Extremley disappointed with Ogilvy Equestrian

[Coanteen]

I can see where the “misunderstanding happened” - the owner never wanted to give OP the pad after refund, but threw out the “on its way to you” because he didn’t think the shipping address could be changed again. He wasn’t happy about it.

Once he found he could change the address, he did. So in his mind, he didn’t lie to the OP, at least not intentionally. His intent was to refund, and to allow the pad still to reach OP - but unhappily and only because he thought he couldn’t stop it.

Of course, intent at the time didn’t matter. Once he realized shipping could be changed and the pad returned to the company, and he changed it, his statement to the OP became a lie. So yes, Jack, you did lie.

Quite apart from that, really. Little girls saving their pennies notwithstanding, a company’s best option if they screw up on customer service is to make things right, even if they take a little financial hit. Especially if it’s gone public.

[Gorgonzola]

[QUOTE=Coanteen;7560595]
I can see where the “misunderstanding happened” - the owner never wanted to give OP the pad after refund, but threw out the “on its way to you” because he didn’t think the shipping address could be changed again. He wasn’t happy about it.

Once he found he could change the address, he did. So in his mind, he didn’t lie to the OP, at least not intentionally. His intent was to refund, and to allow the pad still to reach OP - but unhappily and only because he thought he couldn’t stop it.

Of course, intent at the time didn’t matter. Once he realized shipping could be changed and the pad returned to the company, and he changed it, his statement to the OP became a lie. So yes, Jack, you did lie.

Quite apart from that, really. Little girls saving their pennies notwithstanding, a company’s best option if they screw up on customer service is to make things right, even if they take a little financial hit. Especially if it’s gone public.[/QUOTE]

THIS ^^^

Could not have said it better.

[Midge]

Timing being everything and all…

Mr. Midge just had a very similar experience with a company that was out of something he ordered, so could only partially fill his order. The said they’d let him know when the rest came in. well that happened, he said yes he still wanted it and mailed a check. A week later, he contacted them to say, Where is my order? They said he didn’t respond, so they cancelled the rest of the order. He said he didi respond and the guy said no you didn’t. We Mr. Midge also had a cancelled check by this point and informed the company of that fact.

Much sword falling upon ensued and the bottom line was they gave him free shipping. The order arrived today, with double the amount of stuff and a hand written note of apology.

Mr. Midge is now happy to continue supporting that particular small business.

Everybody screws up. It’s what happens after the screw up that matters.

[Jealoushe]

[QUOTE=Belmont;7560579]
The biggest thing that turned me from Ecogold was one of their sponsored riders. It sounds like a great pad, but the girl is 17 and posts pictures of herself doing body shots and tons of underage drinking. I drank when I was 17, but I wasn’t a sponsored rider by Ecogold! Then when you ask her about her products she just says “OMG THEY ARE GOOD”. Thank you… That was so helpful.

Ogilvy was the first person to actually talk to me about their pads and what they do, and they helped sway my buying experience. Again, I did purchase mine through a retailer rather than the company itself.

I agree the customer service you go was less than wonderful. I’m sorry. I wish you would have received the helpful and wonderful service I did when I was looking!

Chances are they are going to take the stitching out of the embroidered cover, and then sell it at the next event they go to.

That’s what my boss does with work scrubs when people are fired or quit.[/QUOTE]

What rider is that? :no:

I would let Ecogold know your thoughts. Seriously, they are great. I had my pad stolen at a show, was whining about it on Twitter, and they offered to send me a replacement for a VERY GOOD deal…they are all about the customer!

[lando]

[QUOTE=KellyS;7560580]

I don’t think the excuse that’s it’s a small, growing company works in today’s world. [/QUOTE]

No not when they have been using that excuse for the past several years… I had ordered one of these several years ago before they were “all the rage” and 8 weeks later no pad, a lot of e-mails later I finally got them to send it. I was also not too happy to send CC info via e-mail, but besides the point, at the time I was thrilled to finally get it!

Every time I had asked tack stores about ordering these a few years ago it was the same thing, “you’ll see your pad in a few months they are back ordered… a lot.”. So I just bought an all black one in store.

I personally have since sold the ogilvy half pads and bought the much more economical Lamicell pads (and in my opinion better). I personally am not a fan of the Ogilvy half pads, I think they are too thick. However I still do like their baby pads.

This all does sound rather childish, they should have either given the full refund like they said, or only have offered a smaller discount. Just my experience.

[goldponies]

Bet if it was an eight year old girl he would still be a slime. I don’t do business with people like that and I’m glad OP started this. Some people think they can get away with anything and still sleep at night. Need more popcorn

[ToTheNines]

I have not read all the threads, but these posts about customer service always seem so childish to me. part of the overhead of life is having things go wrong sometimes. No business is perfect, and sometimes a transaction just gets “snakebit”. It is going to happen to everyone sometime. No reason to be petty and vindictive by posting on a public forum. Does not matter who is right and who is wrong.

