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MAJOR THUMBS DOWN TO SCHNEIDER'S SADDLERY

Off Course
#41

sorry this has not been your day, and I understand, as I am feeling quite the same. I ordered all my blankets from Schneider’s too. And passed on the good word, when other people asked me about them, so I believe I sent business their way.

It is a shame that I will no longer buy from them. All they would have had to do, was send a new halter, not defective, and with an appropriately attached nameplate. The second time. Since I had spoken with them twice before and been assured they agreed with me about the problems, and were going to exchange, all I could assume is that I would keep sending back the old halter, and they’d just keep sending it back to me. Frankly, once was enough. The whole object, of course, was to have a halter my horse could use, rather than an object lesson in FedEx Ground services.

There are plenty of other companies who can get it right the first time. Or the second time. Apparently SSTack is not one of them.

#42

Good Grief. It’s a shame they were out of your favorite color and it’s a shame she had to be sarcastic… but what were your choices? and I don’t mean color-wise. Either buy the style you want or don’t. For gosh sakes. I am frequently miffed because stuff only comes in a choice of 2 colors - neither of which I want … I’m SO sick of Hunter Green, Black, and Navy Blue I could cry.
BUT… It’s not her fault your horse was shivering because you didn’t order earlier when your favorite color was in stock. Or you chose not to go to a different supplier.

#43

[QUOTE=gabz;3072164]
Good Grief. It’s a shame they were out of your favorite color and it’s a shame she had to be sarcastic… but what were your choices? and I don’t mean color-wise. Either buy the style you want or don’t. For gosh sakes. I am frequently miffed because stuff only comes in a choice of 2 colors - neither of which I want … I’m SO sick of Hunter Green, Black, and Navy Blue I could cry.
BUT… It’s not her fault your horse was shivering because you didn’t order earlier when your favorite color was in stock. Or you chose not to go to a different supplier.[/QUOTE]

Since when is it wrong to expect good customer service? A good CS rep KNOWS you need to be nice to people, especially those who have minor issues. They are the ones you need as repeat customers. If someone was snarky or sarcastic with me, they lose my business and those of folks who ask me for recommendations…because I will recommend the place I find that DOES practice good CS. Good for folks for holding businesses accountable for their reps attitudes and mouthiness!

#44

It is my understanding that SOME of their blankets do have a warranty… just not the ones I got evidently. Whether or not the blankets had a warranty I thought since it was not a rip or something, since it was an actual piece of hardware that broke (within 10 days of use) that they’d stand behind their product and send me new buckles.

They did offer to resolve it, by me spending more money to ship the blankets back to them to be fixed and then paying to get them shipped home.

No thanks.

If you DO want a Big Fella blanket I would just make absolutely sure the blanket you are getting is one that has some sort of guarantee or warranty.

[QUOTE=Ambrey;3071294]
It’s not even about the “right and wrong” of the situation- just knowing that somewhere like Dover will take the product back no questions asked is enough to make one shop elsewhere.

I had been considering buying a “Big Fella” blanket for my “big fella.” KNowing they offer NO warranty has changed my mind :([/QUOTE]

#45

[QUOTE=gabz;3072164]
Good Grief. It’s a shame they were out of your favorite color and it’s a shame she had to be sarcastic… but what were your choices? and I don’t mean color-wise. Either buy the style you want or don’t. For gosh sakes. I am frequently miffed because stuff only comes in a choice of 2 colors - neither of which I want … I’m SO sick of Hunter Green, Black, and Navy Blue I could cry.
BUT… It’s not her fault your horse was shivering because you didn’t order earlier when your favorite color was in stock. Or you chose not to go to a different supplier.[/QUOTE]

Don’t ever work in customer service! I was asking her what my options were after I found out my first choice and what I had called to order were out of stock. Her job is to be courteous not a smart ass.

Gee why didn’t she just hang the phone up on me when I had to ask a couple of questions before I spent $200 with them. The nerve of me taking up their precious time taking my order. I am sure she had better things to do like look for a new job! :wink:

#46

Actually, I think there is an issue with customer service in general. A great rep can go a long way towards resolving issues and keeping customers satisfied. Often it doesn’t take very much at all, and then you’ve increased loyalty to the company.

#47

I just have to ask - What was your attitude toward her before she got sarcastic with you??

When I’m speaking on the phone with a Rep. I know it is not their fault the company is out of certain colors or styles and certainly would not take it out on him/her.

I find you get treated with the same respect as you give…

#48

Central Kentucky Tack and Leather over Quillin’s

[QUOTE=BAC;3071871]
Why do you prefer these over Quillins? Their “dress halter” looks exactly like my Quillin sale halter except mine has a triple stitched noseband which Central Kentucky Tack’s doesn’t have. Prices are almost identical.[/QUOTE]

I like CKT & L’s stuff for the simple reason that they treat me very well… My barn spends a lot of money with them every month, and sometimes I need something in a hurry, and they bend over backwards to get me that item immediately, if not sooner. Mildred and Lindsay are the best!!!

