I don't normally review products or services, but I just had two great experiences that I thought I'd share.
My poor truck is long overdue for an oil change. I don't have one "usual" service station I take it to, mostly because the price of an oil change seems to vary so much. After calling around, I was surprised to find that the Ford dealership was actually $30 less expensive than any other place I contacted! I've had bad experiences with a dealership before, but this was a different dealership so I figured I'd give it a go. Over the phone, they told me they had just put in an "Express Lane" and I could come in any time, although the wait might be up to an hour depending on how many vehicles were in front of me.
I pulled in and was greeted by a friendly (if rather energetic) staff member. He took my information and in less than 5 minutes, I was ensconced in the waiting room. I did have to wait for an hour, but I'm in the middle of the third book in the Game of Thrones series, so it wasn't too tedious. The best part? They didn't try to sell me any other service, they washed my truck for me, AND they vacuumed out the front seat! For the price, service, and convenience (it's quite close to the house), they will definitely get my business again.
In a similar customer service vein, last week I ordered a few things from Dover. They were due to arrive yesterday, but when the last Fedex truck had made its run by our house without dropping anything off, I checked the tracking site. Imagine my surprise to see that my box had made it to Dallas, and then been shipped to Los Angeles! New arrival date was Sept. 20. I looked all over the FedEx site, trying to find a phone number to call, but found nothing. So, I got online with Dover's customer chat, hoping they had FedEx's number or something. Instead, they shipped me an entirely new order, overnight! I didn't even ask - the customer service rep told me she was trying to see if they could catch the truck, and they did! The package arrived about 2 p.m. today, exactly what I'd ordered. I buy a lot of my horsey stuff from them specifically because their customer service is so good (that and I love their online chat - so convenient!) but this time they really went above and beyond! They will definitely continue to get my business.
Has anyone else had really good customer service lately?
two winters ago i ordered a blanket from dover and the first time i put in on my horse he walked into his stall and the latch caught the surcingle and ripped it right off! Dover replaced it and last winter the nylon liner of the replacement blanket started to rip in a way i could never fix so i called them up and they sent me another new blanket! Luckily it warmed up so i didn't use the new one so i have a brand new blanket for this winter! Shires, the company that makes the blanket called me and asked what they could do to make the blanket better! <3 Dover
ReplyDeleteI ordered from Dover once and they shipped it that stupid Fedex + USPS shipping method and it took two freakin weeks to wander slowly across the continent. I don't order from Dover anymore - or from any company that uses Smartpost. Hate it. (Also, they don't have much gear that fits my discipline.)
ReplyDeleteI am constantly amazed at how wonderful my local feed store is. Everybody who works there just knows their products. They are cheap, they have one of everything, and they're super friendly.
East Bound, I'm glad you also had good experiences with Dover! Funder, bummer that Dover didn't work out for you, but yeah, they're short on endurance stuff anyway. It's awesome that you have a local store that's good - I'd rather buy local, but the one that carries stuff for eventing is SUPER pricey. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I only go to the Austin Tack Shop if I need to try something on or see it in person. Although they did help me find a great deal on 60" brown stirrup leathers (could not find them online for under $50!) And they got me them for $20.
ReplyDeleteAs for Dover, they have some killer deals, but I've always had issues with them taking SO LONG to deliver and their shipping increases with each thing you add. I'm too cheap and impatient for that.
I'm a big SmartPak and horse.com fan. They usually have what I'm looking for at a great price, flat shipping rate, and they're super quick. I will Dover if I can't find anything else, but I don't like paying that shipping fee. They are the only place in the US that I have found carries Joules clothing haha!
I do hate paying shipping, so I try to order from SmartPak because I already have supplements coming from them monthly and I can add whatever I want without paying more for shipping. I have ordered a lot of stuff from Dover, though, and have been very happy with them. Actually, I haven't had a bad experience from online horsey places in a long time. :)
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