The best life advice I ever got was so simple: “don’t be associated with negative”. When something goes wrong, solve it, get past it, whatever. Don’t dwell. People will not remember the facts, they will associate you with a silly squabble. You will be much happier. Value your psychic energy more and money less.

[AffirmedHope]

[QUOTE=MyssMyst;7560493]
You know, it’s entirely possible the OP misunderstood. Misunderstandings happen, let’s all learn from this and move on. A simple difference in the usage of one word can be enough to get everyone all discombobulated. In my job, I have a customer now that is insisting I promised a certain thing, when I KNOW I did no such thing. The recording of the initial call backs me up on this. The customer is claiming over and over he was promised X, when all of the evidence disproves his claim. Just the OP saying Ogilvy promised a free pad doesn’t make it true. Are there some changes that could be made for Ogilvy CS-wise? Sure. But I’m also going to take the OP with a grain of salt because I’ve just plain dealt with too many customers who say they were told one thing when they were told nothing of the sort at all. I’ve been in the customer support industry a LONG time, for different companies. Yes, this could have been handled differently, but I can’t see a company offering the product for free over this kind of misunderstanding. It’s just not logical to give a free pad for something like this. Refund shipping yes, up to maybe 25% on the product, ok. But free? Absolutely not.

This almost reminds me of the infamous hat thread…[/QUOTE]

Ahhh but the difference between that thread and this one is that the company rep of that one apologized in email and on the forum. He also let that OP keep the hats by refunding the card before he received the items back.

The OP here isn’t demanding a free pad, she is annoyed that she was lied to when told by the owner it was coming to her. Not knowing the address could be changed is not an excuse. It’s sneaky to say one thing but then do another when you find out you had the wrong information (the changing address situation) IF he refunded her the money and told her he was redirecting the pad from the start, we probably wouldn’t have this thread.

Remember how COTHer’s crashed the Voltaire site ordering those hats in support of Claude, because he was classy and apologetic. I know he was worried about getting fired and I really hope that didn’t happen.

Where as here it’s excuse and excuse topped with attitude.

[CaitlinandTheBay]

A) I would really like it if we could direct this thread back to ampersand usage statistics. I am very interested in those.

B) The hat thread was a thing of beauty.

C) I think “childish” is the appropriate word here. I work in the service industry and there are A LOT of moments when I want to snap at a customer or point out that they are very wrong. I don’t do that though because business (and good press) is worth a lot more than my ego or (usually) our bottom line. This is one of those situations when I would have choked down my pride and said “I am so, so sorry. How can I make this right for you?” by my recollection here, Jack has never seemed sincerely apologetic for the situation (even if it was a miscommunication). As a business owner, I expect you to be at least minimally distressed and apologetic any time a customer has a bad experience. I am one little girl who will now be saving up her pennies for an EcoGold.

D) SmartPak has the most ridiculously amazing customer service. I once called about shipping boots, afraid they wouldn’t fit my boy. The SP Rep put me briefly on hold, went down to the warehouse, reconnected with me and then measured them. The boots wouldn’t have worked, but the experience (5 years ago) sticks with me. Smith Worthington is a small business that really does customer service right. I’m sure people are tired of hearing me rave about them, but they were just so incredible-responsive, knowledgeable, kind. Always a prompt response email or a phone call. Love, love, love them!

[pds]

The fact that this Jack fellow has not reached out to the OP, swallowed a bit of humble pie and made good on his original offer says a lot about his personality, character or lack thereof and company culture.

[Gorgonzola]

[QUOTE=pds;7560672]
The fact that this Jack fellow has not reached out to the OP, swallowed a bit of humble pie and made good on his original offer says a lot about his personality, character or lack thereof and company culture.[/QUOTE]

To be fair, he has reached out twice (if I read correctly), but there seems to be a full humble pie sitting on the table just begging to be eaten…

Another company to add to my list of ‘never do business with!’

[YOLOpony]

@Coanteen;7560595

Once he found he could change the address, he did. So in his mind, he didn’t lie to the OP, at least not intentionally. His intent was to refund, and to allow the pad still to reach OP - but unhappily and only because he thought he couldn’t stop it.

Of course, intent at the time didn’t matter. Once he realized shipping could be changed and the pad returned to the company, and he changed it, his statement to the OP became a lie. So yes, Jack, you did lie.

With all due respect, unless you have a (legitimate) transcript of a phone call, that’s speculation.

There are details, up to the phone call, that Jack admitted to in his post.

However, the nature and content of the phone call(s) are he said/she said, so I personally wouldn’t draw any conclusion about who may or may not have lied.

Was this particular purchase experience flawed? Yes.

Did someone lie? Who knows.

At the end of the day, my own experiences with Ogilvy have left a positive impression on me and have sent me back to purchase a half dozen times.

[YOLOpony]

[QUOTE=ToTheNines;7560659]
… sometimes a transaction just gets “snakebit”…[/QUOTE]

I have worked in the customer service industry for over 20 years and I’ve never seen it described like that, but that is a FANTASTIC way of putting it.

