So I just received an email from one of their mail fulfillment people telling me that because there always seems to be an issue with my order, I should no longer order from them.
- stop and let that marinate for a moment - they pretty much told a customer to get lost instead of striving for excellence in customer service as they claim to do.
I have ordered from Springfield exactly 4 times. 3 of those orders have had errors - and ones that could have easily been avoided with proper internal processes in place.
The first time what I ordered and what was sent were two different things. After some back and forth with customer support who actually spoke to me quite rudely and was combative, the owner, Kevin, stepped in and made it right, sending me what I required.
I judge a business more on how it handles an issue than completely writing it off when there is one, so I ordered again based on this experience.
The second order had two pieces of leather I ordered missing from the order, along with a big hole in one of the small pieces I ordered, making it pretty much unusable.
Again, Kevin corrected this and sent me the correct pieces, and made an effort to source some leather I was having trouble finding.
The third time had no issues - I received what I ordered.
My last order was ordered 3 weeks ago and still hasn't arrived, and has ended up in California despite my mailing address being in Washington. When I contacted them about this they wrote back and literally asked me what I'd like them to do about it.
I explained that as someone who runs a business when my customer tells me something hasn't arrived, even though it's usually the fault of the mailing system and not me, I go and figure out where it is and why it's stuck there before even responding, much less asking the customer what I should be doing.
To this, I received the following response:
"Obviously we’re not capable of doing business successfully with people that live in your part of Canada. In view of that, we’re requesting that you no longer order from us. We realize that you’re not at fault here, and I’m sure it will save much frustration on your part, and enable you to better supply your customers if you get your supplies from a more dependable vendor, like perhaps Tandy, or Oregon Leather. "
This response shocked, baffled, and downright enraged me - and not only because they used my geographical location as a thinly veiled excuse to get rid of me 'politely'. Despite my shipping address being in Washington, where I'm located has no bearing on the majority of the problems I've experienced with them - they've been errors in processing an order and things that could be avoided with good internal processes in place.
But telling a customer to get lost? And to go find a more "dependable" vendor? Why not strive to improve your dependability instead? I'm blown away by this way of 'solving' a problem - by essentially throwing a rug over it and pretending it doesn't exist rather than taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again and again and again.
If they screw up with me on 3 out of 4 orders, they are likely going to screw up with someone else pretty soon, if not already, so I hope in all sincerity that anyone considering shopping here thinks twice before placing an order, as you could very well be the next customer they decide to expel.
I'm not sure how it is that they offer 'excellent customer service' to some, and treat others like garbage, and much less how they've survived doing so; but the idea of telling a customer to get lost because they cant get their ducks in a row is appalling and completely the opposite of excellent customer service.
Hi Everyone, I've seen a lot of small scale leather workers with their own custom hardware - that is, belt buckles with their logo cast on the buckle. I'm wondering where to get this done? I think it looks awesome but everyone I've asked won't tell me! I'm not sure why, but anyway - if anyone knows who to go to for this, please let me know. Ideally I'd go for solid brass or stainless steel, and preferably north american as I'm not sure how to handle quality control on Alibabba. Thanks!