[Very] Long Vent: Terrible Customer Service at Voltaire

[ElisLove]

[QUOTE=jen-s;7440407]
After seeing the picture, I totally understand what the OP means by “trucker hats.” I have a tiny head and can’t wear most ballcaps. The hat in question is quite tall and while it might fit around, for me to fill the crown up, I’d have to pull it down over my nose!

I googled for “women’s sized ball caps” and you can compare the shape to these:
http://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Womens-Silver-Ridge-Ball/dp/B006ZRX4TQ/ref=pd_sim_sg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1H8B8DCB7Y9SGZY7JN34
http://www.amazon.com/Baltimore-Ravens-Womens-Natalie-Black/dp/B00AMEWHOQ/ref=sr_1_30?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1392851786&sr=1-30&keywords=women’s+ball+cap

Assuming Voltaire really wanted to market hats, they might consider offering a unisex AND a women’s (or pea-headed-sized) model. But I suspect that’s not high on their priority list and I can understand why.[/QUOTE]

I think I would HATE the first hat you posted. I hate when hats sit on the top of my head. When I put on a hat, I want to feel it’s ON and gonna stay on! The hats that only go 1/4 of the way down your head makes me constantly try to pull it on more! The second hat looks more normal. It’s hard to tell how deep the OP’s hat actually is as I don’t know her head shape. It looks a hair on the deep side, but can’t fully tell.
It does look EXACTLY the same color as on the website.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

[QUOTE=Ghazzu;7440526]
Looking at her past threads, the OP seems to have a fixation with trendy or expensive branded items.[/QUOTE]

That brand is not that expensive. And what’s wrong with buying expensive tack if you can afford it?

[PaintPony]

I usually don’t even bother to return an inexpensive gift that someone gives me if I don’t like it - I hate to hurt anyone’s feelings. :no:

That’s why “regifting” was invented!

And OP: I’m sure you are not really a terrible person - but I do think your reaction was not very polite or appropriate. The incident seems to have been blown out of proportion on both ends. Time to let it go and move on with life.

[Ghazzu]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;7440531]
That brand is not that expensive. And what’s wrong with buying expensive tack if you can afford it?[/QUOTE]

Not a thing.
Did I say there was?

However, at this point in my life, I am bemused as well as amused by the designer jeans mentality.

[AliCat518]

Well shucks, I was off to order a hat or two, and the Voltaire website wont work for me!

Maybe so many COTHers are trying to buy hats that the website is down :lol:

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=AliCat518;7440584]
Well shucks, I was off to order a hat or two, and the Voltaire website wont work for me!

Maybe so many COTHers are trying to buy hats that the website is down :lol:[/QUOTE]

Maybe Claude gets a promotion…

[danceronice]

[QUOTE=cnvh;7439368]
My .02…

I think OP’s initial email was a bit snarky, but certainly nothing deserving the initial reply. Nice of Mr. Mode to come on here and attempt to address this issue, but I wonder if there are some cultural differences at play here? Because to be honest, if I had gotten that kind of response from a company, I would probably be blasting it around the internet as well… But maybe the standards of customer relations are different across the pond than they are here.

For a minute, imagine if SmartPak had sent that reply to a customer complaint… The CotH servers would probably explode. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I had a similar issue with a Paris-based company over a dress. They were polite and bent their “no return” policy (they made the dress in the wrong color, and I had my receipt to prove it was not what I’d ordered) so I could send the wrong dress back and get one in the color I’d ordered. It was not substantially expensive (only a couple hundred Euro, which in the ballroom scheme of things is nothing–I have dresses from US-based Russian makers that cost ten times as much) and I’m not a high-volume customer. But I would happily give them great reviews and recommend them to others.