Their dress halter is triple stitched, the only ones that aren’t triple stitched are turn out’s-- besides I like their halter plate engraving much better than Quillin’s, smaller plates, better engraving

#49

[QUOTE=Huntertwo;3072431]
I just have to ask - What was your attitude toward her before she got sarcastic with you??

When I’m speaking on the phone with a Rep. I know it is not their fault the company is out of certain colors or styles and certainly would not take it out on him/her.

I find you get treated with the same respect as you give…[/QUOTE]

I am the most patient customer a company could ask for! I have had orders lost and waited months for resolutions. I have worked for State line and for Sears catalog in my past as well as 13 years in manufacturing so I know how $hit happens.

All I was doing was seeing what my options were after finding out the item I wanted was unavailable and I couldn’t wait a month to get a blanket. I was asking her to check the inventory on a couple other blankets in the size I needed to see what the inventory was. In other words I was asking her to do her job. I had attempted to place the order on line but when I did it came up to call before ordering so I did.

BTW, I don’t think I have ever stopped buying with anyone because of one employees big month but I think customer service is super important and even if the employee is irritated by the customer they should never let it show.

#50

After my brother had his graudate school graduation ceremony, my family packed off to a local Irish pub in town for lunch. We all order, mostly reubens or corned beef.

Grandma orders a taco salad.

We all eat. Good food, except my grandma, goes off on how HORRIBLE her food was and how she would NEVER go back to this restaurant again.

We all kind of stare at her.

Who the heck orders a TACO SALAD at an IRISH PUB and expects it to be good?!

Schneiders is good for blankets and cheap nylon strap goods that are made in china but quality doesn’t make a huge difference (I buy blankets, sidereins, etc from them).

If you want a beautiful piece of leather, you GO TO A LEATHER CRAFTSMAN!

A $50 leather halter in a normal catalog is a piece of junk. Yes, even the cheap leather halters in Dover or State Line Tack, etc. etc. are not good halters. In those catalogs there is a difference between the $49.99 halter and the $129.99 halter. Actually, the schneider’s nameplates run about $10, so you must have splurged all of $40 on a halter… what did you expect it would look like?

Quillin can sell you nice halters that cheap because they are, essentially, a wholesaler. Schneider’s are NOT.

I can imagine that the customer service rep must have been pretty speechless when they had someone on the phone insisting that their cheap halter should actually be an expensive halter.

Same goes for the metal piece on their blankets. Their blankets are cheap, they are good for what they are, but they are still cheap. If the buckle on my hypothetical $300 super heavyweight broke, I would be super mad. However, if the buckle on my $79.99 Schneider’s blanket broke… I would realized that I bought a darn cheap blanket and I have plenty of money left to buy more buckles!

Last fall when I went to order a blanket, I talked to Schneiders. It was too late in the year and they were sold out of 68"s… but she checked EVERY brand, style, and model for me, then apologized profusely at the end of the call. I guess I should have given her a piece of my mind - that might have made the blankets appear.

#51

abrant, I posted earlier on a long thread to which many people replied. I wanted an inexpensive, decent quality halter. Not one that cost $70. Dover sells one for $20. HorseLoverz ditto. I wanted something a bit better than that, but I didn’t want to break the bank for what would be a halter that would be left at the barn. I expected a decent quality. Not fabulous, but decent. Given that I had bought other nice quality items from Schneider’s, why wouldn’t I expect decent quality for all their items?

In fact, it was a very nice halter. Unfortunately, the crownpiece was defective - one side cracked and discolored. The rest of the halter was lovely - exactly what I had expected. The only other problem was that when someone put on the nameplate they had filed down the inside screws so that they were rough, which I discovered when I picked up the halter and caught my finger on them. They admitted that they must have had a newbie putting on the plate, because that shouldn’t have happened.

In fact, when they received the halter back, the rep with whom I spoke said they saw the problems, agreed with my concerns, and were exchanging it for a new halter with a nameplate attached correctly.

But they didn’t do that. They sent back the same halter. And said I could take care of the nameplate issue on my own. After they had promised to exchange, after they agreed that it had not been handled well, and offered to deduct some of the price of the halter - an offer they took back without any explanation.

Geez, I don’t know why I am even bothering to explain. I bought an article in good faith, it was defective on two counts, I was promised it would be made right, and the company failed to do so. Since this involved effort on my part having to send the item back and several calls to the company, frankly, I don’t feel I should have to go through that kind of effort.

