Speaking of Banks

So I related my story about the stranger that approached me the other day and it brought to mind an incident that happened at that same bank only a month or so prior.

I bank at the TD Canada Trust in my end of town and one day I had to see the teller for whatever reason. Like any good Canadian I politely waited in the lineup probably thinking about my list of things to do or more likely sex.

Anyway there was an older woman (and by older I mean a senior and thus much older than myself) in front of me and she stepped forward to see one of the tellers and do her business. Or so I thought! I saw that there was a another teller waiting so I made my move as the next person in line. What I didn't realize was that the woman in front of the me was not at a teller and had stepped aside to organize some papers. Innocent mistake on my part but her reaction was surprising. She growled at me that she was next in line and I was butting in front of her. I must have looked surprised but I apologized and let her move in front of the bank employee. I hadn't realized that the booth she had been at was unoccupied and it never crossed my mind that she wouldn't be doing her paperwork in front of the teller.

The exchange of words didn't go unnoticed by other people at the bank. After completing my business I returned home and received a phone call not long after from one of the senior tellers at the bank. She apologized for the rude behavior of the woman at the bank and mentioned that she had been confused by her actions too. Needless to say that the phone call was unnecessary but appreciated. Talk about great customer service!

By the way, I never did get my money back from that dude in the bank parking lot...

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Bank...

So it came. I picked up the mail on Tuesday and a thin envelope greeted me inside the dusty box. I eagerly opened the letter and was pleased to read that included with the letter was a cheque reimbursing me for the product as "at Lancome, we pride ourselves on our high standard of quality and we always take comments from our consumers very seriously."

I was pretty happy to get the cheque though they did not include to postage cost for shipping the product in the first place but I still felt it was a small victory for me and my thighs!

I had a meeting that evening and afterwards I thought I would stop by the bank to deposit the cheque. It was about 9pm and the bank parking lot was empty. Just as I was opening my car door I was approached by a clean-shaven guy close to 30 years of age. He was talking fast and had caught completely off-guard. It was pretty intimidating actually considering that I was alone with this smooth-talking fellow. Anyway, he had this great story about how he was stranded in Peterborough and could I help him out?

Did I have misgivings? Yes. Was I thinking clearly? Probably not. Did I get conned out of $40 of my Lancome money. Yup. I'm a bleeding heart I guess and I should have known better but I gave him the money with the promise from the dude that he would pay me back a few days later. He gave me his phone number and took down my home number and off he went.

Today was the day he was supposed to call and I forgot all about it but something triggered my memory. I tried the number he left and of course it was out of service. I feel like a fool for being so trusting and hoping for the best.

I'll be more prepared next time to trust my gut next time I am approached by an "Adam Johnson" and tell him to f*^#k off, I've already met you...

Promises, Promises

So its been a while since I've posted but I've been working on a few things so I'd have something to write about. Which brings me to cosmetics giant Lancome.

Recently I purchased a lotion from this company that made some great promises as to what my thighs might look like should I use their product for a month twice a day. Was I pulled in by the allure of slick packaging, easy promises and pictures of skinny models with perfect legs? Well yes, even though I knew deep down I was throwing away $70 of my hard-earned dollars for what would probably be a dissapointment!

Though having spent that kind of money, I took the directions seriously and slathered the orange, pleasantly scented cream on my legs morning and night until the bottle was empty, probably about two months.

I started to look closely after the first 10 days because that was when I was supposed to first see the signs of my skin smoothing out. Nothing. No volume, no curves, just very soft thighs. I could have accomplished the same thing with a $10 bottle of drugstore brand moisturizer!

Needless to say, my hopes were dashed and my thighs still look the same. So I emailed Lancome to tell them I was unhappy. They emailed me back quickly and told me to send back the empty bottle with a promise to refund my money. The response was quick but I have yet to get the money back and its been two weeks by now. It also cost me $10 to return the bottle with postage and the envelope which I made note off on the letter that went with it so we'll see if they reimburse me for that or not. I will let you know when the cheque arrives....not holding my breath!

Kor Water Bottles

I love buying a new product that is functional and nice to look at. Naturally when I first saw the Kor water bottle I wanted one because of all the design features and because they are PBA free. I'm also trying to drink more water during the day which means bringing a bottle with me wherever I go. So I bought two and put them through the usual stresses that a water bottle goes through (excluding ever dropping them since they have a great handle to carry them!)

Anyway, about a week after I bought one of them I noticed a hair-line crack in the plastic at the lid hinge. It didn't really hamper the use of the bottle, but I also paid $35 for it and decided to put the customer service to the test.

A quick email to Catherine at Kor earned me a fast reply and the request for my mailing address so that they could send me out another bottle right away. I got to choose the colour and I received the new bottle within a week, shipped from California! Talk about a great response! Not only do I have a bottle that works well (until you buy one you may not be able to really appreciate the functionality) but I know that the company stands behind their products 100%.

Check out their site at www.korwater.com

They've earned the Madden Mark Seal of Approval!

The Madden Mark

Still in development, soon you will find posts with or without the Madden Mark. What is the Madden Mark you ask? Well its the mark of approval that will be attributed to a company when they have proven themselves in the customer service department.

This is of course only one gals opinion based on my singular interactions with a company but that one interaction can really tell a person alot about how customers are treated.

So there are a few criteria that I consider when awarding the Madden Mark. Its isn't all feeling, though I want to come away from my keyboard feeling good and like I got the service I deserved in the end. But I want a quick response time to my original email (it'll always be email too by the way...if they don't have email then you and I are likely not dealing with such archaic companies anyway). I want some kind of suggestion of how the issue can be resolved. That can take various forms, but a replacement product, my money back that kind of thing. I also like it when the person replying to my email provides a name...it gives it a more personal feel instead of some kind of formulated automatic response generator.

I definitely don't want to be referred to multiple departments creating more time and effort for me to follow through. Since we all know the more channels we have to navigate the more likely we are to give up on the whole thing and then we get now where...and that just proves that their attempt at customer service is to frustrate and confuse!

I'm sure as time goes on I can refine even further what constitutes the Madden Mark but for now its primarily speed of response to my email, offer of resolution to my problem and positive vibes...man.

deLux

So let's begin. Last winter I bought my daughter a pair of mitts and matching hat by the company deLux. You many have seen them...her set had a horse face on them but they had a wide range of various animals you could choose from. They were great quality...fully lined with a knitted wool exterior...she loved them.

Not long after though, one of the mittens split open at the seam. The hole was pretty big and considering that I had paid $35 for a pair of kids mittens I felt I should contact the company! So I went to their website (hooray the world wide web!) and fired off a pleasant email...I always find you get farther when you tell them how much you like the product! They replied right away asking for my mailing address so that they could send out another pair right away. No hassles, no problems and I received the new pair of mitts within the week!

Well deLux you deserve the Madden Mark!

Why We're Here

Every day consumers interact with companies in various ways. Most of the time the products and services that we consume from these organizations allow us to make our lives simpler or better. Sometimes the things that we buy don't live up to our expectations for one reason or another. That's when customer service becomes important. How many times have you tried to get some justice for a faulty product or bad services only to be treated poorly? We're here to expose companies, good or bad, solely on their customer service and share the results with our followers! We're also hoping to have some fun along the way!