If I’d gotten a snippy response like Voltaire’s, I’d happily bad-review them all over including to my BNPs in Boston (they had no way of knowing one of my coaches is a world-level judge with a LOT of students.) Horrid attitude to a customer. I get annoyed with guests at work. I don’t get to express it to them. Ever. I’d get written up at best, possibly fired. Your job in CS is make the customer happy. Without smarting off to them. Doesn’t matter if it’s “just” a ball cap. We have customers gripe all the time and we do not get to take it out on them. We find out what their issue is and do what we can to make it right.

[texan]

I dont think there was anything really wrong with the OP’s e-mail. I understand the frustration of getting something that is NOT what was seen at the horse show.
The guys response to her was way over the top, and no that is NOT how good customer service works. While the customer is sometimes wrong, there is ways of saying that without being rude. I wouldn’t buy from this company either, and I own a very expensive Antares saddle.
Quite likely the hats are being manufactured in China to keep the price low. Hats made in the u.s. would be considerably more expensive. Probably the hat the OP saw was an older version manufactured by a different company.
Look this happens all the time. I have shipping wrap bandages that i bought 15 years ago, and while they are the same price today, the material is no where near what the old ones are.
I for one am sick to death of the cheap crap they flog today, as quality. Blankets that fall apart at the seems, because of inferior material.
This is all in the name of keeping the price low. Frankly its a waste of good money.
OP, i hear ya, you might of been a bit snipish in your original e-mail, but this guy missed a good opportunity to promote his company.
Whether its 2 hats for the price of one or not, whats the point if you cant wear the damn thing.
Also before anyone thinks i have no idea of customer service, i am in sales and have been for the past 30 years.

[Chall]

Poor Claude. And he apologized personally and publicly.
One customer’s vent and he could lose his job, not cool.

[danceronice]

[QUOTE=Thoroughbred1201;7439785]
Interesting on many fronts. Customers are difficult. Anybody in retail will tell you that.

But honestly? The running commentary for years as custom saddles have become vogue, is how unpleasent saddle reps/companies are. I’m sure some people have had great experiences, but frankly, most of my friends have not. They are looked down on, etc. And they are the ones spending several thousands! Me? Never bought a custom saddle, so don’t know. And from what I heard about the companies, probably won’t ever.

So does the response from the saddle company surprise me? Not particularly. “The customer is always right” may be gone, but treating badly behaving customers with respect isn’t. Kill 'em with kindness gots a lot farther to keep business.[/QUOTE]

This too. I have to admit, my response was not “I’m gonna go be a sheeple and buy the hat, that’ll show the OP”, it was “If I ever decide to blow that kind of money on a piece of tack, this is not the company that will get it.” I’m accustomed to spending lots on sports I compete in, and even just a sense of “Wow, we hate dealing with a peon like you” sends me and my wallet somewhere else. Never had this issue with a skate-boot maker, have one dress designer I will NOT use again because despite my spending $4800 on one of their dresses they wanted hundreds to fix a zipper that was defective on arrival plus ignored everything I said I liked/didn’t like about other dresses of theirs I tried on, giving the impression they just wanted me to buy whatever they had and any issues were me being picky. I went to another dressmaker who treated me like an Open Amateur instead of a Bronze pro-ammer and who after I said I didn’t really like the first dress they pulled asked “What do you like, what do you dislike about it?” And LISTENED. I bought a dress from them and I’ll buy another.

FWIW: I don’t find a customer saying a product is “low quality” to be insulting or rude. Or wanting to know why they sent two when they only ordered one. Or expressing dismay that it doesn’t look like the one they’ve seen in person or appear to be the one on the website (though I looked up the website and it’s terribly designed. I wouldn’t dare buy anything from them that way.) The OP sounds justifiably upset. “Being French” is not an excuse (see my other post-the company I got a showcase costume from is in Paris. They did not lecture me on how I was wrong about the dress being wrong and their policy is X, suck it up. They said “Here is how we’re going to fix this.”)

[Ruby2shoes]

Bwahhaaaaaaaaa that IS a dumb looking hat! Holy red neck truck driver.

