What Do I Tell the Customer!!!

[Morvin]

I had a booth at the Co. fair last week and it went great!! However I had a lot of people come up to me with questions on their product warrenty and with problems with other consultants and I really want to help but I don't know how!! One customer bought the mini serving spatula about a year ago and the handle has come off she does not have the receipt but she says she knows the name of the host and the consultant(neither of them are me) and she seems to think that is enough info to make an exchange is this true!! If so what do I do now??
Another guest said that she has the professional 8 quart stockpot and the pot has become warpped and the lid doesn't really fit she does still have her receipt but doesn't know what to do and I think that I read somewhere that for returns now they have to have a # on them that a consultant has to call somewhere to get. If you can't tell I don't really know anything that I'm talking about!! Another woman told me that her ice cream scoop has kind of lost its power she has had it for a good while (6-7 years) she has never placed it in the dishwasher and is not concerened but just wanted to know if I have ever heard of this happening! (No I haven't!!). The next one asked me about the Lg. rd stone she has had it about 10 years and loves it dearly uses it all the time but she is having problems with grease running straight through it to the bottom of her oven even with things that aren't very greasy! I told her that I had never head of that but with Sept. special I could fix her up with a new one!! She wanted to know if she could order it with at least 6 mo. worth of seasoning!! I thought that was pretty good!!
I have one more situation but i have to think about how to explain it, it is a little confussing expecially since it was before I was in the business. and this entry is already pretty long. so I will collect me thoughts and come back. any advise with the above would be great! thanks in advance!!!
Heather

 

[dawn424383]

For the woman with the serving spatula and no receipt, you can go on CC and look up the host information. I beleive it is on the drop-down list under MY BUSINESS. It should say HOST LOOK-UP. That will give you the actual date of the show and then you will know if it is still under the warantee. You can then do a product adjustment, even if you were not the consultant who originally sold it. Customer Service will give you a reference # and tell you how to handle (no pun intended - LOL) the exchange. Usually, once they have received the broken item, they will ship a new one. Since it is beyond the 30 day guarantee, the guest will have to pay shipping, though. As for the lady with the cookware, if she still has her receipt, there is a customer service number on the back that she can call and they will walk her through the return procedure. You could also do it for her, just to provide good customer care. Again, whe will have to pay shipping. The ice cream scoop - I have heard of it loosing umpf after several years, even with proper use and care. I suppose that anti-freeze like gel is only good for so long. The woman with the over seasoned stone - I have never heard of this before, but over ten years - WOW! She definately got her money's worth with that purchase!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Wow, you sure had people talking your ear off about problems with products. Hopefully you got some good leads out of it besides these. Although solving peoples' customer service issues for/with them will REALLY be a good way to get customers. They really appreciate it when you solve issues for them. So, even though it takes some work on your part, it's worth it!

The "Host Lookup" option under "My Business" is just for looking up hosts in the past year so you can get their Past Host Discount number. If it's in the last year, it'll be on there. It doesn't tell the consultant's name or number though. OR the show number. You'll probably be better off calling customer service and giving them the information that you do know. For any of those issues, you can call customer service and talk it through with them. As long as a customer can remember the host or consultant and approximately the date of the show, customer service can look it up for you. IF the product is still within its warranty, they'll tell you how it can be replaced and give you the adjustment number.

Was it the professional stockpot? If so, it's a lifetime warranty so hopefully she can track down who it was purchased from. Good luck getting these problems solved! If you do, chat with the customers and ask if you can get their info and see if they want to receive your email newsletter. Offer to send them the new catalog and see if they'd like to book a show!

Oh, for people who's products don't perform as well as they used to, if you want you can offer to replace it and give them 10% off or something. That's totally up to you. Don't give away all your commission, but it shows them you're willing to work with them on something. Or if a product that is no longer available (like the old chopper or the old easy accent decorator) has a piece break, that's what I do. I'll offer to replace it for 10-15% off or something. Good luck!!

 

[pamperdawn]

Customer Service

Home office will always help out when you don't have a receipt. If you know the name of the Host they can pull up the info in their system.
If they can't find the host, show etc. and if the product is a lifetime guarantee then they will probably credit the money but the items purchased with the "credit" will not be under warranty.
I had this situation happen with the knife block that was discontinued. They gave her the $90 or 100 for the product replacement, which she purchased the knives in sharpening cases. These new knives are not guranteed for her!

 

[jdavis]

Ice cream scoop

I have had a customer who purchased a new one from me because she had hers for several years also, (she is one of the reasons I signed up she said she had bought a professional skillet I think 20 years ago and has had absolutely no complaints about it) but she said that if you let it sit in water rather than dipping it in and washing it seems to loose its power, she says that the water leaks in around the top of the handle but she's not the only one to use it since she uses it at her bowling alley so she's not always the one to wash it.