Long story short: I will buy another halter from a different company and I will not buy from Schneider’s again - including blankets. I appreciate when people come on the board and mention good service and companies as well as bad. I have bought from companies people on the board have suggested. I tend to stay away from companies where people seem to have had issues. I thought I would pass on the same service, for those of you who appreciate the intention, as opposed to those of you who see this as an opportunity to attack someone’s buying motives.

By the way, I’m sure Schneider’s would be just as pleased to see your comments that they are “okay for blankets made in China” but that one should not expect decent quality items of any other kind from their company.

#52

[QUOTE=abrant;3073598]

Last fall when I went to order a blanket, I talked to Schneiders. It was too late in the year and they were sold out of 68"s… but she checked EVERY brand, style, and model for me, then apologized profusely at the end of the call. I guess I should have given her a piece of my mind - that might have made the blankets appear.[/QUOTE]

At least she didn’t tell you “geez is size really that important, why don’t you just get the next size up” :wink:

Times are getting tough and folks are going to have less and less money to spend on their horses. Its a competitive market and the company that can make a customer happy will get the business.

Regarding the halter; for $40 (far more than I would ever pay for a halter) I would expect it not to injure my self or my horse and not be defective.

#53

With all due respect, a $50 halter is a cheap halter. I’m sure it was defective. I guess it just seems over the top to bring it onto the Internet. It sounds like they did try to work with you.

#54

ok. I give up. I must not be able to write so everyone can read for comprehension.

#55

[QUOTE=DressageGeek “Ribbon Ho”;3073798]
ok. I give up. I must not be able to write so everyone can read for comprehension.[/QUOTE]

Oh I absolutely understand! But there is a major feeling in our society today that we MUST forgive and excuse everyone cause, you know, they have a hang nail and they were late for work and their cat threw up on their slippers. We should just ignore and forget the fact that they were rude, or lied, or didn’t follow through. It must be OUR fault for being bad customers… sigh.

I understand DG, and I feel your pain!

#56

Amen, sister. With the competition for the almighty consumer dollar, there is not place for assholes in customer service. And, sadly, many companies lose customers for good because someone in CS pissed off the customer for good; sadly, a lot of those business owners have no way of knowing unless the customer takes the time to let them know.

#57

[QUOTE=DressageGeek “Ribbon Ho”;3073798]
ok. I give up. I must not be able to write so everyone can read for comprehension.[/QUOTE]

It’s not your inability to write but rather everyone else’s inability to read. I have read this thread, and if I were you I would be quite upset. I have considered buying things from SS Tack, and now I will reconsider that. I appreciate that you took the time to explain the issues you had with SS and give people on this board a heads up to possible poor customer service. For what its worth, I think those Quillan halters look quite nice, I may get one for my special guy!

#58

This is about bad customer service not about the quality of the merchandise.

http://www.customerservicepoint.com/bad-customer-service-tips.html

One of the single most important aspects of a successful business is good customer service. Waller cited recent findings in customer service. A typical business only hears from 4 percent of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96 percent quietly go away. Of this 96 percent, 68 percent never reveal their dissatisfaction because they perceive an attitude of indifference in the owner, manager or employee.

Waller said this statistic is particularly dangerous for businesses because if a dissatisfied customer can’t express their complaints to a business, they’ll express them through other outlets such as friends, neighbors and family. A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about their problem. One in five will tell 20. “It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,” Waller said. “Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.”

Although these are meant to be funny some how some aren’t! Bad customer service cartoons!

#59

[QUOTE=EqLuvr;3073735]
With all due respect, a $50 halter is a cheap halter. I’m sure it was defective.[/QUOTE]

You obviously don’t know where to shop :wink:

DG, don’t worry about everyone else. Many of us understand and appreciate your warning.
Quillin will send you a great halter and I know they’ll work with you until you’re happy if they need to (but I bet you’ll love the first halter they send) :yes:

#60

What is the old marketing wisdom? “Price, quality and service. Pick any two.” There is a great deal to be said for that.

Sure, there are exceptions. For instance a company I bought a blanket from (Schneiders, as a matter of fact) sold me a blanket of very good, complete with a 2 year warranty and when my horse managed to tear it, they replaced it without hesitation or question even though I pretty much dropped the ball on timeliness on my part. To say they would have been well within their rights to not replace it, is a pretty correct assessment of the situation.

But honestly, you can’t have Nordstrom-like service if you are looking for Walmart prices, unless you are willing to sacrifice quality. Sure, I always appreciate good service (and given that the lowest paid job in almost any company would be, you guessed it, the CS rep, service is a crapshoot at best), but if I know I am shopping at a place where MY goals are price and quality, I like to keep that thought in mind. I want top notch service, I know those places. Ain’t no $50 leather halters there.

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