[danceronice]

[QUOTE=Chall;7440636]
Poor Claude. And he apologized personally and publicly.
One customer’s vent and he could lose his job, not cool.[/QUOTE]

No, it’s entirely reasonable. At my employer if this was a first offense he’d get sent to the remedial customer service class they offer. If it was a repeat offense he’d probably be terminated. The customer was clearly upset. He was rude and speaking, whether he meant to or not, for the company. My employer at least does not treat that lightly. First visit or fifteenth, high roller or penny slots, they don’t care.

[alibi_18]

7 pages for a baseball cap.

J’en veux un!

[jen-s]

[QUOTE=ElisLove;7440528]
I think I would HATE the first hat you posted. I hate when hats sit on the top of my head. When I put on a hat, I want to feel it’s ON and gonna stay on! The hats that only go 1/4 of the way down your head makes me constantly try to pull it on more! The second hat looks more normal. It’s hard to tell how deep the OP’s hat actually is as I don’t know her head shape. It looks a hair on the deep side, but can’t fully tell. [/QUOTE]

HAHA! I bet you don’t wear a 6 1/2 to 6 5/8 sized helmet do you? :winkgrin: I even have to be careful because even though the circumference of a hat fits (my old IRH for example), it comes down really far and if there’s ANY slippage, it will bump my glasses off my nose. No exaggeration!
It does look EXACTLY the same color as on the website.[/QUOTE]

[Horse_with_No_Name]

http://www.tickld.com/x/i-wish-i-worked-with-this-manhes-hilarious

[AliCat518]

I would not have a problem doing business with Voltaire if I needed a hat, or tack, or anything, in the future, because I would never act like such an asshole to a business for no reason. (I probably wouldn’t act like such an asshole even if I did have a reason, but that’s just me).

The CS Rep responded a touch personally to her disrepectful email, but also fully refunded the purchase, apologized privately and publicly, checked their emails on a Sunday night, and sent 2 hats instead of 1 to try to be romantic on Valentines Day. That’s a company I DO want to deal with.

[AliCat518]

Double post

[Horse_with_No_Name]

couldn’t resist posting this, it made me think of anev and Claude’s email exchange …

http://www.tickld.com/x/i-wish-i-worked-with-this-manhes-hilarious

[WillowB]

[QUOTE=Horse with No Name;7440684]
http://www.tickld.com/x/i-wish-i-worked-with-this-manhes-hilarious[/QUOTE]

:lol::lol: This link is great!! I love the pie chart

[MaybeMorgan]

[QUOTE=anev;7440246]
Ha! Thank you all for the entertaining responses. I appreciate all the feedback on what a terror I am, what a terror the CSR was, and what a terror I clearly must be to my boyfriend.

For all of you making vast assumptions about the type of person I am and the relationship I have based on this small clip-it of life are HILARIOUS. Really? I hope every stranger you meet extrapolates your every asshole moment out to every facet of your life.

I have repeatedly acknowledged the lowliness of my initial message. Move on, Ladies. I actually have to find synonyms for I’M AN ASSHOLE now. I get it.

I’m glad you have all so thoroughly dissected this conversation and have taken whatever position you have chosen in such enthusiastic ways. For those of you buying hats, I hope you have odd shaped heads. I guess this truly proves that there is no such thing as bad press.

As I said before, I am returning the hats. They were deposited at UPS this morning.

A few of you have had very well expressed points that I acknowledge as true and have made me think much more thoroughly about how I will handle situations like this in the future. Thank you.

To the rest of you: I am most thankful for you; you insulting, judgemental, and cross old bitties. I have learned more about terrible I looked in this exchange by looking at how terrible you look now than by what you said.

As a certain CSR would say,
Have a beautiful day.

And for those of you who wanted it:
I wish I had gotten a sideview before I packed it away.
http://postimg.org/image/fu6etwhu3/
(I thought you’d all enjoy my facecovering )[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the train wreck/soap opera/entertainment!
And I agree that a poster’s responses say so much more about them than the original topic.
And thank you for displaying the attitude that internet life is…not exactly real life.