[CaitlinandTheBay]

[QUOTE=YOLOpony;7560709]

At the end of the day, my own experiences with Ogilvy have left a positive impression on me and have sent me back to purchase a half dozen times.[/QUOTE]

…and led you to rabidly defend them across the internet. Must be some saddle pad I’m missing out on.

[LoriW]

I’ve been following this thread and when I finally saw that Jack had decided to post, I was hoping for, and was so disappointed to read, his further lack of customer service and diplomacy. Whether or not he doesn’t believe that’s what he meant, it’s what HIS customer heard and after the numerous mistakes in the handling of her order, just be a stand up guy and 1) apologize and 2) send her the pad with compliments of his company. He would have salvaged what has now become a quite the commentary (and not a positive one) on both he and his company.

I’m sorry are two very little words that go a long way in today’s world of message boards and social media…

[Show_boots]

This is serious a textbook example of what not to do for customer service. Yikes.

For Ogilvy, this thread is on the first page of google, right under the result for your website, Facebook, and twitter. The Coth forum is what the largest horse forum for North America and probably one of the largest horse related ones in the world.

And brushing off an adult customer because little kids scrimp and save for a half pad is cringeworthy. Most people on this thread are adults, with jobs -given enough time everyone on this board could tell you how many hours of work it took to be able to purchase this pad.

I’m disappointed in this, and in the future will take my business elsewhere, I won’t be purchasing this product. For reference the right thing to do would have been to refund shipping costs, and send one of your baby pads, or a branded hat, or a t shirt, or stickers, or pen and paper along for the hassle. And yes it is a hassle and the original purchaser probably spent her valuable time dealing with the fiasco ogilvy caused (regardless of reason they seem to be all mistakes on ogilvy’s end).

[kmcnam]

In fairness, why is a positive review of the product less valid than the negative one presented by OP? Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their own experiences.

[Coanteen]

[QUOTE=kmcnam;7560863]
In fairness, why is a positive review of the product less valid than the negative one presented by OP? Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their own experiences.[/QUOTE]

In fairness, because it smacks of “houseguests.”
Sometimes an established poster will post a negative review, about a product, trainer, hauler, whatever. Other posters will commiserate, or say they’ve had a good experience with that service, or whatever. Usually no drama. You’ll note other posters have said they liked this product and have had no issues.

But. Sometimes, in response to a negative review, one or more brand new posters will storm onto that specific COTH thread, to defend the party being negatively reviewed. They don’t seem to be interested in being on the COTH forums in general - their sole agenda is to defend the “accused.”
On COTH they’re often referred to as houseguests (after one dramatic thread where the “accused” party claimed their houseguests got onto COTH to defend them). On other forums they’d be called socks.

Even if the new posters are not associated with the service provider, it always looks weird when someone brand new appears in circumstances like those. And note again, no one raised an eyebrow when other regular posters gave good reviews.

[Show_boots]

[QUOTE=kmcnam;7560863]
In fairness, why is a positive review of the product less valid than the negative one presented by OP? Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their own experiences.[/QUOTE]

Bad reviews decrease the trust, respect and loyalty of a customer.

In this case the problem comes with the response on Ogilvy part. When a customer gets bad service, and gives negative feedback, their brand loyalty decreases, this feedback happened on a public forum, with a wider audience. After bad feedback it is imperative for a company to act quickly, respond in a positive way. Aka saying I’m sorry, and we regret our inaction and actions, moving forward we will fix it, and then offer compensation to the person giving feedback, a discount, a product, something so they are not going away empty handed. When you do this you, ( and when you do it on a public social media website) you increase the respect of your customer base.

It’s why if you make a complaint on twitter to or about an airline you get a quick response, because it makes the customer happy and more likely to forgive their bad experience and remember the great experience afterwards. If you doubt this, next time you fly and have problems find the airlines twitter help account. those people are on it, they’ll get you a flight, get you comped, upgraded, suitcase found.

[CaitlinandTheBay]

[QUOTE=kmcnam;7560863]
In fairness, why is a positive review of the product less valid than the negative one presented by OP? Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their own experiences.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I don’t think a positive review is ANY less valid than a bad one. I’m truly glad so many people have had great experiences with them. As I mentioned before, I love the colors and had considered purchasing one.

However:

I am dubious of anyone who’d go to bat heavily for a company when they’re a) nt related to the company in ANY way and b) seem to have nothing more pulling them to the company than a well made product. If the company has gone above and beyond in some earth shattering way, then okay, fight hard for them. If they just made a nice pad and sent it to you in a timely manner, well, isn’t that what you paid for?

I’d be much more willing to give Ogilvy the benefit of the doubt if Jack had come on here and been even remotely contrite about the situation. By my reading, he wasn’t. I’m in the wrong tax bracket to be playing customer service games if something were to go wrong with my order. Granted, there’s risk with all companies- but Ogilvy now has a track record.