 PM

I know I'm late jumping in here, but we insure everything we ship. The few times that something breaks during shipment, we ship a replacement, and ask the customer to sign and date a pre-filled form so we can deal with insurance. (We use a third-party insurance system, and they require the customer's signature on a letter describing the damage.)

Every now and then we are notified that we shipped an incorrect item, or an order is missing an item, so we ship replacements with no hassle.

Lori Titus
The Bee Folks

**wildoates** · 01-06-2010, 07:46 PM

And it's tasty honey, too. I'm about to enjoy some as soon as the biscuits are out of the oven!

**Smarrikåka** · 01-06-2010, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by wildoates

I'm about to enjoy some[...]!

Are you sure, you'll be able? *glancing at the half-dead tongue, hanging sideways out of wildoates mouth*

Hope I'm not out of bounds here.

**wildoates** · 01-06-2010, 08:22 PM

Sweet I can taste!

**dr9** · 01-07-2010, 12:34 AM

I made my first order to Midwest last night and still haven't got a tracking number. I will forgive them since they are in MN and battling climate change

right now but if I don't have a tracking number by next week, I'm writing a letter to my senator.

**socpsy** · 01-07-2010, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by dr9

I made my first order to Midwest last night and still haven't got a tracking number. I will forgive them since they are in MN and battling climate change

right now but if I don't have a tracking number by next week, I'm writing a letter to my senator.

Sometimes their tracking number emails show up a day or so after placing the order.

**dr9** · 01-13-2010, 10:58 PM

Everything showed up when it was supposed to. Although they forgot to grind my grains for me, they did send everything in a brand new shiny stainless steel stock pot! New customer promotion?

I'm a Midwest Brewing Supplies Customer now.