 

[pamperedbecky]

I have had a customer who purchased a new one from me because she had hers for several years also, (she is one of the reasons I signed up she said she had bought a professional skillet I think 20 years ago and has had absolutely no complaints about it) but she said that if you let it sit in water rather than dipping it in and washing it seems to loose its power, she says that the water leaks in around the top of the handle but she's not the only one to use it since she uses it at her bowling alley so she's not always the one to wash it.

My ice cream scoop still has its "power" and works great, but I do find if it sits in water in the sink or you don't dry it right away after washing it, it gets kind of "pitted" and discolored. It still works great. So, I've tried to "train" my husband to not let it sit in water or to be sure he dries it right away. I have one for shows that I don't use at home so it stays nice and silver.

 

[Morvin]

Help what do I do!!!

thank you everyone for all of the great information!! and yes even thought I stayed very busy fielding customer complaints I did very good!! it was a 7 day event and I was manning it by myself which isn't bad until it comes to having to go to the bathroom or paying for the booth. which was pretty steap when you don't have anyone to split with!! but I sold some cash & carry and I sold bottled water to help recoupe some of my expences and I ended up coming out ahead!!! and then last night I made the "you have won a free kitchen show" calls and I only talked to 15 people and I ended up with 9 bookings for sept. 2 maybes for Oct. and 1 call me next week so I can think about it so I say it was a total sucess!! and worth every penny!!


o-kay here is the other customer problem that came up.this customer had her show a little over a year ago they were having double half price for the host. one of her guest(her mother) ordered the stone and the woven selection aparrently it was a set and the host also ordered the stone and woven set. well when the order came there was no stone sets and they found out that the woven selection had been pulled off do to quality issues the guest(the hosts mother) recieved a certificate well she wasn't sure what it ment or what to do with it (she is elderely) so she called the consultant to find out what to do the consultant said she wasn't sure either but she would take the certificate to the person who signed her on to find out. So meanwhile the host thought that she would be receiving a certificate as well. it never came so she called the consultant, and called the consultant, and called, and called. well apparently they never heard from her!! later on the host heard throught the grape vine that the consultant had messed up when entering her show and the double 1/2 price items didn't get entered. so I guess that would explain why the host never received a certificate. so not only did the cosultant end up with the mothers certificate but the host got shafted of her other items!! And the thing is when the lady was at my booth telling me this I remembered hearing about it from the girl that recruited me. the consultant in this situation was one of her recruites and all this was happening when I was signing on. so I know the situation is real. but I don't what I can do to help. Is there a number to HO that I can give her or a person that I can put her into contact with? any ideas or suggestions would be great!!! thank you everyone!!!

Heather

 

[metzmom3]

host getting the shaft

I have been racking my brain for a while now and there are only a couple of things I can think of to help these ladies. First, is it a combo that is still a half price item? If it is, here is what you can do: When you hold your own open house show or have a bunch of outside orders to make a show that is large enough ($300) then you can always get it for the old host, maybe at no charge, since she already pd for it and when you do this you will gain a customer for life, I promise. One of my best cust/hosts had a problem similar to this and I just ate the cost and she has had 4 shows for me since Jan and is having 2 more this fall! Her shows are always at least 400.00 so I have gained back my cost several times over. The thing you can do for the mother is to call HO and explain the situation to your regional sales manager and see what advise that person can offer. You could also try to talk to someone in customer service and explain that the mother's certificate was taken by the consultant to find out how to redeem it and what it meant and never returned it to the customer and let them know that the consultant hasn't ever replied to these ladies. If you explain what happened the people at home office, especially the reg. mgr. should have some ideas for you. I would think that HO would try and resolve these issues as best they can. If this sounds confusing, I'm sorry, it's late and I am tired but my 2yr old refuses to sleep so I get to stay up since I don't sleep when kids are awake. One more thing, where was this event, what type was it and how did you find out about it? I am interested in something like this since my Farmers Market is quickly becoming just the same old people and I desperately need booking leads. Thanks!

 

[Morvin]

Thanks for the great ideas!! What number at home office should I call for this matter??

This was at my local County fair!! I just called the fair office.

Thanks Heather

 

[rwesterpchef]

Thanks for the great ideas!! What number at home office should I call for this matter??

This was at my local County fair!! I just called the fair office.

Thanks Heather

Customer Service: 800-724-7790

Can't wait until Sept 1, when they have ONE toll-free number for all of our issues! Does Home Office take care of us, or what!

 

[ShanaSmith]

warped stock pot

I didn't see where anyone addressed the problem with the customers stock pot. I can pretty well assume that the pot warped becuase she has placed it in water while it is still hot. This will warp cookware of any quality, or crack stoneware. I would still go through HO, and not say anything about this. But I would inform the customer that this is not a good practice... just so it doesn't happen again.